President Goodluck Jonathan, on Sunday, looked at the qualities of politicians in the country, including himself, and concluded that not a single one could be regarded as great.
He was speaking during a memorial service organized at the Aso Villa Chapel, Abuja, in honour of the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, who died last week Thursday at the age of 95.
The president observed that it would be easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for Nigerian politicians to be truly great in the mould of the late African statesman.
According to Jonathan, “if you listen to those of us politicians in Nigeria from all political parties, I am here, Senate President is here, the Deputy Speaker is here, incidentally, we are all from PDP (Peoples Democratic Party), but if you listen to those of us who are politicians, from all the political parties, the way we talk, some of us (ourselves) see as if Nigeria is (our) personal bedroom they have control over.
If you read the papers, listen to the radio and television, some of us even see ourselves as if we are tin gods. We intimidate, we threaten, we show hate in our communication. These are not the virtues of great men. They are certainly the vices of tiny men.
Sometimes when I listen to politicians, the ones older than me, my contemporaries, and even the younger ones, I come to the painful conclusion that it is probably easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a politician to be truly great.
I always look at the word great with some kind of spectrum, because making a great name is not just enough. You could see it, especially in the political circle. We have so many great names that are dictators, with repressive and oppressive governments that sent a lot of people to detention. Some people become extremely notorious, but they have made great names and so to be truly great is key.”
The President who said he never met Mandela before his death, described him as a great man who everyone needed to emulate in order to build a better society.
He observed that the late former South African president was a very humble and rare leader, who had a forgiving spirit and selflessly served his country.
“Nelson Mandela was a rare character that those of us who are politicians need to learn from, so that we will imbibe some of these traits and do better for our country,” he said.
He said Mandela did well as a politician, as he showed that one could be a politician and still be truly great by putting the interest of his nation and the people first before his own interest.
Jonathan explained that the reason Nigeria was celebrating Mandela was because of the strong relationship that existed between both countries and the key role Nigeria played during the anti-apartheid struggle.
Noting that Mandela remained the symbol of the struggle, Jonathan added “we saw the pain of South Africans as our pain. We saw their struggle as our own struggle and when apartheid collapsed, we saw their victory as our own victory.
That is why when the Madiba, the symbol of the apartheid struggle, passed on, we believe South Africans are feeling the pains and sorrow but, at the same time, they are celebrating Nelson Mandela and we believe Nigeria must join them and support them.”
It turns out that just as the philosopher Fukiyama predicted in his book:
“The End of History” when politicians slam the truth on us, then we should recognize the alarm — the end of history beckons!!
One of the unintended consequences of President Jonathan’s “BTI” (Brutal Truth Initiative) is that it has caught on like wild fire. The bandwagon (or domino) effect was spontaneous.
CBS devoted a whole hour to “The Nation” newspaper front page report on December 10, 2013:

http://businessdayonline.com/2013/12/the-day-our-nation-nearly-died-again/

GBAM! You have my support on that Mr. President.

Then abati must be chief of liar to JEG having said his master is our mandela. Thank God he said it in nigeria, if it was in south africa, he would have been lynched to death.

The point of GEJ's speech is that Nigerian Politicians believe that Nigeria is their personal property to plunder. That these people should look again in the mirror, hence the 'Brutal Truth Initiative'. At a time that the selfless Madiba Mandela reconciled his people with their oppressors, these hackneyed politician keep heaping shame on the word democracy. The US must be ashamed for encouraging to practice this pretend 'democratic dispensation'. I also think that this initiative needs to applied to the wider populace. I acknowledge that all of us are looking forward to the times we get our opportunity to steal the commonwealth, by pretending to be a seasoned politician. Recently, Oshiomhole of Edo state posited that no one has been jailed for official corruption. A governor of a state where corruption is endemic lamenting that there is no conviction of corruption in Federal structure. Where is the mirror? Then the Speaker claimed that he is worried by corruption in Federal structure. Yet all the corruption allegations against him and his officials are swept under the carpet. The mirror please?

http://tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/news/news-headlines/item/28688-it%E2%80%99s-shocking-nobody-is-in-jail-for-corruption-oshiomhole.html

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/im-pressure-resign-tambuwal/