By;
Abdul-Rahman Baban Saibo
Prologue
(Blasphemy);
“My husband is a
messiah,” -first lady Patience Jonathan. “People do not understand the burdens
this President is bearing. He’s like Jesus Christ. He’s bearing the burden of
everybody.”- Doyin Okupe, Senior Special assistant to President Goodluck
Jonathan. This is the same man, must I remind, whom claimed himself a “Bastard” if the then newly born opposition
Party APC (now governing party) do not disintegrate within a year “If they
don’t crumble and disappear before 2014, don’t call me Okupe... call me
Bastard”. Why he chose to be a bastard if that happens? Only people of his
caliber could tell.
During that same
program Mr. Doyin Okupe (Bastard) also asserted that, “I can’t see GEJ losing
this election. It’s not possible.” I wonder what he would say had gone wrong
today! Or may be “Lord” GEJ had sacrificed his ambition for the betterment of
Nigerians just the way “Jesus Christ” did, Who knows?!
Also, a lawmaker from
Rivers state Mr. Bipi Evans claims that Mrs. Patience Jonathan Nigeria’s first
lady is his Jesus Christ. One must come to curiously ask, how on earth could
these people be compared with this holy personality? Considering the fact that
this same peoples’ acclaimed faiths regards him to be God, how then could one
confidently compare him with these ill beings? Perhaps, those who see the first
family as “Lords” hath faith only in power and wealth, as of result, the only
thing they worship is it.
But hence, I’d say it
has come to its ends, for those whom obeys not but ‘Power’ and ‘Money’ will so
rot in jail as the vanquisher of ill acts and corrupt deeds have thus unveiled.
“Nigeria we hail thee, Albeit thy children fail thee, in mercy God’ll bail thee, Before thou thus derail thee.”- Hannatu Musawa
President a Liar;
President Goodluck
Jonathan’s fund of lies to Nigerians and to the world is rather becoming an act
of disrespect to the people, as he continuous to undermine not alone his
integrity and dignity, but also that of the country’s as well. Though as it
appears both the Nigerians and the international communities, do apprehend the
man’s endless shameless-shameful acts. But the question remains, ‘are Nigerians
doing the ‘much’ in need to reintegrate their national integrity in proving
they have a fragment of it left?’
“But if I’m voted into
power within the next four years the issue of power will become a thing of the
past. Four years is enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement
and if I can’t improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do
anything even if I am there for the next four years.”- President Goodluck said
on February 1st 2011 in Addis-Ababa. How cunning, and yet the man’s despair
to return to power took him the entire nine yards just to ensure all democratic
processions are neglected and curbed to becoming absolutely irrelevances. Today
the PDP as a ruling party grew to neglect entirely what are known to be
democratic orders. The coming together of the sitting Governors of the ruling
party to agree on a consensus that the presidency’s primary elections should be
annulled and the incumbent is to be granted an automatic ticket proves it all.
The party’s executives’ (chairmen) processes to office are rather such of which
democracy entirely tabooed.
“Up till two months ago
Mr. President you told me that you have not told anybody that you will contest
in 2015. I quickly pointed out to you that the signs and the measures on the
ground do not tally with your statement… and only a fool would believe that
statement you made to me judging by what is going on.” Former president
Olusegun wrote in his letter to President Goodluck Jonathan. But allow me to
say Mr. Former President, but President Goodluck Jonathan honestly thinks of
you and Nigerians as fools.
“Four years is more
than enough to make all invaluable changes to a nation,” were the words of
President Goodluck during his 2011 campaigns. O my! But allow me to say those
are the words of a man whom had the privilege to govern the country for more
than five consecutive years with no single diminutive achievement to offer his
people. Or perhaps, Nigerians have heard of enough projects only Mr. President
and his political dogs know about, Of course, for if they
were real? Nigeria would be regarded amongst 1st world nations.
I recall the
Presidents’ interview with Christian Amanpour in 2013, the President did
actually humiliated himself and Nigerians on global television when he was
asked what he had to say about power (electricity) stabilizing in Nigeria for
when he assumed office the first time he had her assured that power is
Nigeria’s number one problem and he would do all in his strength to curb it.
But three years after, in a second interview, President Jonathan had this to
say to Amanpour, “I would have loved that you asked an ordinary Nigerian in the
streets of Lagos and Abuja or another other city this question about power.
That is one area that Nigerians are quite pleased with government, that our
commitment to improve power is working. That is one area that even civil
society members agree that government has kept faith with its promises.” “What
should I tell the people who keep contacting us and saying they hope they have
electricity just to watch this interview on their televisions…? Amanpour asked
in response to the presidents’ submission, but the president assumed the stands
of an “ordinary Nigerian” (himself) instead, and said, “We have not gotten to
where we should be. The power infrastructure is one investment that must
complete the chain before the bulb can light”. I have to be honest about this,
I was stupidly abashed.
A week later the CNN
correspondents walked the streets of Lagos and Abuja just to confirm from
“ordinary Nigerians” as the president wished. Unfortunately all of those interviewed
had not but to attest that the president indeed lied, and perhaps there’s no
“area that Nigerians are quite pleased with the government.”
Regrettably, that
degrading talk with Nigeria’s leader furthered to a point of self-contradiction.
Christiane determined to continue with the president’s assessment of the Boko
Haram insurgency, “Others believe Boko Haram is about resisting misrule and
corruption.” But of course as a Nigerian leader, the person in question must
retort contra to such attack even if the allegation comes true, “No! No! No!
Boko Haram is not as a result of misrule. Sometimes people feel it’s as a
result of poverty, definitely not. We should not play politics with Boko
Haram.”
Wasn’t it during the
June 5th 2014 National Executive Council’s meeting of the Peoples’
Democratic Party (PDP) that president Goodluck whole heartedly blamed the
opposition party (APC) Governors for Boko Haram’s dilating crisis? “There is no
insurgency in PDP states because the Governors are performing.” That quite
sounded to me like politics being played with Boko Haram by the president. And
what was that again the president mentioned when Christiane asked “do you admit
that there is a problem in the security dealing with it?” of course the
president retorted “that is not correct. That is not correct. I have said it severally;
those are insinuations by some interest groups.” “One of those interest groups
is the state department of the United States.” Amanpour replied the president. “No!
No! No!” (Again!?) “People get wrong information to the state department of
United States.” Need I do remind of President Jonathan’s #AmericaWillKnow media
chat? I still wonder as to what changed his mind.
A year now, since the Chibok girls were abducted by Boko Haram. I recall vividly when the President claimed to know the whereabouts of the missing girls that’s some 10 months back, but then on another submission, of course surprisingly, his own words were, “all the information that was volunteered to us (about their location we’ve used) and we have searched the places… and we have scanned but we have nothing.” Permit me to admit, this is my country’s leader.
But if I could meet the
president, I’d sure would ask him, ‘and Mr. president, why should Nigerians
trust in your coming back to office when your own words were “it then means I
cannot do anything even if I am there for the next four years.” And you told
even your predecessor that you do not intend to?’ does it then mean that the last
four years you spent in office did not suffice you to make “significant
improvements” and you still can’t and won’t “improve on power within the coming
period”? Earnestly, what exactly do you intend to improve on? Or perhaps, “four
years is too short a time for someone to make an impact,” as yourself accorded.
“I am concerned about
your legacy and your climb down which you alone can best be the manager of, whenever
you so decide… You may wish to pursue a more credible and more honorable path.”-
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan.
A
Betrayed Nation;
During his 2011
campaign, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan made some unscrupulous promises
regarding the problems the country was facing. Mr. Goodluck’s toughest
challenge being the serious insecurity bothering the nation, he assured
Nigerians that curbing Boko Haram would be his 1st project. But lest
one reminds that at the end, all through his stay in office had never for once
visited the states where the insurgency was badly corroding until a few weeks
to the country’s national elections. The President’s excuse as he claimed
during his 3rd media chat in 2013 was because the Borno State
airport was not functional at the moment he planned to visit, “And we did not
want to land somewhere and fly into Maiduguri with a helicopter for obvious
reasons.” “Obvious reasons” indeed, for that’s a President whom promised to
secure his people no matter what it takes.
During that chat the
President was asked why he had to travel to Brazil when Nigeria was in a
serious delicate insecurity situation. The President’s responded, “The day the
international community gets to know that the president of Nigeria couldn’t
travel because of Boko Haram, then we are finished,” (finished!?) I think the
president is confusing leadership with acting (my take).
Just a day to his
declaration ‘ceremony’, President Goodluck Jonathan’s chief of army staff Mr.
Alex Badeh announced that a ceasefire accord had been reached between the
Nigerian Government and the Boko Haram terrorists. To further strengthen the
hopes of the people, he announced even that the terrorists agreed to release
the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls in exchange with their captured fellows. To
Nigerians greatest dismay, it’s just a week to the long awaited Presidential
elections (of which a majority of the populace regards as “Change”) but yet,
there’s still no news of the whereabouts of the missing girls.
On the 20th of
this month, the BBC had an interview with the President, talking on the hopes
to finding the missing schoolgirls, the BBC correspondent asked the president
if he’d know where the missing girls are, regarding that the military saying
that they have “no clues at all as to where they (Chibok schoolgirls) are.” The
President response to that assertion was (am sorry to say) rather stupid, “if
that’s what the military tells you then of course you have to take it.” He
said, “But we ask that question every day, we are looking up too, we have not
seen dead girls, that is a good news. So I believe they are still alive, I
believe we’ll get them.” “Many people are questioning how on earth has it been
that during this last just few weeks,” the interviewer went on, “less than six
weeks, the whole picture has changed in the North-East, this towns and villages
have been taken back, and they’re wondering why that couldn’t have happened
months or years ago, why it’s happened right now?” the President replied, “Yes
I agree that in the beginning of Boko Haram, we never expected that they will
build up that kind of capacity, we underrated the external influence.” I think
at that juncture, President Jonathan himself agrees that we are finished, and
he in a sense did finish us.
“We shouldn’t have
waited for a practically ‘non-existing’ government to give us the go ahead
before mounting a humanitarian effort to rescue those girls.”- Senator John
McCain of the Republican party of USA said in an interview. How I wish they
didn’t?
“I would have loved
that the Nigerians in Diaspora vote this year but to be frank with you that is
going to be difficult now. Presently, the law does not allow the voting outside
Nigeria and so this year Nigerians in Diaspora will not vote but I will work
towards it by 2015 ‘even though I will not be running for election.”- President
Goodluck Jonathan said in 2011. But Mr. President, if you honestly didn’t want
to contest in this election, then why did you strongly and repeatedly
emphasized on not contesting? O! Of course, “four years is too short a time for
someone to make an impact.” Indeed.
In my remorseful
opinion, a country can only be at its breaking point when its leaders whom hath
not the tiniest fragment of shame, boldly face its people and ask them to vote
for them ‘again’ when the only legacies they are about to leave them are but
endless lies and seemingly unending disasters of which they (the leaders)
deliberately allowed to hatch (if not incubated).
“Mr. President, there’s
an election coming, can you win it?” the BBC correspondent asked his final
question. I honestly adored the earnest with which the President replied that
question. “I will surely win it.” Although the challenges faced by Mr. President
were solemnly raveling, he still assumed he’d emerged the winner after all.
“If I go Nigerians will
miss me.”- President Goodluck said in one of his media chats. Truth is many
Nigerians (my-self included) will really miss this man and his company of lies
and deceit.
“In a sick country,
every attempt to cure it is an affront to those who feed on its sickness,”- Bernard
Malamud
Epilogue
(Defeat);
At 5:15pm the evening
of Nigeria’s presidential elections, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan called
General Muhammadu Buhari to congratulate him on his victory in the ongoing
elections of which the final result was yet to be officially announced. That
honorable gesture made by President Goodluck took almost the entire world aback.
“An incumbent African President concedes defeat at an early hour, is this the
first time this is happening?” the world seem to have never witnessed such!
Although as I said,
that was an “honorable gesture”, could it have qualified as heroic? Many
Nigerians regarded that doing as heroic, but I (for one) see it as an “ethic of
leadership”. But profoundly, I see it more as a self vindication from the eyes of
the international community, of whose eyes were interestingly glued to the
country’s political uproar and a democratic transgression.
Prior to the
presidential elections, I recall, two peace agreements were gladly signed by
the presidential contestants of the two major parties PDP and APC, both
agreements were signed in front of both domestic and international witnesses.
Yet again, US secretary of states, John Kerry had visited earlier the country
and had a one-on-one discussion with both candidates (separately).
Let the truth be told
here, if President Goodluck Jonathan hadn’t have conceded defeat the result
would have still been announced as him being the defeated and still the country
would still have remained in peace. Why then would that little “honorable gesture”
be regarded as “Heroic”?
In the arts of
leadership (governance) power and politics are always the game tools, wherein
the people are the players. But nature and time will always be the judges as
well as the decision makers in their own respective perspectives.
