Why Jonathan didn’t speak at Mandela’s memorial service – Abati explains

By Unknown

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

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Following murmurs in the country that President Goodluck Jonathan was snubbed at late Nelson Mandela's memorial service because he wasn't
allowed to speak, the Presidency has issued a statement clarifying the situation.

Nigerians were surprised by the fact that
President Jonathan did not get a chance to give a personal eulogy about the late South African icon unlike many world leaders who did so yesterday.

Presidential spokesperson, Reuben Abati, has stated that the action was not an insult on the president as believed by most people. Abati said that Jonathan did not speak because there was no need for a personal speech as the Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, had already spoken on behalf of all African leaders.

Daily Independent reports:

It was good enough that Jonathan attended the event in solidarity with the people of South Africa, said Abati, who described the attendant fuss back
home as an "indication of a rising, minority tendency to read the negative into every official item".

Abati added that "it is a classic case of much ado about nothing" and "a complete non-issue".

According to him: "The late Madiba's burial is not a United Nations debating session. It is what it is a burial: a solemn, national ceremony. "Leaders from all over the world attended the Memorial Service to pay their last respects and to
identify with South Africans in their hour of grief.

"It was certainly not meant to be an occasion for political grandstanding or the waving of flags. "Out of about 100 world leaders who attended the
event today, only six spoke at the ceremony. It was made clear at the occasion that the Chairman of the AU Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma will speak on behalf of African leaders. And she did.

"I do not agree that Nigeria was insulted in any way. It was good that President Jonathan attended the Memorial service and that Nigeria is in solidarity with the South Africans. If every leader who attended the service had been asked to say a word, the event would not have ended.

"There were many other leaders at the event, whose countries have strong historical and political ties with South Africa, but who did not speak. I have not heard their compatriots crying like babies.

"This is obviously a further indication of a rising, minority tendency to read the negative into every official