One of the responsibilities of a president is to inspire their citizens, to give them a reason to look forward to a better life. I watched the presidential media chat on Sunday, November 18, 2012, expecting to get answers from my president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan on certain national problems. I came away without answers. I was saddened the more that my president provided nothing refreshing on the menu. It was a disappointing episode of self-confession of incompetence and helplessness. In fact, it would be true to characterize Jonathan’s answers to pointed questions, particularly from the Editors of the Guardian and Sunday Mirror newspapers, as evasive and rambling, a presidential lamentation.

The president’s answers are a good example of what a president should not say. A president must at least give the citizens a reason to have confidence in his abilities through presentation of clear bullet point solutions that he has for specific problems. He is not only to acknowledge that there are problems, but he should provide his solutions to those problems. He should have confidence in those solutions, and be courageous to make them open to public scrutiny. He is NEVER (I emphasize this word) expected to tell his people why it is difficult to implement a law or an act of the national assembly; rather he should tell steps he has taken or is taking to implement those. If a president laments and stops at that, what should the people do?

EDUCATION:

The Editor of the Guardian newspapers, Mr Martins Oloja, asked what the president was doing to correct the disappointing rating of Nigerian universities. President Jonathan responded by painting a more disappointing scenario, and concluded that state governors should also be shown the report of a committee he had set up to compile a report on the state of both federal and state universities. That’s it! Did the president offer any solutions? He offered none! Any defence for Nigeria’s rating? President Jonathan said that he noticed that there were quite a number of countries in the world whose universities were not well ranked either!

Nigeria deserves better. In 2010, in my article titled, Goodluck Jonathan: Luck is not Enough, I wrote: “If I stood before the unapproachable throne of the Almighty and He asked me to choose one item from the list—Luck, Strength, Courage, Understanding, and Grace, I would definitely not choose Luck. Let me tell you why. There is an illusion that comes with luck right unto the doorsteps of a man’s soul. Luck creates an illusion of achievement where there is no labour. Luck disarms a man of the necessary barometer of self-assessment; it darkens the thin veil that shields human faults. You have not arrived on the wings of luck; rather the journey has just started when luck pushes you unto the dais which is only fit for those who have tasted both the bitter pill of defeat and the sweet wine of success. Luck carries with it the burden of responsibility, to prove yourself to those who hold the consensus that you are undeserving.

Luck does not qualify a man for leadership; it questions his ability to lead. Luck does not necessarily come with excellence; it makes you the cynosure of prying eyes, coloured with the question, ‘Can you excel; can you distinguish yourself now?’ The burden of leadership cannot be borne by those who never prepared for the opportunity. Truly, if you did not prepare for an opportunity before it came, you might waste it. Luck could be a wonderful thing, but that is if you prepared for it. The winds must have blown in your direction the suspicion that the opportunity was coming. That nudge that whispers the question: ‘What if...?’ must be unmistaken.” I am more convinced of the rectitude of those words now!

On Monetization Law:

[b]The president was asked by the Guardian editor why his government was not implementing the monetization policy without formally taking steps to put it aside. Mr Oloja cited two examples how the official houses of the senate president and speaker of the house of representatives were bought by those public officers and yet Jonathan’s government permitted new budget votes to build new official quarters for the current holders of these offices, which votes the current officers claim are not sufficient. Jonathan replied by saying that the policy “is good in theory” but difficult to implement. He gives an example of a government project supervisor who needs an official vehicle to supervise public projects. To him, that justifies the abuse of public office that the monetization policy sought to correct, which resulted in improvement in capital expenditures above recurrent expenditures. This beats me! Do you remember when during the Yar’Adua-Jonathan government, they started chipping away at the cornerstone of the monetization policy, first with buying a “pool of vehicles”, which was contrary to the Certain Political, Public And Judicial Office Holders (Salaries And Allowances, etc.), Act 2002? Because Nigerians kept quiet President Jonathan has come out boldly to declare that an act of the national assembly cannot be implemented. The growing cost of running government, with expanded number of ministries post 2007, increased number of cabinet-level ministers, surging numbers of assistants, special assistants, advisers, senior advisors, etc., and the concomitant over-bloated overhead costs all combine to shoot up recurrent expenditures of the Nigerian government under President Jonathan. And he spoke in a cavalier manner about this.
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When you heard of N 480 billion statutory transfers in the 2013 budget proposal of the Jonathan government, know that this is because of the negligence of the act I have referred to above and the breach of the monetization policy, which makes beneficiaries of such transfers (the national assembly, judiciary, and commissions recognized by the constitution) to take scandalous sums of money, yet producing nothing or little in return. Who can check this abuse when the legislature and judiciary in Nigeria collaborate with the executive to waste our commonwealth? If Nigerians will not collaborate, in spite of their mutual suspicions, and work together to enlighten the uninformed about the extravagance and lack of good conscience of the ruling party, and stir them against supporting the party, only a violent overthrow shall redeem this nation if it will not violently come crashing down.

When reminded by the editor of the Sunday Mirror, Gbemi Olujobi how Nigerians were fascinated by the personal story of his humble background, and voted for him, only to be disappointed by the extravagant lifestyle of his government, epitomized by lavish expenditures on feeding by the presidency, Mr Jonathan responded by naively saying that, “I eat only twice a day.” How did Nigerians get for themselves such a president who fails to understand simple question? He surprised probably not a few when he claimed ignorance of how much the presidency spends on food and drinks! That nails it. Our president is not leading; he has surrendered governance to those Nigerians did not vote to be their president. President Jonathan, shamelessly went on to say that, “Nigeria is an important country,” implying the expenditures on food and drinks that some folks are complaining about are none issues.


Halliburton scam:

[b]When asked why his government was prevaricating about trying culprits entangled in the Halliburton bribery scandal, Jonathan used an old and stale line, “It is better to let criminals go free than to punish one innocent fellow.” This is an incongruous dictum adoption. The fact is that Nigeria does not have a government that is ready to punish rogues; and when punishment against evil is delayed, men do not learn to do right. [/b]President Jonathan would need decades to sort out the “innocent” from criminals before taking the Halliburton scandal criminals to court. In my article, “A Lessons on power for Dr Goodluck Jonathan” (2010), I wrote about the president: “One obvious mistake Dr Jonathan has consistently made since the resolution by the National Assembly on February 9th, 2010, making him the Acting President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation is to still think like a Vice-President. Until a man changes both the content and construction of his mind upon the thrust into the limelight of power his efficacy in the new role will be mediocre. Until Dr Jonathan re-creates himself, he shall remain insipid, boring, and of no positive effect whatsoever to the exigencies of the time. My reading is that Dr Jonathan is scared of many Ministers of the Federation and certain individuals whom he considers ‘very powerful.’ You cannot be an effective leader when you are afraid of the people over whom you should preside.”


Security

President Jonathan was asked why he did not care to visit the troubled region of Nigeria (North Eastern states such as Borno and Yobe, which have been hard hit by Boko Haram). He rather spent time talking about some incidental reference to the Odi raid of 2000. He provided no answer for his failure to visit Nigerians in Borno and Yobe states who don’t feel they have a president who cares; neither did he provide hope about resolving the security challenges of Nigeria.

On electricity power supply in Nigeria, I guess you have read how the Jonathan government has promised to grant tax holiday to manufacturers that can generate their electricity! Do you know the implication? The leadership failure of Jonathan’s government will lead to loss of tax revenue because of this holiday. You may have noticed that in some parts of Nigeria (I say this advisedly because I don’t know where you are reading this article from) electricity supply has deteriorated in the past few weeks since the exit of Professor Barth Nnaji. The president promised during the media chat that he would fix the electricity problem and the Benin-Ore road (on which one of his ministers shed tears about two years ago). This statement was made in response to a comment by a Nigerian viewer who had tweeted that if President Jonathan could fix the road and electricity problem of Nigeria, he would become a great Nigerian president. I would wish for Jonathan to become a great Nigerian president. But he cannot become one without showing a good knowledge and understanding of what our problems are, without having the will to tackle them without fear, and without a sense of urgency that Nigerians expect of him.

[b]His answers were uninspiring. He did not speak to the fears and discouragement of Nigerians. He failed to show he was on the side of the people. Jonathan has lost (if at all he had it in the first place) any moral authority to engage the national assembly on their excesses, for they bear the same kind of spots. The Nigerian judiciary is openly corrupt (Jonathan was reminded during the chat about the latest rating of Nigeria as the second most corrupt country); anarchy has set in the land. The presidential media chat was a reminder to Nigerians that they should be ready to suffer all kinds of indignities and torments for the next two and half years. The three arms of government have collaborated to oppress Nigerians. Now they govern by “committees”. The president spoke quite a bit about committees he has set up, and how ignorant Nigerians are for not noticing when he is implementing the recommendations of those committees. Well, I know that committees have never been helpful, at least in my adult days in Nigeria. When a matter has been handed over to a “committee”, it is only a euphemistic expression of taking it off the public menu of engagement.
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Every nation that practices governance through elected representatives must define so clearly what democracy should mean to its people. Such definition comes in form of rituals that distinguish it from other nations. The ability to invent forms of governance that are specific, meaningful, acceptable to the majority of the people, realistic, and time-bound sets a nation apart as intelligent in its conduct. A nation consists of people who have agreed to live and interact together on the basis of laws, not necessarily given by a divine being, but given by the people to themselves in the form of a constitution. And if the people have given to themselves a constitution, it is then a given that such a constitution should not be injurious to their interest, not be restrictive on their aspiration, and not vitiate provisions that are generous to them through some other clauses in the same constitution. Is this the best we can afford for ourselves? Is this the best president we can have for ourselves? Is this the best legislature or judiciary Nigerians are deserving of? The president said that, “PDP is the party to beat.” If this is true then I don’t know Nigerians; they must be truly a queer group.

Blind Government that failed to see where and how her people are suffering.

Where has Nigeria gone wrong?

I leave this to fellow Nairalanders to enlightened me.

Is anybody disappointed? You guys voted in the wrong person and you want him to perform miracle. How possible is that?

Brilliant write up. The Media Chat held yesterday was another window for Nigerians to know how bereft and uncoordinated this government is!

take dat: Brilliant write up. The Media Chat held yesterday was another window for Nigerians to know how bereft and uncoordinated this government is!

Only If we learn.

Nigerians tend to forget history so fast........... when a bag of rice and 5 yards of ankara are involved.

Most especially free laptop

thank heavens I didn't bother watching. I knew it was gonna be another flop. what do you expect from the chat anyway? same old misyarnings. nothing new at all! smh

Wadeoye: Is anybody disappointed? You guys voted in the wrong person and you want him to perform miracle. How possible is that?

THE PEOPLE DESERVE THE GOVT THEY GET.

Well I blame the interviewers little bit.....

They should have let him know that he wasn't answering the question thrown at him.

In a polite way

Mr President your answer is not in any way correspond with the question I asked.

The president had a golden opportunity to convince Nigerians that his government is working hard to make life better, but i was unimpressed.
It would even have been better if i hadn't listened to the media chat.

I was particularly disappointed that the president could not accurately give the percentages of the the recurrent and capital elements of the budget.
We still need to do more in this country to keep our elected officers on their feet working, they are till now enjoying only the fanfare attached to their offices.

Anyone who ad a pre- conclusion of what the president should have said cannot understand or grapple with what he said. There is no one among all his critics who has been able today pin pointedly what the offence of the president over his media chat is untill then.....let preserve our energy for logic and reasoning..

ANALIST: Anyone who ad a pre- conclusion of what the president should have said cannot understand or grapple with what he said. There is no one among all his critics who has been able today pin pointedly what the offence of the president over his media chat is untill then.....let preserve our energy for logic and reasoning..

Thanks for showing your boldness to defend this inaccurate answer.

Mr President was asked about lavish expenditure on feeding.

His answer was I eat twice a day.

In your mind,does the answer correspond with the question.

If Obama had made this type of incoherent answer during interview I bet his administration would have stayed in the white house till now.

ANALIST: Anyone who ad a pre- conclusion of what the president should have said cannot understand or grapple with what he said. There is no one among all his critics who has been able today pin pointedly what the offence of the president over his media chat is untill then.....let preserve our energy for logic and reasoning..

Again I can conclude you didn't read the article before you type that half baked sentence.

To allow biased so called analyst to deceive Nigreian of intellectual giants by their illogical analysis is to fester and groom falsehood in a country founded on truth on truth and sincerity I hope that by taking the issues discussed one after another will definitely be the best to allow easy ready and pinpointing of major issues and those not discussed by OYINBOGOJU' s post.
For clarity the president answered all the question that deserves an answer- which the issues affecting Nigetian polity and economy. And observe, as a politician who does not only consider the present answer to question but their implications to the polity.
First, we must understand that OYINBOGOJU & the likes expected the president feed Migerians with lies as has been the praactice in the past. Just like the novel- 1984, OYINBOGOJU wanted the president to create an ironical mediat chat of truth while telling us lies.
I must say that, this expectation of unpatriotic and unprogressive Nigerians failed woefully and woefully dead. This is not because the president can not do the usual practice of tellling znigetians what is not on ground or revealing all that the government wants yo do and go into their good books, but because he places NATIONAL INTEREST above all other group or cabalstic interest.

This is the foundation or understanding that every znigerian must first and foremost internalize.

For there are come upon this administration and indeed Nugeria, groups who are ready to distablise this country by any means possible with whatever the presidency does or fail to do.


FUTILITY IS THEIR LABOUR REWARD; NIGERIANS ARE WISER NOW THSN THEN AND NIGERIA IS STRONGER NOW THAN EVER BEFORE.

If I understand you very well,I must say you write up is definitely out of topic.

In the article above

I pointed out the question and answer.

If you think I am biased

Then take a little moment and read the article before you write lame comments.

@ANALIST, save us all from these crap and epistles you keep posting!

take dat: @ANALIST, save us all from these crap and epistles you keep posting!

Don't mind the guy.......

His name is analist but he can't even analize.

OYINBOGOJU:

Again I can conclude you didn't read the article before you type that half baked sentence.

You never written like one who found the media chat necessary at the first place, but one who expected all the solution to all challenges in his life to be solved by a Presidential conversation of how National issues are been tackled.
May be you are a chemist turned political commentating Agent, paid to deceive people and divert what is truth to what you want your listening audience to hear; who's theory of chemical combination must provide a particular result without which it must be rejected and dastigated by all.

But that is the difference between pure science and social science which political science- the study of the organisation of the state affairs-which you are commenting on belongs to- it is dynamic and therefore demands not an apprenticeship hand but experts in the field to analyse the pros & and cons of what is said and ought to have been said by the president.
You have failed in this business.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU DEAR, A CHAT IS A DISCUSSION OF WHAT IS IN A PERSONS MIND TOWARDS ANOTHER AND NOT A MEDIUM OF SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM( which inform his calling it a dialogue with Nigeria- a mutual conversation. And truly, he spoke from his most sincere mind.
IN THIS CASE, THE PRESIDENT INITIATED THE CHAT TO IN, DIRECTLY FROM THE GENTLE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MEDIA AND AT LARGE NIGEGERIANS WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT HIS ADMINISTRATION.

I' ready to engage on this very squarely for: when ignorance is not controlled, according to my Yoruba Elders, it infects.

OYINBOGOJU:

Again I can conclude you didn't read the article before you type that half baked sentence.

You never written like one who found the media chat necessary at the first place, but one who expected all the solution to all challenges in his life to be solved by a Presidential conversation of how National issues are been tackled.
May be you are a chemist turned political commentating Agent, paid to deceive people and divert what is truth to what you want your listening audience to hear; who's theory of chemical combination must provide a particular result without which it must be rejected and dastigated by all.

But that is the difference between pure science and social science which political science- the study of the organisation of the state affairs-which you are commenting on belongs to- it is dynamic and therefore demands not an apprenticeship hand but experts in the field to analyse the pros & and cons of what is said and ought to have been said by the president.
You have failed in this business.

LET ME MAKE IT CLEAR TO YOU DEAR, A CHAT IS A DISCUSSION OF WHAT IS IN A PERSONS MIND TOWARDS ANOTHER AND NOT A MEDIUM OF SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM( which inform his calling it a dialogue with Nigeria- a mutual conversation. And truly, he spoke from his most sincere mind.
IN THIS CASE, THE PRESIDENT INITIATED THE CHAT TO IN, DIRECTLY FROM THE GENTLE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MEDIA AND AT LARGE NIGEGERIANS WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT HIS ADMINISTRATION.

I' ready to engage on this very squarely for: when ignorance is not controlled, according to my Yoruba Elders, it infects.

OYINBOGOJU:

Don't mind the guy.......

His name is analist but he can't even analize.

I am engaged, not an applicant.
I'll soon analyse very deeply and politically too, in line with what ever you have said visa vis what the President stated because it is the civil duty and obligation of every Citizen this Great country to it( Nigeria) and fellow Citizens- never to sit back watch our country destroy by political mongers and machineries of political manipulators- which in other words called CENTRIFUGAL FORCE OF POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION-Who can not perform but will not allow those that will perform to do the function without distracting the process they claim to protect.

TO THE AUDIENCE THE BIBLE SAID WE SHOULD FLEE FROM SUCH, because they can neither enter the ASO Rock nor allow those that have entered to carry out their Citizens' mandate.

Analist in as much as I undertstand your points and biased statements......

I will still refrain from arguing with you until you read through the article.

You must be completely misunderstood based on you little capabilities of knowing it all.

The article there point out the questions thrown at the President which he didn't answer but divert into something else.

It is a chat,it is a medium for Jonathan to tell Nigerians what the government is doing as regards to public safety.

It is a chat but the chat has shown how ineligible and incapable this government to tackle even the obvious problems.

It is a chat but if my son respond to me the way this Jonathan respond to journalists then I will assume something is wrong with his brain.

He need some check up.

OYINBOGOJU:

Thanks for showing your boldness to defend this inaccurate answer.

Mr President was asked about lavish expenditure on feeding.

His answer was I eat twice a day.

In your mind,does the answer correspond with the question.

If Obama had made this type of incoherent answer during interview I bet his administration would have stayed in the white house till now.

He never stopped there, but meant to express the fact that it is not actually the swallow or the softs of the presidency, the vice and their families that hikes the amount at that.

What you fell irredeemably to inform your audience is that he promised that " one of the days the days, state house permanent secretary should be interviewed on why the amount is up to that. I do not have the statistics now.

Two the president, to every unbiased and hearing Nigerian said that such amount is also inclusive of Attachees to the Presidency, Visiting Diplomats Etc.
Comparatively too, is the Ethiopean dinner which the president highlighted, which he said can not be equated without what Nigeria does in hosting their quest which accumulates the out cry of feeding the Presidency.

If expounded, you will understand that it is not only food(in African sense) that gulps up that amount, but every thing that accommodates, prepares, forms and brings out the full leisure expected in an international standardized breakfast, lounge, dinner and etc, that is described as food when making provision fir such in the budget.

Wadeoye: Is anybody disappointed? You guys voted in the wrong person and you want him to perform miracle. How possible is that?

Never a wrong vote but, a process of social engineering that ca never be a magic wand.

The media chat was not as bad as people are making it out to be, watched, listened to most of it and would give the president a pass mark. The panelists however should do their homework well and ask straight to the point questions instead of doing 3 in 1 questions.

OYINBOGOJU: Every nation that practices governance through elected representatives must define so clearly what democracy should mean to its people. Such definition comes in form of rituals that distinguish it from other nations. The ability to invent forms of governance that are specific, meaningful, acceptable to the majority of the people, realistic, and time-bound sets a nation apart as intelligent in its conduct. A nation consists of people who have agreed to live and interact together on the basis of laws, not necessarily given by a divine being, but given by the people to themselves in the form of a constitution. And if the people have given to themselves a constitution, it is then a given that such a constitution should not be injurious to their interest, not be restrictive on their aspiration, and not vitiate provisions that are generous to them through some other clauses in the same constitution. Is this the best we can afford for ourselves? Is this the best president we can have for ourselves? Is this the best legislature or judiciary Nigerians are deserving of? The president said that, “PDP is the party to beat.” If this is true then I don’t know Nigerians; they must be truly a queer group.

I don't expect you to recant so early, from what you alleged. Look at your second paragraph, in your second line, from your word 23 to 29, which reads " clear bullet point solutions to specific problems" or we're they dictated to you?

Let's still reason! Is welcomed in democracy- the government of the people, by the people and for the people which why we are here, free, arguing, reasoning and maintaining our sanity.

Dear don't be afraid to reprobate now because the road to logical and reasonable analysis is not yet closed.

Thanks for the Twist........

I'm not bothered about that.

So can you also clarify this?
He was asked what he was doing as regards the culprit in halliburtton scandal he responded by saying it is better to let a criminal go free than to punish innocent man.

Again is that the same ideology he was using when bokoharam member arrested and few weeks later they were all released.

Does that mean there were no enough evidence to pRosecute this people.

How about Otedola/Farouk case is it also better to let criminal go free than punish innocents.

Who are the criminal and innocent?

OYINBOGOJU: Blind Government that failed to see where and how her people are suffering.

A blind government can not recognize its constituents challenges which you have alleged before now that the president failed to give solution to in yesterday's chat or has it now become non- recognition of the problems and never failure to address.
Continue recanting, withdrawing and diverting attention from the issue at hand.

Wadeoye: Is anybody disappointed? You guys voted in the wrong person and you want him to perform miracle. How possible is that?

If the wrong candidate why did he win. Because you agreed that he won the election.