₦airaland Forum

There are strong reasons to believe that his fairy tale
journey to the Presidency may end in his first term.
Apart from the unfolding infighting threatening to tear
his party apart, President Goodluck Jonathan appears
to have squandered the goodwill that ensured his
becoming Nigeria's first minority president.
There is a depressing sense in which one cannot just
imagine that this country would endure another term
of this administration for another four years in office
ending in 2019. This will be suicidal. Even now, 2015
looks too distant into the future in the eyes of
ordinary Nigerians. In 2011, the president won the
election by playing the underdog card.
The 2011 presidential election was won because
ordinary Nigerians insisted on voting en masse for the
country's first minority president - the man who said
he walked barefooted as a child; the man who also
became the symbol of an end to the North's bragging
right to power since Nigeria's independence from
British rule. In 2015, Jonathan will not have the luxury
of leveraging on the sentiments that swept him to
power in his first term.
Now, he will have to look for other reasons. Except
that this time, he will not be able to whip up emotions
based on his poverty as a child. His ethnic background
will also not matter. If he does, no one will believe
him again.
Rather in 2015, the President will be confronted with
the record of his performance. He will have to answer
hard questions about his first term in office. And if
truth be told, if the present situation in the polity is
anything to go by, President Jonathan will be heading
back to his hometown in Otuoke come May 29, 2015.
The President will not stand a chance against a
formidable opposition with the right candidate in a
free and fair election. But even at that, it still does not
matter because it appears any type of candidate will
still beat this President.
His performance so far makes him vulnerable to
defeat in a free and fair election. He just has not lived
up to the expectations of Nigerians. And I suspect the
President and his party are in for a surprise.
Perhaps, for the first time, Nigerians will witness the
power of their votes. The incumbency factor will not
matter in 2015 because the President is poised to
lose the election. But President Jonathan should not
blame anybody for his predicament if he loses. He has
so far been the architect of his own misfortune as a
President. He had no excuse not to perform. Let's
face it, the President has fallen short of expectations
that Nigerians had of his presidency.
There is no better expression to measure his
performance since 2011. For a President that came
into office to have squandered the enormous goodwill
and support from Nigerians is evidence of
opportunities gone awry; of hopes deferred. The only
people who will support the President are the army of
praise singers from his ethnic group who have been
singing his praises to no end. And this brings me to
the attitude of the so-called Niger Deltan activists and
leaders. The leaders of the region have been so
disappointing to say the least.
This attitude of it-is-either-Jonathan-for-a-second
term-or-we-will-all-perish does their ethnic group no
good. It is even an embarrassment to the office of the
President. Why do they act as if Jonathan is the
President of only the Niger Delta? Why are they
threatening to bring Nigeria down if Jonathan does not
get a second term?
Did the President emerge in his first term only by the
region's votes? Can threats make a non-performing
President stay in office in perpetuity? The culture of
entitlement that pervades the region is the reason
why the Niger Delta might still be backward even if
Jonathan gets a second term.
They should know that it was the support of Nigerians
that got the President a first term. Nigerians thus have
the right to demand performance from him. And right
now, the situation in our country today does not look
good. In 2015, President Jonathan will have to present
his scorecard.
Nigerians will ask him why corruption which he
promised to tackle in his inaugural address has
become a hydra-headed monster in his
administration. He will have to explain why his
administration has not so secured a single conviction
in spite of massive corruption in the land. Nigerians
will in 2015 ask this President why all the cases of
corruption involving individuals in his government have
all died a natural death.
The President will explain why all the anti-corruption
agencies have all become toothless bulldogs. It has
become glaring that President Jonathan has lost the
trust and goodwill of Nigerians. The dominant view of
Nigerians is that this government has failed. The
impunity that has become a culture in the country
today is because the president has not been decisive
in the fight against corruption.
That is why all the agencies of government have been
left to their own devices. The culture of impunity has
been so pervasive. Take the power sector for
example.
The President has not arrested the unending
conundrum that has dogged the unbundling of the
sector. This should not continue beyond 2015.
Meanwhile, the power situation continues to get
worse. The 2015 elections should be about
performance and the President has a lot of questions
to answer about his stewardship unless something
drastic happens between now and the election date.
The President also has to explain why million of
Nigerian youths cannot find jobs. All we hear from this
government is how the economy is growing at an
unbelievable rate. Pray, how can the economy grow
while millions are unemployed?
What kind of voodoo economy is that? Didn't the
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the
Economy say the last time that the unemployment
figures give her sleepless night? What further evidence
do Nigerians need that this government is not
providing an enabling environment for job creation?
The millions of youths who had hoped in this
government will ask hard questions in 2015.
The security situation in the country is a cause for
grave concern. The other day, about 40 pupils were
murdered by suspected terrorists in Yobe State. As I
write, nobody has been apprehended for perpetrating
the dastardly act.
The Jos crisis continues to claim more lives. In many
parts of the country, lives and property are not secure.
Yet, the government blames everybody else except
itself. How can a government whose primary duty is to
safeguard lives and property fail woefully in performing
the same duty? Meanwhile, the country also lags
behind in all development indexes.
The argument advanced by the supporters of this
government is that our problems are not created by
President Jonathan. But has the administration
demonstrated the political will to tackle the problems
head on? Does government not exist to solve
problems no matter how old they have existed?
However, there has been some good news lately. The
President recently inaugurated the construction of the
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Let's just hope the project
will not become abandoned like the previous
attempts. The federal roads across the country are
also said to be getting the attention they deserve.
This is not forgetting the ongoing rehabilitation in the
nation's airports. But all this will pale into
insignificance when compared to the dashed
expectations of this government. It is for these
reasons that Jonathan may lose in 2015. All things
being equal, anyway.
By Bayo Olupohunda
The handwriting is on the wall. The bold imprints are
seen in the failings of this administration. Now the
dashed expectations of the Jonathan's presidency all
seem to be leading to one predictable end - he may
not be re-elected in 2015.

Yes, with a wider margin. Trust me,GEJ rocks 2015

Yea sure,i bet with my ballz he will, he ll even beat de opposition black red on handz down... Outro...Second to commentour,..Senorita de elmagnifico dance on my mind...Dancin wit gej

Yes he will win.

If e remain small make he win, he go receive home calling call from abacha or MkO, or ojukwu....

Whoeffa!!!