[b]EVERY achiever has some kind of work plan. It would outline not only the success he seeks, but also timelines and deadlines [/b]aimed at achieving the objective. It is known as strategic planning. Timelines are a key component of strategic thinking; they help the planner keep his deadlines and warn him he may be running out of room to run. The President Goodluck Jonathan Countdown Calendar is fast ticking. It shows 1398 days left of his Presidency.



A caveat is necessary: only the Nigerian constitution guarantees those 1398 days; they are of no consequence to exigencies such as Egypt-style revolutions, labour rebellions, student uprisings or military mutinies. And the only one guaranteed is today. This is my second presidential countdown calendar.

Among other things, the calendar can help the serious leader ensure he does not sleep too much or read too many banal speeches. It can help him guarantee policy implementation, and that funds are honestly invested on the future. It can help him achieve sincerity.

In February and March, this year, Mr. President showered every corner of Nigeria with promises. The countdown, as a work tool, can ensure that not only does he always remember those debts that he gleefully incurred during that period; but that he is conscious of the limited time he has to pay them.

The calendar will remind him of the people waiting for him, because he promised them jobs, electricity, education, water, roads, freedom from kidnappers, and even a sense of national pride.

It will remind him, for instance, of the N50 billion he said in Ondo State on March 2 that he had set aside in the 2011 budget for youth employment. It will remind him what he said in Abeokuta on March 12 that he would revive ailing oil refineries and build new ones, and in Abuja on March 21 that he will build car manufacturing or assembly plants. Since no achiever can finish something he has not started, when is Jonathan starting?



What was even more impressive about Jonathan's strategy four months ago was his announcement of specific four and five years national plans. They include a five-year development acceleration scheme; a four-year plan for infrastructure development, and a five-year plan to revolutionise agriculture and establish industries in the country.

He was also occasionally specific and lucid. In Gusau, he promised to establish a Federal University of Technology within one year. In Ilorin, he promised the farmers agricultural loans; he said were ready to be given to them. In Birni Kebbi, he pledged to ensure the takeoff of the Federal University in Kebbi in 2012. In Awka, he said Nigerians would have electricity within his four years in office. In Osogbo, he promised the immediate completion of the Lagos-Jebba rail project.

As I pointed out in "A Mountain of Promises" on May 22, Jonathan's most significant promise was in Onitsha on February 27.

He told Nigerians: "I do not make empty promises in my campaign, because whatever I promise to do, I had already carried out adequate study to make sure I can accomplish it in the next four years." Not once did he promise six, let alone seven. Jonathan also has another promise he has repeatedly made on his Facebook page:

"I will never, never, let you down," he says.

This is why I believe a man like him needs such a tool as this calendar. It will help combat the temptations of amnesia, hypocrisy and indolence.



It will help remind him that the power in his hands is beyond compare: when he wanted to buy three executive jets, for instance, he simply announced that the order had been placed. His jets are arriving now.

The Nigerians, who said they believed in him, are waiting not for any jets, but for proof he is a credible man, and that he did not sell them fiction. I did not support Jonathan's presidential aspiration, because it lacked the content and purposefulness demanded by the Nigerian marketplace. You do not send for a nurse when surgery is required, and my Nigeria needs drastic surgery.

If Jonathan truly wants to "transform" Nigeria, let him begin by serving the constitution, not rewriting it. If he serves creditably, the country will listen to him when he is out of office. The spirit of the constitution is that people who administer Nigeria do so with conscience and patriotism. On the contrary, what we have got from the People's Democratic Party (PDP) since 1999 has been the utmost in political irresponsibility, alongside systematic, greedy and ruthless exploitation.

Early in 2010, Before Jonathan insisted on running for the Presidency, he had some credibility when he said he wanted to embark on electoral reform. All went down the river the moment he became a player in the same game he wanted to referee.


It is strange that once armed with a Presidency, he claimed he only wanted for four years, during which he said he would transform the country, and he says the four years are too short. The truth is that for as long as the focus is on power, not performance, no amount of time will ever be long enough.

The Countdown Calendar would remind Mr. Jonathan four years is a long time if he counts with his heart, because it is by the heart you love your country. A farmer sows in the planting season, and works until the harvest; he does not sit on his hands and cry that the harvest is coming too soon.

The way I understand it, President Jonathan celebrates the good luck that has carried him this far. One of his army of advisers may want to point out that in view of the job Jonathan defined for himself in his electoral campaign, and the shoes and jets he now owns, it is his choice to focus on luck, or work.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201108030841.html

Mr i have no shoes and pant is busy elongating tenure  -  While Rome is burning

we are waiting for PDP magic wonder

What? Didn't you guys get it that the listed promises in the OP were part of the now revealed spin and spell strategy?

night neva reach na. . .na night fresh air dey sweet pas

He will start when the clock battery dies.

When he gets the tenure extension

Lol!

Vulture party. . . Vampire dance competition.

Beaf:

Lol!

Vulture party. . . Vampire dance competition.

Chilekay!

He will start in 2015 after he must have left the office.

I don't expect anything from him cos he's got no antecedent of performance at any level of been in power. I only pity those FOOLS dat said dey voted jona and not pdp, I don't expect anything from him cos he's got no antecedent of performance at any level of been in power. I only pity those FOOLS dat said dey voted jona and not pdp,

do not mind our presido he go start after he finish 4 yrs and finish an other six yrs.is not a surprise to me cos he want build university in which d present one is below average standard,i wonder may be he will employ those guy @his house to cut grass

Lol!

The vulture party is a swingin'. . . All vampires are invited.
Free drinks and blood!

Lest i 4get, he said every state in the country will have an airport,

There are two parts to this first for those not brain dead, they are aware that the presidents agenda is implimented by his ministers. They have started to impliment the transformation agenda.
The second aspect deals with political reality. In plain speech - who gives a rats azz what you vampires think? We won and we will whoop ur skank azzes again if we had to.

Gud write-up Blacksta, but u seem to not get it, nofin gud can eva kom out of PDP, wif d way Jonathan is footdragging on serious and pressing issues facing dis country, do u nid to be told dat he is CLUELESS!!!

Beaf:

Lol!

The vulture party is a swingin'. . . All vampires are invited.
Free drinks and blood!

Lol - you are never serious - anything to ridicule facts - address the points  and dont shoot the messenger

blacksta:

Lol - you are never serious - anything to ridicule facts - address the points  and dont shoot the messenger

its called spin and spell

Those who claimed that they voted GEJ but not PDP will realise very soon. Performance of PDP as a party in Nigeria is better than that of GEJ as administrator at every level he has occupied political office. This is because we have some PDP governors that are performing very well in office. People should try as much as possible to ignore the nairaland "shadow" called Beaf. There is no "atom" of honesty in "it".

GEJ start?
Erm . . . .how about never?

Johndoe100:

There are two parts to this first for those not brain dead, they are aware that the presidents agenda is implimented by his ministers. They have started to impliment the transformation agenda.
The second aspect deals with political reality. In plain speech - who gives a rats azz what you vampires think? We won and we will whoop your skank azzes again if we had to.

Ok. So did you remember Buhari had ministers in April?
Is the Mo Ibrahim award given to ministers?
Of course, you never gave a damn. But you think Nigeria will end in 2015?
We Nigerians are VERY VERY patient

Right question but directed to a wrong person! The truth is that GEJ will never start anything reasonable bcs he has STARTED & COMPLETED EVERYTHING WITH HIS MOUTH

Good article @OP.
Wish this could spread more. i love my country

blacksta:

Lol - you are never serious - anything to ridicule facts - address the points  and dont shoot the messenger

Which are you, the one on the right or the one on the left?

Imao. Fishermen no go start until May 29 2015

otokx:

He will start when the clock battery dies.

he will start after we have approve his extra 6 years tenure

@poster, you be Atiku? :-D
Maybe he thought he can influence tins as soon as he enters.
GEJ IS A MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF NIGERIA

blacksta:

Mr i have no shoes and pant is busy elongating tenure  -  While Rome is burning

That's the whole idea. He needs to buy some shoes first. Dumb mofo. His PhD has been called into question. Even almost illiterate presidents had better things to offer and deliver.

GEJ has started working.

FEC will no longer just award contracts, they will get down to serious business every week. Stop ridiculing your president pls.

UMY was much slower than this,

Afta y'all hav voted 4 d rong persin bcuzz sentiment n religon nw u guys r complainin . . .mtchewwww