He is a PhD holder. He had been an academic. On the political terrain, he had learned the ropes; he was an education inspector, he was an environmental protection officer, he had been a deputy governor and by virtue of gross acts of corruption of his principal he became the beneficiary of ’Alams’ impeachment by being sworn in as the substantive governor.
He is a PhD holder. He had been an academic. On the political terrain, he had learned the ropes; he was an education inspector, he was an environmental protection officer, he had been a deputy governor and by virtue of gross acts of corruption of his principal he became the beneficiary of ’Alams’ impeachment by being sworn in as the substantive governor. Not only that, providence thrust another one on him; he was a vice president whose principal became incapacitated by illness that led to his untimely death; Goodluck thereafter acted as president and later a substantive president and went ahead to win his own mandate as president of the federal republic of Nigeria through the April 2011 elections. This is the odyssey of the current Nigerian president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GEJ.
What more? GEJ had a humble background; he is a Christian who waived his presidential majesty to kneel before God through the man of God, the highly influential General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, and Pastor E.A. Adeboye. In addition, Dr. Jonathan’s blood is devoid of the arrogance of “bloody civilian” that made a rehabilitated old soldier to have contempt for Nigerians in his capacity as president and commander in chief. Idealistically viewed, Nigerians deserve a man with a robust resume like Goodluck Jonathan to fix their country but realistically this is not likely to be, if we adopt the sayings that “The childhood shows the man…” just as “The morning shows the day…”, as far as his tenure as president is concerned.
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But for political expediency, GEJ ought not to have joined a far right political organization like the PDP, but being the popular party in his locality with prospects for winnable elections, he could be excused. Be that as it may, the office of the president of any country for that matter not to talk of a multicultural, multi religious country like Nigeria with constant ethnic and religious suspicions and fears of domination by one section of the other, demands high political sagacity, uncanny courage and ability to take a decisive decision from time to time. Alas! GEJ appears to be demonstrating some naivety that may gross up to minuses in his presidential history.
Consider the followings: An early warning signal of the course of Jonathan’s presidency was exhibited in the mystery of soldiers’ presence at the airport on the nocturnal arrival from Saudi Arabia of the sickly president Umaru Yar’Adua. It was a period of perfidy when the president Umaru Yar’Adua, due to his ailment, had become a pawn in the hands of members of the inner caucus of his administration who wanted to retain power at all costs even if they had to clone the president. Up till now, sanctions were not meted out to the culprits who authorized such acts of treason (ordering of troops to the airport).
Despite our hunger, the country’s leadership opted for a lavish celebration of 50 years of transition from colonial bondage to neo- colonial slavery tagged independence. On that day, terrorists committed a serious affront by detonating bombs proximate to the venue of the celebration. So many innocent lives were lost, but we were in a state of confusion to initially identify the group that was responsible. It is criminal for a government to shirk in her responsibilities to any component parts of the territory she governs; it is not only heinous but also a gross act of irresponsibility to reward a group of people who take to arms for their own selfish gains and personal aggrandizement as there should be no parallel sovereignty at any given period. That is clear invitation to anarchy.
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In fairness to GEJ, he inherited these monstrous terrorist organizations sprouted in the first instance by the failure of past administrations. It is also true that the amnesty program, an olive branch dangled to the Niger Delta militants by Jonathan’s predecessor, late Umaru Yar’Adua might have emboldened other cells to tow the lines of underground groups in anticipation of “settlements“. President Jonathan should have changed course by addressing the degradation and other environmental issues in the Niger delta communities and damn the arm bearing groups.
Boko Haram started as a local affair in Borno state but it has quickly grown to a dreaded organization that threatens the entire security of the country. The ease at which they attacked the police headquarters in Abuja and a repeat attack in the same city, this time around, the office of world organization, the UN, is brazen and a great embarrassment to the country. If the head of security organizations cannot tender their resignations, the commander in chief ought to have relieved them of their services because they are grossly incompetent.
How can we keep repeating the same mistakes and be expecting a different result? Bombings will occur; the president will condemn the acts, promise they are on top of the situation, visits the surviving victims and goes back to Aso Rock and after some weeks or months of stay action, the terrorist strikes again. These acts of negligence and dereliction of duties led to the gruesome murders of innocent NYSC corps members’ aftermath of the April general elections in some parts of the country.
How can a group hold the other members of a federating unit into ransom? If Western education is unacceptable to Boko Haram members, they can choose not to attend schools but they do not have the rights to deny their underage children education as agreed upon in our constitution and they do not have the right to deny them healthcare. So many Nigerians live Western world countries across Europe and North America. Much as you are allowed to practice your religion without obstructing others, I am not aware of declaration of public holidays for Muslim festivals in Canada or the U.S.
Would it be right for the immigrants to challenge the system they willingly subscribe to be guided by its spirits and letters? Virtually every group in Nigeria have one grouse or the other but they live by the spirit of give and take. A pure Igbo blood has not assumed the position of head of state or president since after the civil war, yet they forge ahead in the union. It is wrong for Christians to say Muslim should not exist, it is wrong for Muslims to say traditionalists should go to hell. An Igbo person must have the right to live and habituate in any part of Yoruba land; likewise an Ogoja man can live his life in Kano without fear of threat to his life and property. That is the reason we have the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria no matter its imperfections.
Boko Haram cannot be mightier than the federal government of Nigeria and the federal government should brace up to a decisive action to route them out; arrest them en-masse and try them in competent court of law. It is window dressing to apply political solution to it, there should no negotiations with terrorists. Evil must be destroyed.
President Jonathan promised to uphold the rule of law, but a matter before a court in the case of Justice Ayo Salami has put his claim to test. President Jonathan should have rejected the NJC recommendation on the basis of sub -judice. We as a people and country should be weary of seemingly innocuous actions snowballing into injurious matters.
A novice abuses the Iroko tree and starts to look back as he walks away from it; can somebody advise him that Iroko tree does not fight back immediately? Examples abound. When the late Ken Saro Wiwa tried to address the injustices in Niger Delta through organized and intellectual resistance, he was murdered along with some of his groups. Abacha won a Pyrrhic victory, but the albatross has come back to haunt successive governments by way of underground terror groups cloaked as Niger Delta militants.
The bye product of Niger Delta kidnapping spree is the now notorious business of kidnapping that has cut across states of the federation. By lacking the courage to act decisively when an overzealous Islamist introduced “Sharia” in Zamfara, the federal government inadvertently helped the cause of terrorist cells like Boko Haram which has now become a dreaded monster.
We are not addressing the issue of corruption proactively and frontally. Whenever a high profile person is arraigned, they are made to suffer for few days and the case runs cold. What is happening to Bankole’s case? Has any of the ex- governors rumoured to be corrupt been invited for questioning?
We are hailing the appointment of Okonjo Iweala as a minister of finance. Have we considered the risk of having to swallow the bitter pills of World Bank economic agenda on our dear country? We are toying with the idea of subsidy withdrawal and further devaluation of our currency.
Currency devaluation and subsidy withdrawal would amount to having a combination of diabetes and hypertension in a patient. Whether on medication or not, the patient is at high risk. We have not addressed the issue of infrastructure, we have not addressed the issue of security, we have not addressed the lapses in the judiciary, we have not tackled head on the issue of corruption, we are a consuming country and more so we have not addressed the issue of power, a single important factor that is capable of kick-starting a myriad of economic activities across the country. We have not even asked questions about billions of dollars committed to the power project without results, yet we are toying with the idea of subsidy withdrawal or further currency devaluation on the already sapped hoi polloi.
If we cannot have strong political party institutions and strong and focused leadership simultaneously, I would vote we have at least strong political parties that can address the incompetence of its candidate, but a competent president overwhelmed and held captive by a grossly corrupt political party structure is inimical to good governance.
May God grant GEJ the eternal wisdom to handle the delicate issue of currency devaluation or subsidy removal on oil products because churches and mosques that serve as opium to the hoi polloi will not be able to contain the after effect of the decision should this government go ahead on its decision on subsidy and currency devaluation.
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