President Olusegun Obasanjo over an 18-page letter in which he
accused him of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence and
clannishness.
He had on Sunday described the letter as full of lies.
The President revisited the issue during a Christmas Day service held
at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Life Camp, Gwarinpa, Abuja.
Though he did not mention the name of the former President
specifically, Jonathan regretted that some politicians who thought the
country belonged to them had started thinking about the next
election.
In the process, he said, such politicians had started doing what
they ought not to do, including writing letters.
He said contrary to what they thought, the country did not belong to
any politician or group of politicians.
Rather, he said Nigeria belonged to statesmen, traditional rulers,
religious leaders, men, women and youths.
Jonathan said, "We politicians that think we own this country and are
already thinking about next election; we are doing what we ought not
to do; making statement we ought not to make and writing letters we
are supposed not to write.
"This country belongs to our statesmen, traditional rulers, religious
leaders, our men, our women, our youths. Nigeria does not belong to
any politician or group of politicians. So, we will continue to urge
the clergymen to pray for this country."
Jonathan also spoke on terrorism in parts of the country, saying
Nigerians were lucky that the situation was being brought under
control.
Citing the example of Pakistan, Jonathan argued that naturally,
countries infested with terrorism hardly survived it.
While recalling past cases of bombing recorded in the Federal Capital
Territory, he guessed that the Presidential Villa, Abuja could have
been the next target.
"For those who know about terrorism, countries that are infested with
it hardly get out of it. If you look at a country like Pakistan where
we even train some of our soldiers, there appears to be no
government in some parts of it. So the situation in this country
(Nigeria) could have been worse.
"In Abuja which is the seat of government, even the police
headquarters was bombed and the United Nations building was also
bombed . Maybe the next target would have been the State House.
"So we have to thank God that we have been able to bring terrorism 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."
While making reference to the sermon delivered by the Primate of the
Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most. Revd. Nicholas Okoh,
Jonathan agreed that none of Nigeria's neighbouring countries would
be able to accommodate Nigerians "if we had a crisis."
He noted that currently, if not for political and diplomatic reasons,
some Nigerians in neighbouring countries would have been asked to
leave because their hosts are not too comfortable with their presence.
Jonathan said, "The Primate was asking if Ghana or Sierra Leone could
accommodate us if we have a crisis. I was just laughing because now
, the people of those countries are not even comfortable with
Nigerians living with them. If not for political and diplomatic
reasons, they would have even asked some of them to leave.
"Assuming we have crisis, where will you go? Is it the Atlantic Ocean?
So I urge you to continue to pray.
"I also thank religious leaders for praying for this country and I
believe God has been hearing your prayers. We will do our best within
the period that God has asked us to occupy the positions we are
occupying."
Jonathan also observed that in the world today, the expectations of
the society were hardly met by leaders.
He said, "When Christ was born, the Jews were told that God was giving
them a King and a saviour.
"Today, because we are used to reading the Bible, immediately you
hear of the word 'saviour,' you will think about Christ and his
attributes.
"The Jews were being dominated by the Romans, it was like when we were
under the colonial masters. The Jews thought they were getting
somebody who will lead them to a war and chase away the Romans for
them to be free. But the war they expected was not Christ's own
style.
"I think it is only in one place that Christ was quoted as carrying
the cane and flogging people in the synagogue for trading and doing
other things they were not to do in the House of God.
"So today, we have similar situation. The expectations of the society
are hadly met by leaders."
Earlier in his sermon, the Anglican Primate had urged Nigerians to
ensure that peace reigned in the country because Nigerians had no
where to seek refuge in crisis situation.
He urged them not to join evildoers to wreak havoc on the country
because most sponsors of violence have houses abroad.
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