- Ezekwesili to Tinubu: “Your Address is underwhelming to Read…Empty.”
- Okupe: “You Lied, Tinubu Addressed the Needs of Nigerians”
A former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili and a former Presidential aide, Dr Doyin Okupe, are locked in a fierce battle of words over Sunday’s nationwide address of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to Nigerians.
Ezekwesili, in her reaction, criticised Tinubu in his address, saying he failed to speak on the demands of Nigerians.
However, Okupe, in his reaction applauded the president, saying that he did address the demands of Nigerians.
The former minister, who took to her official X handle, said Tinubu’s speech was a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and an outline of convincing evidence-based actions that his government will take to address bad governance in the country.
She maintained that the speech was written from a mindset focused on “getting back at Tinubu’s imaginary enemies”
She said: “@officialABAT, As one of millions of Nigerians who were at church when you delivered your late-in-coming Speech to Citizens on the #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria protests, let me loudly say it was underwhelming to read.
‘Your Speech reads like a page from your party manifesto and failed to connect to what our Citizens on the Streets are angry and protesting about.
‘Your speech is quite a monumental missed opportunity to placate citizens with sound answers and outline of convincing evidence-based actions that you and your @NigeriaGov will immediately take to address the priority #BadGovernance concerns.
“Your Speech was sadly again written out of a mindset that is focused on “getting back at our enemies”. Imaginary enemies at that! No true Leader has the luxury of having “enemies” among their Citizens. Not at all. A Public Leader becomes the Leader of ALL with a mind that does not think of any as their enemies.
“This is why it is ever unfortunate to see Nigerian public “Leaders” talk and behave like Losers on matters of public governance where they are expected to rally their ALL Citizens behind the common purpose of nation-building.
“It is nauseating to observe this recurrent innate unwillingness of Nigerian public leaders to admit responsibility for the demands of the same public leadership that they kill and maim citizens to assume.
“@officialABAT, Citizens know when they are being badly governed and from what one can see, Nigerians have now realized that they must collectively speak up and take action; otherwise, their self-obsessed rulers (and not leaders) will not pay them any heed at all.
“As we remember and pray for families of all our citizens mauled down or maimed for demanding an End to Bad Governance, let me call on you @officialABAT to immediately instruct the IG @PoliceNG and his men to “STOP KILLING PEACEFUL PROTESTERS NOW!”
“Also fish out all law enforcement personnel that have killed and maimed citizens and ensure they are sanctioned as a deterrence to their colleagues.”
However, Okupe maintained that Tinubu did not disappoint Nigerians in his address to the nation regarding the nationwide protests on Sunday.
He said: “President Bola Tinubu’s speech has not disappointed Nigerians in that for the first time, the president clearly stated the daunting economic situation his administration met on the ground at inception.
“He also amplified the strenuous efforts made by his government to reduce the prevailing crippling and stagnating debt servicing ratio from 97 per cent of earned revenue to 68 per cent.
“In truth, this has been the major cause of our present economic woes and sufferings.
“It is now self-evident that if the fuel subsidy was not removed, it would have been impossible for the government to function.
“And the government will not be able to meet its obligations, without continuing the profligacy of massive and sustained borrowing to fund the subsequent national budgets,” Okupe said
