President Goodluck Jonathan has announced his approval of N26 billion for the 2015 annual dry season farming programme aimed at producing more food for Nigeria.
The President who spoke today at the annual agricultural show in Abuja, tagged AgriFest, explained that the N26billion is to appreciate the contribution of rural farmers to massive food production in the country and to encourage the farmers to plant thrice a year to boost food production and eliminate hunger and poverty.
“As crude oil prices decline, we must create new wealth from the richness of our soils, the vastness of our rivers and the abundance of our cheap labour,” President Goodluck Jonathan said at the Agric Festival, in Abuja on Friday. “We will produce more, and we will industrialize the agricultural sector.”
President Jonathan said “we have transformed the face of agriculture. Our country is producing more food than ever before. Our national food production has expanded by 21 million metric tons “within the past three years. Our food import bill declined from N1.1 trillion in 2009 to N634 billion in 2013 and continues to decline; this is progress and we must continue to move forward.”
He said that the number of seed companies had also increased from 11 to 134 within the past three years, increasing access to high quality seed from 4,252Metric tons in 2011 to over 149,484metric tonnes in 2015.
According to him, with N900 Billion ($5 billion) of new investments in the fertilizer sector, Nigeria would soon become self-sufficient in fertilizer production, and turn into a net exporter of fertilizer.
As this happens, the price of fertilizers will decline, and farmers will be able to afford more fertilizers to boost their food production, Mr. Jonathan said.
The President also directed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to henceforth provide, annual financial support for the Argungu festival to further spur the traditional fishing competition in Argungu and promote fishing eco-tourism, in the country,.
The Agriculture festival which held at the Eagle Square Abuja, tagged “AgriFest,” was organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with farmers and agribusiness operators across the country. [myad]
The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), an offshoot of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has adopted the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari as its Presidential candidate in the February election. This decision was taken at the end of the meeting of the PDM’s National Executive Committee (NEC) held at the National Headquarters of the Party in Abuja. The meeting was attended by members of the National Working Committee, State Chairmen of the Party from across the federation and invited Party Elders. Later. The NEC also met with its candidates for various elective posts from across the country. In a communique signed by the party’s National Chairman, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim and the National Secretary, Ifeanyi Igwe, PDM said the NEC and the party’s candidates “unanimously resolved to support the candidature of General Muhammadu Buhari for President of Nigeria and called on all members and supporters of PDM across Nigeria to vote for him in the presidential election of February 14, 2015 “NEC reviewed the Party’s preparations for the February 2015 General Elections and NEC noted that the Party has no candidate in the presidential election of February 14, 2015. It considered and accepted the need to support a candidate in order to save Nigeria from imminent collapse and give it a new lease of life. It also noted that the Party had registered close to six million members both manually and online and resolved to deploy this voting strength for good and in the best interest of Nigeria at this very critical time. “NEC observed that of the available presidential candidates, two clearly stand out and the two represent a clear contrast and reference point for making a clear and informed choice. On the five critical issues which NEC believes constitute the nation’s top and urgent priority at this material time, namely, National Unity, Public Security, Job Creation, Fight Against Corruption and the Economy, it is the opinion of NEC that the incumbent who has been at the helm of affairs of the nation in the past six years had failed. In contrast, his opponent had a track record of achievement in these areas as a former Head of State and, later, Executive Chairman of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund. NEC believes it is time for Nigerians to give him a chance. “NEC also reviewed the State of the Nation and expressed concern with the deteriorating state of insecurity in the country, especially in the North East where insurgents appear to have a free reign killing and displacing innocent citizens and taking over the nation’s sovereign territory. It commiserated with the victims of insurgency in the affected states and called on the Federal Government to discharge its responsibilities to Nigerians by guaranteeing the safety of their lives and property and retrieving the nations’ lost territory within the shortest possible time. “NEC noted the rising level of corruption, unemployment and impunity in the country and condemned the campaign of calumny and hate by prominent citizens who are desperate to win election at any cost, including plunging the nation into chaos and anarchy. It called on Nigerians to reject desperate politicians who have been given a chance to prove their worth but failed. It noted that Nigeria’s democracy had come to stay and would not be undermined by the desperation of those who are afraid to lose election in February 2015.” [myad]
Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has condemned the violence that erupted recently at Burutu and Patani towns in the state during the political campaigns. “I condemn the act of violence that happened at the campaign rallies in Burutu and Patani few days back. That is not acceptable in Delta State, l am committed to peaceful campaign, peaceful elections and victory that will bring in Senator Okowa as the next governor of this state,” Uduaghan said. The governor spoke last night at the State’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Fund Raising/ Dinner Ceremony in Asaba for the party’s governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa. He made it clear that his administration would not tolerate any form of violence during campaigns and elections in the state, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan has signed a document with other Presidential Candidates to avoid anything that would cause violence before, during and after the general elections in the country. Dr. Uduaghan appealed to Party leaders to curtail the excesses of their followers/supporters, stating that anyone caught fomenting trouble and violence in the state especially during campaigns and elections would be severely dealt with by security agencies. He commended the PDP campaign team in the state for the good work they have done and called on all party elders and faithful to support the team in order to deliver Senator Okowa in the February election, describing the party flag bearer as a marketable candidate. “We need to double our efforts as a team, work harder and double our aspirations, we need all the support of our elders. Listen to them so as to be able to deliver our party’s candidate. He is qualified for the position, he has the credentials and is marketable,” he said. He persuaded all present at the occasion to join hands with the party to raise enough funds for the campaign of Senator Okowa and other PDP candidates but advised that the funds raised must be within the acceptable limits as of N1 Billion prescribed by the Electoral Act. The Chairman of the PDP Campaign Organisation, Professor Sam Oyovbaire commended Governor Uduaghan for fostering unity in the party which has ensured peace and unity. “The governor made it easy for PDP and Deltans to be united, he made political sacrifices to achieve this. The Uduaghan administration has built the spirit of partnership, this is for the benefit of the state.” Also Speaking, the Chairman of the Occasion and Chief Executive of Rainoil Petrolum Company, Gabriel Ugbechie, explained that the ceremony was put together to raise funds for the realization of the gubernatorial ambition of Senator Okowa. He observed that Senator Okowa has been politically active in the state in the last 16 years and would be a worthy successor to Governor Uduaghan who has laid a solid foundation for the state. Ugbechie encouraged all to play their part by supporting the candidate and give him the necessary back up he needed to emerge as the next governor of the state. “Elections naturally don’t come easy, it takes a lot of resources, we need to put our resources where our wishes and desires are. It is necessary that we do so at this ceremony,” he said. Hundreds of millions of naira were raised at the occasion after the Chairman of the occasion, Ugbechie and his friends had donated the sum of N100 Million Naira to kick start the donations. [myad]
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry has scheduled a visit to Nigeria on Sunday to meet with the country’s two leading presidential candidates whose supporters have been threatening fire and brimstone across the country as February elections approach. Kerry is expected to drum the need for free, fair and peaceful elections.
The State Department said today that Kerry will be in Nigeria’s largest city, Lagos, on Sunday, and will emphasize the importance of ensuring the elections are peaceful and credible.
A statement from the Department confirmed that the secretary will meet with incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and main opposition candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerian electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has come out to confirm, amidst the call for postponement of the February elections as engineered by the nation’s security adviser, Colonel Dasuki (RTD.) that elections will go ahead as scheduled. 9myad]
The authorities of the Nigerian Army have announced the appointment of the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations of the Seventh Division, Maiduguri, Colonel Sani Usman, as the new Director, Army Public Relations. Usman succeeds Brigedier-General Olajide Laleye, who has been redeployed to the 4th Division, Nigerian Army, Benin, as the Commander.
Laleye had, in the wake of the Major General Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate saga, said the Army had the credentials of retired and serving Army officers, adding that any affected officer only needed to apply for it.
General Buhari is the Presidential flag bearer of the main opposition political party, All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February election.
The authorities, however, made another pronouncement on Tuesday, contradicting itself, that the photocopies and originals of Buhari’s certificates were not with the Army.
The Government College (Provincial College), Katsina, where the former Head of State completed his secondary school education in 1961, had since issued and made public Buhari’s Cambridge/WASCE result to close the controversy surrounding the retired military officer’s secondary school certificate. [myad]
The Niger Delta ex-militant generals and commanders in Edo State have endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari for the February 14 election in the country. They queued behind the leadership of Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).
They insisted that the gesture by MEND should not be taken as a joke as Buhari’s candidacy is in line with the expectation and hope of millions of citizens of the country for positive change and development, particularly, the development of the oil-rich region.
Ex-General, Ogidigba Godstime, made the position of the group known in an interview with newsmen in Benin, the Edo State capital.
He said that the ex-agitators have confidence in the ability of the APC presidential candidate, adding that Buhari is capable of addressing all the salient issues to bring about improved standard of living and due attention to the various communities, states and the South-South region. [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has made it clear that Nigeria will never be held hostage again by rice importers, stressing that there will be no sacred cows under his watch.
The President who spoke today at AgriFest in Abuja said: “All those owing Nigeria on rice import duties must pay.
Jonathan said that he celebrate Nigerian farmers that are into rice production, adding that local rice is so delicious that he eat it often.
“I eat Nigerian rice and can tell you it is better than imported rice. High quality Nigerian rice is now competing favourable with imported rice in the markets. Our rice millers have taken advantage of these new opportunities, and the number of integrated rice mills has expanded from 1 (one) at the beginning of this administration, to 24 today. And they are all here today.”
President Jonathan declared AgriFest as a remarkable event, an event which he said is a celebration and solidarity “with our dear farmers who supply our food, which is the foundation for human life. In furtherance of our rejuvenation and redefinition of Agriculture, and your earnest partnership in this revolution, I am exceptionally delighted to receive you all today.” [myad]
Shortly before the death of King Abdullah as Saudi Arabian Spiritual Head, the Kingdom had appointed his 79-year-old half-brother, Salman bin Abdulaziz, to the throne. His half-brother Prince Muqrin, a decade younger, is the new crown prince.
After today’s noon prayers at Riyadh’s Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque, the body of Abdullah, wrapped in a pale shroud, was carried from the mosque toward the cemetery where he was laid to rest, followed by a solemn procession of Saudi men in traditional dress.
The burial itself was a simple, swift ceremony. After the coffin was lowered into the ground, those present at the graveside — the royals closest to the late king — moved on to a royal palace, where they paid their respects to the new monarch.
The new King, Salman was received both by the Saudi royals and world leaders who came to express their condolences.
Ahead of the funeral, condolences and remembrances poured in from all corners of the globe.
“To God we belong and indeed to him we shall return,” said the homepage of the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News on Friday.
Bahrain, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, among others, declared days of mourning. The U.N. secretary-general praised Abdullah for his Arab Peace Initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. And U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said he would lead a delegation “in the coming days” to pay respects.
“King Abdullah’s life spanned from before the birth of modern Saudi Arabia through its emergence as a critical force within the global economy and a leader among Arab and Islamic nations,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.
In an address to the nation Friday morning — his first televised appearance since becoming king — Salman offered his condolences to the Saudi people.
“We will, with God’s will and power, adhere to the straight path this country followed since its establishment by King Abdulaziz and his sons after him, and will not deviate at all from it, since our constitution is the book of Allah (Quran) and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed,” he said.
He also spoke of the “desperate need” for unity and solidarity among the followers of Islam, saying Saudi Arabia would continue to promote that.
He has already issued six royal decrees Friday, the Saudi Press Agency reported, including appointing Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz as the deputy crown prince.
Salman, who has 1.33 million followers on Twitter but follows no one, has also changed his Twitter handle from @PrinceSalman to @KingSalman. [myad]
Two-term Presidential Democracy is a beautiful and interesting idea of government in its fundamental assumptions and considerations. It has been established upon some rational thought in hope to sustain the values of democracy itself and to engender a climate for good governance. Because democracy is generally centered on the people, elections become a part and parcel of the system, where people, periodically, come to terms on who they want to lead or not to lead them. 2015 is here and the elections are in February (just some days away). We have got an interesting case at hand in this country and for me, the question is: should we re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan or should we hire another president? My answer is simple and clear. I say we hire a new president. I will share in a moment the reasons behind my position after we examine some foundational tenets of two- term presidential democracy, which happens to be what we practice in Nigeria. This will help build-up to establishing my position. Some of the rational thinking embraced by democrats for the support of a two-term presidency are as follows: First, democracy is about the government of, for and by the people (utterly people centric). The right of the people to vie for election from time to time and also to exercise their power to elect their own government is simply to protect the people’s democratic right to a government of and by themselves. If there ever be a government elected of and by the people, who happens not to govern for the people, then the same people reserve the right to vote out such a government or vote for another to carry out government in the best interest of the people. This is a form of check on the government. A government can misgovern, but then, the people can decide to vote it out. As such, ideally, first-terms are periods of evaluation upon which the government’s re-election should be based. Therefore the idea that a government would have to seek re-election for a second-term becomes a sort of incentive that should propel performance in the first-term. Also, you want to guard against and prevent anti-democratic traps like a monarchical or life- presidency situation by ensuring one person does not politically polarize the country for life. The last point I will mention here is that you want to give room for a dynamic transition of government. Because life itself is dynamic and transitory so government has to be. Situate this in Nigeria and you’ll conclude that the 2015 Nigeria general election is another test on the viability of our two-term presidential democracy. Back to why I’m positioned and support that we hire a new president: it is simply because our democratic system gives us the opportunity to change a non-performing government. I don’t belong to any political party today but my frustration about how Nigeria has been governed dwells at two levels. First is at the Presidential Ticket level and second is at political party level. At the presidential ticket level, Nigeria gave the mandate to President Jonathan in 2011. I was also a supporter of the Jonathan/Sambo ticket in 2011. The logic behind my support was simple; Jonathan emerged without the partisan realpolitik of the PDP. By this I mean, being the vice-president, a relatively insignificant position in Nigerian politics at the time, he (Jonathan) didn’t have to do much but just get nominated by the front-man, which was late President Yar’Adua. Vice-presidents are only constitutionally relevant to replace the president. The extent of their good to the government was the full prerogative of the president and you really don’t have to be a heavy weight politician to be nominated. My imagination like most Nigerians was that this gentleman (Jonathan) had a clean slate on which he could really transform the country. He would be less susceptible to any arm-twisting by many trade-offs typical of the political process of securing a presidential ticket if he was to push himself forward from ground-zero. I thought, at least his providential ascension would grant him a good deal of insulation from many political interests that could force-his-hand. More so, at the sentimental level, we all witnessed a quintessential common-man rise to power in what seemed to be a divine orchestration. The “I had no shoes” story of Jonathan resonated with millions of Nigerians; he seemed an embodiment of a political messiah. This was very okay for many people. The process upon which he emerged even engendered more sympathy towards his person as the country witnessed Yar’Adua’s cabal covet his chances of acting as president. Even when the dying president’s health was in serious doubt, he stayed gentlemanly throughout the entire process until the Senate invoked “the doctrine of necessity” and ultimately, Nigerians gave him a full mandate at the 2011 elections. We believed, we hoped, we trusted and then we stood with him. Jonathan promised transformation, “a breath of fresh air”, he actually promised a lot enough to catalogue. Five years have happened to Nigeria since we elected Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to preside over government. It’s time to renew that mandate. Yes! It’s time all the principles and tenets of two-term presidential democracy come to play. We have reached a point of either choosing to continue with this government or change it. But I’m not in any doubt we have to change this government. I rather change because I have the democratic right to vote out a government that doesn’t work for me after I hired it with my vote. In all fairness, I’m sure President Goodluck Jonathan can say the good things he has done for this country. But he has to be fair to over 100 million citizens of Nigeria that are still in poverty. His (Jonathan) government has not had any meaningful positive bearing on their livelihood. Democratic government is of the people, for the people and by the people. The government led by Dr. Jonathan has been of the people and by the people at 2011 elections, but for five years it has never shown up for the people. And that’s why we, the people will vote him out. I ask some serious questions that we have to answer faithfully for ourselves and for our country, Nigeria. Do you think Jonathan will do the expectations of the people in a second-term? Is it when there’s no more significant incentive to concede to the will of the people we are expecting him to do the needful? Everyone observes that democratic leaders tend to be complacent in their second-terms because of the mindset that they are not returning anyway. Do you honestly think that Jonathan even has any incentive to perform if re- elected? I have answered these questions faithfully to myself and for my country and I have come to a firm conclusion without second-guessing to vote for change. I have now lost hope in Jonathan’s presidency and I am hopeless like many Nigerians that continuity in this direction will yield significant positive results. The only hope there can be is to change this government and hope.
The beauty of the ingenious two-term presidential system we practice grants us the power and periodical opportunity to hope again. If we discover there isn’t hope in a new government, we will also vote it out again after four years. But to stick to the status-quo is to accept everything that is careless, reckless, insensitive and poor about this government for another four years; it’s hopeless. As we seize another opportunity to decide on the future of our country, posterity bestows upon us a duty to elect the personnel that will carry out government in the interest of the general public and President Jonathan has clearly shown that’s not his forte. President Jonathan inherited an economy where the crude oil price began to soar to unprecedented heights. The price has fluctuated near and above US$100 per barrel since February 2011 to August 2014. This means, as a nation, we earned more value from crude oil than ever before in the history of our nation. Sadly, we sight claims and counter claims of mismanagement, theft, squander and misappropriation of public funds. The government even agrees to losing revenues daily of about 400,000 barrels of oil due to illegal bunkering, vandalism and production shut-in. Impunity reigns supreme as we see no serious action to give a meaningful report to the public on these matter. Today, we are seeing an unprecedented drop in petrol dollar earnings; I don’t see this government doing more with less. I suspect all pronouncement of the government on how it hopes to manage the situation because it has ever been reputable for paying lip service to its duties. Many allegations of corruption on government officials fly in the dailies and we witness blatant passive reactions to these. So much scandal on corruption that it is almost seen as normalcy when headlines of news agencies carry billions of dollar figures on corruption allegations. It is so precarious that a former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, who is also reputable for engendering large scale corruption in Nigeria during his military tenure, caled his cohorts at that time saints if they were to be compared to this government. As a matter of fact, the president even finds it hard in his own language to differentiate between stealing and corruption. I’m utterly afraid of this government because Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has shown time and time again that he presides over a government that is simply not willing to confront corruption resolutely. From the look of things do you think President Jonathan even in another term will fight corruption just because he has started promising to fight corruption in his campaign for re-election? Well, you can’t be entirely sure though, but you can take an educated guess. This stance of the government has put our economy on a free fall. It doesn’t matter how much we earn as a nation, it doesn’t even matter what they say our GDP is, as long as the inequality gap is not breached, we will never taste the dividends of democracy. Again, it doesn’t matter how much the increase in megawatts the country has gained in this government, as long as you don’t have electric power supply, then it counts for nothing. Nigerians don’t even want an 11, 7 or 5 point agenda. All we want is one-point power agenda. Fix power in the smartest innovative and effective way and see how it bears on the life of every Nigerian. And to be frank, I won’t bet on the approach and politricks of this government to fix power within another four years.
After several calls on the president since the abduction of over 200 girls in a school in Chibok, he has only found it important to visit Maiduguri after 9 months. What message do you pass to the people with that sort of disposition? The people are angry at this type of decorum that forsakes the poor and down trodden. The president won’t go there at the heat of things but he’ll make efforts when it’s close to elections in February. Whether that’s a right judgment or not, you will forgive those that bear that feel that way easier than you will forgive the president for his poor handling of such a dire situation. One can observe countless faults in this government. If you allow a thorough evaluation, you would write a serial. It’s even harder to determine what the president stands for, what he is strong on and what his boundaries are. But Nigerians won’t crucify him, even though Doyin Okupe, one of his Senior Special Assistants has likened him to Jesus Christ – they will only not vote him again. Voting President Jonathan out will be the most important message Nigerians will send to politicians and political parties – that power truly belongs to the people. At every point in time Nigeria has been dissatisfied about a government they voted into power, it had always been the military that was forced to change the government in what eventually turns out to be worse. This time the people can do it and the elections in February will show. Like the US, Japan and India came to a point in their history where they had to vote out the same government they voted in for not performing, the time for Nigeria has come. As a matter of fact, Jonathan is not the alpha neither is he the omega of Nigeria’s problems. And this brings me to the second level at which my frustration about how Nigeria is governed dwells – the political party level. In as much as I personally advocate a change of government based on the fact that for five already, the government has failed the people, continuing with the same political party that has had the chance at the federal level for 16 years has to be also questioned. So far, the ruling party, PDP has produced three presidents for Nigeria. On the graph of performance, the line has moved from top to bottom in succession of presidents. In our recent democratic history, the popularity of the president has only been this low when President Obasanjo attempted a third-term bid. In fact, President Goodluck’s current popularity is at the lowest as it manifests in how his politics divides opinion and loyalty within his own party. And here’s my frustration: 16 years of time in any generation is a great time to see landmark attainments through. When you cut through the clutters and get down to the common man on the street in Nigeria, the only landmark attainment that has had a significant bearing on lives at the bottom is the telecommunication revolution, saw through by the Obasanjo administration. Any other attainment that anyone can classify as major either has no significant bearing on lives of the general masses or has been marred by corruption over time. By “significant bearing on lives at the bottom” I mean, If it is correct that we have over 100 million Nigerians in poverty, then any policy that doesn’t affect at least 10 million (10%) poor Nigerians positively is not significant by any margin. Before giving him the mandate in 2011, we loved the persona and carriage of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Perhaps he was in the right political party at the wrong position at the right time. “Right political party” because it is evident the PDP is capable of bearing good fruits as seen in some of its achievements (at least one can’t totally take all away from the PDP). And “Wrong position at the right time” because if one imagines it was Donald Duke or one of those excellent PDP governors in the South-south that was nominated as Yar’Adua’s running mate, our situation may have just been totally different. In any case, it is the PDP that produced Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan. I’ll recommend we try another political party at the federal government, at least for another 8 years. This is not necessarily because the opposition is better, but more because this sort of competition is excellent for our democracy. The notion that an opposing political party is capable of swaying votes and changing the government is healthy for democracy and development. All parties will have to be at their best and the country will surely be better for it as we have seen from examples in other leading democracies. Adedeji Adeyemi Political Analyst and Convener, Organising For Change mail@adedejiadeyemi.com B.Sc. Political Science (Redeemer’s University, Nigeria) M.A. International Relations (University of Birmingham, UK). [myad]
President Goodluck Jonathan has joined other world leaders in commiserating with King Salman Ibn Abdulaziz and the people of Saudi Arabia on the death of his predecessor, King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz.
In a condolence letter to the new Saudi Monarch, President Jonathan said that King Abdullah will also be long remembered for entrenching the process of progressive reform in his country.
The President said that he was confident that the existing cordial and mutually-beneficial relations between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia will be maintained and further strengthened under King Salman.
“I have received with great sadness, news of the death of His Highness, King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz at the grand age of 90.
“On behalf of the Government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences at the sad loss of this illustrious monarch and revered leader. Our thoughts go out to the people of Saudi Arabia and, particularly, the Saudi royal family at this time.
“King Abdullah will be remembered for entrenching the process of progressive reform, enduring stability and economic consolidation in Saudi Arabia, while preserving the Kingdom’s place as the universally acclaimed centre of the Islamic faith.
“While the Government and people of Nigeria share in your loss, we are hopeful that you and the entire people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be comforted by the enduring legacy of selfless service that King Abdullah leaves behind.
“As Your Highness ascends to the throne as King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, I am confident that the excellent fraternal relations and productive partnership that have always existed between our two countries and peoples will be further strengthened and deepened in the years ahead.” [myad]
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Jonathan’s Re-election: A Hopeless Pursuit Of Hope In Continuity, By Adedeji Adeyemi
Two-term Presidential Democracy is a beautiful and interesting idea of government in its fundamental assumptions and considerations. It has been established upon some rational thought in hope to sustain the values of democracy itself and to engender a climate for good governance. Because democracy is generally centered on the people, elections become a part and parcel of the system, where people, periodically, come to terms on who they want to lead or not to lead them.
2015 is here and the elections are in February (just some days away). We have got an interesting case at hand in this country and for me, the question is: should we re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan or should we hire another president? My answer is simple and clear. I say we hire a new president.
I will share in a moment the reasons behind my position after we examine some foundational tenets of two- term presidential democracy, which happens to be what we practice in Nigeria. This will help build-up to establishing my position.
Some of the rational thinking embraced by democrats for the support of a two-term presidency are as follows:
First, democracy is about the government of, for and by the people (utterly people centric). The right of the people to vie for election from time to time and also to exercise their power to elect their own government is simply to protect the people’s democratic right to a government of and by themselves. If there ever be a government elected of and by the people, who happens not to govern for the people, then the same people reserve the right to vote out such a government or vote for another to carry out government in the best interest of the people. This is a form of check on the government. A government can misgovern, but then, the people can decide to vote it out. As such, ideally, first-terms are periods of evaluation upon which the government’s re-election should be based. Therefore the idea that a government would have to seek re-election for a second-term becomes a sort of incentive that should propel performance in the first-term. Also, you want to guard against and prevent anti-democratic traps like a monarchical or life- presidency situation by ensuring one person does not politically polarize the country for life. The last point I will mention here is that you want to give room for a dynamic transition of government. Because life itself is dynamic and transitory so government has to be.
Situate this in Nigeria and you’ll conclude that the 2015 Nigeria general election is another test on the viability of our two-term presidential democracy.
Back to why I’m positioned and support that we hire a new president: it is simply because our democratic system gives us the opportunity to change a non-performing government. I don’t belong to any political party today but my frustration about how Nigeria has been governed dwells at two levels. First is at the Presidential Ticket level and second is at political party level.
At the presidential ticket level, Nigeria gave the mandate to President Jonathan in 2011. I was also a supporter of the Jonathan/Sambo ticket in 2011. The logic behind my support was simple; Jonathan emerged without the partisan realpolitik of the PDP. By this I mean, being the vice-president, a relatively insignificant position in Nigerian politics at the time, he (Jonathan) didn’t have to do much but just get nominated by the front-man, which was late President Yar’Adua. Vice-presidents are only constitutionally relevant to replace the president. The extent of their good to the government was the full prerogative of the president and you really don’t have to be a heavy weight politician to be nominated.
My imagination like most Nigerians was that this gentleman (Jonathan) had a clean slate on which he could really transform the country. He would be less susceptible to any arm-twisting by many trade-offs typical of the political process of securing a presidential ticket if he was to push himself forward from ground-zero. I thought, at least his providential ascension would grant him a good deal of insulation from many political interests that could force-his-hand.
More so, at the sentimental level, we all witnessed a quintessential common-man rise to power in what seemed to be a divine orchestration. The “I had no shoes” story of Jonathan resonated with millions of Nigerians; he seemed an embodiment of a political messiah. This was very okay for many people. The process upon which he emerged even engendered more sympathy towards his person as the country witnessed Yar’Adua’s cabal covet his chances of acting as president. Even when the dying president’s health was in serious doubt, he stayed gentlemanly throughout the entire process until the Senate invoked “the doctrine of necessity” and ultimately, Nigerians gave him a full mandate at the 2011 elections. We believed, we hoped, we trusted and then we stood with him. Jonathan promised transformation, “a breath of fresh air”, he actually promised a lot enough to catalogue.
Five years have happened to Nigeria since we elected Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to preside over government. It’s time to renew that mandate. Yes! It’s time all the principles and tenets of two-term presidential democracy come to play. We have reached a point of either choosing to continue with this government or change it. But I’m not in any doubt we have to change this government.
I rather change because I have the democratic right to vote out a government that doesn’t work for me after I hired it with my vote. In all fairness, I’m sure President Goodluck Jonathan can say the good things he has done for this country. But he has to be fair to over 100 million citizens of Nigeria that are still in poverty. His (Jonathan) government has not had any meaningful positive bearing on their livelihood. Democratic government is of the people, for the people and by the people. The government led by Dr. Jonathan has been of the people and by the people at 2011 elections, but for five years it has never shown up for the people. And that’s why we, the people will vote him out.
I ask some serious questions that we have to answer faithfully for ourselves and for our country, Nigeria. Do you think Jonathan will do the expectations of the people in a second-term? Is it when there’s no more significant incentive to concede to the will of the people we are expecting him to do the needful? Everyone observes that democratic leaders tend to be complacent in their second-terms because of the mindset that they are not returning anyway. Do you honestly think that Jonathan even has any incentive to perform if re- elected? I have answered these questions faithfully to myself and for my country and I have come to a firm conclusion without second-guessing to vote for change. I have now lost hope in Jonathan’s presidency and I am hopeless like many Nigerians that continuity in this direction will yield significant positive results. The only hope there can be is to change this government and hope.
The beauty of the ingenious two-term presidential system we practice grants us the power and periodical opportunity to hope again. If we discover there isn’t hope in a new government, we will also vote it out again after four years. But to stick to the status-quo is to accept everything that is careless, reckless, insensitive and poor about this government for another four years; it’s hopeless. As we seize another opportunity to decide on the future of our country, posterity bestows upon us a duty to elect the personnel that will carry out government in the interest of the general public and President Jonathan has clearly shown that’s not his forte.
President Jonathan inherited an economy where the crude oil price began to soar to unprecedented heights. The price has fluctuated near and above US$100 per barrel since February 2011 to August 2014. This means, as a nation, we earned more value from crude oil than ever before in the history of our nation. Sadly, we sight claims and counter claims of mismanagement, theft, squander and misappropriation of public funds. The government even agrees to losing revenues daily of about 400,000 barrels of oil due to illegal bunkering, vandalism and production shut-in. Impunity reigns supreme as we see no serious action to give a meaningful report to the public on these matter. Today, we are seeing an unprecedented drop in petrol dollar earnings; I
don’t see this government doing more with less. I suspect all pronouncement of the government on how it hopes to manage the situation because it has ever been reputable for paying lip service to its duties.
Many allegations of corruption on government officials fly in the dailies and we witness blatant passive reactions to these. So much scandal on corruption that it is almost seen as normalcy when headlines of news agencies carry billions of dollar figures on corruption allegations. It is so precarious that a former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, who is also reputable for engendering large scale corruption in Nigeria during his military tenure, caled his cohorts at that time saints if they were to be compared to this government. As a matter of fact, the president even finds it hard in his own language to differentiate between stealing and corruption. I’m utterly afraid of this government because Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has shown time and time again that he presides over a government that is simply not willing to confront corruption resolutely. From the look of things do you think President Jonathan even in another term will fight corruption just because he has started promising to fight corruption in his campaign for re-election? Well, you can’t be entirely sure though, but you can take an educated guess.
This stance of the government has put our economy on a free fall. It doesn’t matter how much we earn as a nation, it doesn’t even matter what they say our GDP is, as long as the inequality gap is not breached, we will never taste the dividends of democracy. Again, it doesn’t matter how much the increase in megawatts the country has gained in this government, as long as you don’t have electric power supply, then it counts for nothing. Nigerians don’t even want an 11, 7 or 5 point agenda. All we want is one-point power agenda. Fix power in the smartest innovative and effective way and see how it bears on the life of every Nigerian. And to be frank, I won’t bet on the approach and politricks of this government to fix power within another four years.
After several calls on the president since the abduction of over 200 girls in a school in Chibok, he has only found it important to visit Maiduguri after 9 months. What message do you pass to the people with that sort of disposition? The people are angry at this type of decorum that forsakes the poor and down trodden. The president won’t go there at the heat of things but he’ll make efforts when it’s close to elections in February. Whether that’s a right judgment or not, you will forgive those that bear that feel that way easier than you will forgive the president for his poor handling of such a dire situation.
One can observe countless faults in this government. If you allow a thorough evaluation, you would write a serial. It’s even harder to determine what the president stands for, what he is strong on and what his boundaries are. But Nigerians won’t crucify him, even though Doyin Okupe, one of his Senior Special Assistants has likened him to Jesus Christ – they will only not vote him again.
Voting President Jonathan out will be the most important message Nigerians will send to politicians and political parties – that power truly belongs to the people. At every point in time Nigeria has been dissatisfied about a government they voted into power, it had always been the military that was forced to change the government in what eventually turns out to be worse. This time the people can do it and the elections in February will show. Like the US, Japan and India came to a point in their history where they had to vote out the same government they voted in for not performing, the time for Nigeria has come.
As a matter of fact, Jonathan is not the alpha neither is he the omega of Nigeria’s problems. And this brings me to the second level at which my frustration about how Nigeria is governed dwells – the political party level. In as much as I personally advocate a change of government based on the fact that for five already, the government has failed the people, continuing with the same political party that has had the chance at the federal level for 16 years has to be also questioned. So far, the ruling party, PDP has produced three presidents for Nigeria. On the graph of performance, the line has moved from top to bottom in succession of presidents. In our recent democratic history, the popularity of the president has only been this low when President Obasanjo attempted a third-term bid. In fact, President Goodluck’s current popularity is at the lowest as it manifests in how his politics divides opinion and loyalty within his own party.
And here’s my frustration: 16 years of time in any generation is a great time to see landmark attainments through. When you cut through the clutters and get down to the common man on the street in Nigeria, the only landmark attainment that has had a significant bearing on lives at the bottom is the telecommunication revolution, saw through by the Obasanjo administration. Any other attainment that anyone can classify as major either has no significant bearing on lives of the general masses or has been marred by corruption over time. By “significant bearing on lives at the bottom” I mean, If it is correct that we have over 100 million Nigerians in poverty, then any policy that doesn’t affect at least 10 million (10%) poor Nigerians positively is not significant by any margin.
Before giving him the mandate in 2011, we loved the persona and carriage of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Perhaps he was in the right political party at the wrong position at the right time. “Right political party” because it is evident the PDP is capable of bearing good fruits as seen in some of its achievements (at least one can’t totally take all away from the PDP). And “Wrong position at the right time” because if one imagines it was Donald Duke or one of those excellent PDP governors in the South-south that was nominated as Yar’Adua’s running mate, our situation may have just been totally different. In any case, it is the PDP that produced Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan. I’ll recommend we try another political party at the federal government, at least for another 8 years. This is not necessarily because the opposition is better, but more because this sort of competition is excellent for our democracy. The notion that an opposing political party is capable of swaying votes and changing the government is healthy for democracy and development. All parties will have to be at their best and the country will surely be better for it as we have seen from examples in other leading democracies.
Adedeji Adeyemi Political Analyst and Convener, Organising For Change mail@adedejiadeyemi.com
B.Sc. Political Science (Redeemer’s University, Nigeria) M.A. International Relations (University of Birmingham, UK). [myad]