By Louis Odion, FNGE
Vanguard editorial, in my view,
belongs in the heavyweight echelon of Nigeria 's commentariat. The weight
of its punch is to be judged not only by the resonance of the message over the
years; but also its economy of phrase - the uncanny facility to say a lot in so
few words, packing so much into so little a space.
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan |
But its edition
of August 3 must rank among those that fall miserably short of the high value
it normally espouses. In the comment entitled, "Looting Of Ex-President
Jonathan's Home", the newspaper said every thing expected against
the cops-turned-burglars and those who trafficked the stolen goods.
What would have
been a fine argument against yet another iniquity of man was however sullied
when, in the next breath, it openly sought to either deny anyone the right to
outrage against Jonathan on any count whatsoever or make a villain outright of
those unable to express pity or empathy with the victim on this matter.
It wrote: "No decent human being can claim that
what took place in ... President Jonathan's house is excusable on any ground.
All people of conscience must rise up and condemn evil, no matter who is
involved. The atmosphere of hatred which seems to have seized the people of
this country by the throat must be made to give way to empathy for one another,
as that is the only way we can build a united, strong country."