Nigeria under President Jonathan

More than any other reason, the weakness and desperation of the political leadership at the center scares me and further bleaks the future from my humble horizon.I have been in this country for more than half a century, right from childhood; I paid premium on politics and the society. I have tried to understand the […]

More than any other reason, the weakness and desperation of the political leadership at the center scares me and further bleaks the future from my humble horizon.
I have been in this country for more than half a century, right from childhood; I paid premium on politics and the society. I have tried to understand the leadership and its character especially since I became an adult and placed my priorities on politics in both its Arts and Sciences. I have also tried to study the geography of the people of Nigeria from the pre-colonial period to the current scenario.
In the course of my studies and observations, I have seen Nigeria a couple of times in very difficult times but the character of resolution on the part of the leadership at different stages of our national life did make the difference.
I read widely about the civil war but I saw in practical terms the trying moments during the Abacha administration arising mostly from the annulment of the June 12 1993 elections, which almost tore the nation apart and the subsequent developments that led to the present situation.
When General Obasanjo wrote his letter to Dr. Jonathan sometime last year, many things crossed my mind among which were the fact that the contents of the letter weren’t either wrong or false in view of the drifting national tendencies and their consequences not just for the government and the people but the nation as a whole, the sub continent and Africa as a whole.
At the same time, the reality that the situation which the nation finds itself in today is principally a creation of General Obasanjo in his desire to determine the political economy and direction of the nation even after he had vacated office.
The lesson however is that each of the two side of the coin deserves to be treated on their real value, and that to each we must carry our cross and answer our names in history. Obasanjo was wrong for playing the god while the product of his dictation runs Nigeria aground.
When the PDP deliberately issued a statement over the weekend congratulating one of the contenders to the throne of Kano without the patience to wait for official announcement from the appropriate authorities in my view speaks volume about why Nigeria is in this difficulty.
The PDP which prides itself as the largest political party is certainly a dwarf in reason and rationality and clearly responsible for the mess that we find ourselves in in this country today. The party is certainly incapable of piloting the affairs of the nation in the heat of this national tension and outages.
In a true democracy and even in Nigeria during the past dispensations, all elected officials were directed by the platforms that brought them to office. In this case, it is the reverse.
Why would the PDP delve into the Kano affair? Is there any excuse aside from the desire to preempt the process, predetermine outcome with a view to causing confusion? The nation is bleeding and the party and their government are careless about the people. These people are truly reckless and inhuman.
There is no way the government would claim that it is not responsible for the minor crisis that greeted the appointment of the new Emir in Kano. This was further corroborated by the siege on the palace soon after it became obvious that the choice of the new Emir was accepted by most people and in view of the fact that the Abuja anticipated riots was short lived.
Why would a Goodluck Jonathan who is the President of political Nigeria be so desperate that Sanusi Lamido Sanusi a Central Bank Governor he inherited must not emerge as the new Emir? What point is the president trying to prove? Has he forgotten that power is transient and no matter how long he remains in office, he will one day vacate?
Those who manage this president are most unintelligent set of people around power I have ever seen not only in Nigeria but also even from my readings. The Party under whose pedestal the government was chosen is so incapacitated. I wonder how, with people like Ahmadu Muazu who was Governor for eight years and who must have appointed at least one Emir or Chief while he held sway in Bauchi would allow or instruct Olise Metuh to issue congratulations when the instrument of Kano State was yet to make announcement. This is unfortunate and a clear pointer to why Nigeria is in the mess that it is in.
Things are continually falling part and the leadership in Abuja is increasingly becoming brazen. Let it be reminded that they hold power, they control and allocate our resources, they have everything to lose if they get the system crashing, even if they are able to run to their homes abroad, the history books would record them for who they are.
It is a disgrace somebody up there should be able to talk to these people.
Again, on the death of Emir Ado Bayero and accession of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to the throne, the government and the party that brought it on have displayed incapacity and crass irresponsibility.
The president is yet to go to Kano as I write this piece. He is yet to condole the people over their loss and possibly congratulate the new Emir. He might keep his congratulations if he desires but we must remind Abuja that appointment of an Emir is not in their purview and that Nigeria is a federation of states with a constitution and one major responsibility of the presidency is to defend the constitution. What we see is its defense in breach.
The PDP’s congratulatory message to Emir Sanusi was an afterthought and contradictory. Why remind him on partisanship on the same day traditional rulers from the South East and South South were endorsing Goodluck Jonathan for another term?
Traditional rulers are only partisan when they support opposition to Abuja? Crass irresponsibility, dearth of intelligence and share show of desperation.
Nigerians need to do better and more in the event that this PDP does not bring the nation to an end in 2015. The future looks really gloomy. God save Nigeria