2015: Jonathan and the poetry of ambition By: Emmanuel Onwe The cinematic masterpiece is called The Grey. The synopsis is as simple as the story is chilling. After their plane crashes in an Alaskan wilderness, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of menacing wolves haunts their every step. They are forced to survive the mercilessly cold weather, deploying little more than their wits. The wolves pick off the survivors one after the other, devouring them. In the end, the hunter is the last man standing. As the alpha wolf crouches to launch into the final attack and last kill, the hunter utters the poem that comes from the courage of his forebears: “Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day.” The hunter draws his dagger. The alpha male leaps. As metal pierces hyde and canine sinks into flesh, the movie ends. Who won? “Live and die” is different from “live OR die”, nor has this got anything to do with “door- die” (which is an adjective). I shall return to the nuance of this poetic masterpiece presently. There are many arguments against President Goodluck Jonathan’s potential candidature in the 2015 presidential election, ranging from undertakings he may or may not have made to paucity of tangible achievements; but this sophisticated one compels my attention the most: “President Jonathan is the last man standing from the Class of 1999. An already extraordinary personal history might be eclipsed by the one that beckons, but which might be ominous for the future prospects of the Nigerian people. By 2015, Jonathan will have been Deputy Governor for 6½ years, Governor for 1½ years, Vice President for 3 years and President for 5 years. He will have exercised executive power at both the state and federal levels for a consecutive period of 16 years – a record of individual domination of power without a historical parallel since independent Nigeria was proclaimed in 1960. If he prevails in the impending political hotwire of 2015, he will, by 2019, have done so for 20 years. He will have passed, by some distance, the stage at which, by historical evidence, the absolute corruptive influence of power amongst African leaders begins to manifest, followed by the onset of the demigod impulse and paralysis in the arena of policy delivery. His power and influence over the events of 2015 will be nearly determinative because he will draw on an unprecedented wealth of iterative experience of the PDP-type politics.” Amazing stuff. I guess experience can be a bad thing. True enough, the experiences paraded by the likes of Mugabe and Museveni have their downsides. But that is not what is at stake here. Hounding a minority out of power by means other than democratic in an ostensibly democratic dispensation will further smear the already blotted history of power manipulation in this country. Thinking people should not put up with it. Regional and/or tribal impulse has been the primary propeller of central power contestation in Nigeria even decades before independence was attained. To pretend otherwise is grossly delusional. The dubious attempt to cure Nigerians of this near-genetic impulse at this time simply because a minority is at the helm smacks of hypocrisy, arrogance and only comparable to school playground bullying. With this in mind, therefore, a number of questions are posed: With what logic would Jonathan make the Ijaw people see the wisdom in walking away from the presidency – an office they attained through the tragic misfortune of others and to which they may never have another opportunity to lay a claim for at least another century? Because he has not performed? Who has, historically, performed better and since when has underperformance become a basis for abdication? On legal grounds? I will write the legal opinion that upholds his right for free. An agreement he reached with fellow politicians – under circumstances akin to a torture chamber where he was politically waterboarded by those with inordinate and clashing ambitions? As the Roman philosopher, Markus Cicero, wisely observed, an obligation to do the impossible is no obligation at all. A lesson from history? The only lesson he could glean from history is a sobering and dissuasive one – the last man to voluntarily relinquish the top office in Nigeria ended up flirting with poverty and ultimately wound up in jail. When he was rehabilitated and restored to the presidency, he squandered a fortune stolen from public coffers in a failed bid to make himself a life president. It is my contention that Jonathan is fully entitled to contest in 2015 and ought to declare now. Every true democrat should respect his decision in that connection. Now he has a record and a case file against which the Nigerian people will judge him. On that day, it shall be the duty of every enfranchised Nigerian to engage and to either lift him to victory or defeat him and make history. Mr President, they rigged the system in a most wicked and selfish manner since 1966. God mercifully unrigged it in 1998 and sealed the deal in 2010. Who are you to go against God’s storm? You are only the arrow not the archer. You must only travel and bend according to the dictates of Almighty’s terrific justice. Your trumpeted achievements in office are doubted and your character traduced. But there is a truth that lies in there, explicit and immutable – and you know what that truth is. Remind yourself of Julia Ward Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic: “Mine eyes have seen the coming of the Glory of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored…. His truth is marching on.” When you think of the incredible momentum in 2010, leading up to your final ascension to full presidential power, when even the irreverent Sahara Reporters carried that classic cartoon entitled “I am Goodluck, I have Patience” – with you cradling the First Lady by your side, when the entire nation heaved in sympathy and solidarity with you – when you think of all that and how such historical goodwill could have been squandered, recall and strengthen your spirit with Tennyson’s classic: “Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’/ We are not now that strength which in old days/ Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,/ One equal temper of heroic hearts,/ Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will/ To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” “Live and die on this day”. Rational thinkers may find this rather counterintuitive. We would naturally expect, in such a clash where only one outcome is possible, “live OR die on this day”. The conjunction “and” takes the meaning in a completely different direction than the conjunction “or”. This is my own take: Whatever the outcome, you will have lived. And you will have died. It is the very nature of politics that promises made are often broken. Honour is frequently staked and lost. Character built and unravelled. Other people’s sons and daughters are sent into battle, into harm’s way, and never return. A piece of every commander-in-chief dies. The burden of a commander-in-chief is an awesome one. However, it is equally the extraordinary privilege of that high office that allows for broken lives to be touched and made whole; for small candles to be lit in very dark places. Set goals may never be attained but the shaky and uncertain steps taken today will be made firm by the commanders that will come long after you are gone. In the immense bowels of history, the Chief lives forever. Once more, then, good Doctor, into the fray. Into the last good fight you will ever know. After 2015, you will never contest another presidential election until you go to heaven or hell – it’s strictly between you and your God. This is not the time to sing Rock of Ages with a cleft in which you will hide yourself. This is precisely the moment to sing Stand up! Stand up! Let courage rise with danger and strength to strength oppose. In the end, win or lose, Horatio Spafford has great words of encouragement for you: “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way/ When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say/ It is well, it is well with my soul.” via thenewtelegragh
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 07:10:25 +0000
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