Well,since the announcement of last week's presidential elections results,it has become the fad to give reasons why the incumbent president lost to the opposition,I just couldn't resist the temptation not to join in the fray.

Before I adduce my own reasons for the incumbent's loss,lemme quickly add that lack of achievements isn't one of them,contrary to what the opposition may have us believe,a goodluck jonathan's administration actually over performed by nigerian standards which is as regards to provision/fixing of basic infrastructures like roads, transportation,health care facilities,building educational facilities and the likes.

I would attempt to give my own reasons as follows:

1)He couldn't get the power brokers support: in every country,there are people who determine who gets into power and how the wealth of the nation is shared. Except in very rare situations like in times of a revolution when the people decide who stays in power or leaves,these people(power brokers) actually are the ones who determine in which direction the people look to in search of their leaders. In goodluck's case,he couldn't get even one of these power brokers to back him for his 2nd term ambition;the danjumas,ibbs,objs of this world turned their backs on him in spite of reaching out to them even up to the last minute,seems they had all made up their minds to get rid of him

2) He was sabotaged: right from when he got into power,goodluck had been up against a powerful force of people who didn't want him there in the first place cos they felt he shouldn't have contested after seeing out yaradua's term,but they had to cave in after he stuck a deal with them with the understanding that he won't recontest after his first term. To keep him in check,they constantly bogged his tenure with boko haram and it got worse when it became clear that he would in fact renege on the agreement he signed not to seek a second term in office. They also planted spies into his cabinet who freely helped them achieve their goal

3)He was very indecisive in the way he took decisions: this was noticed in every area but the worst hit areas where in the security sector and the way he handled corruption which earned him ridicule even internationally where he was dubbed clueless. He didn't want to step on too many toes while carrying out decisions that would have been beneficial to the greater numbers of the people which later became his undoing as it affected the perception of his govt as it was perceived as being very permissive of corrupt practices and condoning impunity

4)His economic policies though improved the economy on the macro level but it didn't trickle down to the micro level where the masses would have felt it. He couldn't fix power for example,which could have been felt by all asundry nor did he reduce poverty by providing jobs(not on paper as okonjo has been shouting about) which would have reduced unemployment to a manageable level,so the masses that could have been sympathetic to him were already alienated by some of his policies leading to their being easily swayed by the change the opposition was offering them

5)His party stalwarts, governors,ministers and aides failed him: the people he put so much trust in to deliver their states all failed him except the likes of fayose who delivered. That of the north central states where he was expected to have an easy ride to counter the effects of the core northern states which were his opponent's stronghold were the most embarrassing;imagine losing in states like niger,kogi and benue? The south west also felt alienated from power during a goodluck's tenure as they weren't given any of the key five positions in government so it's understandable why they voted for an apc which had one of their own vieing for VP;this was in spite of all the visits and dollars jonathan spent to curry the favor of that region at the last minute

6)He was too open in the way he ran his government,a weapon which the opposition used against him greatly with the help of spies in his administration who gave out sensitive information which were often leaked to the press. Imagine giving nigeria the FOI law which also ensured that requests about how government ran its finances had to be honored eg was when it had to probe itself for the 'missing' 20million dollars in nnpc. It wasn't like all these sharp practices weren't happening in previous administrations but it was greatly highlighted in his administration by the opposition who had the press in their pockets making it look like jonathan ran the most corrupt govt in nigeria's history

7) In spite of the above mentioned points,he could still have salvaged a victory at the polls by playing dirty do or die politics which he wasn't ready to go the full hug with though his agents tried to help him out in some ways but his lack of commitment to the advice given him on how to go about it greatly limited the impact eg he was advised to remove jega but he stuck to his guns,among some other tactics he rejected

These are just a few of the very visible reasons why he lost,mind you there are other hidden reasons which may not be easily clear for now though may be revealed in the future

No Nigerian alive can beat Buhari in any free and fair election.All his followers including me believe deeply in him and there is nothing anyone can say or do to change that. Jonathan could have defeated any other but Buhari. I believe we all know that he has been winning all the elections he contested only for the results to be manipulated and judiciary compromised. Jonathan should not have contested in the 1st place as he has completed two terms.

Nice,i wrote a similar thing here

www.tobechispeaks.com