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 . 6 m - about
$ 1 . 2 m 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 . 56 m 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 .

http://m.aljazeera.com/story/20141123104313818965

if you read this message you will realize it applies to every regime since we independence. nothing new here. it will continue as long as we sit down praying for change instead of taking our destiny into our hands