2015: Jonathan’s political agenda against Nigerians. Although 2015 elections are a bit far away from now, the campaign train of President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, the strong man of Ijaw nation from the sleepy Otuoke village seeking another four-year mandate is vicious if subtle; worse even, Jonathan is yet to deliver his 2011 transformation agenda to those who mandated him. In his 2011 inaugural speech, our Jonathan pledged to Nigerians – and the whole world – a leadership that is “decidedly transformative,” adding that “the transformation will be achieved in all the critical sectors….the time for lamentation is over. This is the era of transformation” he declared in a note of finality. He meant to give adequate service to Nigerians particularly to those 112 million that live below the poverty line. Since that historic but failing declaration, Nigerians often note that the task to revive Nigeria is urgent. To transform it, as their Jonathan pledged to do, is even more so. But the process of transformation; be it of an organization or a nation, requires transformational leadership- that unique set of change agents united in vision, purposeful of mission and, sustained by such shared values as motivation and morality, to progressively elevate the population to higher pedestals. It is doubtful if their Jonathan can sustain a transformation agenda. This stance begs the question: does their Jonathan really deserve another four-year term? The answer to the question is obvious to any Nigerian not blinded by prejudice. What began as an irritating distraction, appears to have now assumed a life of its own, dominating political discourse in the country, with mischief makers and political jobbers latching on to it, to heat up alleged ambition to seek a second term is becoming increasingly disturbing by the day in the wake of posters, banners, sponsored advertorials etc demanding another term for the unpopular and underperforming Jonathan which have been littering the pages of selected newspapers, streets of Abuja and other cities in the Niger Delta region where his political strength lies courtesy of tribal war lords and drug addicts the likes of Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Kuku etc. Their Jonathan, who is believed to have engaged in covert machinations ahead of the 2015 elections, has come out strongly to disclaim the posters and distanced himself from the campaign but yet sack Ahmed Gulak his political adviser who moved a step faster to inaugurate a sycophantic group of clowns in a funny outfit, Goodluck Support Group (GSG) against 2015 to prove a point of sycophancy and bootlicking. But if Gulak is to be taken serious, let him re-contest the position he contested in 2011 in Adamawa State. Baba Maimangoro is ever ready to prove a point if he dares him. The Presidential adviser on media and publicity, Reuben Abati, said Jonathan’s only attention for the moment is delivering on his mandate to Nigerians; adding that Jonathan would not allow himself to be distracted by the politics of 2015. Abati forgot to tell Nigerians what their Jonathan intended to deliver to avoid distraction even by Tony Anenih, Edwin Clarke, Jerry Gana,. Bamanga Tukur and other bootlickers that have confused the man. To be fair to their Jonathan, so far, he has not publicly directed or authorized any individual or group to launch any campaign on his behalf but that does not mean he should not caution or cause the arrest of those campaigning for him openly since it is meant to distract him as claimed. Haba their Jonathan, who is that fool to believe that? Even your Doyin Okupe the shameless town crier cannot defend you on this blatant lie. As Abati repeatedly warned that the inordinate ambition of a few self-centred Nigerians and their obsession with the politics of political succession in 2015 must not be allowed to distract the nation and its current leadership from the task of dealing with the much more urgent issues of development and the safety of Nigerians in all parts of the country, Abati said repeatedly as if it has become his personal motto but Nigerians are not deceived to believing the falsehood. The depth of public anger against a second term for their Jonathan has been extraordinary and exceedingly personal with Nigerians although it depends on what their Jonathan defines transformation With serious economic, infrastructural and security challenges to contend with, it is unconscionable that their Jonathan’s attention should be consumed by vaulting ambition, pursued with intricate permutations, manipulations and maneuvering. The Boko Haram insurgency stands out as the single most deadly and most intractable security challenge facing the country and their Jonathan seems clueless on how to tackle the menace. On the whole, ever since their Jonathan took office courtesy of his accomplice, Attahiru Jega, Nigeria developed into a nation in conflict with itself; where brutal kidnappings, armed robberies and hired assassinations have become a national pastime; a nation living in outright contradiction to its declared development objectives. Despite repeated promises of better times ahead, Nigerians are ending-up with dashed hopes, broken promises and unfilled aspirations. Their Jonathan himself has his own harvest of scandals with faltering investigations and half-hearted, inconclusive pursuit of the high profile culprits of audacious corruption. Whichever way Nigerians turn, they are confronted with the overarching presence of pervasive corruption and societal decay. The US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, on Nigeria estimates, the country lost about $6.8billion ( N1.067trillion) to endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency and insincerity. More than 30 days after his May 29, 2011 inauguration, their Jonathan could not even submit the list of his cabinet to the national assembly. It was disappointing that it took their Jonathan so long to pick his cabinet while business of government functioned at less than optimum level. Having run the affairs of Nigeria for more than one year, their Jonathan must be presumed to have had enough time to mobilize a reasonable array of people, as to make his cabinet-formation less onerous than it was made to be. The delay might be tolerable if the outcome justified it. But the list of ministers was as unimpressive as the delay in compiling it. There were simply too many whose records were far from inspiring. And, if as they say, morning shows the day, there is cause for worry about the quality of governance in the next four years as we are experiencing steadily. However, Nigerians shall be pleased to be proved wrong in the remaining few years before his possible exit and return to the creeks. Their Jonathan sought to put together a cabinet to satisfy as broad a range of interests as possible. That was ill advised as such the cabinet satisfies no one, and will more likely disappoint everyone including their Jonathan himself. Ultimately, it is the average Nigerians that pays the huge price of poor quality decisions by incompetent ministers. This is the risk on the card and we are paying systematically. Their Jonathan failed to cast his net wider to give Nigerians a first eleven team of provably good men and women as ministers and special advisers. A transformational government must have, as a sine qua non, a transformational leadership. Nigeria lags behind by all the major indices of development and urgently needs a confident, competent, efficient and responsive leadership. For if there are lapses in the quality of governance, the buck will stop on their Jonathan’s desk; their Jonathan must take the blame. Their Jonathan must stop and think just where the country is headed. Does the experience of the last few years aggregate to development or what is their Jonathan really thinking? Pathological lust for power and greed for wealth have rendered purposeful leadership prostrate. It has become more and more apparent that the fortune of Nigeria is torn between those concerned with maintaining and expanding their private economic and political estates, and those consumed by ingrained prejudices, intolerance and bigotry, whether religious or ethnic. The vision 20-2020 slogan remains a huge joke to their Jonathan, a wild and idle prediction of the place of Nigeria’s economy by year 2020 on the global scale. 2020 is seven years away, therefore, the country’s path to greatness will be defined by the choices their Jonathan makes as the person with the primary responsibility to lead this country to greatness. Nigeria is nowhere near its potential and it is portrayed and shaped as a jungle land to be plundered and violated with impunity even if their Jonathan’s proposed National Dialogue holds. It is not transformation when their Jonathan’s wife goes abroad for painkillers and surgery, whereas their Jonathan has woefully failed to provide functional health facilities in the country he leads. As Nigerians approach 2014, they expect a change of heart and style from their Jonathan; what they no longer expect is the scandalous and profligate posturing that has dominated his leadership. Their Jonathan must renew his pledge to diligently assume a leadership anchored on integrity, principles and exemplary self-sacrifice. To borrow from his inaugural speech, the time for lamentation is over, let the era of transformation begin – and be seen to be so. Until this happens, their Jonathan in our view does not merit the growing furore in political circles and the media over his alleged plan to seek our mandate in 2015. He does not deserve to be trusted until proved otherwise. He is losing out to our Jonathan but let Goodluck save their Jonathan to be our Jonathan in 2015. By Sanusi Mohammed
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 06:29:38 +0000
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