"Assessing Jonathan’s Presidency: Three years on" -By Tolu Ogunlesi - Posted on 28 May 2013.

On Wednesday, May 29, it’ll be 14 years since democracy returned to Nigeria. And two years since Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was elected president. (Add the one year he spent completing the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s term, and he’d have been president for three years).

This is as good a time as any to review the Jonathan Presidency. We can no longer say it is morning yet on creation day; we have now come far enough to be able to use the past to predict the future.
Of course, the temptation is to see the future only through a prism of 2015. It’s a very appealing temptation, and an earlier article in this column made that argument that 2015 is already upon us.

But it would be a mistake to allow the fever of 2015 to obscure the gritty realities of 2013-to-2015. Even as we all begin to file to the dance floors, summoned by the drums of 2015 (the Nigerian Governors’ Forum already started dancing a long time ago), we must endeavour to remember that one of the purposes of a democracy is to ensure that a president’s chances of re-election depend to a large extent on what he has or has not done in the years preceding that election moment.
In other words, democracy insists that President Jonathan’s chances of re-election should depend on what he has done and not done between 2010/11 and 2015, not on where he comes from, or what he plans to implement after 2015.

The debate about 2015 should, in an ideal world, be about whether he has justified the huge trust reposed in him by the millions who voted for him in an election that was no doubt a huge improvement on all the ones before it since 1999.
The debate about 2015 shouldn’t be about whether an Ijaw man has had enough time to represent his region at the highest levels of public office in Nigeria, or whether it is time for the Igbo to have a shot at that office. Even if we will have those arguments – and, considering that this is Nigeria, we will always have them – they should come secondary to the matter of performance.
What we should therefore be concerned with at this time, is offering up honest and realistic assessments of the Jonathan administration. The purpose of today’s piece, therefore, is to play a part in driving that debate.

On my part, I started out with a great deal of hope in President Jonathan. I was one of those enamoured by his story. This is how I put it in an article that appeared in NEXT newspaper in April 2011, just after the results of the presidential election emerged:

“Come with me to 1998. Let’s meet Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Assistant Director, Environmental Protection and Pollution Control at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission in Port Harcourt, “earning small, small kobo that kept him going” (as his father once told The Guardian in an interview). Seven years later, the civil servant is Governor of oil-rich Bayelsa State. Five years after that he is the President of Nigeria. All this happens without him contesting any election on his own. Now, on May 29, 2011, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will be sworn in as the 4th democratically elected Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“He will go into the beckoning epoch clutching a string of firsts: The youngest civilian President of Nigeria at first swearing-in (Shagari was 54).
The first Nigerian Vice-President to go on to be President. The first Nigerian to rise from deputy governor to Governor to Vice-President to President. (What are the chances of that happening in the wildly unpredictable political system we run in this country?). Nigeria’s first PhD-holding President. Nigeria’s first “Facebook President.” The second most popular Head of State alive, on Facebook. […] The first civilian President of Nigeria to come from a minority ethnic group.”

The story of his ascent to power bore the most divine of imprints – from mid-level civil servant to Deputy Governor to Governor to Vice-President to President, without that sort of ruthless ambition that typically characterises Nigerian politics. It was as though God himself had sent him to us. A class of Nigerians emerged who justified the fact of their falling in love with Jonathan with that now-classic line: “I voted for Jonathan, not PDP.”

It also helped that he came promising “transformation”.
Listen to what he said on Saturday, September 18, 2010, when he declared his presidential candidacy, in Abuja:

“Our country is at the threshold of a new era; an era that beckons for a new kind of leadership; a leadership that is uncontaminated by the prejudices of the past; a leadership committed to change; a leadership that reinvents government, to solve the everyday problems that confront the average Nigerian.”
And then this (if you read that declaration you’ll notice how the style echoes John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address):

“Let the word go out from this Eagle Square that Jonathan as President in 2011 will herald a new era of transformation of our country; an era that will end the agony of power shortage in our country… Let the ordinary Nigerian be assured that President Jonathan will have zero tolerance for corruption.”
There. He said it.

Now, it’s time to put him on the weighing balance. Will it be “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin”, or a “Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant”?

You decide.

A lot of things have puzzled me about this Presidency. A lot of questionable presidential statements, ranging from that early push for tenure structure alteration, to the hurried defence of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta after the 2010 Independence Day bombings, to the “I don’t give a damn” about asset declaration.

A long list of puzzling actions too – at the top of which lies the ill-fated removal of the fuel subsidy in January 2012, the act that in my opinion marked the immediate end of the Jonathan Honeymoon With Nigerians. Close to that on the list is the deception associated with the First Lady’s illness last year (the refusal to come clean to the public on the facts of the matter). I couldn’t believe that the Jonathan government was resorting to the same tactics that the Yar’Adua “cabal” deployed to prevent Jonathan from becoming president.
And then, there’s the fact that, contrary to all of President Jonathan’s promises in 2010, there’s currently no such thing as a war on corruption in Nigeria. From the handling of the Police College Ikeja and Pensions Reform scandals, to name just two, the message is clear: Corruption is alive and well and prospering in Nigeria.
It’s not all negatives though. Even though power supply has not improved (the only thing that appears to be improving is the statistics being released), the power sector reform seems to be back on track, and if it continues this way, should yield some tangible results soon. And you can now travel from Lagos to Kano by train (even if it will take you more than 30 hours). And this is one president far less likely than Olusegun Obasanjo to use force to win elections for his party.

There are also a number of individuals in the government who give us reason to continue hoping: Reform-minded technocrats such as Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi, Mustafa Chike-Obi (AMCON), Uche Orji (Sovereign Wealth Fund). In agriculture, there’s Akinwunmi Adesina; in Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson. (This is not meant to be an exhaustive list).

But, let’s not mince words. A cabinet shake-up is long overdue. I won’t mention names. And I must add – I find it depressing that it appears that the only reason President Jonathan will let a minister go is because that minister has indicated interest in elective office. What that tells us is that mediocrity is not exactly reason enough to not be in this government of “transformation”.

It is up to Mr. President to determine his presidential legacy. No one, he should remember, is president forever.
In April 2010, while he was still Acting President, I wrote, in a “letter” to him:

“Yesterday, you were Goodluck Jonathan. Today, you are Goodwill Jonathan. Now, you must strive to be Goodsense Jonathan, in whose hands the destiny of a nation lies.”

Three years later, most of that Goodwill has, tragically, been squandered. At this time, only the Goodsense can redeem the situation.

So help him, God, Amen.

https://www.facebook.com/nasirelrufai/posts/10152853189230128

"Assessing Jonathan’s Presidency: Three years on" -By Tolu Ogunlesi - Posted on 28 May 2013.

On Wednesday, May 29, it’ll be 14 years since democracy returned to Nigeria. And two years since Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was elected president. (Add the one year he spent completing the late Umaru Yar’Adua’s term, and he’d have been president for three years).

This is as good a time as any to review the Jonathan Presidency. We can no longer say it is morning yet on creation day; we have now come far enough to be able to use the past to predict the future.
Of course, the temptation is to see the future only through a prism of 2015. It’s a very appealing temptation, and an earlier article in this column made that argument that 2015 is already upon us.

But it would be a mistake to allow the fever of 2015 to obscure the gritty realities of 2013-to-2015. Even as we all begin to file to the dance floors, summoned by the drums of 2015 (the Nigerian Governors’ Forum already started dancing a long time ago), we must endeavour to remember that one of the purposes of a democracy is to ensure that a president’s chances of re-election depend to a large extent on what he has or has not done in the years preceding that election moment.
In other words, democracy insists that President Jonathan’s chances of re-election should depend on what he has done and not done between 2010/11 and 2015, not on where he comes from, or what he plans to implement after 2015.

The debate about 2015 should, in an ideal world, be about whether he has justified the huge trust reposed in him by the millions who voted for him in an election that was no doubt a huge improvement on all the ones before it since 1999.
The debate about 2015 shouldn’t be about whether an Ijaw man has had enough time to represent his region at the highest levels of public office in Nigeria, or whether it is time for the Igbo to have a shot at that office. Even if we will have those arguments – and, considering that this is Nigeria, we will always have them – they should come secondary to the matter of performance.
What we should therefore be concerned with at this time, is offering up honest and realistic assessments of the Jonathan administration. The purpose of today’s piece, therefore, is to play a part in driving that debate.

On my part, I started out with a great deal of hope in President Jonathan. I was one of those enamoured by his story. This is how I put it in an article that appeared in NEXT newspaper in April 2011, just after the results of the presidential election emerged:

“Come with me to 1998. Let’s meet Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Assistant Director, Environmental Protection and Pollution Control at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission in Port Harcourt, “earning small, small kobo that kept him going” (as his father once told The Guardian in an interview). Seven years later, the civil servant is Governor of oil-rich Bayelsa State. Five years after that he is the President of Nigeria. All this happens without him contesting any election on his own. Now, on May 29, 2011, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will be sworn in as the 4th democratically elected Executive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“He will go into the beckoning epoch clutching a string of firsts: The youngest civilian President of Nigeria at first swearing-in (Shagari was 54).
The first Nigerian Vice-President to go on to be President. The first Nigerian to rise from deputy governor to Governor to Vice-President to President. (What are the chances of that happening in the wildly unpredictable political system we run in this country?). Nigeria’s first PhD-holding President. Nigeria’s first “Facebook President.” The second most popular Head of State alive, on Facebook. […] The first civilian President of Nigeria to come from a minority ethnic group.”

The story of his ascent to power bore the most divine of imprints – from mid-level civil servant to Deputy Governor to Governor to Vice-President to President, without that sort of ruthless ambition that typically characterises Nigerian politics. It was as though God himself had sent him to us. A class of Nigerians emerged who justified the fact of their falling in love with Jonathan with that now-classic line: “I voted for Jonathan, not PDP.”

It also helped that he came promising “transformation”.
Listen to what he said on Saturday, September 18, 2010, when he declared his presidential candidacy, in Abuja:

“Our country is at the threshold of a new era; an era that beckons for a new kind of leadership; a leadership that is uncontaminated by the prejudices of the past; a leadership committed to change; a leadership that reinvents government, to solve the everyday problems that confront the average Nigerian.”
And then this (if you read that declaration you’ll notice how the style echoes John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address):

“Let the word go out from this Eagle Square that Jonathan as President in 2011 will herald a new era of transformation of our country; an era that will end the agony of power shortage in our country… Let the ordinary Nigerian be assured that President Jonathan will have zero tolerance for corruption.”
There. He said it.

Now, it’s time to put him on the weighing balance. Will it be “Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin”, or a “Well Done, Thou Good and Faithful Servant”?

You decide.

A lot of things have puzzled me about this Presidency. A lot of questionable presidential statements, ranging from that early push for tenure structure alteration, to the hurried defence of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta after the 2010 Independence Day bombings, to the “I don’t give a damn” about asset declaration.

A long list of puzzling actions too – at the top of which lies the ill-fated removal of the fuel subsidy in January 2012, the act that in my opinion marked the immediate end of the Jonathan Honeymoon With Nigerians. Close to that on the list is the deception associated with the First Lady’s illness last year (the refusal to come clean to the public on the facts of the matter). I couldn’t believe that the Jonathan government was resorting to the same tactics that the Yar’Adua “cabal” deployed to prevent Jonathan from becoming president.
And then, there’s the fact that, contrary to all of President Jonathan’s promises in 2010, there’s currently no such thing as a war on corruption in Nigeria. From the handling of the Police College Ikeja and Pensions Reform scandals, to name just two, the message is clear: Corruption is alive and well and prospering in Nigeria.
It’s not all negatives though. Even though power supply has not improved (the only thing that appears to be improving is the statistics being released), the power sector reform seems to be back on track, and if it continues this way, should yield some tangible results soon. And you can now travel from Lagos to Kano by train (even if it will take you more than 30 hours). And this is one president far less likely than Olusegun Obasanjo to use force to win elections for his party.

There are also a number of individuals in the government who give us reason to continue hoping: Reform-minded technocrats such as Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi, Mustafa Chike-Obi (AMCON), Uche Orji (Sovereign Wealth Fund). In agriculture, there’s Akinwunmi Adesina; in Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson. (This is not meant to be an exhaustive list).

But, let’s not mince words. A cabinet shake-up is long overdue. I won’t mention names. And I must add – I find it depressing that it appears that the only reason President Jonathan will let a minister go is because that minister has indicated interest in elective office. What that tells us is that mediocrity is not exactly reason enough to not be in this government of “transformation”.

It is up to Mr. President to determine his presidential legacy. No one, he should remember, is president forever.
In April 2010, while he was still Acting President, I wrote, in a “letter” to him:

“Yesterday, you were Goodluck Jonathan. Today, you are Goodwill Jonathan. Now, you must strive to be Goodsense Jonathan, in whose hands the destiny of a nation lies.”

Three years later, most of that Goodwill has, tragically, been squandered. At this time, only the Goodsense can redeem the situation.

So help him, God, Amen.

https://www.facebook.com/nasirelrufai/posts/10152853189230128

dotcom_na_me_na_me:

Do u have any previous visa on ur passport before?

Yes, I have a valid 2 years UK visa on my passport. Check my previous discussion with you on subject France Visa in this thread.

Hi Guys,

Just got my own 3 months visa now. I submitted on April 04 for single entry but i was given 3 month multipy.

Guys,

I just collected my passport and France visa from the VFS Centre now.

Governor Rotimi Amaechi has won re-election as the chairman of the Nigeria Governor's forum defeating his opponent Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State by 3 votes.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/amaechi-wins-governors-forum-election

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/135968-nigeria-governors-forum-election-live-update.html

chukwudi44:

How do you know this? You really believe the south-south would vote for a northern candidate against one of their own?

What is the total vote of the South-South? Rivers alone is about 2 million votes, so if you share the vote equally between GEJ and Amachi... Where does that left GEJ.... Winning the whole votes of both SS and SE, will not result into winning the election because the large junk of votes needed to win an election reside between this regions NW, NC and SW.

Mr. Banji,

What about 2009 TOYOTA COROLLA/S/

CrazyMan:
Unilag (they call it distant learning), OOU...about a few of them do.

That's why I based my reply on Nigeria and abroad.

U definitely don't know much about Unilag. I obtained my Bsc from Unilag, so I know for sure that Unilag Distant learning program is not an online program, it is a normal bricks and mortal program taught during weekend and everyday during student holiday. Some few diploma course that you offer online is Diploma in Information Technology and MIT Opencourseware etc.

Unilag also offer Bsc and Master Evening programs for working class student, so get your information right before u put them up on open forum.

There is clear difference between fact and truth. The truth base on his own understand and exposure and not base on any fact.
.
So u can both manufacture ur own truth but not ur own fact


[q :Puote author=Imanuelle]


chillax Bro,

he told you the truth, not necessarily what you wanted to hear.

you could have been serious with yours, that doesn't change the fact that majority of the online scholars are committed to it. [/quote]

@Crazyman, no point for u defending. D undefendable. D poster clearly state d course provider are from usa. So which naija point of view are u now talking abt. Plz tell me which naija university offer their degree online.... No mention Noun because there program still required student to come in for lectures sometimes

@crazyman, u response why d online program will not be recognized is best described as total nonsense and shows u know little abt what u are talking abt.

It take serious efforts and time management skill to be an online student. Mind u all student school works like assignments and course works are submitted via turnitin which check that the work are student original work and not stuff copied from d internet. If d turnitin shows more than 30% are copied work. It is automatic F. So tell me how many nigeria university are or can maintain high level of academic standards. Plz alway check ur facts before u put them out in public forum. Op, also check out university of liverpool. They offer well structure online program and ur certificate will not carry any online or distand learning reference.

What is the cost of clearing this car: 2008 TOYOTA COROLLA CE

Dike Chimezie:
And in his 8yrs we couldn't attain 3000MW?
So hypocritical of you.

Your source please?

Gamji007:

Over to you Obj!

Here is the answer you need. You just choose to read part of the report that suit your thinking but OKONJO-IWEALA clearly mention OBJ invested in electricity.

OKONJO-IWEALA: As you know, Nigeria became a democracy again when President Obasanjo came into power in 1999. Two decades prior to that, there was hardly any investment in electricity.

If you've neglected a sector for that long, you've not invested, you've not even maintained your basic facilities, it's not going to happen that fast. It takes time.

VCTROKOYE: Please, I need an urgent reply. My uncle needs to submit his document for UK visa.
He has retired and so he has pension account with the bank.
My cousin is wedding in UK and he wants him to attend the wedding.
The problem now is that apart from pension account which has small money he
has another account with more money. He doesn't know how to defend the account since he does not have tax cert.
What do you suggest that he should do? He wants to submit the two accounts. The pension account is to show he earns pension

To start with, you need to first clearly state or provide us with idea on how he make the money in the second account, so as to be able to advise you on how he can present his case.

dotcom_na_me_na_me:

Don't do it your self. Go to a good registered ticket office and tell them you want a confirm Hotel Reservation for the period depend on how many weeks or days u want to stay, then tell them u need flight reservation as well. They will print out itinerary for you and u will be charged to pay. Simple. But don't do it yourself. Correct Ticket office have registered code with hotels and airlines.

Thanks Bros!!

Naija_lastborn: while French are so stingy with their Visa, I would have Advice you to try any other Schegen Country and Go from their to France, If to say France Give me my own visa, I Go just arrive This Month.... All is well Bro, dont let us discourage You ho ahead and apply but please let us know your Feedback about ok?

Best of Luck

I appreciate your comment but please enlighten me, how did you go about your Confirmed reservation of return flight ticke. Did you just go to air france website and make the booking. Because i have made the booking now online from Air france website and i receive a confirmation email but the email said that the booking will be cancelled after 72 hours if i do not making payment. Will i use the booking like that??

@ dotcom_na_me_na_me, Thanks for your brother love, i fully understand your point of view, but note that i have been to Uk before and currently have a valid 2 years UK visa on my P.

Koolmd and others,

Please help. I intend to apply for France Visa tomorrow but one of the requirement is Confirmed reservation of return flight ticket. I was in air france airline office to book and i was told that the booking will be deleted on their system after 72 hours if i fail to make payment, my concern now is that Does France Embassy expect visa applicant to purchase the flight ticket when apply for their visa.

Please help.

shessyfavour: I didn't and that's why i came here to seek advise because i knew it doesn't sounds ok since i never indicated i have a family in UK but hes saying it can work that what if i just found out i have a family in UK and as long as the person inviting me confirm to BHC that we are family but never trusted the idea.

You already have enough issue to deal with, so don't just add other complications to your already credibility issues with them. 10 years is not a joke ooo

shessyfavour: Yeah justwise i am in no rush at all its been 6 months since i last applied even what the ECO claims in the last refusal notice i.e company audited accounts i now have it so just asking you that when next i am applying which i am considering in next 2 months i should just go for the tourist or change to family visitor as suggested by a friend because i ll be able to appeal.

During your previous applications, Did you at any time, state that your have family in UK, if no, then you are playing with 10 years ban if you try to change to family visitor.

[quote author=newken][/quote]

So he should be patient like this abi. They are simply a fraudster!

biolabee:

Good man but seriously amazon is trying to have a bit of more physical everyday presence

It will be a welcome development, sometime, we customer want to match the face-to-the voice approach... so if they do open a physical store, i do not think it will hurt their sales...

biolabee:


Ok..rechecked my bad

biolabee:

The issue is that you claimed that Amazon has no physical presence
And FYI, Amazon will soon open stores in some cities in the US where customers can fulfill their orders similar to the argos model

OP, Looking through my posts, and clearly quote me where i said Amazon has no physical-presence, what i said is no physical store been a business model... Please list Amazon physical store that you know and spare me the story about Amazon establishing physical store in the near future, it is an escape route-line

biolabee:

Amazon has physical logistics centers scattered around

Is physical store d same as physical logistics centre

oluseyiabodunde: Seriously, I don't know why dere is a huge buzz about dis issue. There are 3 modes of payment in jumia, web pay, cash on delivery and bank payment. Every logical person in Nigeria who understands that e commerce is very new in our country will opt for the cash on delivery option. Which is safer for both the buyer and jumia. I always choose cash on delivery because I can verify my goods b4 paying. Even d delivery men come along with pos machine 4 those who don't carry raw cash around.
PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELVES B4 GOING VIRAL

Stop sounding as a duller jor, the cash on delivery is not for every location... did you even know how their website look like

jossyme:




SORRY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE


I HAD A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE ENTIRELY. I PLACED ORDER FOR MY NOTE 2 IN JANUARY ,AND GOT IT DELIVERED TO ME IN YOLA TWO DAYS AFTER! I WAS SO SURPRISED. THEIR CUSTOMER CARE IS COOL..... AND THE BEASTIE PHABLET IS RUNNING COOL TOO.

I think you should have been patient with them.

What is the mode of the delivery, if I may ask?

kanor: [s]Why are people here trying to rubbish the reputation of pioneering online e-commerce venture, because of a simple refund that can easily be done in no time, and which have been done already.
[/s]
[s]Physical Shops? the igbo man selling electronics NEVER refunds money! FAKE GOOD?, u find them everywhere in physical shops. I see a lot of bad belle people here-may be competitors capitalizing on this to make silly comments.[/s]

[s]Give the Jumia guys some breath joor. Some guys here are so blind calling them calling them names.[/s]

OP, your post above is just a waste of space and bandwidth, so your background as a promoter of eCommerce is to give excuse for poor services delivery abi... so stating fact d ways it happen or sharing experiences is rubbishing their reputation. What we are doing for them (Jumia) is to make them improve their services unlike you that is not ready to tell them the truth.