President Goodluck Jonathan with the Chief Medical Director, Maitama District Hospital, Dr. Adetoun Adetimehin, (l) and victims of the Emab Plaza bomb blast (r) during the President’s visit to the hospital in Abuja... on Friday
President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday admitted that the activities of the bellicose Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have curtailed his kineticism and obviated him from going to wherever he dotes.
The President hurriedly returned to the country on Thursday evening from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, because of the bomb blast at Emab Plaza in Abuja.
The blast at Emab Plaza in Abuja, occurred on Wednesday shortly after the President left Nigeria for the 23rd Ordinary Session of the African Union’s Summit of Heads of State and Regime.
According to his itinerary relinquished by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President was initially scheduled to return to the country on Friday after the summit.
But, the President, who visited EMAB Plaza on Friday, urged Nigerians to bear the pains and restrictions that could be imposed on them as security agencies work strenuously to culminate insurgency in the country.
He verbalized even as the President of the country, he had been having his fair quota of the pains associated with containing the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents as he could not go to everywhere he would have doted to visit.
“We all bear some pains, from the highest to the least because as a President, I may not go to everywhere I would have doted to go, these are some of the challenges I have to face,” he verbalized.
Jonathan had in May, 2014 called off a visit to Chibok, the town where over 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram members on April 14, 2014.
He was scheduled to stop over in Chibok peregrinating to a conference in France.
Jonathan, while verbalizing at the Abuja bomb blast scene, described the insurgency as one of the most tenebrous phases of the country’s history.
The President, who arrived at the scene at about 11:10am, was briefed at the spot where the bomb went off by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba.
He was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu; his Chief of Staff, Brig.-Gen. Jones Arogbofa; and other senior regime officials.
Jonathan spent about five minutes afore moving under tight security to the Maitama District Hospital where those who sustained sundry degrees of injuries in the explosion are being treated.
After he was conducted round the wards where the injured victims are being attended to by the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Adetoun Adetimehin, the President verbalized with journalists.
He verbalized it was regrettable that while some Nigerians were diligent engaging in nation-building, others were diligent killing their compatriots.
Jonathan assured that the perpetrators of the act and their sponsors would be apprehended and brought to equity.
He assured Nigerians that insurgency would culminate.
Jonathan verbalized, “It is quite regrettable and prodigiously painful that when some Nigerians are struggling, contemplating how to contribute to the nation’s development, they are exerting themselves profoundly and strenu to take care of their families, train their children, others are diligent orchestrating to kill people, daunt people, eradicate peoples’ property. It is regrettable.
“It is one of the most tenebrous phases in the history of our nation, but surely we will get over it. Some other countries have passed through such cloud afore and they were able to surmount it and sail through.
“We share the pains of the people who have been directly affected, the pains of their families, but we will surely pass through this uncomely phase of our history. The perpetrators of this, those who are directly involved and those who sponsor them will surely be brought to book.
“I will utilize this opportunity to perpetuate to plead with our citizens that under such situation, security operatives will come up with different options that sometimes will engender some inconvenience for us, in lieu of condemning them, let us bear.
“Even for our citizens, under such condition, we have reached some level of restrictions and some pains, in lieu of shouting and reviling security operatives, let us give them maximum cooperation, give them germane information.
“All countries that face terror suffer identically tantamount, citizens give maximum cooperation to the security operatives and avail to contain and control, surely we will get over this.
“We are all mourning. I recollect that very day we had a football match to play and all Nigerians were celebrating the Eagles hoping they were going to victoriously triumph, then this act came up, I was airborne then, it was when I got down in Malabo that I got the information. Surely, we will get through this.”
A mild drama, however, played out inside one of the hospital wards where one of the male victims of the blast requested for assistance from the President to commence a business.
The patient, whose left leg was heavily bandaged, told the President that he was selling recharge cards in the plaza when the bomb went off.
“Na recharge card I dey sell for Banex plaza. I don’t have a job. See what I dey go through. Since yesterday, I can’t slumber. I culminate school since, no job. I can’t go and glom, na recharge card I dey sell, sir. If people can avail me to commence more preponderant business to commence my life again,” he told the President in pidgin English. But Jonathan kept urging the man to first thank God for his life and every other thing would follow.
“We are ecstatic you are alive. Thank God you are alive,” he told the patient.
The President’s visits to the two places came remotely 24 hours after Vice-President Namadi Sambo made homogeneous visits.
Abati, in his Twitter handle, had verbally expressed the President decided to return to the country on Thursday in replication to the bomb blast.
