Outrage as Okupe compares Jonathan with Jesus
Christ
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Nigerians have severely criticised the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin
Okupe, for comparing President Goodluck Jonathan
with Jesus Christ.
Speaking during a live breakfast show on Channels
Television on Monday, the presidential aide said
Jonathan had borne the nation’s problems and woes
on his shoulders in the same way that Jesus Christ
had always carried the burden of Christians all over
the world.
Gesticulating widely during the programme, Okupe
stated that, with regard to the Nigerian situation,
Jonathan could best be likened to Jesus Christ.
Noting that Nigerians had failed to understand the
troubles the President had gone through for the sake
of “everybody” in the country, he said, “There are
political issues. People do not understand the burden
this particular President is bearing. He is like Jesus
Christ. He (Jonathan) is bearing the burden of
everybody.”
In view of Jonathan’s “untold burden” for the nation,
Okupe said, it would be impossible for his principal
to lose re-election in 2015.
The presidential aide boasted that though certain
politicians had been allegedly sabotaging the Federal
Government’s reforms, especially in the power sector,
victory was still certain for his principal.
“Today, the Nigerian Army is in total and perfect
control of the North East. I can’t see Jonathan losing
this (2015) election. It’s not possible,” he added.
Reacting to his comments, many Nigerians lambasted
Okupe for comparing Jonathan to Jesus Christ and
asked him to withdraw the statement.
Online activists who took a swipe at Okupe urged
Jonathan to publicly reject the title of “Nigeria’s
Jesus Christ” which they said Okupe erroneously
bestowed on him.
An angry online activist, Tayo Moore, accused Okupe
of insulting Jesus Christ by comparing Him with his
boss.
Noting that the development was sacrilegious, Moore
advised Okupe not to hold the belief that he could
“insult” Jesus Christ and go scot free.
“Okupe has just confirmed that he doesn’t know or
have Christ. It is only a matter of time before he
(Okupe) begins to compare Prophet Mohammed and
Jonathan in the same breath.
“That will be his final undoing. I am wondering what
the Christian Association of Nigeria has to say on
Okupe’s sacrilege, given its current ‘leadership’ or
should I say lack thereof?” Moore argued via his
Twitter handle.
A Kano-based respondent, Nazir Galadanchi,
cautioned the medical doctor-turned politician
against uttering what he described as a blasphemous
statement.
Galandanchi argued that Okupe’s latest analogy was
not surprising as he had recently compared his boss
with the late anti-Apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela,
with a view to selling the President’s candidature to
Nigerians.
“That’s blasphemy. Okupe should please seek for
forgiveness,” he added in a message on Twitter.
Political blogger, Japheth Omojuwa, described
Okupe’s latest comparison as the height of
“desperation” of the Jonathan-led Presidency.
“Doyin Okupe just called Goodluck Jonathan
Nigeria’s Jesus Christ. We have finally reached the
peak of their desperation. How can you trust a bad
marketer to sell a bad product? Okupe trying to sell
Jonathan is the journey of a blind man leading
another,” he tweeted.
Social commentator, Temitope Atiba, stated that it
amounted to an oddity for Okupe to preoccupy
himself with drawing semblances between the
President and the central figure of Christianity.
“You can see the stark irony of life when Doyin Okupe
begins to compare Goodluck Jonathan to our Lord
Jesus Christ. Then again Goodluck Jonathan and
Jesus Christ have little else in common apart from
flesh and blood,” Atiba argued.
Describing Okupe’s comparison as strange, another
respondent, Aisha Yesufu, said it was the “height of
madness.”
“Is nothing sacred to these people? Is there nothing
that one does not dabble in with these people? This
is the height of madness,” she added.
She also cautioned Okupe against blaming
Jonathan’s failures on activities of saboteurs, stating
that “excuses are meant for weaklings.”
“There is not bad weather only bad clothing. Excuses
are for weaklings. A government easily sabotaged
should give way. We are sick of the excuses. They
(excuses) are way out for weak leaders and sign of
incapacity.
“All it (the Presidency) does is to complain. This
government blames all but itself. As long as this govt
blames others the solution can never be with it but
with those it blames.
“Since this government cannot fight all those
sabotaging it, then why is it a government? Probably,
the saboteurs will keep sabotaging him (Jonathan)
and we will keep paying for it,” she said.
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