To sum up

time lost can never be regained. Some 4 weeks ago, the February 14 date set for the beginning of the presidential and other election was postponed for reasons that included the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not being ready and insecurity in the Northeast region.  But all too soon the new date of March 28 […]

time lost can never be regained. Some 4 weeks ago, the February 14 date set for the beginning of the presidential and other election was postponed for reasons that included the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not being ready and insecurity in the Northeast region.  But all too soon the new date of March 28 is imminent.
It may well be that the INEC needed more time beyond February 14 to put finishing touches to its preparations for the elections, but with what have happened so far after February 14, it is now clear that the real reasons for the postponement lie elsewhere. The postponement was a calculated ploy to buy time by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for President Goodluck Jonathan to re-strategise and give a fillip to his flagging and probably doomed campaign. And he did this by screwing up courage to visit the Northeast-a stricken and beleaguered region which he had refused to visit, even at the highpoint of the abduction of the Chibok school girls. He went there two times, each time wearing military fatigue, about the only times he would be in fatigue.
The import is not lost on anyone. The visits were aimed at positioning him as the commander- in- chief of a re-invigorated fighting force that has succeeded in recapturing cities and towns seized by the insurgency group. But how can we forget so soon that this same president refused to visit and commiserate with a people at the time they needed him most–when their cities were being sacked, burnt and the people traumatised having been left at the mercy of the bloodthirstiness of the insurgents? At that time, the utter defencelessness and abandonment of the Northeast reflected badly on GEJ, his government and party, particularly when it became clear the reason the Northeast couldn’t be defended and protected as any integral part of Nigeria should, was owing to inadequate arms and ammunition. Surely, there was no way this would not have an impact on the impending elections, hence the decision to force a postponement in order to make amend. But whether or not making good a bad situation-which the belated confrontations with the insurgents amount to, in order to undo the damage at the polls remains to be seen. To be sure, giving the Boko Haram a taste of their bitter medicine is heartening and welcome, but then presidents are not permitted to take crucial decisions, such as going to war, as an afterthought with an eye on election.
 The economy is one area where GEJ could have chalked up some credits. By some magical wave of the hand and, of course recalibration, Nigeria overtook South Africa as the biggest economy in Africa, even though the latter has not stopped being the hub of frenetic production of industrial goods which has made it the Mecca of sorts for many rich Nigerians. But just as that notion was gaining acceptability, Nigeria’s major and virtual foreign exchange earner -oil, suffered a setback. The benchmark oil price per barrel that had remained a little over $100 for several years suddenly took a precipitous plunge to half the original price. Some 6 months after, the price has continued to fall thereby throwing Nigeria’s economy that was coasting on smoothly without any hiccups out of gear. Glut of the product at the international oil market and plummeting price have caused the Naira to suffer terribly in value, bringing in its tattered wake an unwanted inflationary spiral of both luxury and consumer goods.
Had the economic downturn not occurred, even with the huge unemployment rate prevailing, it would have been difficult to score GEJ below average under economic performance. But right now it seems everything has gone up in smoke, tough luck for GEJ that the economic straits would occur just about election time. Now, it seems as if all the 4 years, or is it 6 years, that he has been in the saddle have brought only pain to the average Nigerian who now would have to contend with high prices and belt tightening. An average household would not forget the high school fees waiting to be paid and the in- adequate housekeeping money as they go to cast their votes. Yet, GEJ and his gang have been their own undoing for not playing up enough whatever modest achievements the government has made in areas like agriculture, rail transportation and power etc, rather than blaming the opposition for every government failure, as was done for the return of long petrol queues recently.
GEJ recently alluded to his government getting bad advice from the coterie of courtiers and sundry hangers -on passing themselves off as experts that surround him. Such excuse is the pastime of all presidents who find themselves in a sticky patch, but since the buck stops on his table, he is the one the public would be made to carry the can. Many times I have wondered whether GEJ has ever given a thought to the fact that the polity he has presided over all these years is a new democracy that needed nurturing not battering. Democracy battering rather than nurturing was rife in his tenure. Of course he did not clamp critics into jail or close down newspapers or radio stations, but the absence of fellow feeling between him and Rotimi Amaechi, a duly elected governor, brought about by the manhandling and disrespect the latter suffered at the hand of the Nigeria police cannot do any credit to any claim that his administration has deepened democratic tenets.
Turning instruments of state power into coercive force to persecute the opposition has continued apace, even during this campaign. Ashiwaju Ahmed Tinubu has suffered the indignity of being placed under some form of house arrest at a time when he should be out there campaigning for his party. All this and the fact that the postponement was made at the behest of the top brass of the Nigerian military-an institution that ought to have been strictly kept away from dabbling into political matters for well known reasons, gave rise to the sneaking fear that wittingly or unwittingly GEJ’s actions are hurting democracy.
In addition, the utterances and antics of certain highly placed members of his party have continued to baffle Nigerians. As the ruling party the PDP ought to have a greater stake in not only the continued survival of democracy but also using it to advance Nigeria’s status in Africa and the world. But bad mouthing your opposite number, Muhammadu Buhari and other leaders of the APC, and wishing death for him as the maverick governor in Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose did, as well as the unprintable comment and diatribe on the man and his part of the country that issued from Dame Patience Jonathan were calculated to incite violence which would then be used as alibi for further postponement and/or cancellation of the elections. A dangerous game of if I cannot have my way then let’s bring down the whole house.  Parties in a place like Nigeria should have ground rules and no-go areas on the behaviour of their members. The APC so far has shown decorum and has reined in its fanatical and over-exuberant fringe. The PDP needs to do same in the few days remaining to elections. It is the only way to avoid chaos and mayhem. Win or lose, it should concern the ruling party more that Nigeria emerges from the elections with her democratic reputation not only intact but further enhanced, strong enough to sustain her moral stature at home and abroad