All the Newsources concerned with fighting/exposing corruption (eg Saharareporters, 234next.com, et al) now regularly feature article (some from very well-respected writers) that hints at how , when it matters, it won't be difficult for Nigerians to see that jonathan represents "more of the same" . I.e a product of a corrupt system who will not be able to fight Nigeria's biggest problem - corruption.


http://www.saharareporters.com/article/speaking-tongues-sonala-olumhense

Posted: August 1, 2010 - 03:32Posted by siteadmin

Speaking in Tongues - By Sonola Oluhemse

It is now clear to all that Goodluck Jonathan will run for the presidency next year.

That means that for the first time in his curious political career, he will be asking people to vote for him in his name and on his own merit. It will be interesting to hear him describe himself.

He will also be amending the playbook. Remember that as a man favoured by circumstance, he rose to the top only to complete someone else’s term of office. As things stand, he will be using that opportunity to prospect for himself.

That is not such a bad thing, except for the fact that Jonathan seems to be playing a familiar game: a man looking out for himself rather than his country. He has spent several critical months in office, but it has been Jonathan’s time, not Nigeria’s. They have been months spent prospecting for his own farm, not nurturing ours. I am not sure it is possible to pinpoint a single, decisive blow for Nigeria that Jonathan has struck since Tura[/b]i Yar’Adua left for Katsina.

[b]The reason for this is simple: You always—ALWAYS—know who a Nigerian leader really is from his response to the subject of corruption. It is this one question that defines our hopes and our prospects; whether we live or die.
It is the question our so-called leaders hate to confront. Their general approach is to take to the rooftop and criticize corruption, as if the challenge is to be eloquent in characterizing the menace.

That pedestal is where Jonathan was last week. In a major speech read on his behalf in Minna, he confirmed what we all ought to know: we are a lost people.

He was waxing strong and wise as he tongue-lashed our nation’s championship corruption levels, illegal acquisition of wealth, absence of productivity, dependence on oil, and evasion of taxes. “Unless Nigeria retraced its steps,” he said—indeed, unless we took the right steps— “very soon the system will collapse.”

Collapse is a strong word, a total condition. It evokes dark images of ruin and bankruptcy and desperation and failure and chaos. Jonathan, I believe, was trying to find safe imagery to express the anarchy of a failed state. He ought to know: each day, he has all the political, economic and intelligence reports on his desk.

None of the news reports I read told me if any member of the audience chuckled at Jonathan’s remarks. I always find it funny when Nigerian leaders bring up the rear when it comes to understanding what is going on. Nigerians have been expressing the fear about our country’s imminent collapse for many years. It was being expressed when Jonathan was a university teacher, with no access to the powers that be.

It was being expressed when he became a “mere” Deputy Governor, with little influence on the winds of change. But here we are, half a year after he took presidential power and what we are hearing from Jonathan is music from Olusegun Obasanjo’s gramophone.

There should be no mistake about it: Nigerians need to change. We need to be better citizens. We need to cultivate the habit of “doing things correctly,” as Mr. Jonathan called it. We need to pay our taxes and utilities. We need to obey our laws. In short, we need to be better citizens.

The problem is that good citizenship is no solution to the problem of irresponsible leadership. Good leadership—through commitment, example and good governance—will yield good citizenship; but even exemplary, tenacious citizenship, in the face of the kind of atrocious leadership it has been Nigeria’s burden to bear, can only result in a citizenry that is held in contempt and slaughtered for sport.



Regrettably, that is the Nigeria of our time. It is characterized by the greedy, voracious and evil political elite which considers Mr. Jonathan its leader. To be fair, Jonathan did not create the problem, and I do not insinuate that he even numbers among the greediest. But a part of the definition of this political animal is that it feeds on anyone that is reluctant—or unable—to confront it in the killing fields.


That would be where the government comes in, and clearly, that was on the mind of Mr. Jonathan when he said in Minna, “A society that does not care for its needy and less privileged will not make progress…”

Jonathan describes his Nigeria well. On account of the greed, irresponsibility and corruption that he describes, Nigeria has no time for the poor, alias the needy and less privileged. Led by Jonathan’s party, the so-called People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nigeria celebrates the rich and powerful, no matter the means by which they were acquired.

Anybody who wants proof should take a look at Jonathan’s own 2010 National “Honours” list, which is littered with serial underachievers, certificate forgers, 419-ers, money-launderers and looters. It is impossible to reconcile Jonathan’s professed search for a better Nigeria with his celebration of the very people pushing it to the edge of the precipice.
The answer is for Jonathan to stop speaking in tongues, unless they are all his. But if he actually intends to be remembered favourably by Nigerians, he must prove he is better than those he criticizes from the safety of the presidential pulpit. That strategy will no longer work.

Corruption in Nigeria no longer needs anyone to provide identification or warning. What is required is someone who speaks one language: the language of combat. It needs a man who can be true to this country. It needs a man who can think Nigeria first, and self, last. It needs a man capable of bringing the war to corruption.

Hopefully, Jonathan understands how tenuous his position is. His is one of the most corrupt legacies known to this nation, and the election that brought him power and prominence was rigged all the way from the voter’s register to the Supreme Court.

Hopefully too, it is clear to Jonathan that most of those who supported his ascendancy to the presidency did so only on account of principle, not his person. Jonathan ought to reciprocate this gesture honestly and strongly.

The only way out is for him to do the right thing and, for once in his political life, stand up. There is no other chance, and he has no excuses. Nigeria fought long and hard for him because it was the right thing to do. Is he man enough to fight for his country, or is he going to move from microphone to microphone while his friends and associates escort Nigeria to the collapse he has identified?

Let me rephrase that: can Jonathan run for the presidency next year on the basis of a body-count of big-name corrupt Nigerians and tax-evaders? Is he capable of identifying all those powerful Nigerians who are acquiring wealth illegally and irresponsibly, and is he strong enough to ensure their prosecution?

In effect, Jonathan is saying that Nigeria is a lost country unless somebody does something about it. He is right, but if he is neither motivated enough nor strong enough, he should get out of the way.

Merely speaking about problems is not leadership. It is the part of the problem.

Comments to the above article are supplied below. We are told Jonathan is one of the most "popular" candidate yet Nigerians almost seem united in seeing him as "more of the same".


6 comment(s)

hi
Submitted by Mart (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 08:14.
I thing Buhari is the answer to this problem . As an igho man , i will vote for him any day any time ,

reply The need to get out of the box
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 08:06.
We have tried millitary and carrier politician rules, they all failed us,it is time to get out of the box.We need to take a chance with non carrier politicians.Nigeria should take a chance with individuals that have proven themselves in thier different endevours,principled persons of high moral values.
I still believe that Late Fela Kuti would have done a better job than all those people that took advantage of Nigerians. We have nothing to loose by electing the unsongs heroes amongst us.Everybody is not born to be rulers however we have a lots of Nigerians that have proven themselves to be decent human being, let us take a chance with such people.

reply I have given up.
Submitted by Akitipa (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 07:35.
The last national awards betrayed Jonathans real intention, i dont believe in him again, people will still open their big fat mouth to say 'lets give him a chance' what chance do you give a leader who is comfortable in the company of thieves? A man who sees nothing wrong in giving honour to a certified certificate forger.
Pray what became of the Comptroller General of Customs case? We have all forgotten again, shame on us all, even our president.

reply THE CLASS OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU DEFINES YOUR PERSON
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 07:12.
It is no secret that from the deputy governorship position to the present position he occupy Jonathan has not shown that he is decipline. Looking at the appointments of his Ministers it shows he has nothing for the nation. The appointment is filled with SELF and not selflessness. He cannot do much against corruption because i remember while he was a governor Ribadu EFCC has a corruption charges against him and his wife. All he will do to appease the civil society is to speak their minds but act his godfathers.He has a group agenda which he will unfold in the near future if he is given the chance. I bet you his sponsors and godfathers / the civil society will be disappointed; watch out.

reply There is nothing more to be
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 04:53.
There is nothing more to be said. Let Jonathan read it, meditate on it and act on it. Or, he will be remembered as one of those who correctly prophesied about the imminent collapse of this country.

reply Sonala, a great piece!
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika, PA, USA (not verified) on August 1, 2010 - 04:19.
Sonala, I commend your courage and srticulation. So far in the manner President Jonathan talks and his actions I have not seen any differenece with the likes of IBB, Abacha, Obasanjo and Yar'Adua.
We remember how IBB would talk as if he understood Nigeria's econimic and social problems and was doing something to solve them. In effect, nothing was being done. He merely completely enriched himself and his acquaintances. Okigbo Report states that he spent US$18.30 million to purchase TV/Video for the Presidency!!!!

Abacha siphoned over US$8 billion while pontificating about the myriads of Nigeria's problems and his efforts to solve them.

Obasanjo, pontificated and sermonized all the way. He used the EFCC to pull a wool over the eyes of Nigerians. Those of us who have pulled off the wool now realize that he wasted over US$30 billion from Nigeria's treasury. Ditto Yar'Adua.

Let Nigerian leaders know that the world is watching them. And the world knows that Nigerian leaders and Nigeria are existing in the dark ages, not in this Internet age. We need a selfless leader, that's all that is required for the change.

Another Article. 'Curiously , it is the most corrupt political leaders (with some perhaps afraid of prosection) that are flocking to support Jonathan.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5601267-146/story.csp

The game changers of 2011 election

By Nicholas Ibekwe


Last week in Abuja, former sports minister Ismaila Sambawa visited the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) trying to resolve problems relating to his frozen assets.

For two years, the Yar'Adua administration had leaned on the EFCC to place a lien on his assets for alleged breach of contract with the Liberian government.

Mr. Sambawa, who refused to respond to text and phone calls at the weekend, and who is today one of the arrowheads of the Jonathan for 2011 Campaign, is facing a major moral challenge from political actors who accuse him of receiving N6 billion to facilitate a favourable outcome in the just concluded congress of governors of northern states.

In its Saturday 24 July edition, the Abuja-based Peoples Daily claimed that as soon as Mr. Sambawa, got hold of the money, he made a brisk stop at the EFCC, where he dumped N1 billion to facilitate the soft landing of his case with the anti-graft commission.

Femi Babafemi, EFCC spokesman, denied this story saying "I am not aware of anything like that."

"I am aware that there was a request from the Liberian embassy in Nigeria of a building contract between the two parties and the EFCC should intervene," Mr. Babafemi said. He added that the matter has now been resolved.

The Sambawa saga has, however, offered fodder to critics of Mr. Jonathan who question his commitment to the fight against corruption now that he seems set to run for the presidential office come 2011.

At the demise of his boss, Umaru Yar'Adua, who passed on 5 May, Mr. Jonathan assumed office with the promise to conduct a clean election, fix the power logjam in the country, fight corruption, and give traction to the Niger Delta question. This was all before various groups urged him on to contest in 2011.

Today, Mr. Jonathan, maintaining a scripted silence on his political ambition, appears to be tinkering with his priorities, raking in a balanced measure of knocks and cheers from the constituency that helped him assume and stabilize in power.

Asked to assess the president's commitment to curbing corruption in the country, Abdurahman Ahmad, the president of the Movement Against Corruption (MAC), shrugged off saying "I don't know will be my honest assessment".

Mr. Ahmad, who is also the spiritual leader of Ansaruldeen Society of Nigeria, the largest Islamic organisation in the South West of the country, also said, "I have not seen any difference between what we have been dealing with; I have not seen any shift. We have heard that before- declaration of war against corruption but all that is mere rhetoric."

Jubrin Ibrahim, the Executive Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and a political scientist, also felt the president "hasn't shown enough vigour and determination in the anti-corruption drive."

Now all seem set for Mr. Jonathan's presidential race. With a windy assurance from his South-South kinsmen, who are backing him to run, and a wobbly, tongue in cheek, support from some northern governors, the man who reluctantly assumed presidential office on 6 May is at the epicentre of our nation's most defining historical point.


Mr. Jonathan's dilemma regarding the single most dramatic cog in the wheel of the nation's progress-corruption-gives a lot of concern, prompting the feeling that he is already making compromises as political IOUs to negotiate support.

However for Chido Onumah, the Executive director of the advocacy group, Make Your Votes Count campaigning for a clean and fair election, Mr. Jonathan would have scored bigger and higher if he would simply be an unbiased spectator in the poll by not running for the Election.

Comments to the above article. It seems , contrary to what some are saying on Nairaland , Nigerians are strongly united in seeing Jonathan as "more of the same" and not the leader Nigeria needs come 2011.


Reader Comments (14)

Posted by Sule on Aug 01 2010

We are jokers,  Jonathan should show more vigour against corruption??!!!!. He is a product and enabler of this very corrupt system we are asking him to get rid off,  Is he going to get rid of his money laundering wife? Who gave the wife the millions of dollars caught in her possession? We are jokers,  real jokers,

Posted by Truck Pusher on Aug 01 2010

the old order would fade away quietly if you guarantee them immunity from prosecution over siemens, halliburton and the notorious 12.4bn,

Posted by mai samari on Aug 01 2010

by their caps, ye shall know them? how about weighing them by their track records and personal( rather than their political party) manifesto, this time around?

Posted by ant hills on Aug 01 2010

MrJonathan is not only an electoral disaster waiting to hsppen but also a leader less keen to fight corruption as his god father Mr.Olusegun 0obasanjo

Posted by Innocent Aliagha on Aug 01 2010

Have we forgotten that just before jonathan emerged as the vice presidential candidate of PDP in 2006, he and his wife were being investigated by Ribadu's EFCC for using a courier to launder millions of dollars abroad through MMA? The case was sholved under the carpet by Ribadu once he emerged. Jonathan is corrupt to his marrow and therefore cannot fight corruption. Just examine his two years in bayelsa as governor to understand what I mean.

Posted by Ayo on Aug 01 2010

Since corruption 'is the cog in the wheel of Nigeria's progress'it goes without saying that what we need to elect people into public office IS NOT age index but INTEGRITY INDEX. Although Mr Jonathan Goodluck has not been personally indicted of any corruption charges [YET], he has a SMOKING-GUN that proves he too, like his old order associates, has had his hand in the till. So it is not too difficult to place Mr Goodluck on the Integrity Index- especially when there is no satisfactory explanation for his smoking-gun [which is clearly not guilt-by-association] to which an earlier Debater alluded.

Posted by IGWE on Aug 01 2010

I said it from onset that PRESIDO Joe is not the right man for the job. he can not fight corruption. He that must fight must 1st be clean. This govt. is a product of fraudulent election. My cry daily is that our kids future and life has been mortgage. NB: Make no mistake that the leader are looting the treasuring today. I saw it coming soon and very soon, there will be no more money in the treasure to loot again. Because the profit again will be far lesser than the expenditure. Today there is free natural resource to sell, tomorrow when Oil becomes not that essential commodity, them the collapse of the system. U.A. E has foresee this and has started to developping their countries redefining Dubai into a world tourist centre, what is Nigeria doing, Nothing but looting the treasury

Posted by Shehu on Aug 01 2010

Please anybody but Jonathan in 2011. For goodness sake nobody knows what he stands for and he is the seating president.

Posted by OPC on Aug 01 2010

To the last question, I sincerely do not know where to place Jonathan. His characteristics are like those of chameleon that changes her skin colour depending on which environment she finds herself!

Posted by rapsody on Aug 01 2010

This Jonathan guy is one huge joke and I have said this over and over. He is a product of the old corrupt political establishment that rules this country from behind the scenes and has little to offer this country.For them its business as usual and no state corporation providing utilities will ever work as long as it conflicts with their personal business interests. How will refiniries work when a former ruler has his in a neighboring country, how will Nepa supply power when a former ruler is the biggest importer of generators. This country needs at this stage of its life, professional technocrats who have no strong affiliation to any of these old school establishment to return the nation back to th fold of civilized nations. Pat Utomi, Ribadu, Sanusi-Sanusi, Fashola(performed well regardless of reservations), okonja Ewenla, are the likes that can bring the Glory back to this nation. Buhari hasent got a clue as he cant find his way around that mess even with a map in his hand.(your better half idiagbon is gone!!) He should go and contest as sharia court clerk some where in the holy land of mecca.( at least he ll win that without rigging). Imagine the insult in 21st century wanting to Islamitise a secular Nigeria!!. Atiku is the least chanced and if I were him I ll relax and enjoy the splendour of his ill gotten wealth. International Big Boy(IBB)is another big joke, you annulled elections in 1993, masterminded corruption as a value and way of life in Nigeria but has forgotten that all those born around 1985 to 1993 that you ruled are now young men and women in an internet age where enlightenement is electronic, they also form more than 50% of voters in the upcoming elections of 2011,the older generation havent forgotten your vices either becos your exit created more monsters and tragic losses that are still so fresh in our memory and we havent forgiven. The dynamics has changed in Nigeria my brother IBB, there were no militia men in the delta when you ruled, now people are ready to fight and die is necesary. You will see how Professional and technocratic and strategic Nigerians are now, we will wrestle the destiny of our country from the hands of you crooked few and rogues who continue to squander our resources on wasteful expenditure. There has never been an election keenly watched and to be greatly participated by the enlightend minds as much as the forth coming elections. Its time to start a better 50 years for our children.

Nigeria is not a specimen that we should continue trying people weather with military or whatever career. Everybody knows that corruption is our biggest problem. And BUHARI is the person we know is capable of bringing war to corruption. Simple.

See the way Jonathan instructed the A.G to withdraw corruption cases against former custom bosses who colluded with the vaswani brothers and stole billions and still allowing the vaswanis back to Nigeria to continue what is in their blood 'corruption'. No single reason was given for the with drawal or Nolle Prosequi which ever it is.That alone is a pointer to the direction nigeria is heading under Jonathan

Jonathan is a product of PDP and PDP is a criminal gang with dubious manifestos-CORRUPTION AND LOOTING.

@redsun you are CORRECT

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this bloody Joe is beginning to annoy me

a man that went u-turn on fifa rule; why bother

a man that face book influences as he claim

this man might as well go

in as much as i hate IBB he wouldn't make such a mess

right now the governors are gagging to share the excess crude revenue fund; why not put that money right in all the federal roads

hmmmm

It is insanity to expect good to come out of evil - Please learn to manage your expectations - dont give yourselves heart attack

Nice analysis. Time they say, will reveal all things.