Buhari's speech is a missed opportunity - PDP
- A lot of criticism has trailed President Buhari's Monday, August 21 broadcast
- Opposition party, PDP, says the broadcast was a missed opportunity to address some of the major issues in the country
- The party said Nigerians deserved better than the 6-minutes speech from the president
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised the Monday, August 21 broadcast of President Muhammadu Buhari who recently returned to Nigeria after over 100 days on medical vacation.
The party referred to the president's speech as a 'missed opportunity' to address the important issues affecting the Nigerian people.
In a press release signed by the party's head of publicity, Chinwe Nnorom, the party said Nigeria deserved a richer statement for the president considering he has been away for over hundred days.
The statement reads:"The President and his handlers missed a golden opportunity to reconnect with the people through addressing issues that have direct bearing to their well-being and those of their children and dependants. Indeed, the President’s speech did not contain anything new; just a rehash of statements that already had been made by both government and various leaders of thought across the Country.
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"The PDP had cause to commend the then Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo for going round the Country to engage with relevant stakeholders, which certainly was a better approach.
"PDP believes that rather than rehashing the worn out clichés about Nigeria’s unity not being negotiable, Nigerians would have loved to hear their President come out definitively to tell them what realistic measures his government intended to take to uproot the Causes of the Perennial Agitations and counter agitations that are now becoming a recurring decimal in our national discourse.
"The party believes that instead of always mouthing the indivisibility of this Country, the Government should be seen walking the Talk by instilling confidence in all the people across board that it belongs to all.
"The casual mention of ‘elements of Boko Haram'...kidnappings, farmers versus herdsmen clashes’ etc, were also somewhat on the Perfunctory side and do not imbue confidence."
The party also faulted the president refusal to say anything about the ongoing natonwide university strike.
"President Buhari returned to the Country in a week that saw the Closure of all our Public Universities as a result of the Strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
"Yet, not even a whimper from our President. Has the future of the future leaders of our Country sunk so low in the Estimation of our current leaders that the Issue was considered not important enough to command a mention in the President’s address?
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"To this end, the PDP once again welcomes the President back home and continues to pray for his total recovery as well as God’s guidance. But we believe Nigerians deserve a richer statement from a President that was away from them for more than a hundred days during which a lot happened that should have elicited more than a mention in that speech."
Meanwhile, the convener of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group and former education minister, Oby Ezekwesili has criticized President Buhari over his speech to Nigerians after over 100 days in London for an undisclosed ailment.
Ezekwesili said the president missed the opportunity to soothe and assure Nigerians over his presidency and different agitations rocking the country.
Watch Legit.ng video of how the supporters of President Buhari celebrated his return:
Source: Legit.ng
