Chris McManus, 28, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, and Franco Lamolinara died in the bid by UK Special Forces and Nigerian military on Thursday.

maclatunji:

Mr. President, Are You Really In Control? I doubt!

After reading this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17308416 and other related stories, I am pressed to wonder whether my country's sovereignty has been handed to some other country's leader(s). The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, actually authorized a Special Forces operation in Nigeria which we only got to know-of because it went wrong resulting in the death of a Briton, Chris McManus and an Italian Franco Lamolinara who had been captive held by militants in Sokoto state since last may. This has sparked a diplomatic dispute between the Italians who feel insulted that they were not given information prior to the commencement of the operation and the British who feel they did the right thing.

Hold on a second here, shouldn't Nigerians be angry that foreign forces are carrying-out covert operations on our soil without our consent. I doubt that Nigeria's parliament, the National Assembly gave approval for foreign forces to conduct (c)overt operations in Nigeria. Now, we all have to deal with its disappointing aftermath.

While we have been told that the Nigerian Military was involved, one cannot help but imagine that they were "cheer leaders" in the operation.

If the British had any respect for Nigeria and its military, they should have allowed Nigerian security agencies deal with the situation in our country and not bring-in their own "highly trained and equipped special operations force" to engage in what has proven to be an unwise fiasco that has led to the unfortunate death of these two foreigners.

Why did President Goodluck Ebele Azikwe Jonathan not insist that Nigeria would handle the situation and that no foreign forces would be allowed to engage the kidnappers? My only guess is that he actually felt that the British forces could do no wrong and are next-to-perfect whilst showing a lack of faith in his own forces. He is the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria's Armed Forces for God's sake, how about showing some greater faith in your own military?

This makes it clear to me that the Nigerian President is proving to be weak and not confident-enough to face the challenges of leadership in Africa's most populous nation.

President Jonathan, please wake-up, leading Nigeria is not a tea party. If you lack adequate knowledge to lead in certain areas, get competent advisers and aides. A leader cannot know everything and must find competent people to guide him when difficult decisions are to be taken.

You have not spent up to two years into your four-year term but Nigeria and its citizens keep getting embarrassed by many of your rather poor decisions.

It is time to step-up your game Mr. President, enough is enough!

http://coolstuff49ja..com/2012/03/mr-president-are-you-really-in-control.html

maclatunji:

If the British had any respect for Nigeria and its military, they should have allowed Nigerian security agencies deal with the situation in our country and not bring-in their own "highly trained and equipped special operations force" to engage in what has proven to be an unwise fiasco that has led to the unfortunate death of these two foreigners.