One year after: Let the transformation begin
All that is history. President Jonathan sought power to steer the ship of state, with his eyes wide open. He went round the country, albeit without a well-articulated, well-crystallized Manifesto (none of the political parties, except perhaps the Action Congress of Nigeria, had a structured, ideologically propelled Manifesto) promising the people good governance, a transformed […]
All that is history. President Jonathan sought power to steer the ship of state, with his eyes wide open. He went round the country, albeit without a well-articulated, well-crystallized Manifesto (none of the political parties, except perhaps the Action Congress of Nigeria, had a structured, ideologically propelled Manifesto) promising the people good governance, a transformed nation where all will be treated with equity, provided good welfare and made human, with a sense of belonging in the country during his tenure. Many believed him, many doubted him, and many still were cavalier. What is certain is that he came out with a tremendous amount of public goodwill. In a poll that was imperfect, but much better than we have had so far, the nation chose Goodluck Jonathan as the President of the most populous black nation. The anxieties and aspirations were high; they are still high. The people have a right to demand for his score-card. They have a right to expect exceptional performance from the first person from the South-South whom they consciously elected President (never mind the irritating and dangerous noise being made by an opportunistic group from that region that he is their son and it is they who must claim the benefit of his governance and it is they who can truly protect him!). The Nigerian people have the right to expect mercurial performance from a Presidency who, rightly, claimed to be the most educated Presidential candidate in the history of the country—a trained scientist with a doctorate degree as President and an Architect as his Vice. What have they got to show for these beautiful certificates being brandished? What does it translate to in actual governance and leadership returns?
These are the critical issues on the front burner as Nigerians celebrate the President’s first year in office beyond buying hundreds of pages in the national dallies ( newspaper publishers are smiling to the bank). Many are asking in pain and in anger, in frustration and in disillusion, in dashed hopes and wrecked dreams and in dark pessimism and stoic resignation; where is the promise of envisioned and committed leadership made over a year ago, amidst drumming and dancing, on campaign turfs across the country? Much of the comments on May 29, the Democracy Day, are unedifying.
The most prevalent vernacular atmosphere of our country today is one of grieving pain over the rapid slide of the country toward the precipice. Insecurity has since attained an emergency status. There is no certainty of life in our country today. Nobody is sure that he will wake up to see the next day. The menace of Boko Haram insurgency is the over-arching certitude in our country today. Lives, innocent lives, are being wantonly wasted by the bombing rampage of Boko Haram. National sanctuaries and patrimonies have been invaded; universities in the north—Gombe, Maiduguri and Kano—have been assailed with numerous innocent lives lost to aimless violence. Students and their Professors are being slaughtered in their institutions. Churches, and now Mosques, are being attacked with mortal consequences. In Potiskum, innocent herdsmen and their cattle have been killed and the cattle market left in disarray. It is not as if other flash points of insurgent violence like the Niger Delta, MEND, OPC, the Plateau, and so on, have finally quietened enduringly. It is just that the Boko Haram menace is the greatest indication of the rapid deterioration of our nation today. What is worse is that there is no clear solution in the horizon. Government’s response has been painfully incoherent; dialogue today, no dialogue tomorrow, as numerous, valuable Nigerian lives perish, daily.
As if that is not enough to worry a responsible government, there is, as I once described it on this page, an incredible capacity for mass provocation among our governing elite. Nigerians woke up to a new year with the announcement of the removal of subsidy (many informed minds of the political economy of oil cry foul) on gasoline. An outraged populace, led by organized labour but not limited to it, took to the streets and paralyzed the entire economy for a whole week. The aftermath of the crisis is a reduced removal and a promise to punish the saboteurs of the oil sector. The House of Representative swung into action to probe the subsidy brouhaha and fish out the mindless racketeers and profiteers. It did. The nation still awaits the adequate reprisals on the culprits. Many find a déjà vu echoes from it all. We have passed through this way before! Which crime has this government ever firmly punished? All the criminals that we fail to bring to book receive jail terms outside. Ibori was a sacred cow in Nigeria. Thanks to Britain, he is in jail. This ought to denote a national indictment to a discernible ruling elite.
The capacity for mass provocation continues galore. This is manifest in the prevarication of President Jonathan to reinstate Justice Ayo Salami, the suspended President of the Appeal Court. The NJC found that it erred in the first instance in suspending him. Eminent jurists from among their ranks deliberated and investigated. They have found him non-culpable and have asked the President to return him to his seat as President of the Appeal Court. The country’s number one legal officer has advised the President not to re-instate him because it is sub judice—there is a case in court. The President prefers to obey his law officer rather than the NJC. The action further heats up the populace. All said, the economy and the polity are adrift. One year after, the nation awaits even the take-off of some of these campaign cheap talks which the President promises will be serious talks—doable, to be done.
One year is not enough to expect fulfilment of President Jonathan’s promise of Transformation; but it is long enough to give credible signals of fulfilment.