The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday urged government officials to hold themselves to higher standards of conduct “as a way of ensuring good governance and winning global respect for the country”.
In a statement in Lagos yesterday, the APC’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the resignation of South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won, over his government’s much-criticised poor handling of the April 16 ferry disaster was instructive. Over 300 people have been declared either dead or missing in the disaster.
The APC said the PM’s exit must jolt the conscience of Nigerian officials who have been found wanting when they have found themselves in similar situations.
‘’Until our leaders hold themselves to higher standards, as it is done in other democracies around the world and take responsibility when necessary, they will continue to perpetuate impunity, celebrate mediocrity and cling to power at all cost, even when it is clear that there are not serving any other interest but theirs,’’ it said.
The APC said the resignation of the South Korean Prime Minister was the culmination of widespread public criticism of the government over the handling of the ferry disaster, especially the slow pace of recovery of the bodies of victims and the conflicting information given by the government over the tragedy.
“The Prime Minister also stepped down even though he had paid a visit to the families of the victims, just like the President of South Korea.
“Compare this with the situation in our country, where about 20 job seekers died in a stampede that was directly caused by poor planning and execution by a government agency on March 15, 2014, and for which the supervising minister (Abba Moro) blamed the victims instead of accepting responsibility.
‘’Compare this with the aftermath of the killing of 75 citizens and wounding of over 200 in a bombing at a bus station in Nyanya, Abuja after which the President quickly embarked on an illegal campaign rally in Kano during which he was dancing ‘Skelewu’ on the graves of the victims, or his trip to Ibadan for a birthday party.
‘’Compare this with business-as-usual posture of the Federal Government and the playing up of the controversy surrounding Tuesday’s political rally by the PDP in Adamawa State, even as over 200 school girls have continued to languish in the den of the insurgents in the Sambisa Forest.
‘’Till date, President Jonathan has not visited the families of the abducted school children to offer them support and succour, neither has he visited the families of the students who were brutally murdered in Yobe in February. We cannot continue like this if we really want our country to be seen as a worthy member of the comity of nations,’’ the party said.
The party urged President Jonathan, who has been disingenuously portrayed as Nigeria’s equivalent of Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama and other great leaders of our time, to lead the way in showing that Nigeria is indeed a part of the civilised world, where every human life is considered worthy and sacrosanct.
‘’Politics must not stand in the way of decency and human sensibilities. Re-election campaign must not take precedence over the welfare and security of Nigerians. It is time for President Jonathan to show leadership,’’ the APC said.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned yesterday saying the “cries of the families of those missing still keep me up at night”.
He will however remain at his post until the disaster is under control.
The Sewol ferry with 476 people aboard – most of them students and teachers – sank off South Korea. Officials have confirmed 187 died, but scores are missing, presumed drowned.
On behalf of the government, I apologise for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster,” he said.
Furious relatives have repeatedly criticised what they see as the slowness of the recovery operation.
“The right thing for me to do is to take responsibility and resign as a person who is in charge of the cabinet,” Mr Chung said in a brief televised statement.
“On behalf of the government, I apologise for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster.”
He added: “There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong. I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again.”
President Park Geun-hye accepted her prime minister’s resignation but did not set a last day in office. The PM would leave his post once the ferry disaster was under control, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
