Queen Elizabeth II: You don't think that the affection people once had for me, for this institution, has been diminished?

Tony Blair: No, not at all. You are more respected now than ever.

Queen Elizabeth II: I gather some of your closest advisers were less fulsome in their support.

Tony Blair: One or two but as a leader, I could never have added my voice to that chorus.

Queen Elizabeth II: Because you saw all those headlines and you thought: 'One day this might happen to me'...

Tony Blair: Oh... er...

Queen Elizabeth II: ...and it will, Mr. Blair. Quite suddenly and without warning...

The foregoing dialogue, taken from ‘The Queen’, a multiple award winning 2006 British film starring Helen Mirren, depicts a fictional account of the events which followed the death in 1997 of Diana, the Princess of Wales. While Queen Elizabeth 11 saw Diana’s death as a private family affair and dealt with it as such, then newly appointed Prime Minister Tony Blair reflected the public wish for an official expression of grief. This instantly earned him public acclamation while the Queen became so unpopular that many were even calling for the abrogation of the monarchy.

At the height of the political fiasco which followed the illness and eventual death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in May 2010, I used the episode to warn some of the rational handlers of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that they should enjoy their season in the sun because it would not last. At that time, Yar’Adua (who was oblivious of what was going on in the country, or for that matter even around him) was the subject of a vicious attack, orchestrated mostly from within. In contrast, there was nothing patronizing that was not said or written about Jonathan, to the extent that one government official even said he “brought Facebook to Nigeria!” But two years as substantive president, and one year after being sworn in following an election he won, the story is different - even distressing.

Anybody who has in recent days paid some attention to the pundits on radio and television and the reports in the print media can only come to one conclusion: the president, to put it mildly, has lost considerable goodwill in the eyes of the same public with whom he could do no wrong just two years ago. While I do not intend to break my self-imposed censorship on the person of Jonathan or for that matter his stewardship as president, I want to use the occasion of the current anniversary to examine two memorable lines from his inaugural speech last year to put some issues in context.

The first: “I know your pain, because I have been there.”

The election narrative of Jonathan was that of a man who grew up without shoes, something that connected well with the public. But that message quickly unraveled in the course of the crisis which followed the removal of fuel subsidy in January this year. With the media and civil society opposed to the policy, Jonathan was made to look like an uncaring leader. Yet, I am almost certain that anybody who occupies Aso Rock today will have no choice but to take a similar decision because it is the correct thing to do, all factors considered.

The two things that have, however, compounded the situation for the president are the damning revelations from the Hon Farouk Lawan Committee on the management of the fuel subsidy fund, especially the scandalous amount that was spent in 2011; and the growing indication that the promised determination to reduce waste and fight corruption is hollow.

Now to the second quote from his inaugural speech: “We will not allow anyone exploit differences in creed or tongue, to set us one against another.”

Never in our history have we experienced this sort of situation where “differences in creed or tongue” are being used not only to divide us as a people but indeed to break us up as a nation if possible. I have said it before, and I will say it again: there are few Nigerians like Jonathan whose close friends would comprise mostly people with whom he made acquintance in the course of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme three decades ago. Yet what we see is a president that would be a good advertisement for national integration being diminished by some desperadoes among his kinsmen. These same noisemakers would launch Jonathan’s campaign for 2015 at a time he had not even spent the first of his current four-year mandate. The tragedy is that they don’t really care whether the president succeeds or fails.

There are a couple of things the president is doing right, especially in a very important area like agriculture which could be revolutionary for the nation if he succeeds (as I pray he does) so he needs to focus. Without being told, Jonathan knows about his right to seek another term in 2015 should he wish to go for it. Besides, being an incumbent also puts him at an advantage in a political environment enervated by a money-minded political elite. What Jonathan has to keep in mind, however, is that the judgment of history will never be about how many years he spent in Aso Rock, but how successful he was in managing the nation’s delicate fault-lines against personal ambitions; as well as what he could deliver to the people.

Notwithstanding, I do not subscribe to the argument that Jonathan should declare whether or not he will contest in 2015. It is a presumptuous demand and an ill-advised gambit. With only one year gone, if Jonathan answers the question any which way, he is finished as president. But by unnecessarily raising the political temperature, the people who are “ready to die” just for Jonathan to continue to inhabit Aso Rock are the real problem today. They have no progressive policy options to assist the president with; they just want him to continue in office in pursuit of their selfish interests. I hope it is not too late for the president to rein in the dingos who do not mean well for him and have become to the polity an unnecessary distraction.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/goodluck-to-the-president/116972/

nice!

Adeniyi will always deliver it poignantly....Asari Dokubo and his cohorts are just bunch of noisemakers.

Nice write up.


...But what does he mean by self-imposed censorship on GEJ,... If you know what who he really is (which I want to belive u shld as an insider)then help and speak out.