Christians, Beware Of Dogs! SHARON FALIYA CHAM Comments In the run up to the year 2007 general elections, as early as May 2006 he threatened to sack any member of his cabinet who didn’t support his 2007 political ambition so much that a group called The Bayelsa Patriotic Front (BAPAF) berated him for this threat on page 4 of the THIS DAY newspaper of Saturday, May 27, 2006. The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Philip Opongote, was quoted saying that ‘’given the circumstance in which Gov Jonathan became the substantive governor of the state, he ought to show greater concern for the ethos of democracy by allowing freedom of association, and above all, think of how to improve the lives of the impoverished Bayelsa people.’’ Mr. Opongote further expressed worry that ‘’the early focus the governor has devoted to the political contest, whose nature is still fluidy (sic) and about a year ahead, will serve as great distraction to the business of governance….’’ There you have precedence to how and why President Jonathan often sacks ministers who are either loyal to state governors he doesn’t like or they don’t seem to be keen on his political desires. This is the attribute of very selfish persons, and all through President Jonathan’s six years as President, he has amply demonstrated that all that matters to him is his morbid political interest even if the entire nation was going to sink as Nigerians and the entire world have noticed in his brazen intolerance and subversion of institutions of state like the following: shutting down airports against his political opponents,grounding their aircrafts from flying,locking up courts and having thugs beat up judges in the presence of policemen,locking up State Assemblies with the aid of policemen for 7 airheaded ‘’lawmakers’’ to impeach a Speaker in a parliament of 26 members,commissioning 5 airhead ‘’lawmakers’’ in another state parliament of 32 members to destabilise the state against the governor,destabilising and disuniting the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) by immorally and unethically recognising the loser of the election of the group’s chairman as the chairman,ordering policemen to block a governor from accessing his official residence,ordering a mere police DPO to disrupt a meeting of governors not favourably disposed to him,stationing heavily armed soldiers on a major highway to stop some governors from accessing another state by road so that the election in that state could be successfully rigged against the opposition, ordering policemen to seal up the offices of a breakaway faction of his party,marking for demolition the properties of politicians not favourably disposed to his selfish and worthless political career,sealing up of newspaper houses for nothing,withdrawing the security cover of the Speaker of the House of Representatives simply because he chose to defect from their vain and inglorious party even when a fortnight before the Speaker defected, a governor and his state’s parliament speaker defected from another party to the PDP and no security cover was withdrawn from them,and the sealing up of the National Assembly to prevent the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives and other lawmakers from accessing it to perform their legitimate business, and the tear gassing of the same people for daring to break the illegal cordon. In the history of Nigeria, no ruler has been this corrupt, brutal, indecent, intolerant, selfish, divisive and contemptuous of law and order like this President has proven to be, and all of that by a President seeking re-election? Which means if he isn’t seeking re-election he will do worst things against his opponents and against the Nigerian state. And the Lord Jesus Christ in describing such people said in Matthew chapter 7 verse 17 that ‘’Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.’’ And because it is usually difficult to assess or evaluate human beings by their bodily or facial appearance, because there are people who always look as harmless as doves on the outside while being extremely malicious and evil on the inside, the Lord Jesus Christ said in verse 20 that ‘’Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them’’, which again proves that in leadership recruitment, you must consider the fruits of the candidates under consideration, and these fruits are nothing but the person’s record in public or private service plus their ethics and relationships, and that’s why the Holy Bible underscores this also by commanding us to ‘’Prove all things’’ before making decisions, and that’s why it is baffling how CAN and the highflying team of ‘’Men and women of God’’ in Nigeria arrived at endorsing and campaigning for this brand of Christian to be ruler while knowing quite right that merely being a Christian does not automatically qualify one to be a good and worthy person, otherwise the Lord Jesus Christ wouldn’t have said in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 7 that ‘’Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.’’ And what is that will of the Father Christ was talking about as it relates to this matter? It is simply making every effort to prove all things about the candidates and abide by the provisions enshrined in Exodus chapter 18 verse 21. Human looks could be extremely deceptive, and that’s why one of the greatest prophets in the Holy Bible, prophet Samuel, nearly fell for mere looks when he went to anoint a king for the nation of Israel until the Lord God Almighty saved the day for him by telling him the right person, and then made him understand that while men look on the outside, He God looks on the inside – the heart of men – because the heart of a man is what cooks the fruits that will be exhibited by that same man, and that’s why Christ emphasises for us to always look for the fruits instead of the tree itself. Therefore, checking up on candidate Jonathan shouldn’t and couldn’t have been difficult for CAN or any religious leader or any person for that matter, for there are enough libraries across the country to check up press and media coverage of his public life apart from even making direct enquiries in Bayelsa state. And, moreover, don’t we all know that pastors always recommend intending couples to do due diligence check on each other before tying the nuptial knots, and don’t parents even do the same for their children? And, is he a democrat? Does he believe in morality in politics and political pluralism? Well, his stand and support for President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Third Term Agenda clearly betrays his fecklessness as a politician. The THIS DAY newspaper called the state governors who supported President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Third Term Agenda as THE GREEDY CHOIR. At least that’s the title the influential newspaper gave to their cover story of Saturday, February 25, 2006, which ran from pages 57 to 60, and which listed all the state governors that were supporting and sponsoring the Third Term Agenda, and they were Governors Ayodele Fayose (Ekiti State), Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun State), Olusegun Agagu (Ondo State), Olugbenga Daniel (Ogun State), Adebayo Alao-Akala (Oyo State), Ali Modu Sheriff (Borno State), Danjuma Goje (Gombe State), Adamu Mu’azu (Bauchi State), James Ibori (Delta State), Goodluck Jonathan (Bayelsa State), Peter Odili (Rivers State), Abdullahi Adamu (Nassarawa State), Sam Egwu (Ebonyi State), Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu State), and Achike Udenwa (Imo State). According to the newspaper’s analysis, those state governors were either supporting the agenda because the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was on their neck for corruption cases involving them, or because they also stood to enjoy a third term as governors, and in the case of Governor Goodluck Jonathan, the paper claimed that his support was to show some gratitude to President Obasanjo for upstaging Alamieyeseigha and making him governor. In fact, the paper reported that ‘’The presidency kept and fed Jonathan in Abuja until the ‘’capture’’ of Alamieyeseigha’’ in London for money laundering, and that it was also a huge opportunity for Jonathan to use incumbency powers to edge out other politicians aspiring to be Bayelsa governor in 2007. Governor Goodluck Jonathan was to later justify their support for the Third Term Agenda by saying they considered President Obasanjo as having ‘’the capability to stabilise the country’’ which was the common excuse being bandied about by the entire pro – Third Termers at that time (see page 6 of THIS DAY newspaper of Tuesday, June 13, 2006). Should we also talk about how he brazenly denied the existence of a political power zoning agreement in his party, the PDP? All that has come and gone, and we as a nation are saddled with the sad consequences of having a ruler who denies what he appends his signature to, a ruler that cannot go to any primary school to teach kids morality, or teach business and political science students the imperative of honouring business agreements and commitments, and it is not as if that was a one-off thing that happened only in the year 2010. Rather, even after he and his party’s stakeholders trashed out an agreement towards the end of year 2010 that he will serve for only one term as President and then allow the zoning arrangement which he selfishly truncated to continue, he still came out without shame and contrition to deny ever negotiating and agreeing to a one term pact in spite of overwhelming evidences to that fact in the public domain. There was palpable tension in their party and the nation generally in the year 2010 over the demand of northern Nigerian PDP politicians to have the region complete Yar’adua’s tenure that was cut short by his death, and which was in tandem with their party’s zoning agreement. But President Jonathan, basking under the euphoria and drunkenness of power that just landed on his lap at that, blatantly denied there was any such agreement, and when the agreement was published on pages 60 and 61 of THE NATION newspaper of Wednesday, May 12, 2010 showing Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as number 35 in the list of the PDP national stakeholders who met and trashed out the agreement, he and his supporters quickly changed their coarse song to that of a farcical argument that any such agreements are unconstitutional, that the federal constitution guarantees him the right to contest without telling Nigerians the portion of the country’s constitution that forbids political parties, individuals or business concerns from negotiating and reaching agreements that will enhance their smooth and peaceful operations. And moreover, is there any part of the world where politics is not about various interest groups making concessions through agreements? If any country’s constitution does not allow politicians to trash out agreements, then it is as good as saying such a constitution does not also recognise the existence of political parties because parties are always built and sustained by agreements negotiated by all the interest groups in them, and then individuals will run for political offices as individual persons and not on any symbolic platform if that were the case. In any case, in realising that Goodluck Jonathan and their party cannot ‘’win’’ the 2011 presidential election under the prevailing tense situation, the party managed to reach some accommodation with all sides through a pact that seemed to be a win-win situation for all sides, and that pact was for President Goodluck Jonathan to serve only for one term after which presidential power will come to the north. This one term pact was a major news item on the African Independent Television (AIT) news broadcast and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) news broadcast of December 16, 2010, which reported and showed the Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shema briefing the media after a long meeting that 20 PDP governors and President Goodluck Jonathan and other stakeholders have agreed and signed a pact whereby President Jonathan would serve for only one term, which will end on the 29th of May 2015. And very importantly, prior to the reaching of this one term deal, THE NATION ON SUNDAY newspaper of August 8, 2010 on page 65 exclusively reported a story titled ‘New power sharing deal likely’. The paper’s Managing Editor, Yusuf Alli, who reported the story wrote that ‘’Fresh facts emerged yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may come up with a new power sharing deal to appease aggrieved Northern elders, especially members of G-15. Notable northern leaders like former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma have expressed preference for the retention of the zoning formula…. ‘’It was learnt yesterday that the new pact may leave President Goodluck Jonathan with an option of one term in office if he wins on the ticket of the PDP. If the horse-trading succeeds, the 10 pro-zoning Northern governors may drop their campaign. ‘’By 2015, The Nation learnt yesterday, the North may enjoy power shift of a fresh eight-year term of presidency. ‘’Investigation by The Nation revealed that the new pact may form an integral agenda at the meetings of the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Enlarged Caucus of the PDP scheduled for next week. ‘’According to findings, the new power sharing pact is one of the negotiating weapon (sic) of those who want the zoning formula altered….. ‘’It was gathered that why PDP leaders are prepared to resolve the zoning logjam is because time is no longer on the side of the party….’’ Did you see how and why the PDP entered the 2011 elections as one and united family in spite of the heated rage and tension within them just before the campaigns commenced, and how they were united in allocating to themselves electoral figures they clearly didn’t deserve? Well, along the same lines, the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of December 15, 2010 had the party’s chairman at that time, Chief Nwodo, announcing that President Jonathan has agreed to forgo his right for a second term in order to allow peace to reign in the party, and prior to this, Jonathan’s campaign organisation’s Director – General, Senator Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, told the media on September 17, 2010 that Jonathan was going to be a one term President. During the Grand finale of Jonathan’s campaign for the 2011 presidential election on March 26, 2011 at Abuja’s Eagles Square, his mentor and chief backer at that time, former President Obasanjo, also confirmed to the world that President Jonathan has agreed to serve for only one term, and Obasanjo described it as a great sacrifice for which he appealed to Nigerians and other people within the PDP still bitter to support Jonathan to win and serve for that single term he willingly agreed to. Not long after that, President Jonathan himself affirmed that decision at their party’s NEC meeting in July 2011 apart from similar statements he made in Ethiopia and Uganda. In any case, his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Reuben Abati also confirmed his boss’s commitment to a one term pact at a press briefing on the 28th of July 2011, and The Guardian newspaper of Friday, July 29, 2011 boldly captured it on their front page headline that ‘’I won’t stay in office beyondb2015, Jonathan insists’’. However, with all these overwhelming evidences that President Jonathan did, indeed, enter into a one-term pact with his party’s stakeholders, yet he brazenly lied on national television that there was no such pact, and even, with a pierced and seared conscience, challenged anyone holding such a pact to present it to the public, and this was after it was rumoured that the paper documenting the pact was being kept by a truculent South-South Governor after the Northern Governors were foolish enough not to make copies of the pact for themselves. But, in any case, even if they had made copies, President Jonathan was not going to honour it in tandem with his character of not honouring the zoning pact that was much earlier made, and which he signed, and which there were copies available in the public domain, and that is why the recent call by former External Affairs Minister, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, that President Jonathan and General Buhari should sign a post-election peace bond was needless, because there is nothing in the President’s character to suggest he could ever honour any agreement or pact or bond with anybody, and, in any case, a monumental violence craftily weaved for the 2015 presidential election in the name of ‘’Boko Haram’’ has already been on since 2011 till date in northern Nigeria. So, what post-election violence was Professor Bolaji Akinyemi talking about? The fact that such people who dishonour pacts along with those who help and encourage them to be this morally bankrupt are as nauseating as a broken public septic tank can be gleaned from the crisis of the Nigerian Governors Forum and the crisis deliberately generated against Governor Rotimi Amaechi in Rivers state to make the state ‘’ungovernable for him’’ for daring to stand against the impunity of people who love and caress impunity. During the NGF crisis, there were some northern governors that threatened or even outrightly pulled out of the Northern Governors Forum on the premise that they had all agreed at a meeting to back Governor Jonah Jang as their consensus candidate for the Nigerian Governors Forum chairmanship election, but that the bulk of the northern governors reneged and backed Governor Amaechi instead, and therefore, according to them, they could not stay among people who cannot abide by any collective agreement. And the sad and irritating thing about these governors was they were among those who encouraged President Jonathan to deny the existence of any one term pact, and have even become his chief promoters at the expense of any modicum of honour. And in Rivers State itself, one of such people who were shouting on top of rooftops that President Jonathan did not sign any one term pact and that even if he had signed any such agreement with anybody it wasn’t backed by constitutional law was former House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Prince Chibudom Nwuche. In trying to justify the crisis they contrived against Governor Amaechi in the state whereby 5 lawmakers out of 32 were being engineered to impeach him, Prince Chibudom Nwuche, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, which was published on page 25 of The PUNCH newspaper of Monday, December 9, 2013, said ‘’Before the 2011 general elections, the political stakeholders in Rivers State agreed that we would support President Goodluck Jonathan and ensure that he succeeds and completes his constitutionally guaranteed tenure. So, the attempt by Governor Rotimi Amaechi to reverse the agreement is the cause of the friction. If people sit down and agree that this is what we should do and you go behind to negotiate another thing, it is a betrayal of the whole zone and calls for friction…… The issue is the difference in world views and my underlying belief that politics must be about the welfare of the people and played with honour and integrity.’’ Don’t laugh, please, as this is a serious national issue, and it is coming from someone helping someone to dishonour agreements, and they are angry because someone also has denied or breached their own agreement, which is in tandem with their own attitude and character of not honouring agreements.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 05:34:05 +0000
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