Call for resignation: “Be patient with Jonathan, IRA reigned for 28 years in Britain,” Okupe tells CAN

The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Matter, Dr. Doyin Okupe yesterday urged those calling for the resignation of the president over the poor handling of the insecurity challenges facing the nation to be more patient with the present Jonathan’s administration.

He noted that it took the British government 28 years to contain the Irish Revolutionary Army (IRA) and Sri-Lanka Tamil Rebels were subdued in 27 years, saying that  Jonathan should be giving more times to tackle the menace.

Okupe was reacting over the recent statement issued by the Northern Chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which blamed Jonathan on the Boko Haram’s insurgency.

The statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sunday Oibe, however asked President Jonathan to resign, stressing that he had failed Nigerians.

It argued that it had become  very clear that President Jonathan was no longer  capable of handling the dangers posed by the Boko Haram (Western education is sin) insurgency.

But, Okupe, said though the call by the Northern CAN “is misguided,  government is compelled to sympathise with the Christian Community in the North who have suffered incessant attacks and bloodshed.”

He stressed that  the security challenges, especially in the North, was  being handled with total devotion and commitment by the security agencies.

Okupe said: “Since this menace started about a year ago, the unwavering support and commitment of President Jonathan through massive deployment of resources, acquisition of hi-tech security equipment and other infrastructure have been seriously overhauled and enhanced.

“It is a fact that 60 per cent of the programmed attacks of the Boko Haram are frustrated or stopped, even before they happen,” he stressed.

Okupe, therefore, appealed for understanding from the Christian community.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President did not specify what the President was doing about the challenges, but he went on to say Boko Haram has become very sophisticated, with its classifications into a religious, criminal and political dimensions.

Okupe also re-echoed the government’s assurance that the security challenges would soon be over, noting that it took the British government more than 28 years to contain the Irish Revolutionary Army (IRA).

The Sri-Lanka Tamil Rebels were subdued in 27 years  and the Oman insurgency in Morocco was contained in more than 16 years, Okupe said.

He Noted that Nigerian Armed Forces have the capacity to contain all insurgent attacks within days, Okupe stressed that such an action would be expensive at a great collateral damage  to the civilian populace, hence the need for patience.