President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday painted a hopeless image of the nation’s state institutions with vivid descriptions of a collapsed system that encourages a culture of corruption, patronage and indiscipline.
Speaking at the 51st Independence Anniversary Lecture in Abuja, the president said the institutions of state must be strengthened to enable the country realise its potentials. But he did not say specifically what steps he was taking to improve the situation.

Jonathan said the country has been running on a deficit budget because the institutions that are supposed to protect public resources and prevent leakages have collapsed.

He said his office has been turned into a regular consultation room for ministers because systemic rot made it impossible for them to operate independent of the presidency.

The president said even doctors, who are supposed to protect lives, sometimes end up killing people and nobody takes action because the institutions that should monitor their activities have also collapsed.

He also cited lack of accurate census figures and improper statistics on the economy as indicators of institutional failures.

“I used to tell people in my office that ministers don’t need to see me if the system is working well. Even if I am sick for six months, ordinary Nigerians will not know the President is sick because the system is supposed to run,” Jonathan said.

“I was told that you rarely see people going to work by 8am even though the period of service is between 8am and 4pm. How many directors come to work by 8am? I am not sure 10% of directors come to work by 8, not exactly.

“I am not going to chase them by carrying a big stick going into the ministries and breaking the heads of the people. But I believe that for us to get to where we want to go, as a nation, we have to build strong institutions and when we build strong institutions, these institutions will drive the process.”

The president’s despondency yesterday came after a similar show of frustration on Sunday at the special church service marking the Independence Anniversary.

In reply to critics of his style of leadership, he said, “Some Nigerians still want the President of this country to be a lion or a tiger, somebody that has that kind of strength and force and agility to make things happen the way they think. Some others will want the President to operate like an army general, like my Chief of Army Staff commanding his troops. Incidentally, I am not a lion; I am not also a general.

“Somebody will want the President to operate like the kings of Syria, Babylon, Egypt, the Pharaoh, all - powerful people that you read about in the Bible. They want the president to operate that way, the characters of the Goliath. Unfortunately, I am not one of those…. I don’t need to be a lion. I don’t need to be Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t need to operate like the Pharaoh of Egypt. I don’t need to be an army general but I can change this country without those traits.”

Guest speaker at yesterday’s Independence Lecture, Mr. Richard Dowden, described the discovery of oil in Nigeria as a “curse” rather a blessing.

Dowden, who is the Director of Royal Africa Society, identified “unfairness in the system of resource allocation” as reason for fierce competition. He also identified corruption, poor reputation and flight of human capital as other factors that have worked against the country’s economic prosperity.

“But the fifth and main problem that Nigeria faces is politics. Often, Nigeria and much of Africa has followed the wrong economic policies for political reasons,” he said.

“This has accounted for the over 100 million Nigerians living in poverty—which is a quarter of the total poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. After oil and corruption which are closely linked, I would say that Nigeria’s reputation in the past still puts off investors and tourists.”

The Independence Lecture was themed ‘Nigeria in Transformation’, and was part of the activities leading to the 51st Independence Day on Saturday.

He also cited lack of accurate census figures and improper statistics on the economy as indicators of institutional failures.

“I used to tell people in my office that ministers don’t need to see me if the system is working well. Even if I am sick for six months, ordinary Nigerians will not know the President is sick because the system is supposed to run,” Jonathan said.

“I was told that you rarely see people going to work by 8am even though the period of service is between 8am and 4pm. How many directors come to work by 8am? I am not sure 10% of directors come to work by 8, not exactly.

“I am not going to chase them by carrying a big stick going into the ministries and breaking the heads of the people. But I believe that for us to get to where we want to go, as a nation, we have to build strong institutions and when we build strong institutions, these institutions will drive the process.”

The president’s despondency yesterday came after a similar show of frustration on Sunday at the special church service marking the Independence Anniversary.

Yoruba-man:

The truth is Nigeria's problem is too overwhelming  - and unless one is totally honest  - is when it can be tackled.  Unfortunately GEJ carries too much baggages

Yoruba-man:

The truth is Nigeria's problem is too overwhelming - and unless one is totally honest - is when it can be tackled. Unfortunately GEJ carries too much baggages

“I was told that you rarely see people going to work by 8am even though the period of service is between 8am and 4pm. How many directors come to work by 8am? I am not sure 10% of directors come to work by 8, not exactly.

“I am not going to chase them by carrying a big stick going into the ministries and breaking the heads of the people. But I believe that for us to get to where we want to go, as a nation, we have to build strong institutions and when we build strong institutions, these institutions will drive the process.”

islamrules:

Why disgracing himself publicly by lamenting.

That is why we elected him as the president.

He is their to serve!

Did he think presidency is a joke ?

Does he think he is their to party and cart away money ?

He should just STFU and start working,

owobokiri:

Your  job is to fix the system. Map out a plan and correct the anomalies and stop wailing. Good policies will fix things not silly rants.

kunlekunle:

The man does not even know that is part of his job He actually expects them to AUTOmagically check themslves . . . . sweet!!!


the bolded part shd be [b]autoluckilly
he needs patience now to govern
we need patience as well
more time
[/b]

fried-rice:

We need strong people to to build strong institutions. buhari hammered on this.
We need Goliaths and Lions to rule Nigeria Nigeria because we are gliding towards a failed state,  indiscipline and corruption are the major culprits
Ministers and Federal Directors of Institutions in Nigeria need someone who would actually yield the Big Stick and break heads to get them moving
GEJ has confessed he cant do all this, the only action left of him is to Resign.

fried-rice:

^^^I pity you. you have the most difficult job on the planet. Keep it up, one day you may just eventually convince us that the colour of grass is sky blue.