Good afternoon all.

Got some break off official grind and thought to nourish the discourse around here by way of revisiting the past and try to justify the present.

Most of the members of this forum, especially avid political commentators, and indeed Nigerians, have been living in bewilderment over calls for the Nigerian government to erect some sort of monument in honour of the ex President, Goodluck Jonathan as they adorn him with the mein of a Hero of democracy. They avow his credentials as a democrat is firmly rooted and indestructible, often times going as far as drawing parallels between the man and the Great Madiba of South Africa, Nelson Mandella.

For some of us, there can be nothing more scandalous than this for we know and will not, in the blink of an eye, forget how oppressive and repressive that regime was. The only credit those of us old and shrewd enough to recollect the past can give to Jonathan as regards respect for democratic principles is his concession of defeat in a contest in which he was beaten roundly and squarely. Let no one be deceived, his acceptance of defeat was as much a favour to Nigeria as it was to himself. He sure knew what might have been had he done otherwise.

Now, let us take a trip down memory lane and peel some skin off Democrat Jonathan, and see just how deserving of the Hero title and accolades he truly is:

Come with me:

1. Governors Forum Crises (2013): A lot of political pundits insist this marked the beginning of Jonathan downfall, forget his crass incompetence.

In a simple election involving 35 participants and two contestants, Jonathan's interference saw to it that this more or less political pressure group was fractured beyond redemption resulting in the formation of the PDP Governors Forum chaired by his stooge Godswill Akpabio and another faction of the forum chaired by his preferred candidate who lost in the contest, Jonah Jang.

The election whose video went rival at that time due to its outcome saw Amaechi pulling 19 votes while Jonah Jang pulled 16. Democrat Jonathan insisted Jang won the election and recognised him as the Chairman of the forum giving rise to the much publicised PDP arithmetics where 16 is greater than 19.

This set the precedence for the scenarios that played out in Rivers and Ekiti Houses of Assembly while our "Hero" stood idly by, giving a tacit nod to the obvious anomalies as state police were used to suppress the opposition.

www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-endorses-gov-jangs-faction/

2. APC National Leader Harassed by the Military: During the heat of the campaigns, keeping faith with their doctrine of hounding and intimidating opposition figures, Bola Tinubu had his house placed under surveillance by the military when he wasn't indicted for any federal offence. The national leader responded to this in a manner that set social media on fire, placing a banner in front of his house that seemingly pointed the military where they should be looking- Sambisa.

leadership.ng/news/411334/military-places-tinubu-surveillance

3. Journalists Harassed and Newspapers Confiscated: This was one of the greatest assaults on freedom of speech we witnessed under Jonathan. It was a crackdown reminiscent of the dark days of the Khaki Boys.

Hundreds of papers with publications critical of the government's handling of national issues were confiscated and destroyed. Same guys who supported the actions of the government then screamed blue murder when reports circulated the press that Buhari had barred AIT from covering his activities.

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/162255-nigerian-military-goes-berserk-blocks-newspapers-distribution-abuja-lagos.html

dailypost.ng/2014/06/06/soldiers-seize-thousands-leadership-nation-vanguard-newspapers-friday-edition/

www.punchng.com/news/military-sss-seize-destroy-major-nigerian-newspapers/

4. APC Office Raided: This was another very dark day in our democratic experience and marked an upsurge in the use of state security agents to harass and gag the opposition. Under the guise of carrying out an investigation, offices of the opposition were raided with computers and other instruments confiscated and destroyed. It was one of the lowest points of the DSS and somewhat signalled its complete evolution into an arm of the PDP.

The DSS at a press conference displayed items "discovered" at the office during the raid and they were computers, hard drives and other electronic accessories- hell it was a data centre!! Were they expecting to find chopsticks and stoves

www.naij.com/329843-lagos-apc-office-stormed-by-dss-soldiers-data-confiscated.html

dailyindependentnig.com/2014/11/apc-office-raid-dss-releases-list-recovered-items/

5. Buhari's Plane Barred from Landing: Another shameful incident where a plane conveying opposition bigwigs (then), including her flag bearer, on a campaign trail was refused landing rights in Makurdi and they had to return to Abuja. My question is, what if there wasn't sufficient fuel to take them back to Abuja as they made the u-turn mid-air?? Your guess is as good as mine.

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/buharis-aircraft-barred-landing-makurdi-airport/

saharareporters.com/2014/11/26/buharis-jet-barred-landing-makurdi

6. Protesters and Senator Shot in Rivers: Another gut wrenching incident that demonstrated the partisan nature of our security apparatus under ex president Jonathan. In a continuation of the government's crackdown on the opposition, citizens who were on a peaceful protest in Rivers state were shot at with live and rubber bullets and a Senator was hit twice in the chest. Thankfully, he
survived and a serious crises was averted.

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/rivers-crisis-senator-abe-shot-flown-london/

7. APC Women Protesters Teargassed: This was another horrid incident that demonstrated the ex president's disdain for opposition and civil liberties.

www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/police-fire-tear-gas-at-apc-women-protesters-in-rivers/

8. Jonathan Orders Withdrawal of Speaker's Security Detail: Arguably the most vicious assault on our democracy by the ex president. This much publicised incident that needs no introduction earned the ex president (and deservedly so) local and international disrepute and condemnation. People had started to see him as the worst civilian dictator in the country's history. If you ask me, this incident drove the last nail into the coffin of Jonathan's 2015 ambition.

leadership.ng/news/388651/jonathan-orders-withdrawal-tambuwals-security-details

www.channelstv.com/2014/10/30/tambuwals-security-details-withdrawn/

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/170346-jonathan-orders-withdrawal-of-tambuwals-security-details.html




These are but a few events the hero of democracy subjected Nigerians to. Indeed it would be a herculean task convincing people of sound minds as to the propriety of referring to Mr Jonathan as a hero of this country.

Thanks for reading.


Cc: Lalasticlala, Ishilove, OAM4J.

gei

Get a life. Loser

Well,thats ur opinion....internationally,they acknowledged him as a hero.For me,he did pretty well and i rate him in between

8. Oshiomohle plane was asked to return to the airport 12 minutes aftyer take off from the airport. His life was put in danger.



9. Chibok Girl protestors were beaten, harassed and humiliated on several occasions.



10. The Governor of Rivers State was prevented from entering his official residence through the front gate.



11. Kano State liaison office was invaded by DSS and soldiers in the middle of meeting.

Jonathan is no saint. He was an incompetent wolf in lamb clothing that was beaten fair and square at the poll. He deserves nothing but PRISON.

Cc: PassingShot, Midolian, Caseless, Clerverly, Beremx, Egift, Gbawe, Jorlons, Demdem, NgeneUkwenu, Arewafederation, Obiagelli et al.

Guy Buhari d messiah is now president, how come GEJ is still making headlines??

ifihearam:
Get a life. Loser

Typical.

Hopefully after 100 days of this present adminstration we won't need to be talking about the previous administration but the gains of the present one. I pray this is the case.

Trash!!!!!!, get sense! U no gree[img][/img]

rekeson:
Guy Buhari d messiah is now president, how come GEJ is still making headlines??

Because some guys insist on keeping his name in circulation giving him credit for things he isn't responsible for. So why not oblige them with a little bit of history?

As expected, all "they" do is come and throw insults. No brains whatsoever.

The hero tag is only for people finding it hard to console themselves after Nigerians rejected GEJ. GEJ was poor, clueless and never made life better for Nigerians.

olapluto:
The hero tag is only for people finding it hard to console themselves after Nigerians rejected GEJ. GEJ was poor, clueless and never made life better for Nigerians.

Exactly.

The only reason his wife isn't bringing food for him in prison was that most important and singular phone call he made to Buhari.

If not.........

Hero ko Hiroshima ni

FastShipping:
8. Oshiomohle plane was asked to return to the airport 12 minutes aftyer take off from the airport. His life was put in danger.



9. Chibok Girl protestors were beaten, harassed and humiliated on several occasions.



10. The Governor of Rivers State was prevented from entering his official residence through the front gate.



11. Kano State liaison office was invaded by DSS and soldiers in the middle of meeting.

Jonathan is no saint. He was an incompetent wolf in lamb clothing that was beaten fair and square at the poll. He deserves nothing but PRISON.

There are dozens of such incidences my brother. The list is simply inexhaustible. I fear for what would become of the orientation of impressionable kids growing under the tutelage of some of these PDP minions.

Hero indeed!

Jonathan was more of a tyrant than a democrat. He made impunity the order of the day and intimidated the opposition party using federal institutions.

He will go down in history as the democratically elected president who ruled like a military dictator.

ifihearam:
Get a life. Loser

So typical

The OP has finished some people's hero. What a shame!

ifihearam:
Get a life. Loser

Do u know the meaning of a loser? SMH .I am sure if you knew, you wldnt have called him one. I challenge you to counter his points.

Any1 that calls GEJ a hero will call shekau a super-hero if he surrenders tomorrow(from a point of weakness) and decides to let Nigerians live in peace.

SPOT ON!!!

Any monument/statue of Jonathan in odua-land will be burned down that very day. They say he is a goodluck to the nation, but hey we down here don't want his "goodluck" in our land.

If Nigerians doesn't enjoy an uninterrupted power supply by the end of my tenure, then surely am a useless man - Ex president Jonathan


Jonathan is the worst president that has ever ruled this country. Sometimes I just wish I could give him a very good slap for all the bad things he did to Nigeria

GEJ is my hero of democracy. If you don't like it, go and die!

Meanwhile, your masters in Abuja have already started the process of destroying the credibility built in INEC in the last 5 years.

FastShipping:
8. Oshiomohle plane was asked to return to the airport 12 minutes aftyer take off from the airport. His life was put in danger.



9. Chibok Girl protestors were beaten, harassed and humiliated on several occasions.



10. The Governor of Rivers State was prevented from entering his official residence through the front gate.



11. Kano State liaison office was invaded by DSS and soldiers in the middle of meeting.

Jonathan is no saint. He was an incompetent wolf in lamb clothing that was beaten fair and square at the poll. He deserves nothing but PRISON.

GBAM

Sincere9gerian:
GEJ is my hero of democracy. If you don't like it, go and die!

Meanwhile, your masters in Abuja have already started the process of destroying the credibility built in INEC in the last 5 years.

Considering your low standards, I am not surprised. Democracy of 16 greater than 19, where 7 can impeach in a house of 23.

olapluto:

Considering your low standards, I am not surprised. Democracy of 16 greater than 19, where 7 can impeach in a house of 23.

Yea, he gave us credible elections which is the pillar of every modern democracy. Without credible elections, your Buhari would never have been president today. Without credible elections, this nation may have been engulfed in crisis. Without credible elections, this democracy may have been truncated by another military coup.

GEJ is my hero!

Sincere9gerian:
GEJ is my hero of democracy. If you don't like it, go and die!

Meanwhile, your masters in Abuja have already started the process of destroying the credibility built in INEC in the last 5 years.

That much you have the right to. But you guys should stop insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by tagging him a "hero of Nigerian democracy" and stop mocking the Nobel prize by saying he deserves one.

Sincere9gerian:

Yea, he gave us credible elections which is the pillar of every modern democracy. Without credible elections, your Buhari would never have been president today. Without credible elections, this nation may have been engulfed in crisis. Without credible elections, this democracy may have been truncated by another military coup.

GEJ is my hero!

Wow! I never knew Jonathan was the INEC chairman to have given us credible elections.

Jonathan gave us cedible elections yet we knew how he and his party tried frustrating Jega not to use card readers..

Jonathan gave us credible elections yet he tried making Jega to go on forceful retirement just to put his stooge as the new INEC chairman.

If APC and Nigerians didn't cry out,all that would have happened and the elections will be rigged in favour of Jonathan.

If anyone has to be the Hero of Democracy,it is Attahiru Jega.

Omenka, as always, awesome analysis. You are the nightmare of the Wailing Wailers. Keep it up.