Mr. Jonathan had claimed on Thursday that the media quoted him out of context in their reporting of the remark he made at a Christmas Day service that the war against insurgency in Nigeria could not be totally won.
In the statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Reuben Abati, the president lambasted a section of the media for carrying headlines, which, in his estimation, suggested that the war against terrorisms might never be won in the country.
He particularly criticised two headlines “Terrorism Has Come to Stay” and Insurgency Far From Over – Jonathan” by two newspapers he did not name, saying they were most incongruous with the thrust of his remarks and amounted to taking extreme editorial liberties with his comment at the church service.
Mr. Jonathan, accompanied by members of his family, his aides and some ministers, worshipped at the cathedral church of the Advent, Life Camp, Abuja on Christmas Day during which he made the remarks.
In the Thursday’s statement titled, “Stop this reckless scaremongering” the president said, “Reports in a section of the media today which quoted President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as saying at a Christmas church service on Wednesday in Abuja that “terrorism has come to stay” in Nigeria are completely untrue and a mischievous misrepresentation of the President’s remarks,” Mr. Jonathan said.
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“President Jonathan’s verifiable remarks at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp Abuja were to the effect that in comparison with some other countries which have experienced the scourge of terrorism, Nigeria has made remarkable progress in dealing with the security challenges posed by terrorism and insurgency.
“Headlines such as “Terrorism Has Come to Stay” and “Insurgency Far From Over – Jonathan” are therefore most incongruous with the thrust of the President’s remarks and amount to taking extreme editorial liberties with his comments at the church service.
“It is apparent that in their indecent haste to cast the most sensational and negative headlines, some editors never paused to consider that it would have been most absurd for a President whose administration has done so much to reverse the tide of terrorism, to publicly assert the contrary.”
The statement said the president merely pointed out that whereas terrorism remained a global challenge, Nigeria had done comparatively better in reducing the incidence of terrorist attacks within its borders to a reasonable level.
However, a thorough review of the recording of the event revealed that Mr. Jonathan actually said Nigerians should not expect to see terrorism disappear entirely in their country.
He also said terrorism was far being over and that Nigerians should thank God it has been reduced to a manageable level.
A transcript of Mr. Jonathan’s comment on terrorism reads, “For those who know about terrorism, countries that are infested with terror will hardly get out of it. If you look at country like Pakistan, we even go to Pakistan to train our soldiers, in some parts of Pakistan as we are talking now, there appears to be no government. So this country could have been worst.
“Look at the incidences in Abuja, even the police headquarters was bombed, the UN Building was also bombed right here in the seat of government. Maybe the next target would have been the State House.
“So we have to thank God that we have been able to bring it to a reasonable level, though we are far from getting out of it. There are a lot of challenges but we have to thank God.”
Meanwhile, the newspapers which published the story with the headlines : “Terrorism here to stay” and “Terrorism Far From Over” stated on Friday they are standing by their stories, saying they did not misquote the president in any way.
“There is no contradiction in what we reported, and I believe the response from the presidency is just an afterthought from Reuben Abati,” said Ibrahim Sheme, the Editor of Abuja-based Blueprint Newspaper, which ran its own story with the headline “Terrorism here to Stay – Jonathan”.
Mr. Sheme described Mr. Jonathan as a reckless speaker who hardly thinks before speaking and then only react to the implications of his comments.
“The President should know that whenever he speaks in public, he is talking to Nigerians who are intelligent to make sense of whatever he says. They are just managing the information and they did a bad job of it. The president was quoted correctly and we stand by our story,” Mr. Sheme added.
Also, the Editor of Daily Trust newspaper, Habeeb Pindiga, whose paper owns the “Terrorism Far From Over” headline, simply sent a text message saying “We stand by our story”, when asked to comment for this story.
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Abeg make una leave this man alone.
ReplyDeleteAbati, u r a renown journalist. u shld knw hw 2 deal wth these opposition journalist.
ReplyDeleteWomen and alcohol weakened and soften the brain easily,that is one of those side effect of “ogogoro“,it‘s really a pity to have such a “drunk“ and a swine as the president and commander in cheif of the nigeria armed forces. A country with a population of over 170millions of intelligent,dedicated men and women but GOD in HIS Infinite Mercy chose to trail us with such a leaders with questionable charractters,lairs,incompetent,self centered, corrupt and baised minds like “gej“ and some of our past and present leaders. Oh,nigeria what a country? upon all these, one can‘t questions GOD for given us such a wicked and heartless leaders but it‘s really a pity.
ReplyDeleteYou insulting the president will not change anything. And if you continue like this your God that you serve will visit his anger on. Learn to respect civil authority. God knows the best.
ReplyDeleteMr anonymous,it‘s true GOD knows the best but 1 question i may love to ask is gej the only public figure and authority in this country? Some of our respected men and women like Gen BUHARI, Lai MUHAMMAD,AHMED BOLA TINUBU,Gen OBASANJO,FFK,AMEACHI, ROCHAS, to mention but few that some of you idiots rain abuses and called them name or is their GOD diffrent from THAT of gej‘s, who is even gej to be compare to some of those reasonable and responsible men? If you idiots point your dirty fingers and insult our men of honor,that is the way we will countinue to rubbish and insult your stupid gej and his unqualify cabinet. Rubbish talk from a rubbish and yeye anonymous!
ReplyDeleteYour so called respectable men are not worth that name. Since you all refuse to give the President of Nigeria the respect due unto his name;none of those your corrupt names will get there. Since the day He was sworn in ,you & your so called leaders made the country ungovernable. God will reward you all & deliver Nigerians from all of you. Buhari,Obj,Tinubu,Rebadu,fkd etc by God's grace.
DeleteWho cares about your videos, the fact is that your numerous negative publications about the President have got no effect on us. We love GEJ more than ever. Save yourself of all your wicked and malicious publications. Get life please.....
ReplyDeleteTheir Jesus Christ!!! Anyway as GEJ is not the root cause of Nigeria problem, I admit there had been other factors/other thieves before him but now he's the head therefore he can make a change/stop the rot in the system but with what I see on ground, he's not doing so much and as u all know 30% out of 100% is failure!!!. He has the power he can choose to be different and forge a way for the youths in the country.
ReplyDeleteMalik.
you idiot u insult our president like that. GEJ was not d only worse president in this country called Nigeria, right from Jonathan downward including baba obasanjo are worse president Nigeria has ever produce. you yourself u know that Nigeria has never produce good president, average Nigerian is a critics. we Nigerian must alway criticize every government.
ReplyDeleteI quess this Tarauni must be a BOKOHARAM member......any coment u make is just as if animal or dog is barking
ReplyDeleteMr anonymous we did not criticise gej bcos he is jona or azikiwe or simple bcos he is from the minority or bcos he is from the south-south no,we condem gej bcos of his acts. gej is a complete failure,he lack the quality of a leader which am sure you know but you wouldnt agree with me due to your selfish intrest. When nnamdi azikiwe (the original zik) was in power how many people criticise him,but this your gej is been condem even in his nieghbourhood in the south-south due to his insincererity and poor leadership. gej talk reckleessly as if he is under a spell,
ReplyDeleteMr anonymous we did not criticise gej bcos he is jona or azikiwe or simple bcos he is from the minority or bcos he is from the south-south no,we condem gej bcos of his acts. gej is a complete failure,he lack the quality of a leader which am sure you know but you wouldnt agree with me due to your selfish intrest. When nnamdi azikiwe (the original zik) was in power how many people criticise him,but this your gej is been condem even in his nieghbourhood in the south-south due to his insincererity and poor leadership. gej talk reckleessly as if he is under a spell,
ReplyDelete