Leave Mr Jonathan Alone! Did Goodluck Ebele Jonathan make himself president?
Our country is in distress and there is no time for niceties; those who had read the farewell article knew that I went away to join former governor of Kwara State, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, in his quest to win the presidential ticket of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2011 presidential […]
Our country is in distress and there is no time for niceties; those who had read the farewell article knew that I went away to join former governor of Kwara State, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, in his quest to win the presidential ticket of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2011 presidential race. Saraki didn’t get the ticket of course, and our country ended with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, PhD, who once upon a time, didn’t have shoes to go to school; but now, conceivably, has more pair of shoes than he needs.
With our country falling to pieces and bombs and bullets flying freely and the tally of corpses climbing up steadily, it would be insensitive to imagine anyone would be interested in the recollections of a political novice. So, I shall reserve the story of my political adventure for my children; in particular my youngest child, born exactly seven days ago—last Sunday, 9-11-11 at 12.30 pm! Just in case you are wondering, we didn’t name him Osama; his name is Muhammad Zanna!
I am not sure if the little guy will still carry a Nigerian passport by the time he is ten years old; I do hope so, but the odds against that are overwhelming. According to a United States (unofficial) intelligence prediction published in 2005, our country, dear old mother Nigeria, has only nine years left before it disintegrates into a fragmented God-knows-what!
But even as this grim prediction becomes more likely and draws ever closer, it was not enough to deter President Jonathan and members of his cabinet from celebrating what they unoriginally and irritatingly called “his first 100 days in office”. Considering the tragedy all around us, that was offensive of course, but it is not nearly as galling as the commentaries of those who now make crucifying Mr. Jonathan their most important preoccupation. For the record, I align myself with those who say that thus far, GEJ is the worst leader Nigeria has ever had.
But—and this is a huge BUT—what about those who had schemed, plotted, connived, cajoled blackmailed and generally pulled every string they could pull to make Jonathan president; while consciously, willfully and even wickedly aware of his limitations?
Think about it, did Jonathan, at any point in times ever pretended to be anything other than what he is? The signs had been there long before now that Mr. Jonathan is not equipped to be anything beyond a benevolent civil servant. No insult intended, but it is a historical fact that great empires were nurtured by tough, ruthless statesmen, not by soft, pliant do-gooders. Dr. Jonathan had always cut his coat according to his size. According to one insiders’ account, former President Obasanjo had to threaten him (Jonathan) before he accepted to be governor when his erstwhile boss, D. S. P. Alamiesegha was removed for alleged corruption. It was also apparent during Mr Jonathan’s now famous (or infamous) interview with the journalist, Christian Amanpour; when the subject of his contesting the presidency against the zoning principle of his party was broached, the then Acting President, Jonathan was hesitant, unsure in his response; he was in fact virtually pleading for someone to make the decision (not to contest) for him. Such was and has been the natural disposition of the president and he had made no secret about it. Naturally, the wolves around him and the ever present hawks hovering around the corridors of power spotted the opportunity and quickly stepped in. The rest as they say, is history.
And now, the same characters contrived to make Jonathan president are either conspicuously missing, having pocketed their earnings, or are in fact, among those cheekily joining in crucifying the president for being inept. Of course, this is not to exonerate the president because at the very least, he could have walked away; but like Shagari before him, he stuck around even when he knew that it is a job he could not handle. But what Mr. Jonathan did to be president is considerably less culpable than what we failed to do to stop him. At the time when it was fashionable—and profitable—to support Jonathan’s candidacy, the support came from everywhere: North, South, East, West, Church, Mosque, Nollywood, Kannywood, the dominant media, name it! And none of those individuals and groups was ignorant of the dangers the Jonathan candidacy and eventual presidency entailed.
But now that we are facing the consequences of our actions and inactions, everybody is looking for a scapegoat, and again, finding one in Mr Jonathan, the wimp. And what is more, even the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which political conduct contributed immensely to the election that brought Jonathan to power is not left out of the political orgy.
Last week, Mr Lai Mohammed, the publicity secretary of the ACN, who is usually a well articulate critic, issued the following statement on behalf of his party: “When the President of a nation (speaks) talks, citizens must take something concrete away from it. Sadly, that cannot be said of our President’s maiden chat on Monday …Saying he has no regret and indicating he will push forward with the ill-advised single tenure proposal, even at the expense of more pressing national problems of insecurity and lack of economic development, shows he is not in tune with the same people who voted him into office”.
Okay, Uncle Lai Mohammed, you are spot-on there; the president is certainly not with us and now we know what your party thinks of President Jonathan’s maiden media chat. But let’s ask Mr Lai Mohammed: “What do we make of a political party that abandons its own presidential candidate at the dying minute, enters into an alliance with its opponents and helps them win the presidency?” This was exactly what Lai Mohammed’s ACN did and hitherto, is yet to provide an explanation for such an unprecedented political incorrectness, to put it mildly.
As for Mr Jonathan, he still remains the one on whose head the sharp axe of posterity would come crashing down notwithstanding the circumstances under which he came to power. Former President Obasanjo and Chief Edwin Clark might have played prominent roles to instal Jonathan; but warts and all, Obasanjo left Nigeria intact while Clark can always claim that he was never the president. Even though history would recognize the role played by other culprits such as Professor Attahiru Jega’s INEC, it is Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who would be called The Undertaker, if he allows Nigeria, home to 150 million people, to crash under his watch. That is a legacy nobody should allow to survive them.