Highlights of President Jonathan's media chat

President Goodluck Jonathan's media chat took place last night.He discussed some presssing national issues while taking questions. What are your thoughts on how he handled the questions? If you missed the chat below are some of the issues raised:


On ASUP strike:

"If you go on strike for one day, by law, you are supposed to forego your
salary. It is only in Nigeria that a body will go on strike for 6 months, and still get salary for the 6 months. The Polytechnic strike is been handled.

Re-election 2015:

My declaration for 2015 should not be a problem for Nigeria, but how we manage the
economy. PDP is the champion. We need to know the challenger before we declare our candidate for 2015.

Corruption:

The word corruption is now being overused. There is difference between corruption and common stealing. If anybody steals $20bn today, America will know and tell you where the money is, because $20bn is a lot of money. More than 70 % of the cases called corruption are stealing which can be easily investigated. 

On how he's handling issues:

People say I am too gentle, that is not true. If I should exercise 50% of my powers, I will be described as a dictator.

On the Missing Chibok schoolgirls/Boko Haram: President got emotional:

I feel pained anytime I hear one Nigerian is killed by the madness called Boko Haram.  I feel very pained. I personally spoke with Barack Obama, President of France & China to help us with battle against Boko Haram.

We promise we will find the Chibok girls. We have requested for assistance from the US, but I can’t go into details. On the list that I saw, 80% of the kidnapped girls in Chibok are Christians. We can't negotiate with somebody you don't know; nobody has claimed responsibility for abduction. We need every information, their pictures, names and any other details that we can get to put this incident behind us. We are trying our best and appreciate the concern of Nigerians over the situation in the country. Even the missing Malaysian Aircraft the world is yet to find it, so we are not alone"

On the Federal Governments directive of schools and Government offices to shut down during the World Economic Forum Africa which is to hold from Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th

GEJ said the move was needful so as to control free flow of traffic. He said Nigeria is not the first place to do such and that when he was in Netherland for the Nuclear summit, some institutions were shut down during the course of the summit. He said that places like Davos where the World Economic summit takes place cannot close down institutions because every year the WEF takes place there and the place has been designed to host the world yearly. He said private enterprises were not compelled to close down but are only advised to close down so as to help traffic free flow.

On seeking international help for the security challenges Nigeria is facing

Pres. Jonathan said he has reached out to Pres. Obama twice on the matter and security personnel from America were sent down to Nigeria. He also said he has reached out to the Presidents of France, China and other neighboring countries such as  Cameroon, Ghana and Benin republic for assistance. On some Northern Governors visit to the US, he said it is not a Federal Government arrangement. He said he is always pained whenever he hears any Nigerian passes on as a result of the madness called Boko Haram.

On rumours of helicopters dropping food stuff for boko haram membersHe said no one has come out with pictures to authenticate these claims. He said "One does not need network to take pictures" but no one has been able to take any picture showing helicopters dropping foodstuff'.