I am not one of those who think former
President Goodluck Jonathan is the worst thing that happened to Nigeria
after God made Satan like a lot of Nigerians think currently.
Nigerians have an unusual capacity to
take in the dramatic. We are drawn in by the eloquence of men and when
such fluency is combined with some elements of drama, we mostly lose the
tendency for soundness. I try to detach myself from that mob reasoning
whose motivation is most often discovered not more than some tempest in a
teapot.
The level of unreasonableness and
rapidity of presumptions have even now worsened with the capacity of the
social media to sell falsehood and untested information. Like the
downpour that lumps the chicken and pigeon together, social media has
conjoined folly and wisdom in a marriage of perpetual discomfort.
I recently saw a Facebook post,
which got me wondering what a lot of us Nigerians make of the reality of
life and living. The post sought to know why the Supreme Being ever
allowed a man like Jonathan to rule Nigeria. And when I saw it, I felt
that the error therein define Nigerians’ perception of the necessary
ingredients for the development of their country. Expectedly, that post
gained some traction but I disagree with it on two fronts.
For starters, does God decide who
becomes President in any country? Do we realise that the choices that we
make ultimately determine what happens.
For example, would President Muhammadu
Buhari be in office if Christians prayed round the clock and Muslims sat
on their mats without casting their votes on March 28, 2015? Wouldn’t
Buhari be back in Daura tending his cattle without the interventions of
mortals?
Reminds me of a story I read in The
Believer’s Authority, one of the classic offerings of the late American
Pentecostal preacher, Kenneth Hagin. He told of how Jesus Christ
appeared in a vision to teach him about the authority that a believer
has. In the course of their discussion, an evil spirit appeared, making a
lot of noise and causing a cloud which made it impossible for him to
see Jesus. Hagin waited for Jesus to do something but he didn’t. The
preacher said he later came to himself, rebuked the spirit, saw it hit
the floor like a bag of salt and then the cloud cleared and he could see
Jesus again. Thereafter, Jesus explained that if Hagin did nothing
about the situation, there was nothing he, Jesus, could do as he already
completed his own job years back! This is one fact that Nigerians,
especially Christians, must wrap their heads around. There are things
that God cannot do for us!
Secondly, I think it is totally unfair
to judge Jonathan only on the basis of current alarming revelations of
sleaze. Here, I should be clear, corruption is horrible and everyone
found culpable by our courts should be made to pay for their misdeeds
but we need to put these issues in perspective.
One understands that Nigerians are angry
with Jonathan on the assumption that the current vulnerable state of
the economy is a direct effect of the volume of monies allegedly stolen
under his watch but that is not exactly so. Nigeria’s economy is at its
prostrate state because successive leaders failed to put action behind
the rhetoric about diversifying the economy.
In spite of all the instances of theft
and pilfering that have recently been revealed, Nigeria will not be at
this state of affairs if crude oil still sold for say $100 per barrel.
The situation with the price of crude oil has left many economies
globally in dire straits. Russia, Saudi Arabia. Canada and Venezuela are
currently on differing levels of struggles due to this crunch.
Unfortunately, we do not seem to have
learnt much from this situation. This administration is in the main;
seems to concentrate diversification efforts on commodities and the
extractive industries rather than exploring manufacturing, the enormous
human resources as well as the creative and tourism potential of the
country. Even then, budgetary allocation for Agriculture in the 2016
budget does not reflect the urgency with which Nigeria needs to
diversify.
Then, if we did not have a Jonathan who
was not desperate to remain in office, could the 2015 elections have
gone so smoothly? Some argue that then chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, would not have
allowed any manipulation but a president whose eyes were set on a second
term would not have appointed a Jega in the first place!
Again, Jonathan did more than this. I do
not remember any administration doing as much as Jonathan did to revamp
and modernise agriculture. The YouWin Enterprise initiative, even if
tokenistic, was an innovative employment generation programme which
encouraged entrepreneurship and empowered hundreds of Nigerian youths.
YouWIN was the first time I saw people benefiting from a national scheme
without recommendations from some highly placed individuals. Modest
attempts were made under Jonathan to rebuild a few institutions while
the capacity of our security forces to respond to crimes cannot be said
to be the same as in 2010. Not too long ago, the Minister of Power,
Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, was quoted as acknowledging that
Jonathan built more roads than any previous government in Nigeria while
the strides made in the reform of power, provided a pedestal for this
administration to build on. The Jonathan administration also attempted
to save by setting up a Sovereign Wealth Fund.
In spite of whatever strides he made however, some character flaws would deny him the crown for good governance.
One is his deficit in courage. Jonathan
came across as a man who could take a stand in power. Someone who
listens to every opinion without committing to anything. The inability
of Jonathan to curb many of those who worked with him from the mindless
plundering of the nation is a case in point. Reference can also be made
to the excesses of his wife, Patience and Chief Edwin Clark who has now
done a Judas on him.
A corollary to this is the penchant of
the former President to speak out of turn. While in government, Jonathan
hardly said anything right at the appropriate time. When he spoke, he
did with a lot of slips some of which accounts for the whittling down of
his popularity. Till date, Nigerians remember sound bites, like “I
don’t give a damn about asset declaration”, “stealing is not corruption”
and many other faux pas.
Even now, the former president has yet
to see the memo. At this time when his closest aides are answering
corruption charges, Jonathan should be courageous enough to step out and
explain the circumstances around the allegations against his
administration. He is not the one on trial at the moment and he should
be bold enough to take on this government which is determined to rubbish
his administration or savour the dignity of silence until he is called
upon to account.
But as this administration and Nigerians
continue to probe the past, not paying attention to the weakness of our
national institutions will make it all futile.
The inefficiency of our bureaucracy, the
hypocrisy of our political elite, the betrayal of public trust by the
National Assembly, a unique body meant to check the excesses of other
arms of government and protect the people must be addressed without let.
If all the stories of fleece under
Jonathan are true, how does the National Assembly exculpate itself from
this grand conspiracy against the people? How can Nigeria continue with
anti-corruption agencies which wait on executive prompting before
getting to work, one which summarily appropriates the roles of courts?
How do we reform a Central Bank that flouts its own process on the altar
of political convenience ruining thereby the monetary policy of the
state and destroying the national economy?
The problem with our leaders, to my
mind, is not as much a question of their personal idiosyncrasies as it
is the failure of democratic institutions to perform their
constitutional roles. Even President Buhari is on this path now unless
something gives and everyone holds the ball firmly. For, do not less us
deceive ourselves, there are no good men in public office, only
institutions can restrain leaders from executive waywardness.
Twitter:@niranadedokun
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