By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The social media has been busy with exchanges on why President Muhammmadu Buhari has chosen not to communicate directly to Nigerians in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The trigger for the debate was Dr Dipo Awojide who said the Twitter community abroad is not being nice to President Buhari.
“They are currently dragging Buhari in Uganda, Ghana, and Pakistan,” he said.
One of such tweets was from a Ugandan, @Balekenyaagi who said: “I know Ugandans deserve better. But, our president, Museveni, has addressed this nation the 5th time in two weeks on the COVID-19 pandemic. You guys need to visit Nigerian twitter. They are looking for their president. He is no where to be found.”
A civil society organisation, Enough Is Enough (EIE), said it was wrong for the president to choose silence as a strategy in this battle against the virus.
“While leaders of countries around the world view speaking to their citizens periodically as part of the process of managing #COVID19, President @MBuhari does not think so. An aide said it’s a matter of style,” the group said.
The aide the EIE was referring to was Femi Adesina, media adviser to the president. He had said President Buhari’s silence was a matter of style in combatting the virus.
But an activist, and serial critic of President Buhari, Aisha Yesufu, said the various responses so far has shown that the states should have more resources than the federal government
“State governors taking decisive actions with the president missing in action shows we do not need a powerful centre in Nigeria. We should revert back to true federalism. Let the states take care of themselves and contribute a fixed percentage to the federal government,” she said.
