Why is Nigeria 's Jonathan worried ?
Fisayo Soyombo
Last updated: 14 hours ago
As Goodluck Jonathan starts his re -election
campaign , what first- term achievements can he
show Nigerians ?
Goodluck Jonathan is worried . As he sat down at
the Eagle Square on November 11 to formally
declare his intention to seek re - election , Jonathan
cut a forlorn figure , which he attempted to mask
with occasional smiles too artificial to be
believable.
Jonathan' s staunchest governor- ally , Godswill
Akpabio , spoke with confidence : " Mr President, we
know that the route to 2015 is not going to be
very smooth , but we are assuring you that at the
end of the tunnel victory is yours , " he said .
He went on to compare the president to " David in
the Bible […] fighting all the wars" .
Hearing Akpabio ' s words , I was left a bit confused.
Why is our president , close to completing four
years in office, still a David ? He has no victories
against the Goliaths to offer at the end of his
term? Why is he still struggling to earn public
trust ?
Four years earlier again at Eagle Square, Jonathan
declared his candidacy for the 2011 presidential
election , promising to " fight" eight specific battles .
He promised to fight for " justice , for all Nigerians
to have access to power , for qualitative and
competitive education , for healthcare reforms , to
create jobs for all Nigerians ; to fight corruption,
fight to protect all citizens , and to fight for your
rights!"
Eight struggles , four years, and no victory yet to
declare?
A corrupt administration
It is unclear if Jonathan ' s administration is the
most corrupt in Nigeria ' s democratic history , but
never has corruption been this romanticised and
institutionalised.
The Code of Conduct Bureau requires all public
office holders to declare their assets on
assumption and relinquishment of office. But this
had no meaning for Jonathan .
Asked during a presidential media chat in June
2012 to explain his aversion to the asset
declaration code , Jonathan clarified that he didn' t
give a damn .
" The issue of public asset declaration is a matter
of personal principle, " he said . " That is the way I
see it , and I don ' t give a damn about it, even if
you criticise me from heaven , " he said .
Two years later, he delivered another bombshell .
Explaining at another presidential media chat in
May 2014 on how his administration was tackling
corruption, he said : " Over 70 percent of what are
called corruption [ cases], even by EFCC [Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission] and other anti -
corruption agencies , is not corruption, but common
stealing."
His disregard for one of his eight struggles -
fighting corruption - was put not only into verbal
use but also into action .
In 2013, his minister of aviation , Stella Oduah ,
faced accusations of ordering the purchase of two
bulletproof cars for $ 1. 6m - about $ 1. 2m more
than the market price. More than a year after the
scandal , Oduah , who ordinarily ought to be
prosecuted , is still prospering and in fact playing a
big role in Jonathan' s 2015 campaign .
No one truly knows the exact amount of public
funds Diepreye Alamieyeseigha , ex - governor of
Jonathan' s Bayelsa state , stole. But he had stolen
so much that when the federal government started
an investigation in the mid- 2000 s , it was
discovered that he had some $ 1. 56m in cash
stashed away in one of his London properties .
After investigations and lawsuits in the UK and
Nigeria , Jonathan - only God knows what he was
thinking - granted Alamieyeseigha a state pardon
in March 2013 . These are just two out of many
such examples .
Litany of failed promises
All of Jonathan ' s 2010 promises were rehashed
into a document he christened " Transformation
Agenda 2011 - 2015" , which set out to focus on job
creation, education , health , power , transportation ,
Niger Delta development, governance and public
expenditure management , among others.
Truly , Jonathan did attempt to create jobs through
the YOUWIN initiative. But it counts for nothing
knowing how the masses suffer from the partial
removal of subsidy in January 2012 , from which
YOUWIN is funded.
During the Occupy Nigeria protests against
subsidy removal , at least 17 people were killed by
the police - people whose rights Jonathan
promised to " fight for" . Till date , no police officials
have been prosecuted for the deaths .
It is impossible to say a president has transformed
his country' s health sector if his own wife
receives medical attention abroad ; or if after a
prolonged strike by doctors, he ingeniously devises
a backdoor approach to sacking them .
I do not blame Jonathan for the insurgency in the
northeast , neither do I believe in the conspiracy
theory that his government or its key officers are
sponsoring Boko Haram . But he can' t be
exonerated from responsibility for the
organisational ill - preparedness of the military and
the inferior firearms of soldiers , given the huge
amount funds for the military at his disposal .
A Jonathan win in 2015 will not invalidate the fact
that his first -term performance was
underwhelming . His victory will be brought by a
combination of deep -seated ethnic sentiments in
his favour, blind public sycophancy and the
possibility of opposition All Progressives Congress
( APC ) collapsing after its presidential primary .
To Jonathan ' s advantage , APC has offered the
public scant argumentation on why it should be
voted into power . Journalist Frederick Nwabufo
recently asked John Oyegun , APC ' s supremo , what
his party would do differently about Boko Haram
should it gain power next year.
" We will make the system work, " he said . How?
He didn' t say .
So it is clear that in 2015 , Nigerians will be torn
between the devil and the deep blue sea ; between
a Jonathan who promised but failed to transform
Nigeria and an opposition whose chief selling point
is directing tirades at the presidency . Surely , there
couldn' t have been a worse time to be Nigerian .
Fisayo Soyombo edits Nigerian online newspaper
TheCable.
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