President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of the #BringBackJonathan signs used by his supporters for his second term ambition.
The order was contained in statement issued by Reuben Abati, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Jonathan. Abati said the President has ordered the removal of the offensive and repugnant signs and campaign banners bearing the slogan.
“President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has directed that the #BringBackJonathan 2015 signs and banners around Abuja which he and many Nigerians find offensive and repugnant be brought down immediately. President Jonathan wholly shares the widely expressed view that the signs which were put up without his knowledge or approval are a highly insensitive parody of the #BringBackOurGirls hash tag,” Abati said.
While adding that the signs were being used without the president’s knowledge or approval, Abati said the signs appeared to make light of the national and global concern for the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls.
“While President Jonathan appreciates the enthusiastic show of support for his administration by a broad range of stakeholders, he condemns the #BringBackJonathan2015 signs which appear to make light of the very serious national and global concern for the abducted Chibok girls,” he added
The directive comes on the heels of condemnation from the Washington Post, an influential newspaper in the United State of America, USA, which described the use of the slogan as galling.
In its editorial, the newspaper noted that the #BringBackJonathan sign was parodying the #BringBackOurGirls – the social media campaign used to nudge the world to the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, by the Boko Haram terrorist group in April. Washington Post, queried the basis for parodying the rescue campaign slogan when Jonathan’s administration had failed to rescue the girls from captivity.
WhatsApp us