By
Dr. Iroanya Chukwuebuka David;
Desmond Okoye ( Co – Editor)
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In this, piece am going to try to make my point as brief as possible, clear and very easy to understand even to the lay man. First I would like to say that before I became a Christian and an Igbo I am first and foremost a Nigerian. I am well-educated, enlightened and very much aware of the happenings in and around Nigeria. I am very much aware that this election will not be credible as the ruling party, PDP has compromised the stand of Prof. Jega who now seems to be dancing to the tune of President Jonathan. Jonathan has equally resorted to having Buhari disqualified whose case has been adjourned, since he has failed in his bid to stop the use of card readers and PVC for the elections. Only God knows what dirt PDP has on him as regards INEC money.Only God knows why a PVC card reader should be stolen at this crucial moment in Nigeria. Only God knows what a PDP mole–Deputy governor of rivers state has been doing in the APC camp.
I also know it is very difficult to unseat an incumbent president who has virtually everything and everyone at his beck and call. In all these Buhari stands a chance of losing this year’s election despite his glaring popularity and political strength thanks to the caliber of men in his team. With this I would want to state that the effect of Buhari losing this election should not deter any well-meaning Nigerian clamoring for change as someday PDP would leave and I pray that day would be March 28th.
When I demand for change I don’t demand for Buhari or Osinbajo, I demand for another political option other than PDP which have wasted 16 years of the lives of the Nigerian people. Be that as it may the only political party that is able to face Jonathan head-on is APC with the no-nonsense personality of Buhari who is no saint to me either but is far more a better option as regards redeeming Nigeria than president Jonathan.
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I am a youth, a very concerned one indeed and very passionate about my country. I have had numerous opportunities to travel outside the country to study and even live there, but how can I when the image of my country is as bad Judas Iscariot who betrayed his own master, Jesus Christ. Countries we were better than for instance Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, even India now call us thieves, batter us in public if anything goes wrong because they know our administration is weak to handle such cases. I am even ashamed to be called a Nigerian outside my own country. In case you never knew, the image of Nigeria outside her shores is rotten.
Obama recently released a speech to encourage Nigerians to vote and start a new page in history and I totally agree with him. I call on every well-meaning Nigerian to think twice before they cast their votes. At first in 2011 I was biased as whom to vote and I ended up not voting at all (while my co editor voted for President Jonathan), and this may likely happen again this year to many Nigerians either out of fear of violence or out of confusion – that is not voting at all.
No doubt our president has done well in his own capacity but be that as it may he has not done enough to account for his six years in office. I wonder till date why a president should be proud of accomplishing at least 40% of his mandated duties with tax payers’ monies. Nigeria has grown past talking about new roads, water supply, electricity, naked display of corruption and a shameful display of weakness towards fighting a minute number of group called Boko Haram. Nigerian ought to be at the level of having one of the best and finest ultramodern means of transportation, like better aviation system, ultramodern railways, ultramodern hospitals, constant electric supply and quick action towards any form of insurgency. Nigeria deserves better because we all have come a long way. And yet this current administration is boasting about providing the basic amenities every other country ought to have. Even the so-called basic amenities, the presidency is still battling with it.
How can Doyin Okupe say that the Nigerian economy cannot afford one of the fastest ultramodern rail systems, instead we are given locomotive engines to manage and we Nigerians are rejoicing about it. I cannot and will never praise failure. Our president says that it is his government that has made the opposition party to thrive through freedom of expression, but on the contrary it was his weak governance that speedily gave room for a strong opposition.
I want to clearly state that I am an independent Nigerian, am not being paid by any political party though I have been called by several of them to join their bid which I blatantly refused reasons best known to me. My facebook friends who are of course south-easterners who think highly of me have now turned to become almost enemies with me just because we share different views and opinions as regards Buhari and Jonathan. All I request for is a peaceful, loving and corrupt free nation. Is that too much to as ask? I wrote an article about Buhari tagged” THE UNTOLD TALES OF BUHARI” and after writing that piece it struck me that most Nigerians are more scared of the unknown than the known. In that piece which was later used to modify Buhari’s Wikipedia page, I clearly stated the pitfalls of Buhari without bias as of course all he did was in an autocratic setting and to my amazement he – Buhari took full responsibility of it all without sentiments. Now, I wish to show you all why I am not happy with the Jonathanian government.
Carefully read without bias.
1. The most painful of all is the missing Chibok girls. Have those clamoring for Jonathan ever sat down to think that if it were to be their own sister or daughter that was kidnapped by boko haram they would still vote Jonathan? It took our“wonderful president” 3 complete weeks to come to terms that the missing girls were actually real and not a political cock and bull story? And it took him an extra 1 week to set up a committee to look into the matter before he eventually agreed that of a truth those girls were missing. Which president does that? Goodluck Jonathan. Amnesty international reports that the Nigerian military received warnings about the invasion ahead of the kidnap 4 hours earlier to reinforce security but the Nigerian military said their extended troops were unable to mobilize reinforcement. This is so sad. According to Obasanjo in one of his recent interviews, the plans of the sect was not to initially kidnap those girls but during one of their raids in the town they stumbled upon the school and it took them 3 hours or more to assemble trucks to carry the girls. Now tell me couldn’t my government on hearing this take action swiftly before the trucks arrived? Despite Obasanjo’s faults we all should sometimes learn to listen to him, I am obviously not his fan though. Those girls were married off to boko haram members and others to their supporters; they were converted to Islam because chibok is a Christian village so most of the girls were not Muslims. They-boko haram were even quoted saying that Islam allows slavery and so the girls should be sold out as slaves and as wives,these girls are between 16-17 years. Today we hear a different story that fleeing boko haram members kill their wives and dumped them in wells. Our FG says that none of the chibok girls was identified to be amongst them. We hear of female suicide bombers and one of the girls was identified to be amongst them. Yet our government said it’s a lie. Who do we believe? Let me remind all Nigerians that the logic behind finding these girls is as false as a green sky. The presidency assures the good people of Nigeria that the girls would be found but how certain? Look what will happen first, whenever a kidnapped chibok girl returns do you expect the family to call on the entire country to celebrate with them? They would rather hide the child away from the public because of the stigma the child will pass through. Most of these children obviously have by now HIV,Vesicovaginal fistula(VVF), some are pregnant and some with kids and some might have died either by suicide, killed by the sect or used as suicide bombers. This is the bitter truth. So, if Nigerians and the FG are thinking they would ever find those children in packs the same way they were taken then they ought to have the psychiatrist check their mental status.
2. Secondly we have the falling crude oil price in the global market which is supposed to be part of the benefits of every country that has diversified economy. But rather than drop the fuel price per liter to the equivalent which is N60-N70 the finance minister and petroleum resources minister with our president decided to drop it to N87 per liter, and yet Nigerians are rejoicing.Why do we settle for less when we could actually have more? It took the cries and shouts of Buhari for the price to come down as Jonathan thought it was one of Buhari’s campaign strategies to pull him down. To all my friends and fellow Nigerians who support Jonathan, I ask what the primary roles of the president?.
3. 1. Security of lives and property
2. Immediate halt in corruption.
“Without security, there is no government. So it is not debatable, it is something we have to address and we are working towards that with vigour. But if I’m voted into power within the next four years, the issue of power will become a thing of the past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do anything even if I am there for the next four years.” -Jonathan Vanguard news
The above is contained in president Jonathans’ own speech during his campaign in 2011 If a government fails in these primary duties what happens? The answer is simple, an opposition rises or a coup is plotted then the current administration removed. So Jonathan should not take credit for making the opposition party what it is today all in the name of freedom of speech and expression, rather it is his poor performance that awoke opposition. Barr. keyamo Festus was as quoted in his last letter to the few silent elites “Unfortunately, many of our elites do not want to speak up now because they do not want to be caught on the wrong side of any government in the next four years; they prefer to play safe, not wanting to be tarred with the brush of partisanship. But, I ask: what is wrong with partisanship in a country where you and your children have a huge stake? What is wrong in speaking up and standing up for what your conscience tells you is the right thing to do? What is wrong in being caught on the wrong side of the government in the next four years, if only you would be caught on the right side of posterity?”
4. Under our president corruption thrives, thousands of lives are lost, and we all pretend especially those of us in the southeast as if all is well. A president who gave the waterline and oil pipelines to militants and yet claims that his administration is fighting corruption?. Which of course demonstrates his ironic illustration of the yam and goat story. What then is the function of the police and Navy if the militants who have threatened to disrupt the election if their indigenous son, Jonathan does not complete his “mandated 8 years”,cannot perform their sworn duty?. Where is it in the constitution that a president must complete 2 tenures? Report has it that he has spent 1 trillion in his campaign against Buhari alone. Under his nose N5 trillion borrowed wings and flew away, and $20bn is still on the run.N30 trillion has been squandered under Jonathan’s mismanagement. All these are unaccounted for by the president and his finance minister. All we hear are stories upon story until the matter dies away. He claimed he has revamped the agricultural sector, let me remind all that it was during the rapid fall in crude oil that agriculture was being taken seriously, the current agricultural minister pleaded with the president not focus on crude oil alone as Nigerians major source of revenue but he never listened, it’s the same minister after receiving cash as I perceived now sings Jonathan’s praises as regards agriculture. He never showed his dismay towards Jonathan that its only now that the country is in crisis that Jonathan listened to him. And here we all are hailing the agricultural sector. Had it been the crude oil did not lose its value would Jonathan be speaking so loudly of Agricultural improvement? emphatically NO!!. president Jonathan made a man facing trial for money laundering by name femi fani-kayode his Director of mediaand publicity whom we all know his story. FFK is such an eloquent speaker thatwhen he was in APC he made PDP look devilish, now PDP bought him over he now makes APC look devilish too. Where does he stand? Its simple “ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHEST BIDDER”.
N100m Scam: EFCC Says Femi Fani-Kayode Must Answer Money-Laundering Charges. FFk is really doing a good job for Jonathan and the PDP and hence in order for him to keep up his “good work” the presidency made his court cases disapear into the thin air.
5. He-Jonathan removed fuel subsidy and promised immediate and affordable source of transportation to cushion its effect on the Nigerian people via the railway system, and how long did that take him? Three years!! Still we have locomotives as trains . He was quick to implement in 2012 the N145 fuel per liter but non-challant towards implementing the drop to N87 he made, even at that there is fuel scarcity looming in most parts of the country, and some sell as high as between N105-N120 per liter. And yet we are one of the biggest oil-producing countries in the world. Chaii! There is God ohh!!!
6. Or should I talk about his wife whom it pains to admit that there is no constitutional provision for the office of the wife of the president? She calls herself mama peace but makes inciting and violent statements like “anyone who talks about CHANGE should be stoned!”, Calling down Holy Ghost fire on Buhari and his supporters. Hmmm…I wonder if that is the demonstration of peace. A woman who campaigns as though she is the one running for presidency. A woman who jailed protesters who refused to go away during the period of the kidnapped chibok girls. A woman who said that PDP would rule for 60 years. Has our president lost it? Can’t he call his wife to order at least for conscience sake.
7.Talking about Nollywood actors and actresses whom I can bet was paid by the PDP to campaign for president Jonathan, where were they when the Bama massacre of over 2000 lives took place, why didn’t they protest or sing or demonstrate against such act. None of them spoke up when the chibok girls went missing but they are quick to sing the praises of the president as regards re-electing him. All they care about is money. Take a look at Onyeke Onwenu and Kate Henshaw who are already in the spotlight in the entertainment industry and at the peak of their career, how can Dame patience Jonathan say that without her husband they wouldn’t have been seen and heard. That’s the insult you get when you decide to sell your conscience. Yes, N3bn was pumped into the entertainment industry and tagging it “project Nollywood” in as much as it’s really good but its was for a definite reason. These entertainers Ibinabo, Toyin Aimakhu, Femi Adebayo, Odunlade Adekola, Patience Ozokwor, Ramsey Nouah, Omoni Oboli, Ufuoma Ejenobor, Moji Olaiya, Foluke Daramola, Jim Iyke, Kate Henshaw, Femi Ogedengbe, Fathia Balogun and many others have collected huge money from PDP couldn’t protest against the brutal killings of innocent lives and the rapid incline of corruption in the country but are quick to take a share from the National cake while some sensible ones like Omotala Jalade, Genevieve Nnaji, Uche Jombo, Stephanie Okereke are the four top Nollywood stars who have refused to join the campaign trail.
8. Finally, our president now resorts to campaigning with dollars not naira any more. Raining it on the westerners who of course rejected while some accepted. A president who has done well need not bribe his countrymen. This singular act showed that he has failed. Let us not forget that he asked for a single tenure, how come he is so much desperate for a second term now? Buhari never made himself popular rather, it was Jonathan who did, by allowing his campaign organisation air devious documentary about Buhari’s military regime and that of Tinubu. That campaign strategy was really childish and made some Nigerians hate Jonathan the more. Why should Buhari be judged by what he did as a dictator in a democratic setting? All the Jonathanians say about Buhari in the social media is “REMEMBER THE PAST”. If anyone reminds me of Buhari’s past I will remind him of his or her “Jonathanian future”
In conclusion
Nigeria is sick and needs urgent help. Nigeria as it is in the Intensive Care Unit ‘ICU’. Nigeria is bleeding to death under this current administration. Every Nigerian knows what a second term means for any government. For those ignorant of this fact, second terms for most politicians are terms for looting and squandering of resources. If people like Jonathan with what he has done to Nigeria in the last 6 years should continue for another four years what will become the fate of this country.
Money borrowed for election has to be paid back in second terms, rewards to loyal servants is given in second terms, most especially looting of the remaining resources goes to the second term leaders. If this current administration continues for another 4 years, it would be disastrous for Nigeria nationally and international and it would take a long time to heal or resuscitate this country. Only those in their right frame of mind would vote
PDP and the so-called transformation agenda out of power. It is time we as Nigerians experience something new, different, radical and it is time we experience change.
For more about Buhari do go to UNTOLD TALES OF BUHARI.
For
saharareporters
Dr.Iroanya Chukwuebuka. [email protected]. twitter: @iroanyadavis
Desmond Okoye. twitter: @desmondokoye ( Co – editor)
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