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Tag: Jonathan

  • Jonathan and ‘the next four or five years’

    If it wasn’t such a self-serving projection, President Goodluck Jonathan’s optimistic conclusion about the country’s immediate future should be very welcome. It was interesting that he made his rosy but thought-provoking remarks at the Christ Apostolic Church, Garki Area 1, Abuja, on the last Sunday of the year; but this doesn’t necessarily translate into a confident and infallible prophecy.

    Jonathan said: “As a nation, we have not reached where we want to go; definitely not. But we are coming up with a number of policies.” He continued: “Those who are taking pains to look at what we are doing will agree with us that if we progress as a nation steadily in this manner, in the next four or five years, this country will be a better place.”

    For a politician who is seeking re-election next year, it was probably expected that he would seize every platform for self-promotion; but even that could be carried too far, and could be done against the dictates of reason and the dictates of conscience.

    Evidently, to go by his words, Jonathan considers himself a strong factor when it comes to realising the dream of a better Nigeria. Well, he is certainly entitled to his exaggerated sense of self-importance; and he is free to imagine things, not to say hallucinate. But it is surely beyond the bounds of sense to suggest that the country has made steady progress on his watch. It is even more unreasonable to believe that staying on the same track with Jonathan will result in the country’s desired progress.

    By now, those who are familiar with Jonathan’s irreverent use of pulpits for the purpose of political promotion should no longer be dismayed. If he insists that the pulpit is where a president should make strange claims about railway improvement, agricultural advancement, creation of employment opportunities, economic stabilisation despite falling oil prices and the coming elections, then it further reveals that he probably has not only a misplaced sense of place, but also a misplaced sense of propriety.

    The truth is that the sacred environment cannot positively transform falsehood, even when the person involved is falsely credited with having brought transformation to the country by those who tag themselves “Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria.” Jonathan’s tales of progress never pass the truth test, which is the honest truth about his dishonesty.

    Consider what he said in church about the 2015 elections. Jonathan said: “None of us should begin to think that he is the best person to be anywhere from state houses of assembly to the president. There are a thousand and one Nigerians that are super qualified more than those people who are even aspiring to occupy offices.”

    If he wasn’t just acting a deceptive script, he must be aware that his actions contradict his words. This is the same man who outrageously stage-managed his emergence as his party’s unchallenged presidential candidate, driven by a fantasy that he is the best and there is none as qualified as him. Or does he mean the people should hear his words and be blind to his deeds?

  • ‘Buhari won’t probe Jonathan’

    ‘Buhari won’t probe Jonathan’

    For the umpteenth time, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun yesterday warned against rigging next year’s presidential election, saying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is highly unpopular.

    He said APC candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari would not probe President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration or past corrupt political office holders – if elected next year.

    Speaking in Benin, the Edo State capital, Odigie-Oyegun chided presidential aide Doyin Okupe for comparing Jonathan with Jesus Christ.

    Contrary to the fear in some quarters, the APC chair said: “The only people I can think of who will fear the Buhari presidency are those who do not want change, are those who want to continue with business as usual, are those who want to continue to profit from the level of corruption in the society.

    “We will have no apologies for people like that. But it is clear that from the Buhari perspective and that of the APC, the future of the people of this country is too important for us to spend valuable time trying to dig into the past.

    “The first moment of a Buhari presidency the outlook is on the future. The message will be clear; whatever you engage in before that is detrimental to the people of this country, please stop it, change has come. It is time for change and anybody who decides that he does not want to be part of change and want business-as-usual, that is his choice.

    “And we are going to go into a situation post – May 2015 where the law will normally take its course, not going to be any looking back. Anybody who believes that the future of this country is greater than his personal proclivities will have nothing to fear. There will be a line drawn on the sand; on one part is the past the other side is the future.

    “If you are part of the future, part of change, part of changing society from all these debilitating ills that have brought us to our kneels, you are our friend, you have nothing at all to fear. We don’t have time to go digging into the past the future of our people is the challenge that we have, not the past.”

    Warning that Nigerians would resist rigging, Odigie-Oyegun said: “The other day, we watch a presidential spokesman running his mouth, comparing Jonathan to Jesus Christ. That is the highest blasphemous comment I have ever heard and the highest level of sycophancy. But they will be swept out by the power of the people and God.

    “One will hope the PDP won’t rig. I hope they realise that there is a great movement for change and we hope they are wise enough, they recognise it and to allow the peoples vote to count. The international community has been sensitised. You can only rig when the people largely are on your side. I expect that they won’t be foolish enough to attempt the kind of crude and blatant rigging that can upturn the results that we expect and upturn the wishes of the people.

    “I cannot predict; we are not in control of security forces; we are not in control of the police; we pray for peace, we want peace, we desire peace for the interest of the long suffering people of this country. But they will need to do something totally crude that any blind man can see for them to succeed in February 14. That, I think, is virtually impossible,” he said.

  • Pharmacists petition Jonathan over forex policy

    Drug prices may soar by at least 50 per cent in the first quarter of next year no thanks to tariff re-adjustments by some agencies.

    Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) President Olumide Akintayo, who broke the news, spoke of inconsistencies in the application of the Retail Dutch Auction System (RDAS) by banks.

    In a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, Akintayo warned the Federal Government to ensure proper application of RDAS.

    He said financial institutions argued that medicines, medical devices and machinery brought in for use in the factory are part of finished goods.

    This, he said, has negative implication as it excludes pharmaceutical companies and operatives from accessing foreign exchange (forex) from  RDAS.

    Akintayo said: “While the Nigerian pharmaceutical industry, which provides essential services, recognises the Federal Government’s economic intents regarding this new directive, we are also of the view that our government is cognisant of the need for special dispensation and industry engagement in such a critical policy proposal to ensure stakeholders’ involvement and effective actualisation that does not compromise citizens’ wellbeing. The banks are discretional in what are finished goods or not.”

    Some, he said classified pharmaceutical bottles as finished goods because in their reckoning the form is not changed in their manufacturing process.

    The PSN chief said: “To banks, anything you are not changing its nature to use is assumed to be a finished good.”

    He urged Mr President to intervene as CBN’s position on the issue would jeopardise people’s  health, adding: “It will only cause avoidable skyrocketing cost of medicines and other medical equipment if finished pharmaceuticals and the components of their production are not waived on this exclusion list immediately.

    “It is a statement of fact that pharmaceutical raw materials, packaging materials and even finished drugs are essential specialised commodities, which logically makes the Pharmaceutical industry as sensitive and a priority area. Access to affordable same medicine must be an item of utmost concern only at the level of security of the nation.”

  • Jonathan and falling oil prices

    Many nations whose economy is oil-based have continued to be alarmed and threatened by the falling prices of oil in the international market.

    Those who were not prepared for it are taking drastic steps to survive the adverse effect of the slump on their economies.

    One of the world powers, Russia and nations like Iran and Venezuala, have not been insulated against such falling oil prices as their economies have been affected.

    With almost 50 per cent decline in the prices since June this year, the former Russian Finance Minister, Aleksei Kudrin, has warned President Vladimir Putin’s administration of a full-blown economic crisis. He also called for better relations with Europe and the United States to improve the country’s economic situation.

    The Nigeria economy, like Russia, is majorly oil-based. But President Goodluck Jonathan has severally assured that Nigerians need not worry about the new development.

    He has given that assurance at every given opportunity since the oil prices have started nose-diving.

    Urging Nigerians to remain calm in the face of the falling global oil prices during the 2014 Christmas Carol at the State House, he noted that the country has survived similar or even worse situations in the past years.

    He also did not fail to give similar assurances during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fund raising dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking during the launch of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, he said: “The decline in the price of crude oil did not take us by surprise. For the past three years we have been engaged on a carefully designed and implemented agricultural transformation agenda.”

    “Our massive food production efforts, which led to the production of 21 million metric tons of food in the past three years, has created a buffer and mitigated the impact of the devaluation on food prices.”

    “The agriculture sector is vital for the economy of Nigeria. The recent decline in the price of crude oil further underscores the necessity to rapidly diversify our economy away from dependency on crude oil.” he stated

    In the same vein, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who is now the President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which has a great role to play in the crisis, has assured that steps will be taken in the first quarter of 2015 if the situation becomes unbearable.

    She said: “This is a very challenging time as you know for OPEC and for the global crude oil wells as a whole. Quite clearly, there has been a battle of wills between certain OPEC countries, the big players and certain non-OPEC countries who are big players in the world crude oil production markets at this time.”

    “So it is a challenging time to take over as OPEC President at this time and our prayer of course is that we will be able to stabilise the crude oil prices per barrel over this period because it is critical.”

    “As many countries both OPEC and non-OPEC countries are suffering immensely. Even as we speak Venezuala has gone into austerity measures and is measuring food because they were completely dependent on oil. Angola, Algeria, Iran are all under duress as is Nigeria because it has affected our budgetary benchmark. And even non-OPEC countries like Russia who will not cut production are already seeing a drop in the value of their ruble.” she added.

    It will really be a great relief if Nigerians will be spared of any fresh economic hardship as a result of the falling oil prices.

     

    Air safety standard

    versus low fare

     

    The falling air fares in Nigeria in the past few months may have its disadvantages.

    There is fear that the price war among the airlines resulting in lower fares may be at the expense of safety standards.

    It is hoped that this is not the case as Nigerians will not want the plane crash incidences of the past to resurface.

    Expressing the fears while speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the last Federal Executive Council meeting for the year, the Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka said that his ministry is keeping close watch on the airlines.

    He said: “Recent development in the aviation sector have seen to a drop in air fares across different airlines in Nigeria. You will recall that in the past, in less than the past one year, Discovery Air and co have come on stream.”

    “So there have been increased capacity in various routes. The Lagos route that was averaging over N37,000 before, went all the way down to N14,000, even to our worry as regulators, hoping that the price wars will not lead to cuts in safety standards, knowing the high cost of maintenance with the exchange rate going up.”

    “We had some worries. But what has happened is that there is increased capacity in the aviation sector with new entrants into the fold. We are watching closely and I must tell you that airfares have gone down from what it used to be in the advent of these airlines.”

    “But again as the Christmas season approaches when people make more use of air flights all over the world, globally airlines always witness higher airfares during summer vacations, seasonal periods like Christmas. They react to demand and supply.” he added

  • Jonathan has delivered on education – PDP

    Jonathan has delivered on education – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it is proud of its numerous achievements in the education sector, particularly the “record performance” of President Goodluck Jonathan in the sector in the last four years.

    Reviewing the gains and challenges of the sector against the performance of the present administration, the party urged Nigerians to vote for Jonathan in the February 2015 presidential election to guarantee the future of education in the country.

    A statement issued on Monday by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said the PDP has in the last 15 years, progressively grown the education sector as a social instrument for national development and integration through vigorous implementation of broad-based policies in keeping with its manifesto and ideology.

    The party saluted the President for “accelerating” the development of education at all levels in the last four years, noting, that Jonathan has not only repositioned the public school system but has also provided the enabling environment for greater participation of private individuals and agencies in the delivery of education services under government regulation.

    The statement said: “This is in addition to the massive rehabilitation and upgrade of federal government-owned schools as well as the three-pronged programmes of the Almajiri Education System, the first of its kind; the Girl-Child Education and Back-to-School programmes, all of which have drastically reduced the out-of-school children profile in the country, particularly in the north.

    “The 150 Almajiri schools across the Northern states and the Out-of-School-Children Programme including Specialised Boys and Girls Schools across the country have given meaning to the lives of hitherto despaired children.

    “Under Jonathan’s watch, enrollment in basic schools has increased from 23 million in 2010 to 29 million in 2012 and still growing. In the same vein, enrollment in colleges of education has increased from 620, 000 in 2011 to 750,000 in 2013. Also the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) established by the PDP is expanding to 250, 000 enrollment annually.

    “To guarantee enhanced access to university education, President Jonathan established 14 new universities, (nine in the northern states of Kogi, Taraba, Jigawa, Gombe, Nasarawa, Katsina, Yobe, Kebbi and Zamfara States and three in the southern states of Ebonyi, Bayelsa and Ekiti) including two specialized Police and Maritime universities, thereby ensuring that all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory have a federal university.

    “Of course, the number of private primary, secondary and tertiary institutions has also doubled as a result of the education-friendly environment created by the PDP-led Federal Government. This is in addition to the establishment of new NCE awarding institutions and upgrade of strategic polytechnics for enhanced service delivery in the country.

    “Again, in line with its commitment to the proper funding of the sector, the Federal Government has almost tripled education allocation from N224 billion in 2007 to N634 billion in 2013.

    “This has been complemented with the creation of special intervention agencies such as TETFund and the special NEEDS assessment fund through which over N500 billion has been spent on various projects to increase access and improve the quality of infrastructure at the tertiary level of our education system.”

  • Revealed: What Jonathan, Babangida discussed

    Revealed: What Jonathan, Babangida discussed

    President woos Emirs, leaders 

    Former military President Ibrahim Babangida made no commitment on the 2015 presidential poll to President Goodluck Jonathan at a meeting in Minna on Saturday, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    Gen. Babangida only raised issues on how to keep the nation united during and after the general elections – contrary to the widespread insinuation that he endorsed Jonathan’s bid for another term.

    Buoyed by the visit, Dr. Jonathan has started reaching out to key emirs and leaders of the North to back his re-election bid.

    He may soon visit these leaders as part of his action plan to reduce the influence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

    The details of the meeting between Jonathan and Gen. Babangida were revealed in Abuja by one of the key aides of the former military leader.

    The talks between the two leaders in Minna created ripples in the North, with many highly-placed Northerners bombarding Gen. Babangida with calls on what actually transpired.

    The aide, who was at Gen. Babangida’s Hilltop mansion when Jonathan visited, said the talks had nothing to do with the general elections.

    The source said: “It is true that the President visited Gen. Babangida at his Minna Hilltop mansion but the nature of his message was based purely  on unity of the country and not about 2015 presidential election.

    “As a former president who fought for the unity of the country, he was of the view that the president needs support as President and not as presidential candidate per se.

    “It is his view that the country needs to be united as one before we can begin to talk about election. Only a united Nigeria can guarantee credible election.”

    According to the aide, who requested not to be named because he was not permitted to speak to the media, “What Gen. IBB said should be viewed within the context of the larger Nigeria interest and not that of any parochial interest that is likely to unsettle the system.

    “Those of them who fought in the civil war to keep the country one understand the dynamics and challenges facing us now in the face of grave insecurity and poor economic realities,” he said.

    Besides, said the aide, those criticising Gen. Babangida should take it easy as he belongs to the PDP “even as a nominal member.

    “As a leader and former president who was privileged to preside over the affairs of the country and who also fought in the civil war, he will continue to speak the language of unification than that of division,” he said.

    Gen. Babangida’s view, according to the aide is that as a  President who is facing crises, Jonathan deserves the support of all to keep the country together, irrespective of all the manifest imperfections.

    Jonathan is said to have started reaching out to top Emirs and leaders in the North to checkmate Gen. Buhari’s influence.

    A source spoke of the battle between Jonathan and Gen. Buhari has shifting to the North, adding that has been consulting some prominent Emirs and leaders on why he should be given second term in office.

    “The President, Vice-President Namadi Sambo, PDP governors, and leaders will be embarking on shuttles to some of these key Northern leaders for support.

    “They are desperate to take the battle to Buhari’s stronghold but no one can say whether the President and the PDP can go far or not,” said the source.

    Another source added: “Jonathan’s game plan is to split the North.

    “This explains why Northern leaders were concerned about the President’s renewed interest in the North after he failed the region in many promises he made in 2011.”

     

  • Nigeria’ll be a better place in four years, says Jonathan

    Nigeria’ll be a better place in four years, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan has said Nigera will become a better place in the next four to five ears.

    He said that Nigeria was steadily making progress as a result of the policies of his administration.

    The President spoke at the Christ Apostolic Church, Garki Area 1, Abuja, where he observed his last Sunday church service for the year.

    Even as he expressed optimism that Nigeria will overcome its challenges, he said that 2015, which is an election year, will be a tempting one.

    The President later yesterday afternoon left Abuja for a private visit to the United Kingdom.

    A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the President was accompanied on the trip by some of his principal staff and personal aides.

    Jonathan is expected back in Abuja today ahead of official engagements at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, including scheduled audiences with groups from Delta and Lagos states.

    Speaking at the church service, Jonathan said: “As a nation, we have not reached where we want to go; definitely not. But we are coming up with a number of policies. Those who are taking pain to look at what we are doing will agree with us that if we progress as a nation steadily in this manner, in the next four or five years, this country will be a better place.

    “Only a few days back, the Vice President was in Port Harcourt to flag off the Eastern railway. The Western one moving from Lagos to Kano has been running. We will start using the modern one from Kaduna to Abuja by the first quarter of next year and the one from Port Harcourt.

    “When we were small, there were railways. But I believe most of our children of about 30 years only see railway as cartoons in the television but now, they are seeing it.

    “We relied on agriculture before the oil boom or doom and all that died. We are reviving it and the whole world has appreciated that we are moving forward in agriculture.”

    He went on: “When they start something, people do not see the benefits immediately. We know that as a nation, we have a lot of challenges in terms of getting jobs for our young graduates and we have set up a lot of programmes that can bring job opportunities for our young men. The result may not be obvious immediately but God willing, job opportunities will continue to increase and many more young people will be engaged.”

    On falling oil prices, he said: “We have talked about the drop in global price of oil. Of course, if there is a drop in oil price, it will affect us in one way or the other. We tell our people to bear with us. It has happened before in 2008, 2009 that was almost about $40, we survived as a nation.”

    The President reassured Nigerians that the falling oil prices will not go as low as $40 and that Nigeria will survive it.

    According to him, his economic team is already working very hard to stabilise it.

    He said: “Although there may be temporary inconveniences, it will definitely not bring the economy down.”

    Stressing that 2015 is a tempting year, Jonathan said: “Elections year in Third World countries is always a turbulent year with all kinds of predictions. I, however, believe that the God who brought us to this level will see us through.”

    He urged the congregation to continue to pray for politicians from all political parties.

    The President said: “Pray for God to guide us in our utterances and what we do so that we will not sacrifice the lives of Nigerians because of our ambitions. Nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.”

    “Pray to God to give us that wisdom and mind to make sure we conduct ourselves in a way that will not set the country ablaze because of our own personal ambition.”

    “There are so many good Nigerians that can hold the offices we are occupying or aspiring to occupy; it is by privilege of God that we are here in positions to ask for the mandates of Nigerians.”

    He went on: “None of us should begin to think that he is the best person to be anywhere from state houses of assembly to the president. There are a thousand and one Nigerians that are super qualified more than those people who are even aspiring to occupy offices.

    “If the idea is to help the people, grow the economy and make the people happy, you won’t want to kill, you won’t want to maim or burn down houses, vehicles and property. Human beings may see things differently but God can guide us.”

    He noted that instead of the challenges abating, the problems started increasing for one reason or the other.

    “But I am convinced that it would have been worse than this but for your prayers. With the prayers you continue to offer to God, God will see us through, he said, adding:

    “I always say that whenever I read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, particularly the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land, the kind of challenges they faced; the confrontation, the wars up to the days of King David, people were always fighting and you will ask why children of God will continue to be fighting.”

    “I believe what is even happening to us is not even as serious as sometimes the passages we read in the Bible and God was able to see them through.”

    “The God we believe will see us through. What I will request from you is to continue to pray for us. For me and members of my team, in spite of the challenges, we will continue to do our best.” he stated

  • Yakasai: it’s risky for Jonathan to visit Chibok

    Yakasai: it’s risky for Jonathan to visit Chibok

    An elder statesman and chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, at the weekend, defended President Goodluck Jonathan for not visiting Chibok after over 200 school girls were abducted by insurgents.

    Yakasai argued that it was too risky for Jonathan to visit the town at the time because of insecurity.

    The abduction led to uproar worldwide with civil right groups and international community calling on the Federal Government to rescue the girls from their abductors.

    Despite the call, Jonathan refused to visit the school where the girls were kidnapped, leading to criticism of his administration.

    But Yakasai, in a popular FRCN Radio Hausa Programme: “Hannu da Yawa,” monitored in Kaduna, said soldiers were the right people to be sent to the town and not the President.

    He said: “Why I think the President’s decision not to visit the area is not bad, it’s because we were all aware of  the deteriorated level of insecurity in that part of the country.

    “We all know it’s too risky for the President to visit Chibok at that time. The President is not a soldier; soldiers are the people that should be sent there.

    “If I was the President and such an incident occur, the right thing for me to do was to send soldiers. And to be frank, our soldiers are doing their best. We are hearing on radio and reading in newspapers how soldiers were being killed, and yet they are doing their best.

    “I don’t know what is happening, the Minister of Defence, Ali Gusau, is a northerner and so also  the National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police and Chief of Defence Staff.

    “If all these people couldn’t address the problem, how could it be easy for the President to do it?

    “Don’t forget the suicide bombers are now experts. So, what will happen if they ambush the President and something bad happens to him? Do you think his people will accept that? Except if people want the country to return to Niger Delta militants’ era,” he said.

    On the issue of Boko Haram, Yakasai said to end the crisis, serious measures must be taken.

    His words: “Could you imagine today we are talking of female suicide bombers when we all know in history that females are known to be shy and peace-loving. But today, a girl of age 13 was caught with bombs  and some others had detonated their bombs, which killed many people in Kano.”

  • UPU: Urhobo may vote for Jonathan, if…

    UPU: Urhobo may vote for Jonathan, if…

    The apex Urhobo socio-cultural group, the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), may have tactically relaxed its hard stance about the Uvwiamughe Declaration.

    The union, at the weekend said it might support the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    UPU’s leadership had maintained, prior to the primaries of the political parties, that it would direct the over one million Urhobo electorate to vote for any party which gave its governorship ticket to an Urhobo politician.

    The union added that the block Urhobo vote would affect all elective positions, including the presidential election in 2015.

    The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not give its governorship ticket to an Urhobo aspirant, although two other parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP) – elected Urhobo candidates in their primaries for the governorship office.

    But in a recent interview, UPU’s President-General Joe Omene said the organisation would not rush to a conclusion on who, among the presidential candidates, to vote for.

    He said the PDP governorship primaries might have been sabotaged to discredit Jonathan.

    The Urhobo leader stressed that the UPU would not just support any opposition party or President Jonathan for that matter.

    He said the union would first discuss with the candidates, peruse their plans for Urhobo before it would decide who to vote for next year.

    Omene said: “You see, in any system, there can be saboteurs. Maybe some overzealous people, who could be so close to the President, can frustrate his effort. I don’t think that the President himself will want to make sure the Urhobo suffer.

    “Sometimes, your aides can cause problems for you. The PDP is not just a ‘carry-go’ affair. The President should explain or discuss with the Urhobo nation and tell us why certain things happened. Then, we will understand. If the APC or any other party can gave us the governorship ticket, it’s equally your right for you still need to discuss with us. What is going to be our own, if we vote for you?

    “We will not just go out blindly and vote. But such people may have a better chance. Mr President and APC presidential candidate and any other presidential candidate will need to discuss with the Urhobo nation first before we can make up our mind. If you don’t talk to us, we will not blindly go out there and throw our ballot papers into your box. It won’t happen.”

  • Jonathan: Pitching young against old

    Addressing mostly youths at the official inauguration of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme and the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria which held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, December 17, President Jonathan was widely reported to have praised the Nigerian youths about their remarkable feats in their chosen fields of human endeavor, most specifically in the areas of sports and the arts. He said they continue to “bring glory” to the Nigerian nation. Conversely, he excoriated the previous, older generations, including himself, passing them off as grumpy and quarrelsome old people who did nothing but create problems. Hear the president: “For the Nigerian young men and women, those who have seen today and the ones outside there, we appreciate and commend you because anything that you are involved, you bring glory to this country. Anything that the old people like us are involved in, it is always problems…and within the period that I have been here as Vice President and President, they have always been bringing glory to us.”

    Reminding the rest under-achieving Nigerians of the industry in which they have recorded the highest achievement, President Jonathan said that “Young people are involved in the movie, popularly called Nollywood, and this continues to bring glory to us. Young people are involved in music, like D-Banj, and they always continue to bring glory to us. But see politics that old people like us are involved in, we continue to quarrel and abuse ourselves everyday and create problems for innocent Nigerians…The young Nigerians will surely take us to where we want to be.” As if that was not enough lambast for the few old people at the inauguration to hang their heads in shame, tuck their tails between their legs and get out of there as fast as their legs could carry them to avoid more verbal missiles, President Goodluck Jonathan delivered the mother lode of the excoriation and said: “One day, you will take us to the moon…Surely, we will create enabling environment for you because you stand for the future of this country and you will make this country great.” Phew! What an awesome president.

    So many adjectives have been deployed to situate the Jonathan presidency with the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian people as well as the nation, as an organic entity. The Jonathan government has been described by the Nigerian people from various socio-economic stations as “uninspiring” and “under-achieving because of an “incompetent” and “clueless” leader whose ship of state is glaringly and hopelessly adrift.

    While these adjectives may be apt in describing Jonathan and his administration, the president may not be totally “clueless” when it comes to the art of political mischief, such as deploying the instrumentalities of state to force his will down the throats of the Nigerian people, or using their ethno-religious differences to drive a wedge between them in his desperation to hold on to power beyond 2015.

    Looking at the above statements from the surface, one may be tempted to think that President Jonathan was probably too frustrated with his older forebears for making his job unnecessarily difficult, having failed to design and put in place a proper, enduring socio-economic and political template before the polity became too complex like now. But one should not be under any illusion that the President is carefully setting up a new but diabolical stage to exploit society’s social stratification in respect of age as a weapon of mass electoral harvest in his war to hold on to the presidency of the republic which must be won either by hook or crook. It was a carefully coded verbal barrage (although delivered with his usual display of youthful exuberance and naïve optimism when he’s not reading from a prepared text), deliberately targeted at Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (72), the presidential candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). It should be recalled that President Jonathan, more than any other chief of state in the nation’s history, has cynically exploited Nigeria’s ethno-religious cleavages in the most egregious, if not despicable and highly reprehensible manner in order to score electoral points.

    Notable people from his Ijaw ethnic minority had warned and placed advertorials in national newspapers to remind Nigerians that Jonathan is their beloved son in whom they’re well pleased and therefore, must be allowed to do another term irrespective of his performance record. When those advertorials were deemed not to have sunk into our collective consciousness, they threatened war – literally – should the president lose the presidential election in 2015. While all this was going on, Nigeria’s president (or so the rest of us thought) did not utter a single word to dissociate himself and his presidency from this tomfoolery. Even religion, which should be between its practitioner and his/her God, has not been spared by the president in his urge to win the electoral contest at all costs. Governance has been taken to a despicable new low as President Jonathan continues to use the pulpits to announce major policy decisions and issues of national importance brought into the fore. His partner and loyal lieutenant in this ‘crime’ is not his Vice President nor the Aso Rock chaplain, but the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who had warned in so many ways that it would be more tolerable for the lands of Sodom and Gomorrah than for Nigeria’s Christendom if Jonathan (a Christian) is not re-elected. It cannot get any more nauseating than that.

    One need not be a political scientist to recognize a common thread in what President Jonathan has done in the past, which is his inordinate knack to exploit what is exploitable, by his recent statements. Since his camp is beginning to sense that somehow, their strategy of exploiting ethno-religious sentiments introduced into this electoral contest seems not to be gaining enough traction, exploiting the youths’ anger towards the nation’s older generations whom they believe, even if instinctively, may have failed them in so many respects, thereby truncating their future, is another perfect idea. After all, the youths constitute the bulk of the Nigerian, if not the voting population. It therefore, makes perfect political sense for the Jonathanians to cast Muhammadu Buhari, as representing the “old” that continues to “create problems for innocent (the youths) Nigerians.”

    But before the youths start shopping for those special suits that will enable them to defy gravity on their journey to the moon, they should interrogate the state of education and the enabling environment under Jonathan’s watch. They need to remember who gave a new meaning to corruption when he said that much of the financial sleaze happening in the country is nothing but mere stealing and not corruption. Even the squandering of N10 billion by the Petroleum Minister on a private jet to hop around the world (when there’re ten airplanes in the presidential fleet) is yet to meet the definitional threshold of stealing, let alone corruption. They need to remind themselves of a former governor of Central Bank who screamed that $20 billion was not remitted to the national coffer, but disputed by the country’s Exchequer that the amount was only $10 billion. Even the $10b is yet to be accounted for. Perhaps they should have maintained a minute of silence (before clapping for their president) for those 20 members of their generation who met their untimely deaths because a Minister, after an apparent extortion, herded them into stadiums across the country for employment he knew did not exist. The minister is still sitting pretty on his chair.

    This is the enabling environment that Jonathan is providing the youths for ascending to the moon and doing greater exploits. What a fantastic president.

    • Odere is a media practitioner. He can be reached at femiodere@gmail.com