Monday, 21 May 2012
Understanding Jonathan’s Deepest Fear By Sonala Olumhense -Exclusive For NVS/SaharaReporters
Goodluck Jonathan
Columnist:
Sonala Olumhense I do not know if, last weekend, President Goodluck Jonathan gave “transport money” to the leaders of the Trade Union Congress and the Nigeria Labour Congress, collectively referred to as the Labour Movement, to encourage them to abandon the nationwide protest.
Remember: last week, the Movement was roaring like an injured lion. And then, curiously, it entered this week spread-eagled like an overpaid prostitute.
Not a kobo less than N65, the Movement had declared it was screaming into the ears of the government, not one brown kobo less. And then, as the Labour leaders vanished into the mists of history, President Jonathan announced how much they had sold for: 32 pieces of silver.
Thirty-two is the difference between the “victory” N97 the labour leaders said they won, and the N65 they had sworn by.
But Mr. Jonathan had heard the voices in the streets much more clearly. The sycophants at NTA did not want him to, but he learned that Nigerians had gone beyond merely asking him to revert to N65; they were asking him to justify himself. They wanted him to prove he is not corrupt, and that he can and will fight corruption.
And Jonathan knows that is beyond him. Instead, he gave up his allegiance to democracy and decided to share power with the military. In one day, our democracy was given over to armed soldiers who then engaged, unwittingly, in helping Jonathan avoid the corruption challenge. The soldiers thought all they were required to do was rip away from peaceful citizens a right of protest that is a constitutional relative of the right to vote.
What was more laughable—and I do not know if NTA permitted Jonathan to see this—the soldiers pointed at the unarmed citizens guns purchased with their tax funds and remnants of the oil revenues in contention. “Step back,” they ordered, “or we’ll shoot. We have orders to shoot!”
It was pretty horrendous to hear, not to mention treacherous. Once, just a little while ago, Mr. Jonathan was appealing to voters—not soldiers—for their support. Once, just a little while ago, Mr. Jonathan was a boy without shoes. Now, armed with a transformation agenda by which he believes he has metamorphosed into a tiger, he authors orders to kill the people who paid for his shoes.
But remember: Jonathan was clear about it all: he sent soldiers to the streets not to fight against N65, but to sidetrack the growing din to confront corruption.
But let me return to Labour. Actually, as last week wore on, it was clear labour was bartering away its credibility. In an article on Sunday, I urged its leaders not to misunderstand their place in the story.
They did not listen, and as a result, they will now be remembered for trading vision for blindness, strength for weakness; wisdom for idiocy, and relevance for ignominy. When the stench dissipates, they will share the graveyard of infamy with the politicians who sold Nigeria into slavery.
The first mistake Labour made was the easiest temptation of all: arrogance. Dressing themselves in borrowed robes, they posed as leaders and spokesmen for the protests, rather than as one of the parties in it. They forgot there were robust protests before they started borrowing those robes.
Elsewhere in the world, there have been remarkable labour leaders with a clear ideological grasp of the contest between the poor and those who keep them poor.
Not Nigeria, where our labour leaders, deficient in strategy and substance, claimed negotiations with the government. They probably were negotiating with the government, but as we now know, it was hardly for the people. They did not understand the people. They did not understand the moment.
Labour, just like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the welts on the backs of the people of Nigeria from five decades of being flogged with empty political promises. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the deep stab wounds on the spirits of Nigerians leaking with pain and disappointment. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the blood gushing out of hearts of Nigerians where hope used to gush. Labour, like Mr. Jonathan, cannot see the tears streaming from the faces of women and children, and the old and the infirm as they tire of waiting for justice and fulfillment.
Instead, Labour was satisfied simply with another free-food, free-form negotiation for “improved conditions.”
What about strategy? Every schoolboy negotiator knows that if you are foolish enough to travel into someone’s territory for negotiations, you have already absorbed half of the defeat. But our labour leaders, easily outmanoeuvred, went posing for pictures in Aso Rock wearing rock star smiles where grins of granite were required. In a contest in which the entire farm was on the line and lives were being lost, they seemed delighted Aso Rock had merely opened the gates.
I am sure the cakes and coffee of the presidential palace are delicious: Mr. Jonathan is spending nearly one billion fully-subsidized Naira this year to guarantee that. But when you are negotiating the lioness with the lion, you insist on a neutral location, not its lair. When you dine with the devil, you do not take the chance he will not flavor your tea with something nefarious, or that he will not manipulate the airconditioning and meeting schedules to his advantage, or send a bevy of voluptuous women to count dollars bills in a corner.
And Labour did not seem to have bothered with a written set of demands, either; if they did, there is no evidence they won any, unless you consider 32 pieces of silver to be some kind of victory. Clearly, aggregating and articulating the demands of Nigerians was beyond those amateurs.
It is doubtful they had actually heard what the protesters were saying in Nigeria and all over the world, or read the scandalous KPMG Report, or studied the subsidy subject. It is doubtful they saw the need for specific proposals and timelines in line with the demands of the protesters they claimed to be representing.
The re-dedication of civil society organizations and the more intelligent and focused arm of labour this week must therefore agree and sustain the clear and simple message that the war against corruption, represented by N65, is the agenda of the moment, and that it must be conducted and governed by definite reporting timelines, measurable achievements, public recovery of assets, and punishment.
The government is still the same. It is the people who have changed, and to whom the government must prove its credibility. To that extend, all the old tricks of speeches without action must end, NOW.
This must begin with Mr. Jonathan who must place action where words and pretences are. In 2006, a Joint Task Force on corruption which was set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo listed Mr. Jonathan for prosecution for false declaration of assets, including a Lexus Jeep worth N18 million; a BMW 7351 Series worth N5.5 million; and acquisition of properties outside legitimate income.
It is one of the wonders of Nigeria that the same Obasanjo eventually placed Mr. Jonathan on the 2007 PDP presidential ballot. But it is no surprise that when they won the election, Mr. Jonathan refused to declare his assets. When he was finally forced to do so, he was worth an incredible N295 million. It is not much of a surprise that now he is the boss, he has refused to declare.
Perhaps it is understandable then, that although he speaks about corruption, he is not really doing anything. The subject of well-investigated corruption allegations by NEXT newspaper in 2011, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, retained her position as Jonathan’s Minister for Petroleum Resources. It is the joke of the moment that the same Minister now claims she is deepening reforms and rooting out corruption.
This is further proof that Mr. Jonathan’s anti-corruption scheme is a bundle of loopholes and contradictions. It is all thunder and lightning; there is never rain, and nobody goes to jail. That is why any further engagement with him must involve specific deadlines of a short order, including immediate, 30-day and six-month commitments. There has been an entire library of corruption-related reports hidden away in the presidency since he assumed office nearly two years ago; let him publish and implement them.
I do not think this is likely. Jonathan is scared of what might come down the tree should he shake the branch, an option that should not be available to anyone who prospected for votes. In this case, Jonathan can see where such an attempt would lead, and the soldiers on the streets in his new power-sharing arrangement are his secret weapon for guaranteeing the status quo.
This is Jonathan’s deepest fear, and his gamble. And Nigeria’s poor and marginalized, as long as we are docile and forgetful, will have our own money and our own soldiers used against us in this way forever.
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Unbelievable
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 5, 2012 - 15:46.
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no need insulting the president as if u are equals
Submitted by deri (not verified) on January 22, 2012 - 23:03.
@Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, see why we yearn for resource control in the niger delta? The reason why there are no proper social services or welfare benefits for our people in the south south, is because we do not practice fiscal federalism--the oil revenue from the niger delta has since 1958 been used for the benefit of only the fulanis , yorubas, and ibos. All these blame game are just excuses developed to force us back to precolonial era-let us split-so that we can go with our thieves--you go with your saints. Its as simple as that. Blame Ibori, Odili, Madam Ibru, Alams and co will not work-just lies told to cover up our short comings as nation since 1960! national conferece then oya we go our seoarate ways!
Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika hope u arrived safely with yr family to aba
Submitted by deri (not verified) on January 22, 2012 - 22:26.
Kano State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo said it has commenced evacuation of over three million indigenes of the South East following attacks by the Islamic Boko Haram sect. The group called on South East governors to assist in the evacuation process by providing transportation and security for South East indigenes living in Kano State.
The statement signed by Chief Tobias Michael Idika, President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, and General Leaders of Ethnic Communities Resident in Kano State, said in the light of the bomb explosions in Kano last Friday, the group was convinced that there is a planned Jihad on non-natives in Kano, particularly the Igbo.
@Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, are u among the returnees from kano
Submitted by deri (not verified) on January 22, 2012 - 22:24.
Kano State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo said it has commenced evacuation of over three million indigenes of the South East following attacks by the Islamic Boko Haram sect. The group called on South East governors to assist in the evacuation process by providing transportation and security for South East indigenes living in Kano State.
The statement signed by Chief Tobias Michael Idika, President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, and General Leaders of Ethnic Communities Resident in Kano State, said in the light of the bomb explosions in Kano last Friday, the group was convinced that there is a planned Jihad on non-natives in Kano, particularly the Igbo.
Very well articulated
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 22, 2012 - 09:08.
Very well articulated article.
my deepest fear
Submitted by olasupo (not verified) on January 21, 2012 - 17:55.
nice article, well articulated, glaring and clearly Nigerians now see that we dont need a goodluck what we need is competency
pained!
Submitted by maris (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 10:11.
I'm still and so pained by Labours betrayal but 1day dey will hang themselves and commit suicide just like Judas,and I still console myself knowing that their families too will bare the pain of their doing and as for jonathan if he dosnt do right by us??! Just like his PDP predcesors just 1 of them will be leaving aso rock
@Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, GEJ has laid himself bare!
Submitted by Elmango Meat (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 02:42.
@Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, in 'Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance!(2)',
You said:
'But now as President and still dithering to declare his assets, his spokesperson's spin is that there is no constitutional provision that the President should declare his assets!'
That will be strange indeed. I will refer both GEJ and spokesperson Abati I assume, to the part of the constitution that clearly stipulates it in Chapter V1,:
140. (1) "A person elected to the office of President shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in this Constitution and he has taken and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution."
http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm...
Fear of mr president
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:42.
I have not read an article well articulate and awakening like this in a long time,please keep writing
Fear of mr president
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:40.
I have not read an article well articulate and awakening like this in a long time,please keep writing
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (11)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:37.
However, I know all these suggestions are far-fetched because Jonathan cannot give what he does not have. He has since shown that his personality is not such as to ever be termed a selfless leader.
Jonathan's covert and overt maneuvering to finally become President after April 2011 were not borne out of altruism but for self-aggrandizement and the easy lucre such a position in the country guarantees. Let him continue to use soldiers to checkmate genuine civilian protests and one day these soldiers would head to the streets in the guise of quelling phantom protests and then make a U-turn to Aso Rock and the National Assembly! That day will be the end of the funeral; of the mourning by Nigerians and the ushering in a new Nigeria where the common man is the centrepiece of governance. Insha Allah!
Thank you SR for this opportunity and Bro Sonala. END.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (10)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:23.
Every year huge amounts in BILLIONS are voted for "MAINTENANCE" when there is no such a word in the culture of Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Nigeria. Just look at the roads, schools, general hospitals, etc. Nigerians should ask themselves: what infrastructures are ever maintained?
Finally, as Jonathan supervises the gradual death of citizens of the country I would advise that Nigerians do not need his SURE. What Nigeria needs and urgently is TEA (TRANSPARENCY, starting with him declaring his assets and hencforth leading by example; ENFORCEMENT of laws so that those found wanting would be prosecuted no mattier if they are Jonathan's siblings; and ACCOUNTABILITY, that is, ensuring that there is accountability in every sphere of government activity so that all monies appropriated for MDAs are accounted to the last kobo).
Anon, what do you mean that
Submitted by OlBoy (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:08.
Anon, what do you mean that Jonathan looks like a monkey in this picture, and you don't like it? Jonathan does not look like a monkey at all: look at the picture again. He looks like a donkey.
And I like it.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (9)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 01:05.
The Judiciary from the magistrate court to the Supreme Court is no better. Corruption is reeking everywhere. I know of a former Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal who bought a house at Ikoyi, Lagos, for N400 million. Where was this money from?
The leaders preach one thing while their actions are entirely different. Look at the wastages in the annual federal and various state governments budgets that achieve nothing year after year except for the bureucrats to share the monies with the technocrats. Once in 2001 I asked a Chartered Accountant friend who frequented Abuja his reasons for doing so. His response was that the patronage from small business firms and organizations he audits can only guarantee him food on the table and nothing else. To be able to make money to build a house and own properties he must seek government patronage and so to Abuja he must go!
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (8)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 00:49.
His response was that the money was flowing like water into their pockets and no one was asking questions. He said his conscience was pricking him and he again feared that a military putsch could take place and they would demand accountability. He then decided to leave for the private sector.
Nigerians are the most shortchanged of the citizens of any country. There are no good roads; no good hospitals; no electricity; no water; no good schools for their children and wards; no employment; and even those who are employed when they retire are not paid their meagre pensions. What Nigerians call law enforcement, the Police, is nothing but a Civil Defense agency. When you compare the modus operandi of the Nigeria Police to that of the most powerful law enforcement in the world, US FBI, then you would reach this conclusion.
Fellow countrymen, we need patience, Ndidi, suru, ankuri!
Submitted by Elmango Meat (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 00:42.
For now, Jonathan has obtained a respite, thanks to the betrayal of labour.
For how LONG this respite will last is entirely dependent on extent of outrage Nigerians feel about the on-going corruption in our land, how quickly those labour Chieves (I am tempted to replace the 'C' with 'T') expend their loot, and most importantly how GEJ handles these corruption cases galore around him.
Boy o boy, Nigeria stinks more from corruption than from the polluted waters of Delta (I also cry for Deltans and generations to come on a daily basis for that reason.)
Given GEJ's penchant for putting his foot in his mouth, we should soon expect another outrageous comment from him that will upset Nigerians.
It will not be long.
So fellow countrymen, let us exercise Patience(not that of Goodluck!), Ndidi, Suru, Ankuri.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (7)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 00:35.
Those the Nigerian citizens call government leaders are there to enhance their selfish interests and no more. And human psychology is such that if you can fill your trouser pockets and no one questions you then you would look to fill your drawer. If again no one asks you any question, and you do not have CONSCIENCE, you would want to fill your boxes at home. And the display of greed continues endlessly. Ask Mr. Bernie Madoff how he perpetrated his US$50 BILLION Ponzi scheme. It's all human psychology and that is what is taking place in Nigeria of today.
Up to the early 1980s Nigeria had a loquacious PRO for the Nigeria Customs. I met him when he was the Managing Director of a Lebanese firm, Cybele Cosmetics, at Oshodi, Lagos. The man was later to be picked by IBB as Minister of Sports. I asked him why he left the Customs.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (6)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 20, 2012 - 00:16.
The tertiary-level hospitals like the teaching hospitals in Nigeria have been turned to primary-care establishments while the poorly-maintained primary-care clinics where unregistered nurses ("Nurse Eliza") are commonplace have become the "tertiary level-care" establishments!
But the patient is expected to first be seen at the primary-care level and if a serious case is then referred to the tertiary-level hospital. In Nigeria today, if you go to a teaching hospital with your dire diagnosis, the physician there will insist on your attending his ill-maintained private clinic where you are at the mercy of poorly-paid staff, dirty environment and ill-equipped facility. No wonder Nigerians of all persuasions, from students to traders and public to private workers troop to India. The situation has even led to an Indian consortium setting up a first class hospital in Lagos to reap from the government failures.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (5)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 23:58.
We found out that the woman was still alive but was not aware the cheques were being returned. Only two months cheques had been returned! Why wouldn't the woman live up to 79 years if she is so catered for by her ex-employers. Another 87 years old ex-staff of the same county now resident in China collects US$3000.00 (N486,000.00) per month. How many Nigerian pensioners live up to 79 years or 87 years on retirement? Not when they do not receive a dime on retirement!
The Government of Punjab Province in Pakistan admits and treats patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Lahore General Hospital and in all hospitals administered by them free of any charges. In Nigeria there is no ICU in ALL of the government hospitals and no form of admission is free.
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (4)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 23:38.
The average Nigerian worker earns peanuts and if he retires and is expected to be paid pensions he will die and nothing is paid! Yet, all manner of government officials collect "security votes" (meaning "egunje"). Is this governance? Is it governance that Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra State would collect N300 million per month as security vote when retired teachers in the state are yet to be paid their pensions and some have died without collecting a dime?
This year my office in the US was asked to conduct an activity check on a 79 years old lady in Honduras to find out if the woman who worked with the Los Angeles County but is now retired and back to her native country of Honduras was still alive because some monthly retirement cheques sent to her were returned. Each month the county sends her a cheque for US$2700.00 (N437,400.00).
Jonathan supervising a funeral; this is not governance! (3)
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 23:22.
As cunning and deceitful as Jonathan so it is with some of his Ministers led by the self-acclaimed Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Ngozi's first public address was to tell Nigerians that she would reduce the recurrent appropriation by 1% per year and 4% over the next 4 years. This is in spite of the fact that the Presidential Advisory Committee recommended a reduction by 40%. But Ngozi is privy to the fact the recurrent budget in 2012 is much more than it was in 2011. Thus, where lies her promise?
The governments are merely there to enrich the pockets of those who are opportune to reach their hands at the treasury. The official at Aso Rock pockets whatever is appropriated to him to render a service and no one calls him to account for the monies. Ditto those in various MDAs. In 2011, three DGs of federal agencies purchased homes in Britain and the United States none of which was for less than US$700,000.00 (N114 million).
Labour's shame
Submitted by Deri-Not (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 21:42.
Spare a thought for the those workers who are NLC members. They are also the ones who will join the rest of Nigerians (incl those who still can't find work) to suffer a 50% increase in fuel prices and further govt mismanagement. These same people who can't get a proper minimum wage.
If I was a NLC member, I'd tear my membership card. If my family member is an NLC member, I will insult them.
Labour members fail us and themselves by allowing their "leaders" sell Nigeria's future for filthy lucre.
If Labour does not redeem itself now then it is dead already.
What the hell do you mean
Submitted by Banza Bakwai (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 20:36.
What the hell do you mean Dizzy Doublebarrel is a nobody? Do you know what you are talking about? A WHOLE Commander of the Niger ( and delta) and a with a SHELL implant for a brain? Mr.man respect yasef! Dizzy is someboday. She be Tiff!
Fear catch dem for abuja say
Submitted by igwe of nigeria (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 18:48.
Fear catch dem for abuja say revolution don land. You need see David Mark and hin ekwensu fellow senators, fear catch all of dem. Kiakia dem beg that waterside lucky Joe to cool cool down. My people make una nor worry our day go come, na small small dem dey catch monkey.
Labour has let Nigerians down
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 17:36.
Labour has let Nigerians down - big time! Next time either the NLC or TUC call for a nationwide strike Nigerians now know whom to trust: only themselves
It will happen very soon
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 16:56.
The sell out of labour is a confirmation that the long awaited revolution is by the corner. The next protest will just erupt and the wasteful and useless government of Badluck will not have such cheap pigs as labour/tuc leaders to buy over with a piece of meat or a box of snuff.... Then and only then they will see that nothing can stop the people....
Sahara reporter you are meant
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 16:10.
Sahara reporter you are meant to be fair in your journalism reporting. Why is it that the picture of the Nigeria President that you use is the one that he looks like a monkey? Although, I don't like the man, please find a more bearable picture of him to use as this is suppose to be an international newsroom. Even if all of you don't like the man,he still is the Commander in Chief of our country, please accord him the respect of this office.
Wait...in no time, the ocean will swallow the fish...
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 14:41.
Wait...in no time, the ocean will swallow the fish...
Jonathan please save ur name and face from shame.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 14:41.
Its is really unfortunate that i have to regret voting for Jonathan, a Southener and my brother who has now decided to pay Nigerians back in using back coins.Is this what a shoeless old school boy way back in time stood for during his campaign promises? Are we still in Military Era for soldiers to be flooding the streets of Lagos no matter all odds lagos seems to be at this time or the "Nigerian Federal Government Might Federalism" eluding true egalitarian and utopian federalism which has become a tale only to distant Lands like USA,e.t.c. I rest my case.
NIGERIAN FIGHT AGAINST ALL FORMS OF CORRUPPTIONS, INHUMANE AND HUMAN INJUSTICES.
Where is Dr Reuben Abati in
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 19, 2012 - 14:35.
Where is Dr Reuben Abati in all these
