Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, March 29, 2018
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – President Muhammadu Buhari will be remembered for a very long time even after he finished his ternure as President of Nigeria. He will be remembered for his anticorruption fight as the man who spoke and dealth with corruption the best way he could. But there is more. He will be remembered as the only president to have visited Lagos and for his visit, pupils were forced to rush examinations scheduled for two days in one day only to close from school at 10 pm on Wednesday.
The Lagos State Government had announced planned visit of the president at such a short notice, less than 48 hours before the visit and declared Thursday a public holiday to assuage the President who is visiting Lagos for the first time to commission projects. The only time he visited Lagos was during the 2015 general elections for campaign after failing on two occaisions to visit even after billions have been committed in funfair in anticipation of his visit.
It was announced at a time that students in Lagos State were writing their examination ahead of the Esther holiday. They had written papers scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, then came the annoucment from the blues, forcing the schools to squeeze two days exams into one day. The visit also left a sour taste in the mouth of workers, but most especially Christians who were forced to stay at home in routes designated for the President on a day that is loaded with activities on the Christian calendar ahead of the Good Friday.
Speaking at the Southern Nigeria- Middle and Belt People Peace Conference, held in Lagos today, South West Coordinator of the conference, Mr. Adewale Adeoye shocked many in his opening speech after thanking guests who managed to attend the summit on a day that the President was visiting Lagos, having blocked most of the routes leading to Adekunle Fajuyi Way where the conference was to hold. He rounded up his discussion by saying that the President’s visit came at such a short notice that did not even give him any hint of contemplating a shift in the day to hold the conference since many delegates have travelled far and near to attend.
He then went ahead to drop the bomb. ” Because the President was visiting, my children have to close from school at 10 PM. I left home to pick them from school by 10 PM just for one person. The school has to force them to write exams slated for two days in one day to enable them close for the Easter break. There was no specific time to close the road. We hope that one day our leaders will pass out midst and people will be proud to hug them”, he said, stressig that the custom of blocking roads is historic and not limited to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Catholics also have a very sad tale to tell about the visit of the president during this period. Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace Most Rev. Dr Alfred Adewale Martins described the 2-day working visit to Lagos as ill-timed.
In a statement signed by the Director of Social Communications, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Archbishop Martins wondered why Mr. President chose to make the visit to Lagos at a time that coincided with the most important days of the year for Christians when they celebrate the events of the salvation of the world.
According to him, in view of the large population and clustered road networks in the state, the closure of roads coupled with the ban of Okada on many routes, Christians who will be taking part in the Holy Thursday and Good Friday celebrations would be subjected to untold hardships.
In addition, Christians who would also like to welcome their President have been put in a difficult situation of deciding whether to fulfil their religious obligations or go out to welcome the President.
“The timing does not take into consideration Christians in government and security services who would be required to be at work to ensure a smooth, secure and safe visit of the President. It is really unfortunate that the timing of the visit would create such hardships for people and deprive some of their right to worship and take part in the most important feast of their faith.
He acknowledged that as the father of the nation, the President has the right to visit any part of the country as he deems fit in the course of his work, but that the timing of such visits should be sensitive to the situation of people especially when it involves the fulfilment of the religious obligations which their faith requires of them.
“We hope that those who plan such visits that are likely to disrupt the normal flow of the life of people would be sensitive enough especially when they affect the right of people to practice their faith and worship as they choose. I hope that the security Agencies would be mindful of the fact that people would be going about fulfilling their religious obligations on Thursday and Friday, (the two days that the President would be in Lagos) and therefore not make things unduly difficult for them”, he said.
