Jonathan’s unfolding dictatorial tendencies
JUNE 29, 2014 BY PUNCH EDITORIAL BOARD
CASTING aside all pretentions to the democratic ideal of freedom, the Goodluck Jonathan Administration is blossoming into a fully-fledged dictatorship. Opposition party governors have been hounded and stopped from travelling. Even the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, tasted the bitter pill of harassment from soldiers in a supposedly democratic government.In a poignant, but ominous replay of the jackboot of a military dictatorship, Governors Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State were prevented from travelling to Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, to attend a political rally organised by their party — the All Progressives Congress — two days to the governorship election of June 21.Amaechi was allowed to land his jet in nearby Ondo State, but his motorcade was intercepted at the Ekiti/Ondo border by soldiers reportedly acting “on orders from above.” They prevented him from completing his journey by road. The aircraft was also later prevented from flying out of Akure. Similarly, Oshiomhole was stopped from flying out of Benin Airport en route to Ekiti. The military officials who stopped him also claimed to be acting “on orders from above.”Conversely, three top government/Peoples Democratic Party officials were alleged to have been given access to the Akure Airport the same day. These untoward developments suggest that Jonathan is treading on dangerous territory. Lessons from our past are instructive: no matter how brutal governments had been, the country had always overcome their repression. Riding on the back of a tiger to obtain victory could turn out to be very costly.These acts of interdiction by the government are illegal. They are clearly unconstitutional. The 1999 Nigerian Constitution, in Section 41, expressly guarantees the right of movement to every Nigerian. These happenings are a sign of the growing dictatorial tendencies of the Jonathan government. If highly-placed Nigerians can have their movement curtailed, then ordinary citizens would become easy prey for the overzealous soldiers.Rivers State Government was spot-on in its comments, saying, “Not even in the worst days of the abhorrent military dictatorship were things done this brazenly, with citizens being denied their fundamental rights of free movement, free assembly and free expression, all because of the desperation of the ruling party to win elections at all costs.” The statement by Edo State was also illuminating. It said, “These acts (preventing opposition governors from campaigning) are illegal and definitely not in line with the Electoral Act…”It is more worrying that Jonathan has failed to speak out against the civil rights infractions of the military. He seems unconcerned as the country under his government slides into a Gestapo state.Early in June, the police had taken over the palace of the Emir of Kano, preventing the newly-appointed Emir, Lamido Sanusi, from operating from there. Not only that, opposition governors and party chiefs who flew to Kano to witness Sanusi’s inauguration were barred from attending the ceremony when the military placed bans on flights in and out of Kano. It was a move that reeked of political vendetta against Sanusi and the opposition APC, which controls Kano, following the defection of Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso from the Peoples Democratic Party.Sanusi, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, was suspended from office last February after alleging that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, did not remit about $20 billion to the Federation Account over an eight-month period.Only last week, Tambuwal, who had once accused Jonathan of encouraging corruption with his body language, was shabbily treated at the venue of a security seminar in Kaduna, Kaduna State. Although other dignitaries were allowed free entry, the soldiers on duty insisted that Tambuwal’s official car must be searched, forcing him to disembark and trek the rest of the way to the venue. The security personnel also said they were acting on “orders from above.”In a democratic society, these illegalities must not be treated lightly. All lovers of liberty must rise up against this growing reign of impunity. As the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, and Femi Falana, a civil rights lawyer, advised, the affected governors should go to court to enforce their fundamental human rights.The suspicion that the Presidency is complicit in the gale of repression by the military could be deduced from the silence of Jonathan. When the military went astray late in May, seizing and destroying newspapers across the country, in an unprecedented assault on free speech never witnessed in a democratic era, the President, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, failed to address the issue or demand explanations from his troops.Last year, five opposition state governors, who were on a solidarity visit to Amaechi in Rivers State, were hounded by armed thugs while the conniving police looked on; their vehicles were damaged. A senator, Magnus Abe, was attacked by thugs and injured by police teargas at a rally in support of Amaechi. Add the recent allegations that signals of the British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America Hausa services were ordered to be blocked, and a grim picture of Jonathan’s descent into tyranny becomes very clear.In saner climes, the record of repression by the Jonathan government and the way he is using the military to subvert civil rights would have landed him in serious trouble. But, rather than accept their fate, tamely, those whose rights have been abridged should seek legal redress. Civil society groups and other Nigerians, especially members of the Nigerian Bar Association, should not fold their arms and allow the country’s democracy to be further desecrated without lawful challenge.

I don't want to believe that Jonathan is behind all these harassments and infraction on the fundamental rights of the citizens,but since he hasn't speak out to condemn all these harassments and curtail the military's excess,it stand to reason that he is behind them and is in support of them!

I just wan book space, I dey come back come modifier am. Make I go shit first, brb.