NIGERIANS IN U.S. RALLY FOR JONATHAN
Despite rain and snow, and a blizzard which hit the United States of America (USA), Nigerians rallied at St. Regis lawn in Washington, marching and singing in support of the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan in the February 14 presidential election. The rally also attracted friends of Nigeria, who came in their numbers, to support the re-election of President Jonathan.Braving the freezing cold and defying call by weather experts to stay indoors, hundreds of people huddled under umbrellas, some waived the Nigerian flags, others wore shirts and caps to signify their support for President Jonathan. Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, who is the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the election, was billed to attend a Corporate Council on Africa event at the venue of the rally Monday but cancelled it due to the visit of the U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry to Nigeria.
Dr Toyin Ibidapo, a member of the local American Legion, said he participated in the rally because he “felt a strong responsibility to honour the president, considering the many challenges he has faced in his first term. “I thought the general would be here for us to tell him our piece of mind”, she added. Ibidapo, who served in the U.S. Navy in the 90’s as a systems specialist, complained that Jonathan’s accomplishments were under-reported, especially in the Nigerian and foreign media. “I have come out this morning because the only thing that can now make any difference to our country is to unite together and support the president.This is a chance we do not want to miss at any cost,” Shola Aromashodun, a 40-year-old attorney in North East, DC, told reporters. “President Jonathan did us a solid. Now it is time for us to return the favour”, he noted. According to him, “I just returned from Nigeria, some people think they are owners of Nigeria. They want you to sit this one out. They want you to be discouraged and afraid.
Most of these powerful few around the country hope that you spend your day and time doing anything other than the one thing that they desperately don’t want you to do, which is choosing who you want to be your president”. On his own part, Mr John Egbuchiri, an engineer with the U.S cable communications giant, Xfinity, said “our mission today is to stand in the rain, stand in the snow, stand tall and stay here for however long it takes in support of President Jonathan”. The ferocious blizzard described by New York’s mayor, Mr. De Blasio as the worst in history did not deter the crowd as they sang and expressed their support for President Jonathan.
Executive Director of the diaspora campaign network, Mr Franklin Ekechukwu, called on Nigerians to make wise choices during the forthcoming elections: “We should vote for someone with intellectual capacity to understand the complexity of global situations”, he said. “I am one of the thousands of students that benefitted from the Federal Government’s scholarship scheme, Jonathan deserves a second term considering what he has done in the education sector, most of us are here because of his visionary reform in that sector, said Etaria Omekwe a student in Washington, DC. The two days protest also took place in front of the Nigerian Embassy and major streets in Capitol Hill.
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