A review of the video recording of President
Goodluck Jonathan's speech at a Christmas
Day service in Abuja has shown that the
president lied to Nigerians in his claim that
the Nigerian media misquoted him.
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.
"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" told
PREMIUM TIMES 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.
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