Jonathan is change agent Nigeria needs

For most South-South political leaders and elite of Bayelsa State, Goodluck Jonathan does not just represent a huge chance for the Niger Delta or the oppressed minorities to mount the throne in Aso Rock, but a big chance to launch Nigeria on a possible path of change. Many young politicians in the region believe that Jonathan would create a legacy that would dominate political thinking for many years to come- a legacy of good education, thoughtfulness in authority, calm disposition, humility and rare courage to solve problem, backed by ability to ignore “special interests”. Kemedi Von Dimeari, a fast-rising technocrat, a political force in the president’s home state (Bayelsa), who is also a member of the Timipre Sylva administration think-tank, said in Yenagoa at the weekend that most intellectuals and progressive elements in Nigeria were quietly lining behind the Jonathan change project, not just because it is real but because it has an acceptable national platform to materialise.

Many may think the President comes from a small state but Von (as he popularly known around the country) insists that the village a leader comes from reclines into insignificance the moment the platform for realistic change is found by those seeking a new way for Nigeria. “The President comes from Nigeria, and it is the totality of the votes that would make him a president, not just the ones from his village. He embodies a lot of hopes and aspirations of the nation, not just where he comes from,” he said. Von further declared: “I hear about change from characters from the past, and I wonder who represents change. I see Muhammadu Buhari talking about change, but he was a head of state and did not add one mega watt to the national power grid. Instead, we got double standards even in his major slogan, discipline. Take a look at religion and ethnicity in Nigeria and see where to place him. This man comes from the past; he headed NNPC, worked with Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, etc.” He charged further: “Take a look at Nuhu Ribadu. Between 2003 and 2007, was he not the most influential man in Nigeria after President Olusegun Obasanjo. Between him and Jonathan then, who was more influential in PDP? Yet, he now attacks Jonathan and PDP as if he was not the number two man in power in the PDP government after Obasanjo. He was accused of abuse of power, and to me, arrogance of power as a form of corruption is bad too. Today, many believe that Obasanjo’s record is the same with Ribadu’s, which is PDP’s record.” He said Ribadu cannot run away from Obasanjo’s records, and Ribadu cannot run away from PDP record, whether that record is good or bad.

Von said he did not see Ribadu with the level of integrity that he (Ribadu) ascribes to himself. “He went beyond the dictates of the law to selectively rope people in. This is high indiscipline. On the contrary, Jonathan is highly disciplined. He constrains self, ties self to give a level-playing field. I respect him for what he is doing. For once, Nigerians believe in the power of their votes”. The DG, whose activities have turned around the way government does things in Bayelsa State, warned that Nigerians should be careful with the kind of political parties they think should replace the ruling party in the search for a credible alternative. He rather wants Nigerians to take a deeper look on the Jonathan project and find that Nigerians now have a government that talks to them. “His facebook page is one of the highest in terms of those that have signed up with him, more than 500,000, which is the second highest after Barrack Obama of the US. Ribadu is simply confused while Buhari is a man from the past,” he said. According to him, “I am proud of Jonathan for power project he did in Yenagoa (capital of Bayelsa State), new gas turbines he installed (which is what he is doing at the federal level). He took young villagers to schools in Ibadan to gain wonderful experience under the Gifted Children’s Project, made heavy investments in the NDU, gave some indigenes scholarships to UK, Russia, USA, Canada, etc. He focused on education, power and roads. Today, as President, he is pushing these same programmes”. The DG took the President’s critics to the cleaners in the most critical areas of the Excess Crude Account (ACA) and External reserves. He said contrary to insinuations, it is the governors who own and decide the fate of the ECA, and that all political parties with governors have sinned in this case, except Nigerians wanted Jonathan to be like Obasanjo who used unilateral force to over rule the governors.

“On External Reserves, we do not notice that prices of foodstuff did not change drastically in Nigeria when it did all over the world. This is because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) defended the naira; else, there would have been food crisis like elsewhere. By this, the common man was saved”. He observed that Jonathan rather created the Sovereign Wealth Fund by law to save some funds for the future. He explained that major pressure on external reserves came from importation and food was a major chunk of this. “It is not frivolous expenses that really depleted the foreign reserves. So, he is tackling food security through broad agricultural reforms. Transportation is also much related to this because it helps to transport foodstuff to other areas. This is why he has placed rail transport at the height of his priority to facilitate the transportation of agricultural produce,” Von observed. On what exactly Jonathan did to change the fuel situation in Nigeria, he said the President was courageous enough to stand up to the “mafias” who were feeding fat from the perennial fuel scarcity. Von does not share in the euphoria that Buhari hated corruption and would make Nigeria corruption-free. He said: “Buhari’s political platform is funded by some of the most disdainful characters in the country- pure looters. We do not need to be confused on matters of integrity because we know who is what.” Some of those who openly looted the treasury and who are lepers in terms of image are those funding the CPC, he insisted, and wondered how Buhari would ignore such notorious personalities and jail small fry. Von thinks that this would force the ex-general to play his usual game of selective war against corruption as was done in the case of the 23 suit cases when the likes of Fela Anikulapo were jailed for few dollars.

Written by Ignatius Chukwu