We have the rite to ask of our president what was promised us
GEJ’s campaign promises &its fulfilment so far
“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 – President Goodluck Jonathan”

There are several promises made by the President while seeking election in 2011 and most of them are yet to be fulfilled. Yet, we have been seeing diverse kinds of adverts by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) and several other sycophantic groups. I believe most of them are not aware of the litany of promises made by “Azikwe Jonathan” or they have just deliberately chosen to tow the path of deceit. Just to remind TAN, GIFT and all other GEJITES, here are some of the key promises made in 2010:

In the oil and gas sector, he made promises to ensure the PIB is passed and signed into law. He also made promises to construct 2 world class petrochemical plants, 2 fertilizer processing plants and 2 fertilizer blending plants. He promised to build a $3 billion central gas processing facility by 2012 to be sited in Obiaruku, Delta State. He promised that within four years in power he will make Nigeria go beyond producing and exporting crude oil to exporting refined petroleum products thereby putting an end to importation of petrol and kerosene. Oil theft has increased under his watchful eyes despite billions of dollars awarded for oil facility surveillance and security to private citizens. That the minister of petroleum resources can’t give a precise figure of the crude oil being lifted daily is an indictment of gross incompetence and recklessness.

In the power sector, despite the privatization of the distribution companies and billions of dollars spent we are yet to see any appreciable improvement in power. Promises were made by the President to ensure uninterrupted power supply in his first term in office. He boasted that Nigerians will dump their generator sets as they would no longer need them. Sadly, many Nigerians have had to purchase more generators to support the already existing ones.

On security which is the primary purpose of governance, the promises were not only unfulfilled, the situation got worse. Mr. President promised make anyone caught breaching the public peace to face the full wrath of the law. He promised to make sure that no part of the country is allowed to be a sanctuary for criminals anymore, yet Sambisa is a den of terrorists. He promised to confront headlong ethno-religious violence in the country, pursue all bombers and bring a complete end to insurgency. However, as I write insurgency is still thriving in the Northeast with territories being taken, students being maimed, abducted and citizens displaced in their own country. The notorious Shekau has cheated death several times despite claims to have been killed by security operatives and oh, he even addresses the nation more than the President! To even make matters worse, a close ally of the President threatened fire and brimstone should the President go ahead with the groundbreaking takeoff of a proposed gas project in Ugborodo. Consequently, the President had to cancel the ceremony with the excuse of allowing warring factions settle. The failure of the security operatives to arrest and prosecute the individual further emboldened him to abduct journalists, torture them mercilessly before releasing them for having the effrontery to cover the events happening in Ugborodo. Yet, nothing has been done to punish the said individual.

On corruption which is the bane of every society, our President acknowledged its high level and made promises to tackle it ruthlessly if voted into power in 2011. He promised to ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption. He promised to strengthen the anti-graft institutions and vowed never to interfere with corruption cases. Surprisingly, the same man said most of what we are calling corruption is just “petty stealing”. Yet under his watch, a minister of aviation was caught misappropriating and stealing funds with over-bloated bulletproof car purchase. Another minister spent over 12 billion naira of public funds to charter private jet and to make matters worse, she is being shielded from facing the probe panel set up by the House of Representatives. The oil subsidy thieves are still roaming the streets and most of them are now allies of our President. The same corruption is attributable to the rot in our defense against insurgency with billions of dollars spent on security and nothing to show for it.

On the economy, several promises were also made to build a new economy that is strong and dynamic. He promised to diversify the economy and move us to an export driven country. He also promised to revive the Ajaokuta steel company and Itakpe Ore Company. Sadly, none of these has been achieved. All we are left with is the boast of making Nigeria the largest economy in Africa. To burst his burble, I will like to state that our economy hadn’t been rebased for about twenty four years before the last rebasing. Therefore, the glory of making our economy the largest should be attributed and shared by the past governments from 1990 till date. Inflation has increased, austerity measures are being put in place, naira has weakened and the economic condition of an average Nigerian hasn’t improved. A chunk of the external reserves left by the previous administration has been squandered and our ECA has been depleted with no meaningful development in infrastructure and social amenities.

On respect for the constitution and the rule of law, the President promised while campaigning to have utmost respect of the rule of law and he even swore an oath to defend the constitution. I strongly doubt if disobeying court judgments that are not in consonance with his wishes amount to respect for the rule of law. The recent undermining of the legislative arm of government is also a testament to disrespect for our constitution. I knew we would get to this point ever since the President openly recognized and acknowledge that “16 is greater than 19” in the governor’s forum election that saw his man lose. We have equally seen the abuse of power by police who now takes side with the ruling party by preventing opposition members in Ekiti State House of Assembly from gaining entrance into the complex. Yet, the C-in-C hasn’t called the IG to order.

Lastly, on agriculture the president made several promises to boost agriculture through irrigation, provision of fertilizers, silos to help preserve farm products, ensure exportation of rice, production of cash and local crops, etc. In this area, I will give the President a pass mark despite some of the promises being unfulfilled. Notably, fertilizer distribution to real end-users has improved and of course the ridiculous provision of mobile phones to the farmers at about 60 billion naira isn’t a bad idea after all.

It is only in Nigeria that a leader would make empty campaign promises without fulfilling them, yet seek reelection. Only an unreasonable man will seek employment for an opening he has already tried at and failed woefully.

Credits: Oluwakayode Ajayi
in fela's voice - dem bobo your mama dem bobo your papa

#Fact

No be small thing. Remind them jor

Kudos, if only Nigerians will stop thinking with their a.ss ..... We need our brains to think straight and vote out this bad government.

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