Not just Goodluck!

My thoughts on writing this piece for the week were borne out of contemporary developments within the Nigerian polity and the resultant muscle-flexing and gigantic drama from the various national groups across the national divide, as well as the seeming philosophical calmness that I have observed from the Vice President since the clamour by those […]

My thoughts on writing this piece for the week were borne out of contemporary developments within the Nigerian polity and the resultant muscle-flexing and gigantic drama from the various national groups across the national divide, as well as the seeming philosophical calmness that I have observed from the Vice President since the clamour by those who believe that things must be the way they want them to be began to call on Mr President to either formally hand over power to his Vice or resign his office on the basis of ill-health and incapacitation.

I am definitely not a lawyer but a student of Political Science, and one thing that is certain is that issues of constitution are more political than they are legal. The process of constitution-making and its application rests more within political parameter than legality. The assumption otherwise is what is responsible for the continued political and constitutional crises that the nation has been facing for some time now.

It does not take one to be a senior or junior advocate to know that the provision of the constitution which says that the Vice President shall sit in the absence of the President does not require any technicality of formal handing over in the first place.

Those who have dissipated so much energy on asking the president to either resign or not in view of the recent circumstances have done so just for the sake of academic, or to put it correctly, political exercise. The aim may just be to overheat the polity so that confusion may continue to reign supreme.

I am particularly captivated by the seeming astuteness of the VP in the heat of this national outrage, an outrage that has the capacity to deceive a weak deputy into taking very wrong steps in thinking and behaving otherwise.

Let’s parry a while. I am interested in sharing these views with my readers today and maybe possibly ignite some debate as a basis of leadership recruitment within the body polity of our dear nation; a nation where the cheap slogan of ‘anything goes’ seems to be the case.

Was Goodluck Jonathan lucky to have been chosen by the former governor of Bayelsa State to be his deputy?  Of course, he was—and so were all those that won tickets to contest for one elective post or the other. But Chief Alamieyeseigha and the party elders of Bayelsa must’ve recognised certain traits that made him eligible for that position; in that case, the question of ‘luck’ may not necessarily be the factor.

The same principle applies in the choice of Dr Jonathan as running mate to President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. If Goodluck was merely lucky, then so was Yar’adua by far, because both were surprise candidates that most Nigerians in their wildest imaginations did not expect.  

From my study of the situation since the beginning of this government and especially in this moment of national stress on the health of Mr President, what seems to constitute the VP’s greatest attributes are first his self-discipline; and second, his rare ability to keep whatever political ambitions he might have within ethical and morally-acceptable limits even as he is confronted with the greatest temptation in Nigeria’s political history.

But for some reason, everybody chose to ignore this aspect of the VP’s character and concentrate instead on the abstract issue of merely being lucky. Goodluck Jonathan deserves better consideration and Nigerians should admit that it is really the country that is lucky to have such a vice president that is able to remain cool and composed while everybody around him is getting jittery, excited or simply inordinately ambitious; only God knows the kind of stuff that are being whispered in the VP’s ears since the current crisis of the president’s health started over a year ago and especially in the last few weeks.

If the VP had been less restrained and had listened to half of the instigations from the ‘instigators,’ the country would probably be in greater political turmoil than we can imagine.

The path and stance that the Vice President has chosen to take are the path and position of honour; this is also the safest and most honourable scenario for our country at the moment.

I see him more at this critical threshold as a symbol of stability amidst chaos and betrayal; above all and from the judgment of one of the members of the Nigerian crowd, he has chosen to remain a loyal friend to his boss. That takes a lot of courage, humility, loyalty and not luck. Nigerians should at least show appreciation and say it in the open.

In my view, this is one of the hallmarks of the attainment of certain measures of political maturity in a nation where things are still far away from the ideal. I am encouraged to think that we are making progress even if slowly, but surely if we persist, we will get there.

Let me conclude by saying that I am among those Nigerians who never liked the Yar’adua/Jonathan candidature for many reasons among which is the fact that they were imposed on us by General Obasanjo. Coupled with the circumstances that trailed the 2007 elections and matters arising, I never met in close contact with the Vice President.

The closest I ever got to him was a few months ago over lunch at the residence of Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Pretoria, General Muhammad Buba Marwa. Even at that, we sat on different tables and not in a close distance. My thinking is that we must say issues the way we see and understand them.

It is the responsibility of those who mould public opinion to be honest and say things the way they see and understand them. It is only when we do that appropriate agenda would be set for the public and those who make policies and laws on our behalf.

To say the least, I am captivated by the maturity of the Vice President. I urge him to be unflinching in his loyalty to his boss and disregard all those who will whisper otherwise into his ears. The common proverb amongst our people is, ‘God’s time is the best’. Certainly, it is the best. Let’s wish the president a speedy recovery so that Nigeria may be the better for it.