On Thursday 8th of January, 2015, the PDP came
to Lagos, warts and all, in furtherance of a
presidential campaign flag-off.
They had advertised this flag-off with a promise
to show what they had done in Lagos. I
anticipated this visit because I hoped it would
provide an opportunity to discuss issues
important to the people.
When they left, they left nothing tangible behind
except violence, attacks and robberies on citizens
who had been trapped in the traffic they created.
The APC National Convention had held in the
same city of Lagos a few weeks ago without
violence and robberies.
But that is not my take away. My take away was
the presidential speech.
Having ridden to office on the back of civil
society (a.k.a Doctrine of necessity), and having
been elected by an impassioned campaign of
emotion and sympathy (a.k.a ‘I had no shoes’), I
expected that a president seeking re-election will
understand that his record of service and not
sympathy would be the vote catching message.
Even though I was in Benin to attend the APC
vice presidential candidate’s town hall meeting, I
took the time to listen to the presidential flag-off
speech.
Mr. President had my attention when he said his
message that day, and for the rest of the 35
States and FCT, was going to be focused on
young people.
And just as I thought he was going to raise hope,
he did what no leader should ever do. He dashed
hope. He told young Nigerians that his generation
had failed. Yet he seeks their votes to lead them.
This compounded the problem. If the President
admits personal failure, he was uncharitable in
seeking to paint everybody in his own service
record. What then is his “Transformation Agenda”
about? Failure?
My take away: Leaders don’t dash hope, they
inspire it.
To be fair, he quite rightly set out the agenda and
burning issues on the minds of the Nigerian
people when he opened by stating that he was
going to address 3 (three) issues of corruption,
insecurity and the economy.
I expected to hear about a security plan to
restore Nigeria’s territory that was lost to
terrorists and how to bring back the girls
abducted in Chibok, the president sadly said
nothing.
Instead, Mr. President went for the sympathy
message again, that there was an assassination
attempt on his life 4 years ago.
My take away: Mr President, this is a good try
but it took four years and on the eve of election
campaign for you to disclose such grave national
security information.
Any attempt on your life as our leader is an
attack on all of us as a people and a nation.
Twenty four hours before this Lagos Presidential
flag-off, there was an attack of terror in Paris in
which 12 people were killed. By midnight, arrests
had been made; the Government of France had
swung into action with 80, 000 combined security
forces in a manhunt for the terrorists.
They pursued the terrorists into a forest, evoking
memories of Sambisa Forest.
As I conclude this piece, three terrorists had been
killed and one was on the run.
After six years, there was no message or plan in
this Presidential re-election bid speech on how to
solve our security problem.
Mr. President spent a lot of time accusing his
predecessors of not buying arms.
Those young people whom Mr. President sought
to impress must remember than in the last 20 or
so years, our armed forces have been involved in
wars/peace-keeping missions in Somalia, Sierra-
Leone and Liberia, and their performance was
globally adjudged to be outstanding. They used
arms.
If Mr. President’s predecessors did not buy arms,
which arms did these soldiers use for those
operations?
It seems to me very simple to accept that
armoury management is a matter of inventory
management; use and replace.
I think young people must see these accusations
against predecessors as being without basis.
Assuming there is a basis, General Buhari left
office in 1985; the technology of arms has
improved rapidly and it cannot be his fault that a
President in 2015 is seeking to use 1985 arms.
Mr. President still owes Nigerians an explanation
about the $9 million cash seized in a plane in
South Africa, in an amateurish attempt to buy
arms through the back door.
As far as corruption was concerned, the
president’s silence on the forensic audit report
about $10 billion & $12 billion or $20 billion,
(depending on whose version between the
ministry of finance or central bank), showed an
unwillingness to defend his record.
I think it would have helped Mr. President’s re-
election bid if he spoke about losses to the
economy as a result of pipeline vandalism and
huge economic losses to the country in terms of
stolen crude oil.
Answers to allegations of mismanagement of
SURE-P funds being used for political objectives
and the unresolved kerosene import scandals
would perhaps have been helpful.
Instead, Mr. President chose to attack the
records of predecessors, many of whom are not
seeking re-election.
My take away: Mr. President seems to have
forgotten that he is the one seeking re-election
and it is his record in the last 4-6 years (not his
record as Governor of Bayelsa) that would be
helpful to the people in decision making.
In case Mr. President has forgotten, he should
ask his aides to provide tapes of the Obama
campaign for him.
President Obama rode into office on a massive
emotional campaign anchored on change (and
that is where the comparison ends) but in the
second term bid, the Republicans were most
scathing, unrelenting and uncompromising in the
public scrutiny of his first term record.
That is what happens in every democracy. It is
not about emotion and last minute allegations of
assassinations.
Even after Obama had taken out Bin Laden, who
claimed responsibility for a terror attack on
America, it took a most passionate presidential
convention speech by his Democratic
predecessor, President Bill Clinton to defend his
record of service and ‘save’ the Obama re-
election bid.
Which one of President Jonathan’s predecessors
will stand up for his record of service?
As far as the economy was concerned, the
president pitched on the size of the Nigerian
economy as the largest in Africa.
He was silent on why the citizens of the largest
economy in Africa still live in darkness. He was
silent on why the football team of the largest
economy in Africa will not be at the Nation’s cup,
when Cape Verde, the smallest country will be
there.
Mr. President, who was addressing young people,
would have helped his own case if he had
explained to them why Bolaji Abdullahi, a young
Sports Minister, under whose tenure we won the
Nations Cup, was removed for political
expediency.
I think Mr. President needs to be reminded that
as recently as December 2014, citizens of the
largest economy in Africa were looking for petrol
in jerry cans across Nigerian cities including
Abuja.
Instead of revealing the plan for the next four
years on the issues which Mr. President chose by
himself to address, he sounded angry, and
appeared irritated by the demands of his citizens
for a better life.
I expect that Mr. President will seek to do better
as he promised across the next 35 states and
FCT.
My take away: A re-election bid is like a job
appraisal or interview; the applicant who seeks to
serve cannot get angry – Anger is not a strategy.
We the citizens must continue to ask questions.
Mr. President made promises to us in Lagos such
as the construction of the road leading to the
Murtala Muhammed Airport. He promised stable
electricity. He promised to keep us safe. He
promised jobs although Nigerian youths died
under his watch while seeking to serve in the
immigration service.
Mr. President must show us that these promises
have been fulfilled, or he must explain why they
were not fulfilled. This is the essence of the
social contract in a democracy.
He must show us that he will not lose more parts
of Nigeria and that he has a clear plan to reclaim
the lost ones and rescue the Chibok girls who fall
into the generation of young people he chose to
address.
This is the presidential speech I waited for. I am
still waiting. Mr. President has 35 more states
and the FCT to convince us not to vote for the
CHANGE that beckons.
P.S:
If you watched the speech given by the APC Vice
presidential in Benin City on the same day. Please
note that he became candidate only on the 11th
of December, 2014? 25 days ago (not 6 years
ago) yet he was able in half an hour without a
prepared speech to discuss a plan for security,
power, jobs, healthcare and social security.
– Fashola is the Lagos State governor.

http://leadership.ng/columns/401193/presidential-declaration-take-away

i think some people will faint if Jonathan is declared winner in this year election. apc will cry.

What else can simply describe the Otueke drunkard in one word "daft and clueless". He talks everytime and contradict his words. How can he want to base his government on young people when he has already failed us personally. Inspiration instead of admittance of failure abeg