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Post-2011 Realities And A Caveat Emptor For 2015

April 26, 2014

If there is any doubt within any quarter that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan won the 2011 election, such doubt should be dispelled forthwith. Jonathan the candidate in 2011 won the election fair and square. The issue of whether he was qualified to win an election into the office of the president of the most populous black nation on earth belongs in the next paragraphs devoted to political a analysis of his administration.

If there is any doubt within any quarter that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan won the 2011 election, such doubt should be dispelled forthwith. Jonathan the candidate in 2011 won the election fair and square. The issue of whether he was qualified to win an election into the office of the president of the most populous black nation on earth belongs in the next paragraphs devoted to political a analysis of his administration.

Jonathan was a powerful sell to the country pre-2011 election for four principal reasons. First, he was seen as a victim of self-serving but powerful forces who were determined not to cede power to a South-South Vice President after the death of Yar’ Adua. That powerful group – christened “the cabal,” even ordered the movement of the Brigade of Guards to the Abuja Airport to receive the remains of late Yar’ Adua, without the knowledge of the Acting President who was constitutionally the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic. The daring and very arrogant disregard to the Constitution, as well as the foot mat treatment unduly meted to Goodluck Jonathan, earned him sympathy solidarity from the people, and paved the way for the series of protests against the perceived forces of oppression. The Save Nigeria Group was a visible face of these protests that picketed the national Assembly and elsewhere, asking that the Acting President be declared the substantive President.

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Second and third reasons were his educational accomplishment (he would be the first Nigerian president with a Ph.D.) and his ethnic background as a Niger Delta minority of the Ijaw stock – one of the oil-producing minority confederates in the country who were seen to have been unfairly marginalized socio-politically. His occupancy of Aso Rock would usher in an era of redress and unprecedented development of the Niger Delta area. That he was deemed separate from the cabal that had the country by the jugular was regarded as strong enough reason to get him back to Aso Rock against all odds.

The fourth, and most bizarre of the major reasons for Jonathan’s popularity pre-2011, was the Jonathan Story itself. In order to have a full grasp of why the Jonathan story became the raison d'être of the masses, there is perhaps a need to situate the consequences of prosperity Pentecostalism, amongst other revolutionizing ideologies, in the scheme of things. The Jonathan story has within it an important ingredient of prosperity Pentecostalism – unmerited favor. It is perhaps commonplace in our faith-based congregations these days to hear testimonies such as:

“Praise the Lord! I was sitting down within the walls of our compound when someone tossed a bag over the fence. On inspection, I found the bag to be filled with Millions of Naira. The Pastor had told me prior to that that I would experience uncommon favor, and here is the evidence that the Pastor is indeed a man of God.”

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“Praise the Lord! In the face of my limited resources, I was first confused as to whether paying my school fees was more important than paying the First Fruits offering. I paid the latter. Miraculously, my employers mailed my paycheck for the same pay period twice. God rewarded my faith with this miracle so I could have enough to pay my school fees also.”

“Praise the Lord! I have served the Lord diligently and gave him every money for which I ever worked. Early last month, my brother completed the construction of a duplex for me at Lekki while he continues to live with his family of six in a rented 2 bedroom apartment at Bariga. The Lord is good and faithful!”

Now, let’s explore the connection between the Jonathan story and the elemental mainstay of prosperity Pentecostalism. Remember that Jonathan story is anchored on a do-nothing-be-rewarded-with-favor plot. Note that as a Deputy Governor Jonathan was minding his business of indolence and ineffectiveness jeje when Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the then Governor of Bayelsa State, ran into troubled waters and was sent out of the state house in Yenagoa. By default, our man Jonathan became the de facto governor of Bayelsa State. GEJ as the Governor of Bayelsa State pre-1997 elections was propagating and internalizing his do-nothing inclination when, in a major upset to all political calculations and punditry, he was nominated as the running mate for the presidential run of Yar-Adua. Yar-Adua won that election and Jonathan became the Vice-President. He continued his ‘circulus in probando’ run as a see-no-evil; hear-no-evil Vice President when Yar-Adua suddenly took ill and was hospitalized abroad for a lengthy period of time. The death of Yar-Adua and the attendant mêlée ensured that, once again, our beloved miracle boy was sworn in by default as the substantive President of the Republic.

Not surprising, therefore, that the Jonathan story resonated so well primarily amongst churched people, and secondarily amongst others who share in the lethargic mindset of manna without work. Just like it did not matter what the feelings of the employer was in the second testimony story recounted above, it did not matter to the Nigerian electorate in 2011 that GEJ was a sitting Governor in Bayelsa State when his father’s house was bombed by militants. To my recollection, he heard no evil and saw no evil when his father escaped death by the whiskers. Is it surprising to anyone that as President he was merrily dancing Makosa at Kano just hours after Boko Haram snuffed lives out of scores and wounded scores of other innocent Nigerians at Nyanya in Nassarawa State? Was it surprising that the army’s only desperate action on the abducted secondary school girls was to weave lies first about the number of abducted school girls and second about the number of those rescued?

Uninterrupted power supply, effective security system, and efficient transportation systems were three of the main focal points of Jonathan’s campaign promises. But are we surprised that rather than fulfill any of these promises the GEJ administration has left us worse than we were before his presidency? Are we surprised, really? I am not in the least surprised. Matter of fact it is on record that some of us raised the alarm pre-2011 elections. If only we had looked more closely and objectively beyond the banal sentiments of the Goodluck persona in 2011 we would have been more critical of the composition of the GEJ Campaign fundraising committee. Only few will argue against the fact that the achievement of an uninterrupted power supply and efficient transportation system would translate to negative outcomes for Femi Otedola’s diesel and Dangote’s haulage businesses. I was not surprised that GEJ’s first major missile was an anti-people increase in the prices of diesel and petrol – this after Otedola had the ample opportunity to fill his tank farms spread all over West Africa with petrol and diesel at the subsidized rates. And we are yet to see even one of the Okonjo-Iweala-promised subsidy transportation buses on our roads!

But whether we like it or not, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is the president today. He presides over the largest rot and decline in the education sector – yet is said to have earned a Ph.D. degree. He is president – elected by popular majority. He presides over the worst case of human rights abuse and police brutality of innocent Nigerians. He presides over the worst case of governmental disdain for the country’s Constitution. When, in line with constitutional provisions, he was asked to declare his assets, he retorted, “I don’t give a damn!”

GEJ presides over the highest rate of unemployment the country has witnessed since independence. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is the emperor, presiding over monumental fraud at NNPC, Aviation, Customs, etc. He presides over the worst case of terrorism against the Nigerian state – yet he loses no sleep. In fact, he is the president of terrorists – some of the largest contracts signed by his government were for criminal militants to usurp the powers of the Nigerian Navy. We were promised a “breath of fresh air” but what we have today is putrid halitosis stench that daily harasses our noses. The time to take action is now.

My first appeal is to the electorate. This time around, be more objective in deciding whom to vote into elective offices. We need to look beyond the usual but dangerous ethnic, religious and other irrelevances that used to dictate our support of candidates. Identify the best candidates irrespective of their ethnicities or religions, support them and ensure their victories at the polls. The only miracle we need right now is the miracle of the triumph of good over evil. We as electorates are the change agents equipped to make that miracle happen.

My second appeal is to the leadership of faith-based institutions: it is time to declare your unflinching support for the people. Now is time to redress mistakes of the past. Note that it was the same Samuel who in 1Samuel 10 anointed Saul king over Israel who also in 1Samuel 15:23 said to Saul, “…You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!” In correcting the errors of the past, take another lesson from Prophet Samuel. Though sent by God to the house of Jesse, he almost anointed the wrong person king because of his personal bias. He was more focused on the physical characteristics of the sons of Jesse, rather than on the mind of God. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

It is time for Nigeria to rise from the rubbles of degeneration. That Nigeria will rise again is a possibility we all must be avowed to!


*Dr. Leke Otunuga, a former Students Union Executive at the University of Lagos, writes from Laurel Maryland, USA*

 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

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