The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President

  • The president is a good man

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a good man.  Look at his gentle mien and unassuming carriage in spite of being the President of the most populous black nation on planet earth.   Look at how he is transforming Nigeria; the news media; the tabloids, tubes and online publications are awash with the benevolent achievements of the President.  Look at the roads, the airports, railways, power sector to name but a few.  Forget about the facts that there are no physical evidence on the ground; just tune to the Nigerian Television Authorities (NTA) and paid adverts in other media houses.  Recall the 2011 General Elections, the President had an overwhelming majority across the geopolitical zone because the Nigerian people love him as a good man.   Even though the baboons and the dogs were soaked in blood when the result was out, the election was relatively free and fair and the President genuinely won that election fair and square.

    His transformation programme commenced shortly after he was sworn.   First, he removed the controversial subsidy on petroleum products and hiked fuel prices as a reward to the people and kerosene became out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians.   When Nigerians went to the street in protest, the security forces and police fired live ammunition and killed scores of people. The President would rather hurt the poor masses than take on the corrupt officials responsible for the failure of the subsidy regime.   It was easier and better for the government to make the poor masses bear the burden and subsidize the ineptitude of government officials and rogue elements in the petroleum industry.   Everybody can attest to the fact that the President is a good man.  Look at those officials fingered for grafts of monumental proportions in his cabinet; aviation, petroleum and the interior.  Rather than bring them to book, the President rose stoutly to proselyte in their defence giving us presidential distinction between official corruption and stealing.

    Again, look at the mega seizure of $9 million and $5 million respectively by the South African government on a botched arms deal to tackle insecurity and the insurgency in the North-east.  Driven by patriotism, the President maintained golden silence while the South African authorities found it exciting to bathe the nation in the murky water of corruption in the market square.   Only his garrulous and loquacious Special Assistants (SAs) took the air waves to insult the intelligence of the people and expose their puerile logic.

    The President is a good man; look at those felons of yesterday and political fugitives who even disguised as women to escape arrest in UK.   He not only pardoned them, he also honoured them with Nigeria’s National Merit award.   Can you beat that?   He is all over the churches and recently he declared for the Anglicans and bagged the highest ecclesiastical Anglican award, the first of its kind.   His detractors and political enemies want him to be like a Pharaoh or a General.   As a good man he even forgot that he is the Commander-in-Chief and indeed, that all the Generals are supposed to be under him.

    His detractors wanted him to visit Chibok after the abduction and kidnapping of over 200 school girls by the Boko Haram.   The President would rather act the statesman that he is; the imperial majesty.  It is not statesmanlike for a ruler to visit indigent people struck by misfortune.  It is the bereaved that should rather pay homage to their king in the moment of calamity. Critics and opposition who would not understand keep pestering the Chief Executive of Nigeria to perform.   The sins of the President’s traducers and opposition are legion.   They want him to be a performing President.   They want him to take charge and be in control and make Nigeria take its rightful place among the comity of nations.

    The President is a good man that is why people fight for him in all things.   Look at those perceived irritant governors who had the audacity to stand to his authority, ordinary police commissioners fought for him and caged the lion in them while the state House of Assembly members sack the others as many more sit on edge.  His Excellency, President Goodluck Jonathan is a good man.   This is not because he has goodluck attached to his name.     As if that was not enough, he had no shoes when he was growing up which also showed a quintessential Nigerian grassroots man.  He is an academic doctor of a fine breed by dint of hard work.   I understand he was even a teacher in a College of Education somewhere in Rivers State; I am not sure now.    He is soft-spoken and an introvert.

    He was loyal to his principals and political masters and subservient to a fault.   When he was the Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State, he was seen but rarely heard until his boss caught a tiger by the tail, and was impeached.   As a good man, he was sworn in as the substantive governor of Bayelsa State.   Mother luck shone on him again when former President Obasanjo handpicked him to be President Yar’Adua’s running mate.   When the Nigerian power cabal tried to scheme him out of the power equation, he watched the bizarre drama go into melodramatic fever pitch.

    Nigerians rose up in their numbers and fought for him, and the doctrine of necessity was invoked which brought him in as President of the Federal Republic.   This broke the broke the jinx of monopoly of power by the so-called majority ethnic groups and gave hope that any Nigerian can aspire to the highest office in the land.    This was how the reluctant good man became President.   He has all the attributes of a gentleman notwithstanding his remote humble background and upbringing.   When the President served out the tenure of his late former boss, some political hawks wanted to fence him off from further serving Nigeria because of mere gentleman’s agreement his political platform had which he found convenient to ignore, breach, disregard and broke.    Nigerians should not leave the adoption and endorsement of the President as the only qualified candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the card carrying members and the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) only.     Those who think he is not a good leader or under- performing should not forget that Nigerians have not chosen a good or performing leader yet.   When we make up our mind, we can do it and get the leader that will see himself as commander-in-chief and take bold and courageous decisions.   Good men do not make history, courageous people do.  Good men do not bring about historical change in the life of a nation but brave men do. True, visible physical transformation will only come from a brave and courageous leadership not from a good man.   Look around the world today; the people bring about the change they want: Burkina Faso, Egypt, Indonesia and even the just concluded Mid-term Elections in the United States of America where the Republicans now hold sway in both houses.  Rise up and bring about the change you want; The President is a good man.

    • Kebonkwu Esq. writes from Abuja

  • Open letter to the President

    SIR: I am supposed to be in the Boxing Gymnasium training very hard so I can win my next bout, earn a place in the Guinness World Record Book (GWRB) as the oldest boxer to successfully defend his title and win another title, earn a place for Nigeria in the GWRB as the host country and above all bring honour, glory and clean money to my fatherland. Instead, I am shadow-boxing with officials at NEXIM Bank who during the inauguration of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) promised to give 100 percent support but are now doing everything and anything possible to kill my vision for a better Nigeria.

    As directed by the federal government, I have had several meetings with officials of NEXIM Bank who are the coordinating bank with the Bank of Industry for the LOC.

    On May 3, I got this text message from NEXIM Bank “We apologise for our absence at the LOC meeting held on Friday, 2/05/14 at the usual venue. We shall be present at the next meeting. Please be reassured that NEXIM remains committed to the success of the GWR Championship Boxing Fight. Thanks.

    On May 4, Robert Orya, the Managing Director of NEXIM called me claiming that since the January 7, inauguration that he was yet to see a copy of the inaugural speech and the white paper from the NSC to the Presidency. May 5, I called to inform him I was on my way to meet with him at the bank. He was very happy and told me that he was expecting me but as soon as I got to the gate of the bank with the other members of the LOC and he was informed that I did not come alone, he was furious and ordered the security guard to lockout other members of the LOC but me.

    On September 1, the same thing happened but this time he ordered his security guard to push me out of the way while I and members of the LOC were at the gate waiting to see him.

    After accepting the invitation from the federal government to be inaugurated into the LOC, after having several meetings within and outside of NEXIM Bank to workout a master plan for the release of $30M and how NEXIM Bank would be part of the receivership of the $500M PPV Television profit for the sake of transparency and accountability, after sending several  text messages pledging total commitment to the success of the GWR fight and promising to be at the next LOC meeting, after almost 10 months of unsuccessfully trying to extort $110M USD from me, it then suddenly dawned on the management of NEXIM Bank that it does not sponsor sports.

    Is this a decent way to treat any Nigerian not to talk of Nigeria’s only World Boxing Champion, a national hero, a national honourS holder of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and above all a decent Nigerian who wants to bring honour, glory and clean money to Nigeria?

    My President, I know you are a decent man and a man of your words but why are you allowing these people to treat me like this?

    Since its inauguration till date, the LOC is indebted to the tune of over N50 million in logistics to various groups including the hotel that once served as the secretariat for the LOC. I was evicted from the hotel and my vehicle seized pending when the LOC is able to offset the hotel bill.

    I respectfully ask that you keep your promise to me. That you personally oversee or appoint a representative that will be in charge of the fight purse and the PPV TV profit. That because of the urgency of the moment, the overdue logistics money and the overdue fight approval fee is paid immediately so Nigeria does not lose the right to host to Germany.

    • Bash Ali, OON.                                                                                              

    Lagos

     

  • APC: we want to produce real Nigerian president

    APC: we want to produce real Nigerian president

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it is poised to produce a Nigerian President who will be acceptable to all citizens as an upright person with commitment to the ideal of a united nation, irrespective of their tribes or religions.

    APC National Secretary Alhaji Mai Mala Buni addressed reporters at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

    He said APC, being the best thing to happen to Nigeria, was not interested in producing a Northern or Southern President but a true Nigerian President.

    Buni noted that the level of poverty and degradation in the country had no boundary in the South or North, Christian or Muslim.

    The party chieftain said what the nation needed was a President who could fight insecurity and restore peace and progress in all communities.

    He said: “It is not about producing a Northern or Southern President. We want to produce a Nigerian President; we want to produce a President who will work for the country, sacrifice himself for the country and be selfless in discharging his responsibilities to the country. We want a President who will be acceptable to every Nigerian as an upright person; who can fight corruption and bring development to the country.

    “That is what we want. It’s not about the South or the North. Let me tell you that the level of poverty and degradation and impoverishment in this country has no boundary of South or North, Christian or Muslim.

    “We are all suffering; nobody is left out. Everybody is desirous of change. That is why the APC is poised to produce the best President for this country. We want to have somebody who will fight corruption because it is the major dent on this country, which is underdeveloping the country.

    “We want somebody who can fight the insecurity and restore peace, harmony and tranquillity in all communities. This is our hope. I don’t think we will now restrict this to either the South or North. These are political boundaries.

    “APC is poised to give the best President who will be read to address the problems militating against the development of Nigeria. This is our common problem; it is our common challenge. So, it is not about where the person comes from.”

  • ‘Kwankwaso is qualified to run for president’

    ‘Kwankwaso is qualified to run for president’

    Subsequent to a possible failure in efforts to broker consensus among the contending presidential aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is set to declare his intention to contest the election on the platform of the party on Thursday.

    Our correspondent gathered that the delay in the declaration of the presidential ambition by General Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Kwankwaso may possibly not be unconnected with efforts to get one of them to step down for the other.

    Both aspirants hail from the North West zone of the country which is believed to have the largest number of registered voters in the country.

    A chieftain of the APC and one of the campaign coordinators of Governor Kwankwaso, Chief Olisaemeka Akamukali, said baring any change in plan and any unforeseen circumstances, Governor Kwankwaso had concluded plans to publicly declare his presidential ambition on October 23.

    He revealed that after a nation-wide consultation with party leaders and other political stakeholders regarding the presidential election, Kwankwaso has decided to throw his cap into the ring.

    Akamukali, hinted that the governor might have delayed the kick-off of his campaign due to pressures to yield ground to General Buhari, stressing that rather than ask the governor to step down, it is the former Head of State that should make way for a younger and more vibrant candidate in line with the need for generational shift.

    To Akamukali, it is wrong for anybody to regard the governor as a dark-horse in the contest, adding that Governor Kwankwaso has had long years of experience in politics; beginning from 1991 when he emerged as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    He said: “Kwankwaso has long years of experience in politics. He has been a parliamentarian, a governor and two-time minister. When he contested the governorship election in Kano State and lost, he congratulated the winner and waited for eight years before staging a come-back.

    “The governor is a grassroots politician and one who carries his followers along in his undertakings. Today, many people describe him as a dark-horse in the presidential contest. This notion is wrong because many politicians, especially in the PDP, do not like what is happening in their party.

    “Remember he was once a member of the group of seven governors who protested the goings-on in his former party. I will not be surprised if many of them still in the PDP will want to support his aspiration to become President.”

    Akamukali dismissed claims that the former Nigerian leader, General Buhari was in control of Kano State, even as he pointed out that Kwankwaso as governor, is in total control of the party structures and commands the loyalty of most party men there.

    He said if a politician’s pedigree is to be used as a yardstick, the governor stands out tall having transformed Kano State beyond all expectations, saying, “yes the governor might be a dark-horse because of the fact that he has never contested for the position of president before.

    “But if as President Jonathan was regarded as the dark-horse before the 2011 general elections among other aspirants like Atiku, General Ibrahim Babangida and Ibrahim Gusau and he later triumphed, then being a dark-horse can be to Kwankwaso’s advantage.

    “We want a change in this country. We want a president who is not a man that was hand-picked by a group of people and who will be held in bondage as it is happening today.

    “The issue of anointing candidates for elections has been rejected by the APC and that is why the party insisted that there shall be primaries that must be seen to be transparent. The fears of some of the aspirants may be due to their previous experiences where they never faced competitive primaries to emerge as party candidates.

    “That is why such people are pushing for consensus. Most party members want things done differently from what the PDP is doing. We must have a transparent primary.

    “I can tell you that Kwankwaso has built a lot of bridges across the political divide. Remember, he came into the House of Representatives as a member of the then Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1991 and became Deputy Speaker.”

    He maintained that both the National Leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, party’s National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun-Odigie and former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar were together in the SDP with Governor Kwankwaso, adding that he is still retaining the affinity he had with the political network.

    Akamukali disclosed that one factor that favours Kwankwaso is that he always carries his followers along in whatever he does. He said: “One other factor that is considered additional strength to the Kano State Governor is that whereas he has solid home-base support, his co-contestants such as Atiku and Buhari could not boast of being in control of the structures of the party in their home states.

    “From the angle of qualification, the constitution is very clear on this. A man who has a doctorate degree in Engineering, academically is qualified, a man who has not been convicted by any competent court, a man whom the EFCC and other Federal Government anti-graft agencies have investigated and nothing was found against him is eminently qualified to contest for the president of the country,” Akamukali said.

  • Group backs President for second term

    Group backs President for second term

    A group, ‘Women for Goodluck 2015’, has urged Nigerians to support the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The group explained that the President has the right to seek for another term in office, advising critics to study the constitution.  in next year’s election. It said his achievements are many.

    Its  National Coordinator, Ambassador Fatima Adams, spoke at the investiture of the organisation’s National Patro, Oguefi Emma Otunabo, in Lagos.

    She said, for the first time, the nation has a President , who has decided to implement the  ‘35 per cent Affirmative Action plan’ for women, in consonance with the resolution of the Beijing Conference.

    She said: “For the first time in Nigeria, 13 women took the oath of office as members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and first Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the first female President of the Court of appeal was appointed by President Jonathan.’’

    Adams highlighted the the President’s achievements. They include the implementation of the Transformation Agenda, rehabilitation of  federal roads, especially the Benin-Ore road,  the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the rehabilitation of railways and seaports, the renovation and the remodelling of airports, and  the building of an auto assembly plant.

    Others include the cessation of fuel subsidy and the allocation of more funds to tackle insecurity.

    Urging women to support the President, Adams assured that he will not abandon thenm after the poll.

    Otunabo hailed the group, saying that it has a laudable objective. He added: “As a man who has been in the vanguard of women empowerment and welfare, this responsibility is not new to me. I solicit for your assistance  to succeed.”

  • TREM fast, pray for Nigeria

    The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) worldwide has begun a 31-day prayer and fasting for the nation.

    The exercise, which started on October 1, has as its theme Enough is Enough.

    The Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo, kicked off the exercise at the international headquarters in Anthony-Oke Lagos.

    All branches of the church worldwide have also joined the exercise.

    A statement by the General Manager Operations (TREM), Rev. (Mrs.) Oluwayomi Uteh, said the church will be specifically praying for a peaceful and united Nigeria as well as violence-free elections in 2015.

    She said there will also be prayer sessions for the President, Vice-President, Governors, National Assembly members, security operatives and other key stakeholders.

  • A pastor and a president

    A pastor and a president

    Ted Haggard was a colourful cleric in the United States. He presided over The New Life Church in Colorado Springs, and he spoke with vehemence against what he saw as the depredation of the liberal politicians, including gay marriage, abortion and the foul air of addiction.

    He hobnobbed with the Republican politicians. So influential was he that he rose to become the head of the evangelicals in the United States. George W. Bush was president then and he frequented the White House. President Bush was a star among the evangelicals because he projected himself as a born again, and pointed out Jesus Christ as his personal hero.

    Haggard, like Bush, looked with contempt at those who did not belong to their world of sanctity. The liberal intellectuals fumed at Bush’s pious contentment, and growled impotently at his swagger and increasing popularity.

    Haggard visited Nigeria a few times and Nigerian evangelicals, including the teeming adherents who purred at the dynamic sermons of the gifted American. They knew he was anointed. Everyone in the spirit saw it with their eyes of understanding. Fire and brimstone flared against sin from his lips. The oil of gladness soothed the righteous from on high at the hour of blessings and miracles. Who did not know that Haggard was a significant part of the divine nature enunciated by Apostle Peter?

    Well, while the peacock spiritual preened, the scandal broke, and Haggard admitted that he was homosexual as well as a drug addict. It was an earthquake as devastating as the earlier ones that rocked Christendom in the same country. But those ones did not carry the whiff of drugs or walk with the gait of gays. Those were adulteries with women, including the secretary.

    But there was humility about Haggard’s confession. He did not play holy or untouchable. He stepped down from his high horse as the chieftain of the holy nation as well as The New Life Church. His fellow pastors and followers prayed for him, but they distanced themselves immediately from him. They knew that God and the church rode a high plane. Every pastor, however successful or anointed, was a speck in the large garment of the church.

    Not long after, the magisterial control of President Bush also waned. His approval rating cascaded. The Bush of Jesus Christ who plumed himself in holy confidence was now a liar. He had corralled innocent Americans to a war based on a false premise. He was no longer the anointed king just as Haggard no longer reigned as anointed servant.

    They had taken advantage of God, church and their faithful to project a false morality about themselves. They had profited profusely while many suffered, including those who slaved for them. Worse was not their servile condition, but their servile belief. They sacrificed their minds for them.

    I reflected on this narrative in respect of the scandal over the unaccounted trip to South Africa of an aircraft belonging to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria. No Christian would joy to that story.

    We must admit that the narrative is not cut and dried. We have no evidence that the pastor knew about the money. We could however say that he ought to know. He leased it to a company that leased it to another. Technically, as the owner of the jet he ought to know what it was billed to convey, especially if it concerned such a large sum of money. And the $9.3 million belonged to the Federal Government.

    If the purpose was to buy arms to fight the enemy, Boko Haram, it was a sensitive transaction. He was also a frequenter of Aso Rock, and he worked with the president in the fight against the bigoted vermin.

    So how can he explain how he did not know about this trip given these facts?

    When he acquired the aircraft, he did not use the opaque language about having a residual interest in the aircraft. It was his and he needed it as the chariot of the Lord. He would win souls with it. Never mind it is luxury in the air with all the bells and whistles. The souls will soar to God on the wings of the anointed word.

    But once the scandal broke, he receded into residual ownership. But what was worse was that he has not employed a language of remorse or rhetoric of regret in this scandal. He just defended himself as though Nigerians cannot add up the facts.

    He has used the high elegance of CAN to defend the government of the day. He has abused it and wrecked its cathedral beauty. CAN under him has lost its holy majesty and its appeal to the grandeur of God. Oritsejafor acts like a false steward. He is not like Prophet Samuel in the Bible who finished his task and laid it bare to his flock that his slate was clean. He is not like Paul who crooned that he had finished his task and awaited the crown of righteousness.

    He is soaring in the flesh. Yet, our evangelicals, the pastors and bishops, do not seem to know that they should ask him to step down as an act of honour. Such scandals are not good for the church. Whether he knew of it or not, for the sanctity of that position, he should not parade himself as the leader of the evangelicals. Just as Haggard did, he should bow out.

    But it means our evangelicals do not care or know the implication of the scandal to the meaning of Christianity if they cannot raise their voices against what he has done. If Pastor Oritsejafor was too busy to know what his aircraft conveyed, it means he was careless. He should pay for it. In law, it is called indirect responsibility. The aircraft was not acquired to harvest cash but souls. The Bible warns not just against evil but “an appearance of evil”. If he is innocent, he does not appear to be.

    As for President Goodluck Jonathan, it is clear he does not feel any public regret. Until his government proves the South African government wrong, the story will go down as a connivance of corruption between his government and a pastor. Two sacrosanct institutions, the presidency and the church have fallen into scandal. We should not forget that this is the president paraded as representing Christ in Aso Rock. Is this what Christians do in authority? The South Africans deny any arms deal. Who buys weapons or anything internationally these days by hauling cash? One of the achievements of this administration is the cashless policy. The violator is the initiator. What irony.

    Both the president and Pastor Oritsejafor have many people who sacrifice their lives, respect and talent for them. When they fail as role models, they destroy the lives. Like Uncle Vanyaof Anton Chekhov, Russian writer’s play, everybody who worked for the big man woke up to discover they had wasted their lives because they misplaced their faith in one man. The same happened to Haggard and Bush.

    President Jonathan and Pastor Oritsejafor should know that what is at stake is not their little egos. It is the souls of Nigerian people.

     

    Enter the Mutawallen Sokoto

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, was bedecked with a stellar traditional title on Saturday. He is now turbaned for his accomplishments as a citizen. He is perhaps the most level-headed politician of his generation. His quiet but visionary hand has held the often tempestuous House on an even keel.

    This is the same House of riot and broken chairs in the past. He has never attracted scandal to himself. He is equable in temper and felicitous in language. He has secured the House and it does not play slave to the executive, and he has defended his legislative turf. He does not play the games of tribal and religious fidelity in the way that injures the commonwealth of citizens. He does not carry an air of the superior personage. That explains why all the rumoured plots of presidential-inspired impeachment did not fly. He knows how to hold his own without vanity or flamboyance. He is humble without servility, effective without showiness, brilliant without bullying.

    That perhaps accounts for why the Sultan of Sokoto, another icon of honour, is giving the honour to another deserving, unobtrusive stalwart of the Nigerian polity. Congratulations, the Mutawallen.

  • ‘President needs Southwest’s vote’

    ‘President needs Southwest’s vote’

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, Senator Bode Ola,  has urged the people to support the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Addressing reporters at the Southwest PDP Unity Rally, at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, he said Jonathan enjoyed massive support in Ekiti State.

    He said: “The Southwest people, in particular, and Nigerians in general, will  return Mr. President to office for a second term in the 2015 presidential election. He has done well and he deserves to complete the mission of transformation.

    “What he has been doing in improving the well-being of the masses, through his transformation agenda in all sectors; education, farming, transportation, among others, is highly commendable.

    “This is why those of us in Ekiti are solidly behind him. We are going to vote for him and he has our solid support.”

    The senator said that what happened in Ekiti election where the people voted for the PDP against the All Progressives Congress (APC) will happen in the Southwest states  in  next year’s elections.

    He described the PDP as a formidable party that could not be displaced by any party in Nigeria. Ola said: “We believe that what happened in Ekiti will still happen in the whole of Southwest”.

    He urged the Southwest to vote for the PDP during the elections, noting that the party’s people-oriented programmes will  promote positive growth and development in the country.

     

  • A President to die for

    Let me tell you of your precious heritage. It seems to be mine too even though I refuse to subscribe to such wretched norm. Yet no matter how much I try to deny its tragic course, the ties that bind arrests my heart, as it does, yours.

    And so do we live with whatever grotesqueness survives. Hence this year as all others, our dearest hopes have been wasted and crushed. Every hour manifests as twilight and Nigeria for all her seductiveness and charm, is tainted by the hopelessness we swore to end.

    Our best image is still desolate and austere, because we remain unfaithful to a land whose promising years again, slither from our grasp. A new dawn beckons but we have chosen to betray its silvery spokes of promise and luck. Thus today, the sun rises to set at mid-morning and practiced joy scorches and breaks under the spokes of premature daylight.

    Perhaps you disagree, but we are still that clueless bunch, grumbling and cursing in our ratty sheepskins, cringing from familiar hardships we have learnt to bear while we sleep with the demons from whose designs our tragedies emerge.

    Again we are set to elect familiar ogres we do not know to power. Some of them we know we ought to shy from but we would still go ahead to vote for them, won’t we?

    Granted the reins of hope come 2015, shall we choose misery and tragedy undiminished? Shall we choose ruin over rebirth; distrust over trust; shallowness over depth and puerile platitudes over the precision of promising logic?

    Shall apathy and greed compute desire’s trajectory? Will worded daydreams mature beyond impotent fantasies and delusions of grandeur? Come 2015, we shall know if truly, we had endeavoured to install the leadership for which our hearts beat. We shall remember today with despair or joy, and wonder if truly we endeavoured to explore the souls of Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari and so on that we may ascertain the one whose heart truly thrums the percussion to die for.

    We shall remember our candidates’ claims and persuasions to power and how base sentiments or elevated logic convinced us of their suitability for the posts to which they aspire. Whose politics promises change we can believe in? We should get to know in a few months if Mr President does not chicken out like he did last time, from the national presidential debates and shadow debates – platforms by which we could assess his excuses for manifesting on our psyche and realities as Nigeria’s worst excuse for a President ever.

    Will Jonathan chicken out? Will he demand that advance copies of questions be made available to candidates that studio audience be prevented from posing questions to candidates, like he did during the last elections?

    The raising and dashing of expectations is at the heart of almost every great political drama as it is in every ill-fated political dispensation. In our case, the manifestations are quite ridiculous. Hence the urgent need for the conveners’ of future debates to aspire to the highest standards of organisation and conduct.

    How, for instance, shall the studio audience be selected? With what assortment of citizenry shall it be comprised? Will it for instance, include able representatives of the proverbial average man on the street? What of the unemployed…the teacher, student, police, aged, journalist, handicapped and market women of the sidewalk? Will they be excluded again because some self-styled opinion leader believes it would be too demeaning and counter-productive to include them?

    Forget the organisers; the success of the process would eventually depend on you and me. Let us hope we are accorded fair and able representation. And if that be the case, let us begin to hope that representatives we choose aspire to the highest standards of conduct and representation, for our sake.

    And having chosen our representatives, let us endeavour to ponder the questions that we ought to ask. Let us attempt to ask the questions that truly matter and demand such answers that will indeed, drill them, analyse them and beam as much of their adroitness as their incapacities to the world.

    This is the moment we have been waiting for; the moment in which, practiced as our candidates may be, we should reveal the men apart from the boys, the wise from the foolish, the realist from the idealist and most importantly, the candidate who is tone-deaf and incapable of identifying with our fears and heartfelt yearnings.

    This is the moment we pay good mind to the issues that matter, the moment we make each candidate defend his antecedents in governance and private enterprise. Let us make each candidate defend his daintily clad manifesto as we judge how confidently and pragmatically he proffers solutions to the problems that persist and smother. We could demand – albeit uncompromisingly – that every candidate explains for instance, what impacts his Niger Delta palliative and intervention in the sad fate of LafargeWAPCO’s host communities would have on peasant poetry in the areas.

    We should ask the questions that test and confound that we may get to ascertain the indignation of our self-acclaimed patriots at the squalor of our living condition even as we question their promises of modern and affordable housing, true federalism, fiscal prudence, quality health, education and so on. We could ask how they would pay for these things and at what cost to you and me.

    We should make each candidate define his philosophy of social reform and his psychology of welfare governance to the benefit of the grassroots. And let us be wary lest we pass over the best-credentialed candidate just because our sentiments and gut counsels us to do so. Such wantonness will reflect unabashed lack of visceral understanding that the assessment of a presidential candidate involves as much test of you and me – as it does, every candidate aspiring for our votes.

    Let us seek that ineffable quality the writer, Katherine Anne Porter, had in mind when she defined experience as “the truth that finally overtakes you.” Let us be guided by our past and present encounters with every candidate till date.

    Our ideal President should be ruthless and compassionate, visionary and pragmatic, cunning and honest, patient and bold, combining the eloquence of a poet with the timing of a jungle cat. He should transcend the borders of our racial divides so effortlessly that it seems reasonable to expect that he can bridge all the other divisions – and answer all the impossible questions – plaguing Nigerian public life. He should encourage every valid expectation as he does our most fantastic yearnings – promising greatness at least, not entirely in the abstract.

    He should understand that statesmanship and valour need to be planned not blurted and that there are all sorts of questions and consequences to ponder before he takes the next politically expedient step every time. He should be able to scorn or at least tone down to a minimum, the arrogance implicit in leadership and corruption characteristic of power.

    He should understand the simplicity implicit in strength and the ruthlessness unspoken in humbleness. He should be able to overturn all the standard political assumptions simply by being himself. And we should get to love him for it and want more of him.

  • …. President breaks a jinx

    President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday last week, broke a jinx in the Presidential Villa by granting interview to selected members of the State

    House correspondents in his office.

    It has never happened before in the Villa during his tenure.

    The President had, most times, spoken through official statements issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, or spoke his mind on issues at official functions, and sometimes grant interviews at the airports or outside the country on official assignment.

    The President has also periodically granted interviews during Presidential Media Chats with mainly media practitioners from outside the Villa.

    But granting interviews to State House correspondents who cover the Villa within the State House, has almost become a taboo over the years.

    Tuesday last week, he spoke directly with State House correspondents, appealing to the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and other unions to shelve its planned strike action and resume school on September 22.

    Closing the wide gap between the President and journalists covering the Villa is a step in the right direction as it will both improve better coverage of the Villa and boost enlightenment of Nigerians on the administration’s actions.

    A former Military President in Nigeria was said to have been close to journalists in the Villa during his tenure so much so that he knew almost all of them by their names and media houses.

    The U.S President, Barrack Obama and many world leaders also regularly brief and interact with journalists attached to their government houses.