#BringBackGoodluck2015 Campaign Halted After Nigerian President Orders Removal of Posters
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the removal of re-election campaign posters which read #BringBackGoodluck2015, mimicking the #BringBackOurGirls campaign for more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls in his country.
"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 hashtag," Dr. Reuben Abati, the presidential spokesperson, told Agence France-Presse Wednesday.
The hashtag was a campaign that sprouted on Twitter when the more than 200 girls were abducted by radical Islamic militant group Boko Haram -- which has since been toppling government control in cities and towns in the country -- from Chibok in April.
Abati said the #BringBackGoodluck2015 signs were "offensive and repugnant."
He added that the posters, which are around the capital of Abuja, "appear to make light of the very serious national and global concern for the abducted Chibok girls."
But former Minister for Education Oby Ezekwesili told AFP the hashtag was started by the President's aide, and his claiming ignorance of it is deceitful. She posted some of the earlier tweets of the aid to back her claims.
Tweeters have criticized the whole campaign.
One tweeter, @DrDamages, posted twice about the #BringBackGoodluck2015.
"There is a refugee camp inside Nigeria. And all he wants for Christmas is reelection," he posted. "Has anyone seen good luck in the last 4 years? How do you bring back what you never had and haven't seen?"
Another tweeter, @kaysclose, posted, "Bring back goodluck. In one stroke you emphasise and remind us how completely you've failed at one single national request. FILTH."
Boko Haram is still holding 219 of the girls, but Nigeria's military has announced they know where they are being held, AFP reported.
"The President assures all Nigerians and the international community that his administration remains fully engaged with efforts to rescue the abducted girls and that he will not knowingly promote any actions that will fly in the face of the seriousness of their plight and the anguish of their families," Abati said.
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