SECURITY ALERT WITH JIDE

ACN says Jonathan’s trip to Brazil is a sign of insensitive and confused leadership.

The Action Congress of Nigeria has criticized President Goodluck Jonathan for embarking on a trip to Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.

The criticism became imperative as the trip is coming Nigeria is facing what amounts to a national emergency, as citizens continue to die from gun and bomb attacks in several cities.

Jonathan's trip to Brazil is a sign of insensitive and confused leadership....ACN

Its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed said the decision by the President to travel two days after dozens of innocent Nigerians, including women and children, were killed or maimed by suicide bombers in Kaduna state, is a sign of insensitive and confused leadership.

Mohammed said the fact that the trip was announced by the presidency as the Yobe state capital, Damaturu, was being terrorized by attackers raised serious concerns about the Jonathan Administration’s commitment to the security and welfare of the citizenry.

According to him, the President should have cancelled the trip as a symbolic act of a caring leadership and out of respect for the souls that were lost and are still being lost within the space of a few days, wondering whether the President has become helpless and inured to the fate of his compatriots.

Citing examples of world leaders that have cancelled trips to global events, he said in April 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao cut short his Latin American tour and returned home after a strong earthquake hit the west of China. 

This year, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir returned home early from his visit to China, due to the rising tension along the border of his country with Sudan, and even a phone-hacking scandal was enough for British Prime Minister David Cameron to cut short an African trade tour and return home in 2011.