Vunderkind
Social Member
The Washington Post has heavily condemned the President Jonathan campaign currently going 'round, and no one can blame them really.
We remember the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, the campaign that finally roused the West to the ugly face of Boko Haram in Nigeria. Even though the girls are still missing, the scenario finally shed the light into the upheaval that was, and still is, ravaging the Northern part of the country.
The girls are still missing four months later, and Boko Haram is still killing. In fact, quite recently, the face of this terrorist group has morphed into something even more sinister: they are now seizing control of towns and calling them islamic caliphates a la ISIS.
What does the president do, as a result? Not much, as far as Nigeria knows. But if action speaks louder than words, then somebody has been working double hard to create a concert out of a national tragedy.
Recently, to the collective disbelief of everybody with his wits about, campaign posters and social media frenzy rolled out, all with the hashtag #BringBackOurGoodluck.
Seriously. #BringBackOurGoodluck.
As Washington Post writes in its article titled "This May Be the Most Inappropriate Political Hashtag of the Year", "Nigerian forces are now fighting Boko Haram in pitched battles around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the main hotbed of Boko Haram's operations. The U.N. reports that at least 1.5 million people have been displaced by the conflict since Jonathan's government declared a state of emergency in May.
But the gravity of the moment hasn't stopped some in Nigeria from appropriating the tragic hashtag for rather cynical purposes. Banners emerged in the capital Abuja over the weekend showing Jonathan alongside a new slogan: #BringBackGoodluck2015. The campaign appears to be the work of supporters of the president, keen for his reelection in presidential polls next February. It's not clear whether Jonathan has officially endorsed the new hashtag, but its seeming ubiquity suggests that he is not opposed to it."
Social media reaction has (so far) been on the disapproving side, as can be seen from the tweets below:
'But What's the Big Deal, Really?'
In the comment section of the Washington Post we find a colorful mix of opinions. Some people feel that the #BringBackOurGoodluck hashtag is not worth the fuss, really, as it isn't copyrighted material and it wasn't intended to offend anyone.
Others vehemently reiterate that it is the most insensitive the president could have done (or permitted to have executed in his name, depending on which paper you read).
On which side of this hashtag fence do you sit?
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