The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

  • Wise words from the palace

    Wise words from the palace

    As part of his whistle stop campaign visits to Yoruba monarchs to drum up support for his second (third?) term ambition, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been to many palaces across Yoruba land than ordinarily he would have loved to, no thanks to the massive shift of Yoruba support in favour of his main challenger in the March 28, presidential election, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) of the All Progressives Congress.

    Jonathan has been sweating for quite some time now over how to retain the votes from the south west that ensured he secured the presidency in 2011. Four years ago, Yoruba in a near overwhelming support, gave their votes to Jonathan to consign Buhari, then of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), now merged with other opposition parties to from APC, to yet another defeat in his quest to rule Nigeria again,  as a democratically elected president.

    Four year on, the Yoruba have changed their minds preferring instead to pitch their tent with Buhari, a decision, if fully implemented on March 28, that will most certainly end Jonathan’s tenancy in the presidential villa in Abuja.

    Expectedly, the president is worried and has been running from pillar to post to convince the people of the south west not to abandon him. Various hate programmes have been aired on Jonathan/PDP friendly radio and television stations to demonise Buhari before Yoruba, while some publishers have equally lent their pages to publishing smear advert campaigns to bring down the former Head of State and APC presidential flag bearer  before the right thinking people of Yoruba land.

    To achieve his aim, the president has enlisted the support of some renegade Yoruba sons and daughters to paint Buhari black and deceive their people to vote him for a second term. Since out of every 12 there must be a Judas as the saying goes, Yoruba are not worried about such renegades as they will get their punishment at the appropriate time. In Yoruba land, if all sins can and are indeed forgivable, nobody forgives treachery. Traitors are traitors, and are punished even down to their 4th generation. Let us leave that for now.

    If the Yoruba are not worried about these ‘ordinary’ sons and daughters now attempting to sell their people to Jonathan, they are certainly worried that some of their traditional rulers, their revered Obas (Kabiyesi, Alase, ekeji Orisa) are being enlisted into this Jonathan for second term campaign. Obas are not ordinary mortals in Yoruba land. They are treated as next to the gods who must be obeyed. As fathers to all their subjects, most of whom hold diverse religious and political views, they are not supposed to be partisan or biased against any religious or political interest. But when Obas now begin to dabble into the political arena, their actions and utterances will definitely divide their people and that is dangerous for that society.

    Those who advised President Jonathan to be jumping from one Yoruba palace to another are trying to cause trouble in Yoruba land. Just as the president’s numerous visits to different churches in recent times to promote himself as a candidate of the Christians is divisive and could further strain the delicate Christians/Muslims relationship in certain parts of the country, so also is his provocative visits to Yoruba Obas to seek their support for his re-election bid.

    One or two of these Kabiyesis have taken positions against the interest of the Yoruba people in the past which led to serious crisis in the land. Inducing them with money and using state resources to force them into joining the Jonathan for second term bandwagon is pushing them into a loggerhead with their people, and this could have serious repercussion.  Yoruba support for their Obas and leaders is total, but provided the Oba/leader does not go against their interest. It is total but reciprocal.

    I don’t have anything against the president selling himself to the people and canvassing for their support for another term. That is the way it is done in a democracy. But going to the symbol of the people, like the traditional rulers to seek their partisan support is dangerous and divisive. It could lead to a serious crisis and erode people’s confidence in the traditional institution.

    This was aptly stated at the palace of the paramount ruler of the Ijebu, the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, Ogbagba II, last week in Ijebu Ode when Jonathan visited. The highly revered Yoruba monarch told the president not to expect any Oba in Ijebu or any part of Yoruba land to campaign for him. Any monarch that does that in Yoruba land, Oba Adetona told him is looking for trouble. And that is the truth.

    If any of the Obas had promised Jonathan the votes of his people, he is just deceiving the president. As the situation stands in Yoruba land today regarding the March 28, 2015 presidential election, the Yoruba have made up their mind on the person they are supporting and one thousand and one Kabiyesis cannot change that.

    It would be better for the president to heed the advice of the Awujale of Ijebu land to take his campaign to the people and not the palace of their traditional rulers. Obas don’t vote and their views/directives would only be followed by their people provided they tally with the interest of their people. Whether the Yoruba are sufficiently satisfied with Jonathan’s performance as to give him another term on March 28, is not for their Obas to decide or direct.

    As I’ve stated repeatedly on this page, Jonathan cannot claim to have done anything exclusively for the Yoruba to warrant their queuing behind on March 28. When the people did four years ago, he didn’t go to their Oba, and their monarch did not force or direct them to do so. He made some promises which have not been fulfilled.  Going to the palace to beg is not just a waste of time but a demeaning of the presidency.

    The British would be having their election this year and I am sure none of the party leaders would go to the Queen to seek her support. If we say we are practicing democracy, let us do it the way it is done in enlightened societies.  If it were to be in the good old days of absolute monarchy in Yoruba land, the Kabiyesis would have dismissed Jonathan’s government for incompetence instead him seeking their support. This is what I expect those Obas to have told the president and we must salute the Awujale for being bold and courageous to tell Jonathan the truth. KAAAABIYESI O.

     

  • ASUP strike: Calling on President Jonathan

    SIR: I wish to appeal to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to as matter of necessity listen to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, who has been on strike since October 4, 2013. This strike has long term effects on our country’s political and economic development. Let these striking polytechnics teachers come back to classroom to continue with their academic programmes. As a one-time lecturer, a father and President of Nigeria, you know the importance of education to the national development and what strike does to a nation especially when it involves the education sector. Education is the driving force of other sectors. Without sound education, other sectors remain stagnant because it is through the training of manpower that available resources are effectively managed.

    Nigerian universities have not fully recovered from the effects of the recent strike that lasted for five months. Our country’s educational system has depressed so gravely, Mr President. One of the dangers of academic strike is the poor performance of the students. Any time students return from strike, most of the things they have been taught before they went on strike are often forgotten. Lecturers are not also left of this dilemma and so it will affect the country too.

    Ironically, in the 2012 World Universities Ranking, none of the Nigerian universities ranked among the first 1, 600 universities in the world. Our universities and polytechnics are not ranked among the best in the world, yet, we are not bothered about it. If we bother, why should we allow public polytechnics and universities to be closed for about five months and government doesn’t care to do anything about it? This careless attitude towards education sector has for a long time dealt a fatal blow other sectors including the political structures in this country.

    Which miracle does one expect lecturers to perform to produce sound intellectuals that would match the key sectors of our economy? If our universities and polytechnics must produce sound and competent graduates that would match key sectors of economy, education ought to be recognized as a major tool through adequate funding, good remunerations for our teachers and provision of functional and quality infrastructures.

    Why are we busy playing politics with the lives and future of youths? How can we equal other nations that have placed high premium on education and providing quality education for their children? What legacy would you leave for us to remember you with after you have left the office as president?

     

    • Yabagi Abubakar Akote,

    IBB University, Lapai-Niger State.

  • Justice Salami’s retirement

    Justice Salami’s retirement

    •His last years of service will haunt the Jonathan presidency and the judiciary for the injustice he suffered

    Justice Ayo Salami, the unlawfully suspended President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), finally bows out of the judiciary after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70. Unfortunately in complete abnegation of the rule of law, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan refused to allow the distinguished jurist, to return to his duty post, despite his later clearance of any wrongdoing by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that has the constitutional prerogative over him.

    Indeed, it is possible that those who successfully ran roughshod over the constitution in the Justice Salami’s case may be celebrating his final exit, instead of mourning the desecration of our constitution – the foundation of our democracy.

    On our part, however, we condemn without equivocation the action of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, particularly President Jonathan, for the denigration of our constitution. When the history of the presidency of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is etched in words, his complete jack-boot treatment of Justice Salami, a President and Justice of the Court of Appeal, the second highest court in Nigeria, may rank among the greatest injustice of the era.

    In a complete mockery of our judicial system, the learned jurist suffered injustice in the hands of President Jonathan, for gallantly fighting for justice. So, for a common man, it will be a hard sell to convince him, that justice can be gotten from our system.

    But the successful persecution of Justice Salami mocks more than President Jonathan. Indeed, it mocks our nation as a republic. For, if indeed we are truly a republic, it would have been impossible for one man, in this case President Jonathan, to have the audacity, to effectively take on the fundamental law of the land, and successfully give it a bloody nose, without any consequence. After all, in our so- called republic, President Jonathan merely heads only one arm of the republic, out of three. So, it is legitimate to state, that the other two arms – the legislature and the judiciary – may have either connived or acquiesced to the maltreatment of Justice Salami.

    But between the two other arms, the judiciary surely is the greater culprit. We say so because the constitution itself envisaged that authorities of the republic, such as President Jonathan in this instance, may occasionally act arbitrarily, and so provided a safeguard. By the provisions of section 6 (6)(b) of the 1999 constitution, the judicial powers of the courts established under the constitution, “shall extend to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any person in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any questions to the civil rights and obligations of that person”. So, we ask, how come the courts could not rise up, to order that justice be done to one of its own?

    Probably the justices in the various courts that Justice Salami approached to give him justice, over his maltreatment by the republic, failed to appreciate that they too are victims of the executive impunity of the President, and the NJC, under the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, retired Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. Now, with the imponderable humiliation of the judiciary successfully carried by the executive at the initial prompting of the NJC, how many judges would have the courage to live up to their oath of office? Let us note, however, that to his credit, Justice Salami suffered with his head unbowed, and history will be kind to him. For those who connived or acquiesced to desecrate our constitution, theirs is to worry, about their own end.

  • Karma and the PDP meltdown

    Karma and the PDP meltdown

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan promised Nigerians transformation: in ways he, his supporters and opponents may never have anticipated, he is delivering.

    The ongoing war of attrition within the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) rather than being a tragic event, could ultimately lead to radical transformation in the way the business of politics is conducted in Nigeria.

    It may also result in reining in the monstrous, rampaging presidency constructed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his eight years in office. This was a presidency more committed to enforcing its will than upholding the rule of law.

    It was a presidency unabashedly given to using state apparatus to undermine constitutional institutions, emasculate elected officials and subvert the commonweal.

    But for a brief window when the late Umaru Yar’Adua was still trying to find his way and Jonathan as Acting President was coming to grips with exercising ultimate power, we have reverted to the Obasanjo years when a president’s wish was law and dissent well-nigh treasonable.

    One can be forgiven for dubbing this administration OBJ-lite. It has copied all the former president methods – especially in dealing with perceived enemies. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is ever ready to be deployed for sudden investigation of all who fall foul of the powers-that-be. Elected officials can be blackmailed with the sudden withdrawal of their security detail. Election outcomes are recognised only when they are favourable. Even throwbacks to the OBJ era are wheeled out of retirement to reprise their erstwhile attack-dog roles. You cannot run down the list without experiencing that strange sense of déjà vu.

    Unfortunately, those we are dealing with are not the sort to split hairs over originality. They are too pre-occupied with the struggle for survival, and for desperate men anything goes – as long as it works.

    The real tragedy for a party that loved to describe itself as the ‘biggest in Africa’ is that it has been so preoccupied with staring at, and admiring its image as mirrored by the water, it didn’t realise the moment it fell into the river! Even in its death throes some who should know better are deluding themselves that the party will emerge from the current trauma stronger.

    The only way that can happen is if there is genuine reconciliation in which the grievances of ‘New PDP’ elements are addressed and the rebels receive amnesty. But that is an unlikely scenario because what is driving the split is a cocktail of burning ambition, betrayal, broken promises and deep-rooted bitterness.

    Jonathan is committed to running again. His embittered foes are bent on holding him to commitments he made when he first sought the presidency under equally contentious circumstances in 2011. The other eruptions like the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) debacle and Rivers PDP crisis are all symptoms traceable to the disagreements over 2015 which are destabilising the party.

    Anyone who has followed the exchanges across the PDP divide in the last one week will not have escaped the old pattern of denial and looking for scapegoats. Rather than embark on some desperately needed introspection, party hacks have descended on the usual suspects. Predictably, some of Jonathan’s supporters now see in Obasanjo the Macchiavelian directing the drama. Never mind that the possibility of the former president and his erstwhile deputy, Atiku Abubakar, sitting together to cook up a conspiracy – given all the issues between them – just beggars belief.

    In reality the spiritual principle that you reap what you sow holds true in the PDP mess. Everything the ruling party and its managers have done in the last 14 years created the impression that with sufficient might you can get away with impunity.

    I have been amused to no end at the recourse by PDP chairman, Bamanga Tukur and elements in the presidency to legality as the means of fighting the rebellion. Tukur has been huffing and puffing about how he was properly elected by the special convention. He has even gone as far as threatening to declare the seats of rebels in the National Assembly vacant, and send security agents after them for daring to have a difference of opinion.

    Coming from party leaders who have encouraged this sort of unorthodox conduct in the past, the whole legal posturing is just risible. The PDP has 23 governors, but its national leadership was sacked by Atiku and a mere seven governors! What is wrong with that? Given what has been happening in the polity in the last few months the ruling party should not see this as a strange development.

    It is hypocritical for the president and his supporters to cry foul over ‘New PDP’. Without shame they recognised Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang, as NGF chairman after he received just 16 votes in an election in which 35 governors voted. Jonathan used the power of his office to encourage Jang’s dubious claims. So why is he discomfited that a mere seven governors will topple Tukur and replace him with one-time Acting Chairman, Abubakar Baraje?

    It is rib-tickling watching the outrage of the same people who have been addressing the impostor, Evans Bipi, as ‘Speaker’ of the Rivers State House Assembly. This was a fellow who along with five others purportedly toppled the real leader of the 24-member assembly in the now infamous fracas where legislators assaulted each other with dangerous weapons while the police looked on like spectators at a boxing tournament.

    If Bipi and his Gang of Five can seize power in a 24-man assembly, what is wrong in seven governors overthrowing the leadership of the ‘biggest party in Africa’? In the PDP’s universe this should not elicit surprise. Over the last 14 years this party has sown impunity and injustice, now it is reaping a whirlwind harvest.

    This isn’t a beauty contest between Jonathan and Atiku or the governors and the president. This is about the underlying things stoking the crisis. This is about a system that has received too many shocks and now the absorbers have given way. This is purely a case of what has been going round finally coming around. So PDP deal with it!

  • NCPC boss gets second term

    The boss of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Mr John Kennedy Opara, has been given the nod by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to continue as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission{ NCPC} for a second tenure of five years in accordance with the NCPC Establishment Act of 2007.

    Equally approved with Mr. Opara are the six members of the Board of the Commission while Pastor Mike Abrakata is newly appointed. The members are: Most Rev. Dr. Nicholas D. Okoh – Chairman; Elder Dogara Akut; Deaconess Adefemi ; Archbishop Nemuel Babba ; Mrs Helen Ughoro ; Rev. Dr. Zion S. Ibenye and Pastor Mike Abrakata.

     

  • Imperatives of media in transformation agenda

    Imperatives of media in transformation agenda

    Eight years ago, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, was guest speaker at the Newsray annual lecture in Damaturu, Yobe State. He spoke on Unequal Nigeria – Environment and development: The semi deserts and the Nigeria Delta in Perspective. This year, the Newsray lecture was held in President Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa where the transformation agenda was examined by various speakers who focused on the importance of the media, reports Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME.

    The Banquet Hall, Government House in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, was literarily ‘invaded’ by top traditional rulers from Northeast and Southsouth zones, politicians, media executives and government functionaries. They converged for the fifth Annual Newsray Public Lecture and leadership awards which has as theme: The reformation agenda and the Nigerian media.

    The Emir of Machina, Alhaji Bashir Bukar Machinama, Emir of Talata Mafara, Alhaji Bello Muhammed Barmo, Emir Damaturu Emirate Council, Ibn. Umar Alamin Elkanemi Shehu Hashimi II, Mr. Frederick Agbedi, Mr. Tarinfo Akono, Mr Furoebi Akene, Mr. Godson Ordu and Cheif Gabriel Oguno were among those who received awards of excellence for their contributions.

    The event was chaired by the former majority leader in the House of Representatives, Sir Tunde Akogun.

    Governor Seriake Dickson urged the media to adhere to its professional ethics and be good managers of information in order to promote the transformation and restoration agenda of government. He said the media should help citizens in building bridges across the different ethnic groups rather than fanning the embers of wars.

    Governor Dickson, who was represented by the Secretary to State Government, Prof. Alison Ogutu, described media as key in the development of every nation.

    He charged the recipients of the awards to be galvanised by the award for greater contributions as well as bridge the gap between the different ethnic groups.

    “We are happy to host the lecture and award ceremony because the new Bayelsa and Nigeria that are emerging are those that believe in unity in diversity…I observed that the awardees are credible and distinguished Nigerians who help in bridge building,” Dickson said.

    The Royal father of the day, Emir Machina Emirate Council, Yobe State, Alhaji Bashir Albashir Bukar Machinama, who spoke on behaldf othe awardees, said what matters in the award are not the quantity and quality of the materials of the award but the spirit behind it, adding that Newwsray magazine is a child of Yobe State. “Mr. Campbell is a good ambassador in Yobe …We should consider ourselves as one and think of Nigeria first in all that we do,” he stressed.

    But, there could not have been a more auspicious time than now to examine the imperatives of media in President Jonathan’s transformation agenda, especially in a function held at a government house once occupied by President Jonathan.

    Expectedly, the Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma wondered why Nigeria is still lagging behind in development when many advanced countries are making trips to the moon and strategising on the tourism potentials of such trips.

    “Yet, Nigeria, with all its abundant resources, is still trying to get basic infrastructure development right, because of the many years of utter neglect. Why all these challenges? Why the political instability? Why the catastrophic rumour mill? Why the arrant corruption? Why the unmitigated violence? Why the high level of insecurity? When can we really say: “Proudly Nigerian!” and mean it with all our hearts?” he asked.

    With that poser, Dr. Ayakoroma set the tone for the day’s discussion that featured Executive Programme Director of the Culture Advocates Caucus (CAC) and former editor Guardian On Sunday, Mr Jahman Anikulapo, and Chairman, Bayelsa State chapter of Nigerian Union of Journalists, Mr Akono Solomon Tarinyo.

    Dr. Ayakoroma, who spoke on Rethinking the transformation agenda from a cultural perspective: The imperatives of the media, described the creative industry, which the media is part of, as having a direct bearing on national economic development, wealth creation, poverty alleviation, social stability, as well as international relevance and respect.

    He noted that it is, therefore, necessary that players in the media should understand their strategic role in image-making, national development, as well as being cultural ambassadors. “Thus, a clarion call is more than overdue for the media to be objective, given to research and ensure deep sense of fair-play, patriotism and respect for truth, since they are at the forefront of moulding opinions and shaping lives. They play a vital role in opinion moulding and shaping the behavioural pattern of the people, because they are the eyes, ears and mouth-pieces of the society, given to dissemination of information and ideas to the people; they can create and monitor both friendly and hostile environments in any society.

    “The perception, mindset and view of a given society, which, in most cases, translate into negative or positive actions, are very often the products of media information. The media contribute to national development by promoting the projects and achievements of government. In disseminating information, the media ensure that such information is authentic and balanced,” he added. He identified funding, equipment, remuneration, capacity building, programme planning, conducive environment, inter-sectoral collaborations, facility visits, and media briefs as imperatives for the optimal performance of the media.

    According to him, antagonising government at all times is not a true test of courageous journalism, noting that despite media ownership issue, there is need for media professionals to practice developmental journalism.

    Continuing, he said: “With the transformation agenda, it could be argued that Nigeria is like a moving train, on the way to the “Promised Land,” and nation-building is a joint-task that requires the support of all, including the media. It is high time the Nigerian media started promoting the nation through enlightenment and sensitisation on government programmes and policies.”

    He stressed that the media should see its role in the promotion of the transformation agenda as a challenge to the noble profession, adding that media houses that are known for accurate, factual and investigative reportage often command a height, both in professionalism and integrity.

    Anikulapo said the media would function effectively when the government in power is successful, and not distracted from the performance of its duty by unnecessary tension in the polity, instigated overtly or covertly by our journalistic activities. He noted that the fortune and fate of the media as an institution are tied to the fortune and fate of the political administration in power, which through its policies and actions shape the fate and fortune of the nation at that particular in time.

    In his paper, Patriotism, just like communication, Is a two-way traffic, Anikulapo gave some posers, which included, ‘What if the system in place in the country is inimical to the overall wellbeing of the people? What if the policies and actions of the government in power are inimical to the goodness of the society; or betterment of the citizens’ welfare? What if the establishment through its policies and actions has mounted various odds in the way of progress of the nation and its people? What if the political power holders are irresponsible in their actions, or are adept at always behaving like vagabonds in power?’

    He, specifically, asked what if the agenda set by the government or the political powers that be are not patriotically informed, or are not properly thought through but cobbled together to achieve selfish political gains, increase the possibility to economically exploit the nation and its people? Or what if the agenda of the powers that such that — given the extant conditions in the polity or system – are futile and unrealisable?

    “Should the media play dumb to the happenings in its environment, and continue to abide by the set principle of supporting the establishment knowing full well that its survival also depends on the survival of the system; and that its fate and fortune are inextricably tied to the fate and fortune of the nation at that material point in time?”