“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve” - Alexis de Tocqueville

The presidential broadcast marking 2012 Democracy Day has come and gone however, as it has become the norm that any time the President speaks, there MUST be angry reactions this is no exception.

The President’s Democracy Day Broadcast has 71 paragraphs with each majorly treating separate issues. The renaming of the hitherto University of Lagos (UNILAG) as Moshood Abiola University (MAU) which was contained in the very last paragraph (71st) paragraph is the bone of contention this time.

So controversial it is that many Nigerians who did not listen “LIVE” to the President’s Broadcast would believe, thanks to the unnecessary noise, that all the President said during the one-hour Broadcast was the announcement of the renaming of UNILAG.

I am deeply disturbed by the unnecessary hullabaloo that this issue has generated. For God’s sake, Mr. President talked for one hour and it is shameful that one thing that we could pick out from the whole speech is the issue of the nomenclature of an educational institution.

Before I go on, let me quickly say that I am not a fan of President Goodluck Jonathan. His one year in office is a huge disappointment. While many people believe it is too early to crucify him, a sentiment I partially share, the president has not done anything substantial to inspire in Nigerians any ounce of hope of better days ahead. A popular Yoruba adage has it that “if it takes you 20 years to prepare for madness, how long will it take you to enter a market Unclad?"

Additionally, the President has a great work to do to convince me that he is not a corrupt man. Many of his ministers have been manipulated in many corruption scandals but he has not asked any of them to step aside pending conclusion of investigations let alone sack them. That does not portray the action of a serious man who wants to fight corruption.

That said, and now back to the President’s Broadcast, the President concluded the Broadcast by announcing the change of nomenclature of UNILAG to MAU. Yes he changed the name of a federal institution. And so? What on earth is a big deal in that action? Is he the first President to do that?

Let me refresh our minds a bit. The present Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ife was formerly University of Ife, Osun State. The present Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Akwa was an offshoot of the defunct Anambra State University of Technology (ASUTECH). The present Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria was formerly known as the University of Northern Nigeria. These three are just a few of the many examples that abound in our society. I am therefore at a loss over the rationale or appropriateness of the noise this one has generated as if what the president has done is something out of the blues.

While I cannot fathom why the president should be hated this much by the very people he is governing (that is not my business anyway – his media people should work on that) I think we should not hate or oppose his actions just because we hate him. I am appalled that this issue of opposition to President Jonathan and his government is deteriorating to the stage that any action or decision taken by the President will be opposed without any efforts to study the pros and cons of the action.

We are not in an animal kingdom. God did not give us the power of reasoning for nothing. He did in order to... Click link to read full article

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