Jonathan’s 1.6 million Jobs

I read the progress said to have been made and achieved by the president in the year 2013 and the immediate thing that came to my mind was that I realize that since the campaigns leading to the 2011 elections, the Jonathan administrationand its handlers have found a new vocation – a vocation of saying […]

I read the progress said to have been made and achieved by the president in the year 2013 and the immediate thing that came to my mind was that I realize that since the campaigns leading to the 2011 elections, the Jonathan administrationand its handlers have found a new vocation – a vocation of saying things that in reality do not exist.
The problem with lies told several times is that it assumes the dimension of truth in the minds and conscience of the public regardless of the fact that such claims and statements and lies and can never have the powers of truth. Again, this is a postmodern strategy of continued emasculation of the citizenry by those who load over them.
In hisNew Year message, President Jonathan mentioned a variety of areas where he saidtremendousprogress wasarchived. This columnwould not and cannot take all but what is certain is that we wish to comment on two fundamental lies told by the President or at best the president himself was led and deceived into thinking that the brief from his handlers was the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The president claimed that in the three or so years that he is been on the saddle, his government voted more for education than any other previous government before it. I do not readily have the date to corroborate that claim or otherwise but one thing that is very clear is that despite the claim, education in Nigeria has never suffered as much as it does under his reign.
As a doctor of philosophy, the expectation some of us had was that here goes one of us and thus the possibilities of making better conditionfor learning and teaching.What we realized, if the just suspended industrial action by the university teachers was anything to go by in termsof both handling and perception, is that it is not yet uhuru.
Education at all levels is still in comatose and the government probably is not in touch with what the reality on ground is. A clear evidence of the apparent failures of government. A government that does not have accurate or at least correct information and data on a critical national segment such as education cannot be a serious government.The claim on education as sweet as it was only sounded very bitter in the hearings of a majority of people in this country.
Another claim which was laughable and a significant indicator to the effect that the president is probably not in control of basic socio economic and political data in the country was the amplification that about 1.6 million jobs were created in 2013.
I don’t know who told the president that. In any case, the question Nigerians are asking is where were these jobs created? In Bayelsa or Otuoke? If 600,000 jobs were created in 2013, what the president would have presented the nation was a summary of how, where and when.
I am of the view that it is un presidential for those who handle the president to continue to build him on the basis of lies and untruth. It only cartonizes the person and the office that is supposed to enjoy the utmost confidence of the citizens. Those who bring the president in this light do not seem to know the immediate and long term impact of falsehood on the personality and the office of the president.
It is reckless in my view to claim that such a large number of jobs were created in just one year and the impact is not immediately felt by the people and the sectors of our national life. The truth is that such number of jobs was never created and if they exist, I am of the view that Nigerians would respect the view if they are told where and how.
This piece is intended at advising those who handle the president especially or other political officers to be careful in their overzealousness to upgrade the profiles of their principals. Blatant lies lead to extreme negative outcome and consequences. I am of the view that the president could be more honorable if he faces the nation and tell it the truth.
The truth is scared and incontrovertible. It is easy to see it, know it and feel it when it is said. It takes little effort and energy to engage in falsehood and thus increase the distance between the leaders and the led.
To say the least, the claims were unnecessary and un called for. Government at the highest level must not continue to take people for a ride. The truth shall set everyone free and no amount of falsehood would last. It is temporary.
In conclusion, the government has not created 1.6 million jobs in 2013. If it has, we will be interested in knowing where and how.Nigeria is such a massive entity that requires effective political brinkmanship to get it out of the woods. That is why we yearn for competent leadership. It does not matter where the leaders may come from. What we need is action, not rhetoric.