Thursday, 9 February 2012
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As Jonathan Prepares For New York By Sonala Olumhense
Columnist:
Sonala Olumhense One month from now, New York will welcome Mr. Goodluck Jonathan as leader of Nigeria to the United Nations General Assembly.
Between the City of New York and the State Department, chances are that Nigeria is being “encouraged” not to miss the party. By now, the world knows Mr. Jonathan as a man who travels in large crowds. Even with only a few of the 10-12 planes in the presidential jet pool heading towards New York, in addition to other “officials” jetting in from Abuja on commercial flights, Nigeria would do the local economy a world of good.
But theoretically, it is good to the people of Nigeria that Jonathan would be coming to America for. As part of the 65th General Assembly, the United Nations has invited world leaders to a High Level Summit on to discuss how to accelerate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This is a conundrum because as far as the MDGs are concerned, Nigeria has demonstrated only political interest, not political will. And political will is the most important resource required to achieve them.
From Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in office when the MDG targets were set, to Mr. Jonathan—who may feel he owes the Nigerian people nothing since he never begged us to vote for him—we have had no leader in the past 10 years who saw the MDGs as an opportunity rather than a burden.
As a result, we have squandered 10 of the 15 years that, along with 190 other countries, we promised to pursue these development targets aggressively.
Our promise was to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.
While some nations accepted these as an article of faith and as an opportunity, Nigeria has emerged as one of the more profoundly pathetic failure cases. We do not have an MDGs strategy, or presence, or energy. We do not have a determination to achieve the MDGs, which seem to have achieved a nuisance quality in government-speak.
I know why: in our leaderships, the concept of terminating poverty, for instance, is the direct antithesis of the determination to buy private jets or grab oil blocks or nail down big contracts. Politicians want government office to separate them from the common people, not make them the same.
And eradicating poverty suggests communism, or at least a society in which those people are like us. If you observe the way powerful Nigerians treat their domestic assistants, particularly when they are juxtaposed with their own children, you know they resent the thought “eradicating” poverty or “universalizing” education. That partly is why Nigerian leaders do not maintain our hospitals; they and their wives would rather die naked in foreign hospitals.
In Nigeria, it is the daily images of poverty around our rich and powerful that make them feel like men. In Obasanjo’s time, remember, he got angry when he was shown basic United Nations statistics declaring that over 70% of Nigerians live on less than one dollar per day. His response was not to try to conquer poverty, but to re-define it: he asked government officials to give him better numbers to play with.
“Yes sir!” answered Professor Ode Ojowu, who was the fawning Chief Economic Adviser to the President. Obasanjo explained that he did not know any (Nigerian) who did not know what he would eat the following day.
Yar’Adua may have been too sick to understand what the MDGs were. He told a newspaper early in 2009 our country could not achieve four of them by 2015 (six years away!)
Jonathan has retained the same token acknowledgement of the subject in the form of Ms. Amina Ibrahim, the Special Assistant on the MDGs who has been handed down since Obasanjo. She is probably very good, but whatever it is she is being asked to do is not seriously designed to help Nigeria achieve the MDGs.
Still, we can move mountains.
In Mr. Ban’s report, “Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015,” which was prepared for next month’s summit, Mr. Jonathan will find the following eloquent assessment: “Achievement of the Millennium Development Goals remains feasible with adequate commitment, policies, resources and effort. The Millennium Declaration represents the most important collective promise ever made to the world’s most vulnerable people.”
Mr. Ban also writes, “Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs and embrace a sustainable development process for a brighter, more secure and more prosperous future for all.”
The problem, as I have said, is that Nigeria’s leadership does not believe any of this. That is why it would be interesting to learn of Mr. Jonathan’s contributions should he choose to participate at next month’s roundtables. The themes will be: Addressing the challenge of poverty, hunger and gender equality; Meeting the goals of health and education; Promoting sustainable development; Addressing emerging issues and evolving approaches; Addressing the special needs of the most vulnerable; and Widening and strengthening partnerships.
What will Mr. Jonathan say? He cannot make the same empty old argument that Nigeria lacks the “resources” because around him on his delegation will be some of Nigeria’s most excellent minds. He cannot, because within a few hours’ drive from the United Nations, there are no fewer than 10,000 top doctors, scientists, economic planners, agriculturists, or teachers.
And no, he cannot tell the world Nigeria lacks the resources because he will be speaking in front of people each of whom will have in his file a copy of Jonathan’s embarrassing “50th independence anniversary” budget.
Each of those world leaders will have a record of the three jets he has just bought, and the brazen looting that his government superintends (not that they will all object, since their own economies are often the beneficiaries). They will know that every member of Jonathan’s vast delegation to New York will be draining the Nigerian economy at the rate of about $1,000 per day in hotels and allowances.
My point is that even with only five years to go, Nigeria can achieve the MDGs if Jonathan and his people are determined to do so. I can make this assertion because some of the countries that will be reporting their remarkable leaps and bounds in a few weeks achieved them within a burst of just a few years. I also know that there are a lot of tools to help us, including the June 2008 recommendations of the MDG Steering Group called “Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa.”
But Nigeria cannot take advantage of the opportunities in front of her unless Nigeria’s leaders change. Last Thursday, for instance, at a workshop on the MDGs in Abuja, the government declared Nigeria as having recorded an “average performance” on five of the MDGs with “less satisfactory performance” on three others. That is government mumbo-jumbo for “nothing to report,” better known as failure. There is nothing to report because we have put in next to nothing.
There was much worse, last week. Ms. Ibrahim spoke about Nigeria trying to set up a “Count Down Strategy “to outline the roadmap to accelerating progress towards Nigeria’s achievement of the MDGs by 2015.”
Part of the “strategy,” she said, would “chart the trajectory of MDGs financing and investment to 2015 and interface with Vision 20:2020 and the Seven-Point Agenda.”
Apparently, nobody has told her the Seven-Point hoax has been buried. And Ms. Ibrahim, curiously, did not repeat what she said last September: that Nigeria would need N4trillion per year to achieve the MDGs. She also did not seem to know that in a few years, the Vision 20:2020 thing will morph into the alliterative Peoples Democratic Party joke that the MDGs were a few years ago.
There is a lot of revisionism and deceit going on within the corridors of power and privilege in Nigeria. What we must do is begin by understanding that it is all in our hands. And everyone is now wise to our shallow speeches and the petty deceptions we can no longer hide.
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Is That it?
Submitted by Chukwukadibia (not verified) on September 10, 2010 - 10:31.
If that is what u think the mdg's are all about, then u don't know anything about them. So stop poisoning people's minds.
sonala if you have nothing to
Submitted by Aduati (not verified) on September 4, 2010 - 14:12.
sonala if you have nothing to write just shut up and leave Jonathan alone. He is an academician not an alitist. He knows his calculation. Man is a measure. He will do it all as the president come 2011.
THE MESSIAH
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 31, 2010 - 00:48.
The next dispensation will serve as a forerunner for the Nigerian 'Messiah' dispensation of power.
It will actually make way for the president coming in 2019.
2025 will be a revealer as well.
For now, Nigerians should vote wisely. A word is enough for the wise.
goodluck is an ignorant fool
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 29, 2010 - 23:31.
goodluck is an ignorant fool who knows nothing and is being pulled by the nose by yayale and his thugs. may God not leave us in the hands of people's enemies like yayale, Amen.
i feel bad when people write
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 29, 2010 - 22:59.
i feel bad when people write trash simply because a southern christian is in power. Jonathan must contest and lead Nigeria till 2015. Let the haters go to hell. The man is doing his best for the country at the moment.
We all have to support him period.
Frantic efforts are now being
Submitted by Muna (not verified) on August 25, 2010 - 17:39.
Frantic efforts are now being made at the MDGs office to come up with what to present at the GA. Usual fire brigade approach.
GOODLUCK THE JOHN THE BAPTIST
Submitted by hameed (not verified) on August 23, 2010 - 16:22.
I do not know the entire hoopla about Jonathan. God know that Nigerians are criminals and wimpish and possibly cannot engage in a revolution to purge our population of criminality. so through series of divine realignment,we have come to this fore bearer called jonathan. a coward who has shot himself in the foot by shouting to the roof top that he would conduct a one man one vote, freest election in Nigeria.he and PDP would soon realise that they have dug their own grave with the appointment of JEGA. heaven knows that the revolution would be bloodless as the people that would die would be the same innocent followers, so he chose Jonathan who would hand over without a fight when JEGA would ultimately announce BUHARI or RIBADU the winner if for anything just to fulfill his promise and walk into the sunset a Nigerian legend albiet by accident. it was written!
FULL OF SOUND AND FURY
Submitted by ariteni (not verified) on August 23, 2010 - 08:35.
SONALA: "My point is that even with only five years to go, Nigeria can achieve the MDGs if Jonathan and his people are determined to do so."
My point is that Jonathan and his people cannot achieve anything in five years if they are driven away from Aso Rock by the cabal in 2011.
GOVERNANCE is meaningless to our 'leaders'!!
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, PA, USA (not verified) on August 23, 2010 - 03:24.
Sonala, my brother, you have written well. But Nigerians really do not understand the mindset of our political leaders and civil servants. All these talk about MDGs to them are mere speech. I was in Abuja five times last year and had business to transact at the Federal Secretariat. I quickly realized from my first meeting with our civil servants and bureaucrats that they have a very simplistic understanding of GOVERNANCE in today's world, which was indeed a big shock to me.
Sonala, was it not only last month that Mr. Ali Ndume, the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives told Nigerians that 80% of our annual budget is spent on the Presidency, the National Assembly and the MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) on RECURRENT expenditures? Thus, is it 20% of the budget that you would expend to ensure attainment of Millenium Development Goals? That is simply not possible.
That is why I maintain that Nigeria is doomed the day we allow the PDP to produce the President of Nigeria in the coming Presidential election. Nigeria needs a 360 degree turnaround, and that should begin by mobilizing the masses and the tired citizenry that each has a role to ensure that PDP candidate does not win by going out enmasse to vote for ACN Party's candidate.
Sonala, by the way, you mention that estacode for bureaucrats traveling with the President is US$1000.00 per day. Abi na 1998 figure be dat, eh? Well, that amount is the minimum estacode for public corporation MDs. Those who travel with the President collect between US$2000.00 and US$5000.00 per day. Go and check. This is no intelligence information. It is open secret.
our problems are as old as Jonathan
Submitted by Deri (not verified) on August 23, 2010 - 03:23.
We really have a very big problem in Nigeria--too large for some of us to understand perhaps. What is the MDGs for Allahs sake? Its nothing but the usual social conract between the government or the thieving of Nigeria since Indipendence and her citizens period. The basic needs of the human society like water, health, education, good roads among others. Is Jonathan the man reesponsible for our bad roads, lack of health facilities from Gombe to Enugu? The problems confronting the nation are as old as President Jona himself. To now say that he is responsible for all the ailment of our society since Lord Lugard discovered the path to Ziks abode, does not make sense to me-yet calls for SNC goes unheeded. Who is afraid of SNC? lET US NOT REGIONALIZE OUR THOUGHTS AGAINST JONA BIKO
In sha Allah, we shall meet these goals.
Submitted by Elmango Meat (not verified) on August 23, 2010 - 02:45.
@Sonala Olumhense, "What will Mr. Jonathan say?"
Likely he will say, 'I am Goodluck, the President of Nigeria, the Giant of Africa!(all the other nation's delegates look around, exchanging furtive glances, some suppressing a cough). I can assure you that we are rapidly striving to meet all these goals.(some delegates now rapidly convert a laughter to a feigned cough!).
'In sha Allah, we shall meet these goals. Even the food the birds out there eat is supplied by the great almighty, so how much more those of us in Nigeria and PDP.' (Nigerian delegation team of 2000 of estacode seekers, boot lickers and permanent political jobbers, inappropriately applaud rather boisterously)
'I need to remind you all that the great IBB, no non-sense Abacha, chain-smoker Shagari, Bigot Buhari, Do-or- Die, I-dey-Kampe Obasanjo and more recently, my late co-ticket holder, go-slow YarAdua were all there before me and they did their best. Their very best!
'Let us finish with the election first, and we shall attack these goals with all the deserved alacrity! It is not all about finishing or getting a goal medal. It is about participating and we are quite happy about present non starter status. Applause!
I am confident that if the goals do not meet us, we have all the resources and the PDP BIG WIGS to ensure that the selected few meet those goals! Thank you all."
@Anayo Ajator, "President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck is a God sent." I agree. God sends people to teach us a lesson especially with us Nigerians when we chose to do nothing, when we acquiesce to the rampant injustices that prevails in our society and instead fast and pray against the grinding poverty we face daily!
@Mgbechikanma Ejimonu Don't you speak and write in English? Even if you do not, write in Igbo and we shall read it!
Not Jonathan
Submitted by Ayomide 2 (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 22:35.
The messiah will come when the time is right. Jonathan is not the messiah and all those encouraging him to contest in 2011 are sick, shallow minded individuals that do not have the best interest of Nigeria in mind.
President Joe's Visit To The USA.
Submitted by Pedro Okojie (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 22:19.
What beats me is the sycophacy of the majority. Imagine anyone iin his right sense saying President Joe is GOD sent; GOD sent from where? Its a plus the world has become a global pot where nothing is hidden permanetly.I applaud rather the voices of reason from sahara and Sonola who raise issues which the rulling class mustn't forget are of urgency to the Nigerian people. One thing is for sure though, the people are slowly waking up,the inevitable will happen when the happen will happen.
@H.Okoronkwo..the Messiah
Submitted by Saulawa Katsina (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 17:59.
@H.Okoronkwo..the Messiah will come from SR.Yes Okey Ndibe as the president.Then SR will turn to be ..'Nigerian dynamic president did that..Nigerian indefatigable leader travels to Washington etc.You know it is operation protect your kinsmen and kill the others how holier they are.
Jonathan a Paper Tiger
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 16:58.
There are two news events we are expecting: one, that Jonathan has declared he will run in defiance of PDP zoning formula or, two, a declaration that he will not run in compliance with the resolution of the leadership of the PDP. Any other publication on Jonathan's candidacy is an exercise in futility on the part of a section of the Nigeria media to force Jonathan on PDP and on Nigerians. The same section of the press routinely failed to impose their choice of presidential aspirants on Nigerian in all elections since independence. There is no reason to believe it will succeed this time. Jonathan for president is another waste of news space and time.
NOT ABOUT PERSONALITY
Submitted by ceejay1 (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 16:46.
My take on all these talk about the MDGs, and there realisation in 2015, is that a serious leader who cares about the development of his citizenry will institute plans to better their lives without waiting for the rest of the world to tell him what to do.
If we look at the MDGs critically, we will see that all the goals are interwoven and closely related. And i have always argued it with my friends that once poverty is tackled in our land, every othe problem will disappear or mostly disappear. It is poverty and ignorance that will make one not to use the health center, or hospital when his child is sick or his wife is pregnant.
I think what the Government must do is to set up a kind of social security system that will aim at providing a minimum subsistence funding for most of our rural people monthly....we have the resources, and the manpower to help come up with a credible, appropriate, workable and culturally acceptable to Nigerians...the developed countries started from somewhere before evolving to what they have now. Our leaders MUST think about this instead of sharing the money from the excess crude oil account amongst the three tiers of government monthly... a system has to be set up whereby these funds trickle down to the rural people in form of social security....I know other commentators may not see anything good in what i said but, i believe that this forum is about coming up with suggestions and solutions, as we all know what our problems are.cheers
@ Mgbechikanma Ejimonu
Submitted by Adolf Hitler (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 13:54.
Seconded. SR, Please tell us the implication of GEJ ascent to the electoral bill. I don't like GEJ but he seems to have Nigerians at heart.
president badluck jonathan
Submitted by okonkwo kenneddy (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 12:54.
president badluck jonathan has been conspiring with the ruling class in furthering the impoverishment of nigerians.....after just few months in office,president badluck has practically depleted our treasury and set the country twenty years back. few months on the saddle,the man`s score card is disturbing...starting from his wife`s money laundering trip to dubai,we have seen a president ever ready to lavish our resources on frivolous presidential jamborees.the nigerian govermnent delegation to the G8 summit was touted as unnecessarily overcrowded but we trust our president to exploit any rare avenue in wasteful disbursement of scarce funds.....as if that was not enough, our president proposed spending 50billion naira to celebrate our 50years of failure but only to review the figure after vehement opposition from nigerians.we have not forgotten that few weeks ago,mr. badluck rewarded many inept and corrupt individuals with national medals while leaving out those who have excelled in public service and other arena.one is under the impression that the president is delibarately working againt the people,how else can we reconcile the wisdom of buying three jets for the presidential fleet with government indifference to the grinding poverty in the land?......it is an affront on us all for anybody in his right frame of mind to argue for continaution, yet we see some idiots come to this forum to talk about south south presidency as if that is more important than food and shelter for our teeming population of suffering people.....untill we can put a man in aso rock who can comfront obasanjo and babangida,we will remain in this web forever.....ribadu or buhari now.....
Blame the citizenry not Jonathan-a 4 month old toddler
Submitted by Deri (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 12:47.
Some talk or write as if, Jonathan has been in the saddle for over 50yrs. Its sad to comprehend where these set of Nigerians get theior ideas from. When u advise your son on the need for him to be studious and he refuses to listen to yr pleas until he or she turns 50, what do u do? Having invested every penny on him-he has no right to blame you-that is Nigeria for u-the failures of the MDG should be kept far away from the door step of Jona-MDG are issues that Nigeria should have embarked upon over 40yrs ago. Awo warned us.But we refused to listen to him. Instead, it was how to murder Ken SaroWiwa. Bomb Odi and Plateau, then kill Abiola. Cancel June 12, after wasting 40b. Now Inec has gotten 0ver 80b. Money that wld have been spent on our development if IBB had gotten it right. Its now going into voters register-By the way Jona begged us for our votes with Yaradua. The national cancer is over 50yrs old. Every hand must be on deck to help reduce the level of ignorance in our midst-Jona cannot do it alone Biko.
Can't You Guy's write something else
Submitted by Mgbechikanma Ejimonu (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 09:41.
Can you guys write about something else apart from Jonathan this and Jonathan that?....No mention of recent intercepted arms....No detail breakdown of what the recently signed electoral act or breakdown of INEC supposee Billions is meant for?....No investigative reports from states of the Federation.No construtive suggesstions to government..all sahara does is sit somewhere and gossip endlessly aboout Jonathan.....Shame on u
Jonathan a God sent
Submitted by chief Anayor Ajator (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 08:42.
President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck is a God sent and he must run and win the election. The great Dr.Hassan Adamu had said it all, that after 50 years that Nigeria must develop, irrespective of where the president comes from. Nigerian s needs a clean leader like Dr.Jonathan Goodluck and not never-do-wells.
Chief Anayor Ajator writes from South Africa.
Re: Jonathan a God sent
Submitted by chief Anayor Ajato (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 08:41.
President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck is a God sent and he must run and win the election. The great Dr.Hassan Adamu had said it all, that after 50 years that Nigeria must develop, irrespective of where the president comes from. Nigerian s needs a clean leader like Dr.Jonathan Goodluck and not never-do-wells.
Chief Anayor Ajator writes from South Africa.
Jonathan not the problem nor the solution
Submitted by H. Okoronkwo (not verified) on August 22, 2010 - 02:43.
Nigerians spent so much capital fighting to 'enthrone' Jonathan and now we have found out rather very quickly that he is as useless as they come.
No one 'elected' under the current rotten system can do any better. If you bite the 'corrupt fingers' that fed you, you will be eaten alive by the same system.
Look around you, corrupt lecturers, policeman collecting bribes in broad day light, corrupt pastors, corrupt mechanics? Where do we expect this messaiah to come from?
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