Daniel Amassoma: 2015: President Jonathan, the forces against and the little foxes around
The Nigerian political and democratic space is maturing, irrespective
of how slow this is going, especially since 2010 till date- President
Jonathan has been holding sway. The uniqueness of his emergence coupled
with his undisputed democratic antecedents also played a major part to
ensure he plays out thus far as a President with an amazing degree of
civility and respect for the rule of law as represented in his
expression of liberality in the democratic space of this nation; thereby
consolidating the efforts of a few leaders that made sacrifices and
commitments that gave birth to the current democratic dispensation which
is evidently the longest we have had as a nation since independence.
Apart from Gen. Gowon that was saddled with the responsibility of leadership during the civil war, no other Nigerian president has ever been confronted with the kind of challenges the current president have had to grapple with; but in all, he has stayed true to his oath of office to protect the territorial integrity of this nation as well as making decisions and taking firm stands to ensure the sovereignty of Nigeria remains sacrosanct.
Two years after he was sworn-in as the first democratically elected president from a minority ethnic
nationality, we have seen campaign promises delivered and a lot of critical infrastructural projects ongoing across the six geo-political zones of this country. The president has shown incredible dimension of passion for this country as epitomized by the way projects are evenly distributed across the country. If there is any zone that can justifiably complain about not having enough federal presence in this administration compared to other zones, it should be the South-South where the president comes from. This further explains how nationalistic the president is; he has raised the bar for subsequent presidents of this country by jettisoning ethno-religious and regional sentiments by redefining the much needed practical show of a sense of national responsibility expected of leaders, that has eluded the nation in decades.
The president has performed creditably well in critical sectors like agriculture, aviation, works, power, transport and others, with an emerging robust economy that will be a force to reckon with, soonest. In the last 35 years or more, no government has sincerely worked towards diversifying the Nigerian economy as this administration has done and still doing. President Jonathan is already taking the right steps towards emerging as the greatest economic, political and infrastructural revivalist in the history of this country; with low hanging fruits already being harvested by Nigerians in less than 30months.
He knows how he got the mandate of majority of Nigerians at the 2011 polls, adjudged as the freest and fairest in recent times. He knows it is only by ‘delivering the goods’ he can get another mandate come 2015 and he is doing exactly that with a miraculous precision, in spite of all the premeditated challenges thrown at him by the forces against his emergence and further ambition.
THE FORCES AGAINST….
We all recall the political succession drama that greeted the demise of late President Yar’adua. A certain group of people, then described as ‘cabal’, literally held the nation by the balls by doing everything within their power to scuttle the emergence of President Jonathan as acting and eventual substantive president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The same cabal formed a wider alliance prior to the 2011 presidential election to scuttle his ambition with threats and blackmail of different shades, but in all, the Nigerian voting public decided his fate by giving him the mandate.
The same forces are still at play today. With the 2015 general
elections fast approaching, they have formed mergers and alliances to
integrate disgruntled and straddled politicians who temporarily and for
some, permanently share the same political vulture culture, with some
ferocious unrepentant intra-party ethno-religious crusaders to frustrate
President Jonathan out of the 2015 presidential race; just for them to
gain central control of power and consume at will, proceeds from the
carcass in the savannah(oil in the Niger-delta region), it is clear that
President Jonathan and his handlers are faced with a daunting task to
stay the course of the transformation agenda as well as ensuring nobody
hijacks any of the nation’s apparatus to fight against the person and
ambition of the president in the manner they have hijacked the media to
sell cheap propagandas to the masses in their desperate bid to occupy
Aso-Villa, come 2015.
For them, gaining central control of power is about oil and nothing else. They have some states under their control that they are yet to perform the wonders they are cajoling Nigerians to believe if given the chance, they will perform. I must admit, though, that the PDP is yet to convince Nigerians that it is irreplaceable as a party that has held sway since 1999; but I must also make it abundantly clear that the APC is no match for the PDP. Nigerians are yet to find credible alternative to PDP. With the leaking parts of the PDP umbrella, it still looks good to provide imperfect central cover for a long time.
Since the motive of the pretending opposition is not in the interest of the masses, they may merge or form a constellation of power mongers or an assemblage of political vultures; but, they shall fail, come 2015; because the actors within this forced opposition marriage are worse than the people they intend to displace. The manufacturers of the Boko Haram menace to discredit this administration are still in their ‘crises factory’ developing new models for the creation of more national crises, while their well-crafted Boko Haram scourge is being contained by security agents to the chagrin of their local sponsors, as the war against terror is being won, soon to a logical conclusion; they have since not given up. As many crises they manufacture in their midnight meets, as we approach the 2015 general elections, it would not stop the will of the people from prevailing against their anti-people political maneuvers.
THE LITTLE FOXES AROUND
President Jonathan is such a patient and tolerant leader that is conscious of the efficacy of being patient with people. He knows a good human resource doesn’t turn bad overnight; hence, he is slow to wielding the big stick on some of his cabinet members, despite the pressure on him to do so. However, it is important to also admit that there are some elements in President Jonathan’s cabinet that are more of liabilities than assets to this administration and to Nigerians, at least, to the knowledge of Nigerians.
We understand the president has a performance contract with his cabinet ministers that Nigerians are not privy to its content. Whatever the benchmark might be on the said performance contract, measuring with the ‘expectation meter’ of Nigerians, some ministers have exhausted their usefulness in this government and should be shown the way out; if not, they will increasingly become bad publicity banners and sign posts, and also create loopholes for the dark horses in the polity to take advantage of and deal dirty blows against this epic performing president, considering the infrastructural decay and leadership deficit he inherited.
President Jonathan should also be wary of friends and political associates that are habitual of offering divisive counsel of hate and revenge. He needs bridge building and not bridge burning. These foxes come across as angels, divine messengers, ‘almighty’ strategists, friends and even kinsmen. The President should develop a more efficient foxhound to put in check the manoeuvrings of the foxes and the dangerous sweeping activities of their long bushy political tails.
Apart from Gen. Gowon that was saddled with the responsibility of leadership during the civil war, no other Nigerian president has ever been confronted with the kind of challenges the current president have had to grapple with; but in all, he has stayed true to his oath of office to protect the territorial integrity of this nation as well as making decisions and taking firm stands to ensure the sovereignty of Nigeria remains sacrosanct.
Two years after he was sworn-in as the first democratically elected president from a minority ethnic
nationality, we have seen campaign promises delivered and a lot of critical infrastructural projects ongoing across the six geo-political zones of this country. The president has shown incredible dimension of passion for this country as epitomized by the way projects are evenly distributed across the country. If there is any zone that can justifiably complain about not having enough federal presence in this administration compared to other zones, it should be the South-South where the president comes from. This further explains how nationalistic the president is; he has raised the bar for subsequent presidents of this country by jettisoning ethno-religious and regional sentiments by redefining the much needed practical show of a sense of national responsibility expected of leaders, that has eluded the nation in decades.
The president has performed creditably well in critical sectors like agriculture, aviation, works, power, transport and others, with an emerging robust economy that will be a force to reckon with, soonest. In the last 35 years or more, no government has sincerely worked towards diversifying the Nigerian economy as this administration has done and still doing. President Jonathan is already taking the right steps towards emerging as the greatest economic, political and infrastructural revivalist in the history of this country; with low hanging fruits already being harvested by Nigerians in less than 30months.
He knows how he got the mandate of majority of Nigerians at the 2011 polls, adjudged as the freest and fairest in recent times. He knows it is only by ‘delivering the goods’ he can get another mandate come 2015 and he is doing exactly that with a miraculous precision, in spite of all the premeditated challenges thrown at him by the forces against his emergence and further ambition.
THE FORCES AGAINST….
We all recall the political succession drama that greeted the demise of late President Yar’adua. A certain group of people, then described as ‘cabal’, literally held the nation by the balls by doing everything within their power to scuttle the emergence of President Jonathan as acting and eventual substantive president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The same cabal formed a wider alliance prior to the 2011 presidential election to scuttle his ambition with threats and blackmail of different shades, but in all, the Nigerian voting public decided his fate by giving him the mandate.
For them, gaining central control of power is about oil and nothing else. They have some states under their control that they are yet to perform the wonders they are cajoling Nigerians to believe if given the chance, they will perform. I must admit, though, that the PDP is yet to convince Nigerians that it is irreplaceable as a party that has held sway since 1999; but I must also make it abundantly clear that the APC is no match for the PDP. Nigerians are yet to find credible alternative to PDP. With the leaking parts of the PDP umbrella, it still looks good to provide imperfect central cover for a long time.
Since the motive of the pretending opposition is not in the interest of the masses, they may merge or form a constellation of power mongers or an assemblage of political vultures; but, they shall fail, come 2015; because the actors within this forced opposition marriage are worse than the people they intend to displace. The manufacturers of the Boko Haram menace to discredit this administration are still in their ‘crises factory’ developing new models for the creation of more national crises, while their well-crafted Boko Haram scourge is being contained by security agents to the chagrin of their local sponsors, as the war against terror is being won, soon to a logical conclusion; they have since not given up. As many crises they manufacture in their midnight meets, as we approach the 2015 general elections, it would not stop the will of the people from prevailing against their anti-people political maneuvers.
THE LITTLE FOXES AROUND
President Jonathan is such a patient and tolerant leader that is conscious of the efficacy of being patient with people. He knows a good human resource doesn’t turn bad overnight; hence, he is slow to wielding the big stick on some of his cabinet members, despite the pressure on him to do so. However, it is important to also admit that there are some elements in President Jonathan’s cabinet that are more of liabilities than assets to this administration and to Nigerians, at least, to the knowledge of Nigerians.
We understand the president has a performance contract with his cabinet ministers that Nigerians are not privy to its content. Whatever the benchmark might be on the said performance contract, measuring with the ‘expectation meter’ of Nigerians, some ministers have exhausted their usefulness in this government and should be shown the way out; if not, they will increasingly become bad publicity banners and sign posts, and also create loopholes for the dark horses in the polity to take advantage of and deal dirty blows against this epic performing president, considering the infrastructural decay and leadership deficit he inherited.
President Jonathan should also be wary of friends and political associates that are habitual of offering divisive counsel of hate and revenge. He needs bridge building and not bridge burning. These foxes come across as angels, divine messengers, ‘almighty’ strategists, friends and even kinsmen. The President should develop a more efficient foxhound to put in check the manoeuvrings of the foxes and the dangerous sweeping activities of their long bushy political tails.
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