A group, Alliance for Northern Development Initiatives, says it is concerned by the recent attack launched by Dr. Junaid Mohammed, a second republic lawmaker and an elder statesman on the address to Nigerians delivered by President Muhammad Buhari to mark the 57th independence anniversary of the country.
A statement by the Secretary General of the group, Juris Tanko, says the attack should worry Nigerians because it portrays Dr. Mohammed, a well-known social critic as a rabble- rouser and unserious person who delights in attacking personalities and institutions even when he has very little or nothing at all to say.
Tanko states: “It is pitiable and detracts from the social standing of Dr. Junaid Mohammed that the anniversary speech of the President which has got positive reviews from some Nigerians should become the object of attack from a man of Dr. Junaid’s caliber.
“The impression which any well-meaning Nigerian takes away after going through the puerile and poorly-conceived attack is that the so-called social critic is looking for relevance and media presence not having any visible public position since he failed to secure re- election as a Federal legislator, or appointment into any public office.
“One recalls that it was not long ago that the same Junaid Mohammed picked on a former Vice President and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar and heaped insults on the frontline politician and statesman. In that particular attack, Dr. Junaid hinged his attack on a supposed defense of the North. It is left for Nigerians to judge who between Atiku Abubakar and Junaid Mohammed has done practical and beneficial things for the North and Nigeria in general, that the eyes can see.
“Dr. Mohammed’s latest attack on President Buhari who has just recovered from a bout of sickness smacks of lack of respect and insensitivity on the part of Junaid Mohammed.
“Junaid Mohammed presents the image of someone who is on contract to see nothing good in other men and might actually be doing the bidding of who knows who. In addition he has no respect for elders which is contrary to the custom and tradition of all Nigeria’s tribes.
“One would advise Dr. Mohammed to retrace his steps on his recent past time of behaving like loose cannon, who sees nothing good in other people when the evidence is to the contrary. The consequence for the former lawmaker would be that no one would take him serious when he criticizes for the sake of it and to whet the appetite of media personnel hungry for news. With time, he would be seen as a harbinger of fake news and a brilliant life would have been messed up.
“President Muhammad Buhari is not perfect and never claimed such. Similarly, none of his aides, who are but mere mortals have claimed perfection the way Dr. Mohammed does. Therefore if there was anything in his independence anniversary speech which anyone is not pleased with, it should not be the reason for a total condemnation of the speech and an infantile and laborious effort to attack the person of the President and Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“One would not like Dr. Junaid Mohammed to become a footnote on account of incessant engagement in unnecessary self-contrived confrontation with the country’s famous citizens. A word is enough for the wise.”
