Afam4eva: The title of this thread will come as a rude shock to a lot of people considering the fact that i'm neither a sycophant nor a paid agent of Jonathan and what i'm about to say here is not necessarily related to developmental strides of Jonathan which is not obvious to a lot of us. I won't join the bandwagon of those folks who keep telling us how Jonathan has changed Nigeria in his short stay as president. Jonathan is not a saint and has not lived up to the expectations of majority of Nigerians but neither did our past leaders including Obasanjo. But if there's one reason why i will want Jonathan to continue as our president, it's due to the fact that him being a present presents us with a new political dimension from what we've had for decades now. Ordinarily, someone of Jonathan's caliber would not have mounted the exalted seat of the presidency if not for the fat that befell his former boss, Yaradua. When Yaradua was presented to Nigerians, those that chose him wanted a vice president for him and they wanted someone that would be seen but not heard. They needed someone who would do their bidding without asking questions. They had the opportunity of presenting the likes of Donal Duke, Peter Odilli who were more more popular as far as that region was concerned but instead they went for a Jonathan who was the governor of a Bayelsa state and who didn't exactly have the political clout as he got to that seat due to what befell his oga at that time. So, we were presented with Jonathan and many of us top he would remain a figure head under Yaradua but as fate could have it, Yaradua died and Jonathan had to fill that void. I'm not sure this is what the political heavyweights or the cabals who put him there were expecting. They had a game plan and Jonathan becoming Nigeria's president couldn't have been part of the plan. The political atmosphere was boiling as at when Yaradua died and those in power were hesitating to give Jonathan the full powers to take up from where Yaradua stopped and that was because Jonathan did not belong to that caucus of political leaders who had held the nation to ransom and they knew Jonathan could squash their plans. When they eventually gave Jonathan the power to become a substantive president, a lot of people were expecting him to cause a political revolution and this was what necessitated the protests by civil society groups for him to be made the substantive president. Some months after Jonathan was made the president, a lot of people were disappointed cos it seemed Jonathan was going the way of his predecessors and a lot of people called him a weak and ball-less president cos he was very slow at making decisions and they felt he was receiving order from God knows where. Over the years, i have watched Jonathan grow in confidence and it can be seen even in his boldness when being interviewed on TV. Today, Jonathan has become more bold by the day and it seems to be that he has started making decisions independent of those cabals that put him there. I think this is the first step of moving away from the status quo. We have seen the ramblings in the letter that OBJ wrote Jonathan. We have also heard the likes of IBB, Atiku and other elder statesmen calling for the head of Jonathan. We have also seen people who we thought inherited PDP from their father moving over to the opposition party. I think this calls for celebration because when Satan criticizes someone then that person must be doing something right. Jonathan may not be the best leader we can have. Far from it. But i think he represents a paradigm shift from the status quo that has been molded by the cabals who have held this nation to ransome since 1970.

Afam4eva: The title of this thread will come as a rude shock to a lot of people considering the fact that i'm neither a sycophant nor a paid agent of Jonathan and what i'm about to say here is not necessarily related to developmental strides of Jonathan which is not obvious to a lot of us. I won't join the bandwagon of those folks who keep telling us how Jonathan has changed Nigeria in his short stay as president. Jonathan is not a saint and has not lived up to the expectations of majority of Nigerians but neither did our past leaders including Obasanjo. But if there's one reason why i will want Jonathan to continue as our president, it's due to the fact that him being a present presents us with a new political dimension from what we've had for decades now. Ordinarily, someone of Jonathan's caliber would not have mounted the exalted seat of the presidency if not for the fat that befell his former boss, Yaradua. When Yaradua was presented to Nigerians, those that chose him wanted a vice president for him and they wanted someone that would be seen but not heard. They needed someone who would do their bidding without asking questions. They had the opportunity of presenting the likes of Donal Duke, Peter Odilli who were more more popular as far as that region was concerned but instead they went for a Jonathan who was the governor of a Bayelsa state and who didn't exactly have the political clout as he got to that seat due to what befell his oga at that time. So, we were presented with Jonathan and many of us top he would remain a figure head under Yaradua but as fate could have it, Yaradua died and Jonathan had to fill that void. I'm not sure this is what the political heavyweights or the cabals who put him there were expecting. They had a game plan and Jonathan becoming Nigeria's president couldn't have been part of the plan. The political atmosphere was boiling as at when Yaradua died and those in power were hesitating to give Jonathan the full powers to take up from where Yaradua stopped and that was because Jonathan did not belong to that caucus of political leaders who had held the nation to ransom and they knew Jonathan could squash their plans. When they eventually gave Jonathan the power to become a substantive president, a lot of people were expecting him to cause a political revolution and this was what necessitated the protests by civil society groups for him to be made the substantive president. Some months after Jonathan was made the president, a lot of people were disappointed cos it seemed Jonathan was going the way of his predecessors and a lot of people called him a weak and ball-less president cos he was very slow at making decisions and they felt he was receiving order from God knows where. Over the years, i have watched Jonathan grow in confidence and it can be seen even in his boldness when being interviewed on TV. Today, Jonathan has become more bold by the day and it seems to be that he has started making decisions independent of those cabals that put him there. I think this is the first step of moving away from the status quo. We have seen the ramblings in the letter that OBJ wrote Jonathan. We have also heard the likes of IBB, Atiku and other elder statesmen calling for the head of Jonathan. We have also seen people who we thought inherited PDP from their father moving over to the opposition party. I think this calls for celebration because when Satan criticizes someone then that person must be doing something right. Jonathan may not be the best leader we can have. Far from it. But i think he represents a paradigm shift from the status quo that has been molded by the cabals who have held this nation to ransome since 1970.

abes:

GEJ that has been in government for over 11 years prior to becoming the president elect? Did you just call him a common man?

mad nigerian:

Not really.

We are still

1.Dependent on oil

2.Corrupt and tribalistic

3.Poor power supply

4.Poor rail and other infrastructure

5.Poorly funded education

6.Poorly funded youth development

7.The same cabals are still incharge...new management.

Anyways, Jona cananot be the catalyst for change because Nigerians do not want change....they want to chop money.(Which is the main reason why people want Jona in power...and why some want the north in power.).

Sorry...but change ain't happening....and things will get worse once the oil price crashes.

jude33084:


Afam, calling someone a catalyst means that the person should be able to propel others to achieve a desirable change through governmental policies instituted but what I read is the opposite of what a catalyst should be?

Afam4eva:
If you read my post, you'd see that i was strictly referring to the political climate and not governmental policies. Those policies will be instituted only after the political climate has been unadulterated and set free by the old cargoes that have held the Nigerian state captive since the beginning of Nigeria.

jude33084:



The rest will change one day except the cancelled one.

SUBMARINE: GEJ will still win 2015 election. So my advice to APC supporters is that they should wait till 2019 when Power will be shifted to the North.

eGuerrilla:

First off, let me thank you for this write-up. Just so you know, what attracted me here was your thought-provoking title.

While I agree that Jonathan's reign provides the perfect catalyst for change, I beg to differ with your conclusion about a preordained 'paradigm shift'. To be clear, in both body-language and deed, what Jonathan appears committed to is nothing more than a restructure of the polity, which replaces certain vested interests with new oligarchies.

To engender the kind of groundswell change you envisage, Nigerians would need to engage the system frontally, to ensure real dividends are delivered by the planned confab. If left to continue tuning the system along the lines we have no control over, Jonathan-the-catalyst may yet produce an all-consuming, cataclysmic reaction.

Afam4eva:
You may be right to an extent but i still think that's a good news. Any replacement that means that the old political guns like OBJ, IBB et al being made politically irrelevant is good news in my opinion. These are the few people who have held us by the jugular and exterminating them from poltical relevance will portend a paradigm shift will be consolidated by future president. Whichever way you look at it, it's still a step in the right direction.

Abagworo:


My reason for considering him a failure is exactly what you wrote above. People thought he would end corruption, tribalism and change Nigeria but his regime has turned out the worst in that. We expected a sincere SNC and not an SNC to discuss 2015 elections. Right now the country is more polarized than ever.

Yes he might bring about a bloody revolution sooner. Than expected because we are almost at the threshold. Obasanjo has exonerated himself from the wrath of the masses by repenting and writing a sensitive letter.

0lumide: Yawns!!!

A moderator that openly declared for GEJ 2015 in 2013.. negro please!!!!

Now he wrote another assss licking, emotional write up!

We want a true revolution not GEJ replacing old cabals with new ones.



Old cabals go chop sotay dem don dey reason stop to dey chop now new cabal want start to dey chop for another sotayyyyyyy time.. God forbid!!

GEJ pay all the moderators to write all their nonsense! Nigerians don't want you again!! shikena!!!

Abagworo:


My reason for considering him a failure is exactly what you wrote above. People thought he would end corruption, tribalism and change Nigeria but his regime has turned out the worst in that. We expected a sincere SNC and not an SNC to discuss 2015 elections. Right now the country is more polarized than ever.

Yes he might bring about a bloody revolution sooner. Than expected because we are almost at the threshold. Obasanjo has exonerated himself from the wrath of the masses by repenting and writing a sensitive letter.

Abagworo:


My reason for considering him a failure is exactly what you wrote above. People thought he would end corruption, tribalism and change Nigeria but his regime has turned out the worst in that. We expected a sincere SNC and not an SNC to discuss 2015 elections. Right now the country is more polarized than ever.

Yes he might bring about a bloody revolution sooner. Than expected because we are almost at the threshold. Obasanjo has exonerated himself from the wrath of the masses by repenting and writing a sensitive letter.

Afam4eva:
If you read my post, you'd see that i was strictly referring to the political climate and not governmental policies. Those policies will be instituted only after the political climate has been unadulterated and set free by the old cargoes that have held the Nigerian state captive since the beginning of Nigeria.

Kairoseki77: It is disgusting that you are the moderator of the politics section during lead up to our general election.

People have been saying that you are biased for over a year. You have ALWAYS denied it and lied that you were impartial.

A few days ago you wrote that you were "the most Igbotic person on NL" and now this?!

Nairaland can no longer be trusted as a source of unbiased election coverage. Seun should be ashamed of himself for his consistenty poor hiring practices.

Kairoseki77:

Aside from the massive abuse of your position, the substance of your write up doesn't make sense.

OBJ, IBB, and all those other "old cargoes" are in their 70's 80's and 90's. Most of them will be dead within a few years no matter who is President. Right now, the most important thing is to make sure that we do not create a new CORRUPT class, to replace the old one. That it why GEJ's fight against corruption is so important, and why his inaction is so disappointing.

What difference does it make if FFK is replaced by Oduah? If OBJ and his CORRUPT family is replaced by GEJ and Patience? I could go on.

And before you bring up the Enugu Airport, remember that even as CORRUPT as the old politicians were, even as horrible as they were, even as much as we all hate them, they still managed to build all the airports in the country. The same ones that Stella is upgrading. So please don't excuse her bad behavior because of the crumbs she has given you. Hold her by the same standard as the past leaders, and you will she that she is no different.

People like Fashola and are the only catalysts Nigeria will ever have. Fashola has raised the bar SO HIGH in Lagos, that the voting public will NEVER go back to incompetent leaders. That is change. InsteAd of supporting people like them, every tribe in Nigeria just takes its supporting each successive batch of incompetent leaders because "It's our turn to chop."

If you really believe that Jonathan has brought change, ask yourself this, if he left office today, would the ND start MEND again? Have the poor masses their improved their lot under him? Are they protesting corruption NOW, when it maters? Or, are they silent because it is "their turn to chop"? And when the chopping ends, in 2015, or 2019, will they then turn around to protest the next President because the ND has not developed? Who will they have to blame? What will have changed?

THIS is the cycle that our country is trapped in. GEJ is a perpetuation of it. If you cannot be a performer, you nee to fight corruption. If you cannot fight corruption, then you need to be a performer. Everything else is BS. Being younger than the old thieves is not an accomplishment.

Afam4eva:
He couldn't have changed Nigeria the way you want cos he didn't have a precedence of doing something similar. He's not a Fashola or a Donald Duke. The only thing i see him doing is to change the political landscape so that the political scallywags who have held this nation to ransom will not get anywhere near power again.