Standing ovation for Jonathan?
Their report said that leaders from the region gave President Goodluck Jonathan a standing ovation after he put up a brave defence of the attitude of his government to the Northern region. The last time I checked, standing ovation is something you give for outstanding performance and is also a sign of honour. Is the […]
Their report said that leaders from the region gave President Goodluck Jonathan a standing ovation after he put up a brave defence of the attitude of his government to the Northern region. The last time I checked, standing ovation is something you give for outstanding performance and is also a sign of honour. Is the performance of the Jonathan government as it relates to Nigeria or a part of it anything close to that?
However in this particular instance, there was a clip of the visiting dignitaries standing up and clapping for Jonathan after he reeled out the list of things he has done for the north like setting up some new universities and completing nearly a hundred of the 120 almajiri schools in the region. It is not clear how much breathing space the visit arranged by Namadi’s foot soldiers will get for the Vice President whose position is looking increasingly untenable as far as Jonathan’s 2015 plans are concerned. Ironically even in the North West delegation to the President last week were some of the governors who are sensing opportunity and pushing themselves into the right position in case Sambo jumps or he gets pushed aside. The inclusion of the old Namadi battle cry of Daram-dam-dam, or ‘’ no shaking’’ must have rang hollow to the ears of the North West PDP delegation to the Villa.
Our scout on the trip confessed that the whole thing was quickly arranged and many of them had no idea about the prepared speech read by the onetime PDP Chairman who later served as Minister of Defence, Dr Bello Halliru. In the speech which was curiously being published as an advertorial in only one South-South newspaper, probably giving away the intended audience of the whole show yesterday, Dr Halliru ended it by assuring President Jonathan that “the North West region are with you and shall continue to support you and your administration. We assure you of our unwavering support now and in the future’’. You can say that again! In the current season of political quicksand, any politician who believes what he is told will probably do so at his own peril.
Ali Modu Sheriff, what is all this?
Why should a man who once ruled a state for eight full years now become the factor in rolling back the tremendous gains that have been made in the past year to restore peace to it all because of an utterly selfish political fronting ambition?
For many months ex-governor Ali Modu Sheriff was advised by security agents and the state government to stay away from Borno lest he damages the fragile peace gradually being achieved. He ignored all the advice and sneaked in at the weekend. See what has happened. Two rounds of political violence were seen in Maiduguri within three days of his coming, capped yesterday by a massive bomb explosion, the first in more than eight months.
Ali Modu Sheriff had not been to the state that he once ruled for eleven months. He was nowhere to be seen at the height of the Boko Haram violence, which was wise on his part because the deadly sect marked him as a major target. As far as most people in Borno are concerned, the quarrel between Ali Modu Sheriff and Boko Haram is a PDP-style “family affair” since the roots of Boko Haram is traceable to the “ECOMOG” political thugs once loyal to Sheriff.
Last weekend Sheriff found his way into Borno, ostensibly to offer condolences on the death of the Emir of Shani. But he didn’t stop there. He sneaked in from the south and moved in a 200-vehicle motorcade to Biu and then on to Maiduguri, where he planned to open a campaign office for the man he is touting as “replacement” for current Governor Kashim Shettima in 2015. The wonder is, if the Nigeria Air Force mistook Senator Ali Ndume’s three-car motorcade along the same road for a Boko Haram supply convoy, how come it missed Ali Modu’s much larger convoy?
Ali Modu Sheriff tried to stage a huge rally in Maiduguri even though a state of emergency is in place there. Why did the soldiers allow it? Is it because, as most Borno people believe, he is a foot soldier for Jonathan 2015?