Guardian

• Take governance more seriously, ACN tells govt

JUST a day after President Goodluck Jonathan restated his commitment to the anti-terror war in 2013, he made a disclosure that further demonstrated the tough stand of his government in this regard.

The President Tuesday revealed that the suspected masterminds of dastardly terror attacks on some installations in the country in the past two years had been apprehended. Those already held include suspects of terror attacks   on the Louis Edet House, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, United Nations (UN) Building and the   St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla in Niger State.

But the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged the Jonathan Administration to “shake off its trademark lethargy and take governance more seriously in 2013 to ease the hardship, which his government has foisted on Nigerians, especially in the past year.”

Jonathan who spoke during the “Naming and Circumcision of Jesus Christ and New Year Service,” held at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Diocese of Abuja, All Saints’ Church, Zone 5, Wuse, Abuja, gave kudos to the security agencies for working quietly behind the scenes to combat terrorism.

He attributed the successes so far recorded to the unrelenting prayers by the church, urging them not to cease until total victory was achieved.

The President was accompanied to the church by his wife, Patience, his mother, Eunice, lawmakers, some members of the cabinet, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister of State, Olajumoke Akinjide and her Police Affairs counterpart, Caleb Olubolade and some of his senior aides.

The President restated his earlier commitment to Nigerians that the New Year would be better for the country, adding that he had laid solid foundations for the country’s critical sectors and that his administration would continue to provide employment for young people and encourage entrepreneurship.

His words: “The church’s prayers have been helping us to stabilise the country at the time of our challenges. There was a time the country was drifting and everyone thought the country would not endure but the prayers rescued us.

“We have moved to another phase of terror, kidnapping and armed robbery but these are momentary challenges.

I receive constant briefings on security daily though we don’t publish. Most of the terror suspects have been arrested. People may not know what our men in uniform have been doing, they have been doing a lot to check the situation.

“The people who bombed Police Headquarters, United Nations Building and St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla have been arrested. We will continue to improve on our security architecture.

“The new year will be better for the country. We have a huge population and we will continue to provide employment for our people and encourage entrepreneurship.”

He blamed the various problems the country was facing on the attitude of Nigerians. “ It is the ambition to get rich over night that leads to robbery, kidnapping and all sorts of crime,” he said.

In his sermon, the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh, urged Nigerians, the church, businessmen, civil servants and politicians at all levels, to circumcise their hearts.

“To be regarded as uncircumcised means you are a Godless person. Jesus demonstrated his circumcision by being obedient. We ought to be obedient to God’s laws.

Circumcision as it affects us today means cutting off sin, corruption, bitterness and so on and so forth.

“As we enter the New Year we should cut off certain things. I ask Nigerians, the clergy, business community who exploit people, civil servants who hide files, politicians at all levels, teachers who persecute girls for refusing to sleep with them, traders who sell substandard products, transporters who hike fares, petroleum product sellers who shortchange Nigerians, kidnappers, armed robbers and Boko Haram to circumcise their hearts,” he said.

The Old Testament lesson was read by the First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan from Genesis 17: 9-16.

In a New Year message issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the year 2012 ranked among the worst years for Nigerians, even by the very low standard of a non-performing and profligate administration like President Jonathan’s.

It said having ‘ambushed’ Nigerians on January 1, 2012 with a totally unnecessary and punitive fuel price increase, the Jonathan Administration ensured that everything went downhill from that moment until the end of the year, when Nigerians had to pay far above the official price for fuel, with its attendant bandwagon effect on the price of goods and services.

“Mr. President, that singular act of your Administration helped to erode whatever trust Nigerians reposed in you. Since trust is a critical element between the government the and governed, you must begin to rebuild trust by delivering on your promises, since trust can neither be decreed nor forced.

“Suffice it to say that Nigerians cannot and will not trust an administration that promises to fight corruption but has presided over the worst cases of corruption in the history of the country; Nigerians cannot and will not trust an administration that set up committees after committees to probe the oil sector, only to shamelessly dump the reports of the committees in the garbage can! And Nigerians cannot and will not trust a spendthrift administration that wastes scarce resources on flimsy projects like banquet halls and mansions for a few government officials, when millions are jobless and homeless,’’ ACN said.

The party advised Jonathan to drop his Transformation Agenda in favour of a compact programme that prioritises security, job creation, infrastructural development and the fight against corruption.

It also advised the administration to stop relying on phantom statistics to give Nigerians the impression that it is delivering the dividends of democracy, when indeed the opposite is the case.

“The Jonathan Administration trumpets economic growth figures with glee, but of what use is economic growth that has not translated to better lives for the people, created jobs, put food on the table and made our roads more motorable?

“Despite this so-called economic growth, the reality of the Nigerian situation is that more of our youths are daily meandering through traffic in our major cities selling toothpicks, rat poison and pure water. What does this so-called economic growth figures mean to them?