NIGERIA FOR CHANGE ASSOCIATION Suite 306, Copper House, Zone 5, Wuse, ABUJA nigeria4changeassoc@gmail 08069182472; 08189158685 WE MUST VOTE OUT PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN 1.0 INTRODUCTION The 2015 general elections is at the corner, February 14, 2015 and February 28, 2015. This is a decisive period for the destiny of the nation. It is a singular opportunity for the people, who are constantly at the receiving end of poor governance, to act, come out en masse to vote, to give decent burial to poor governance. 2.0 ELECTORATES’ APARTHY It is common knowledge that majority of Nigerians are apathetic to voting. While we can grumble about poor governance, we are indifferent to active participation in elections. When we are fail to participate in elections, we have surrendered and forfeited our precious power to decide who rules us and engender a condition for anti – people government. 2.1 Mercantile Electorates Many Nigerians out of perception that the government is for people in power and that incumbent government must effectively rig elections in its favour, engage in electoral mercantilism. By this, electorates seek money and other forms of gratification as condition for voting in a particular way. Poor governance engenders electoral mercantilism, which in turn sustains it. This explains why PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan raised N21billion from obviously corrupt, criminal and abuse of office sources to enlist, entrench and patronize mercantile electorates. By electoral mercantilism, people are made to trade in their power to decide who rule them and sanction inept, corrupt, distant and callous government. While the motivations for mercantile electorates may range from grinding poverty, aparthy, aggressive self interest to ignorance, the crucial implication is the capacity of these mercantile electorates deciding for the nation as good and sensible electorates stay away from elections. 2.2 The Precious Right and Power of Voting We are yet to understand that the right to vote at elections is the greatest privilege democracy affords the people. It is the solemn and sacred opportunity to exercise their sovereignty. Regrettably, most Nigerians take the right to vote for granted, as periodic inconvenience and opportunity for motivation rather than great right and opportunity to sanction poor governance. Many Nigerians are indifferent to elections, they can criticize and lament the weight of poor governance but when it matters most, voting, they are distant and regard the exercise as undue inconvenience or opportunity to risk being shot by political thugs. If we understand the power in the right to vote, we can sacrifice everything for elections. By not voting, we have empowered the mercantile electorates to decide for us. While the mercantile electorates have received money, be it two thousand Naira (N2,000.00) for the next four years, the aparthetic electorates have received nothing and have to endure the wages of poor governance for the next four years. The wages of poor governance are heavy, horrendous and deadly that nothing is too much to sacrifice to participate in elections and voting according to the best public interest judgment. The consequences of corruption, poor infrastructure (power, roads, health, education, etc.) insecurity, lawlessness and callous governance are enough motivations to go for voting even in the face of threat from political thugs. 2.3 Aparthetic Electorates Gain of Incumbent Poor Government When the public are aparthetic to elections they have empowered the incumbent poor government to continue be in power with it poor governance system. It is therefore necessary for the people to passionately and courageously fight to make sure they vote. 3.0 PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ARE CORRUPTION INFRASTRUCTURE To say that PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are corrupt is an understatement; they are not just corruption personified but corruption infrastructure. 3.1 Granting of State Pardon to Alamieyeseigha The pardon of convicted former Governor of Bayelsa State, Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha who was convicted in 2008 for embezzling more than $10 million of State funds, was classified by the US 2013 Country Report on Nigeria (The Guardian, March 6, 2014, front page to page 2), quite correctly, as “the most offending action of Nigerian Government”. Alamieyeseigha confessed committing the offence and benefitted from the controversial “Plea Bargain” that resulted in him being sentenced to just two years imprisonment and forfeiture of property. He jumped bail in the United Kingdom and escaped to Nigeria in the most disgraceful and embarrassing manner at international arena. How could a character like Alamieyeseigha qualify for a State Pardon under President Goodluck Jonathan is difficult to decipher except the obvious transformation of corruption to horrific spectacle. 3.2 Nolle Prosequi for Mohammed Abacha The political metamorphosis in Kano State following the decampment of the Kano State Governor, Dr. (Engr.) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to APC, engineered a political desperation in President Goodluck Jonathan. He found fortress in Mohammed Abacha and the political inducement is to sacrifice the pending corruption case against him. The office of the Hon. Attorney General and Minister of Justice was drafted to withdraw the corruption charges against him. 3.3 Corruption Redefined as Politics for Imperial President Goodluck Jonathan President Goodluck Jonathan sees nothing wrong with corruption so long the corrupt officials remain politically loyal to him. One can engage in corruption free and safe as long as political interest of President Goodluck Jonathan is protected. While President Goodluck Jonathan could brush aside conscience, public morality and law to grant State Pardon to Alamieyeseigha and enter Nolle Prosequi for Mohammed Abacha, he is busy using EFCC against Timipre Sylva, former Governor of Bayelsa for a purported laundering of about N5Billion ($31.4 million) of funds belonging to Bayelsa State. Timipre Sylva is of opposition party, APC. The impeachment of Adamawa Governor, Murtala Nyako, for corrupt practices allegedly committed during his first tenure and second tenure when he was in PDP and becoming punishable with impeachment upon decamping to APC is horrific and shameful for any genuine fight for eradication of corruption. 3.4 Killing Anti–Corruption Agencies The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been crippled under President Goodluck Jonathan because under him corruption is a sweet and safe game. The Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has been rendered a lame duck. 3.5 Avoiding Corruption by Name but Penetrating it Boundlessly President Goodluck Jonathan would not like to be associated with corruption by name but in practical terms, he is corruption personified. He corruptly defeated internal democracy of PDP through a contraption called “Adoption”. 3.6 Politicization of Corruption for Alienation and Annihilation of Nigerian People Politicization of corruption amounts to unlawful, morally reprehensible, grave abuse of office for enrichment of oneself and favoured individuals at the expense of Nigerian people that the embezzled funds are meant to cater for their wellbeing. 3.7 Corruption: The Greatest Evil of Governance No act of poor governance is as devastating and destructive of the nation and its people as corruption. Corruption involves breaking the law, abuse of office, foreclosure of opportunities, privatisation of the State, internal colonialism and robbing the nation and its people for oneself and favoured individuals. It is manifested in infrastructural decay, pauperization of the people, massive loss of jobs, poor services at huge cost and callousness to the welfare of the people. Where corruption can be established against a leader, such leader deserves to be removed and severely punished. However, since the system has been compromised as part of the corruption architecture, the people can only speak against corruption by voting out a corrupt regime as President Jonathan’s PDP Government. 3.8 Socializing and Glamourizing Corruption While the Constitution provides that “the State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power” (Section 15(5)), PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan unenviably, do not just entrench and deepen corruption, they have socialized and glamourized corruption to the point that Nigerians see it as a way of life. Even to the most educated, like Mr. President himself, to the stack illiterate, corruption is a way of life. Top leadership of the Government, like Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala, would say that “if you fight corruption, corruption will fight back”. This is a bold defeatist and accommodative statement for corruption. Corruption is strong enough to fight back because Mr. President, the ultimate authority in our presidentialism is complacent and accessory after the fact to the corruption infrastructure. 4.00 SUPPORTING AND OPPOSING PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ARE FOR MONEY Any person and group coming up to support PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are looking for money. At the same time any person and group opposing PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are looking for money. If any person and group support President Goodluck Jonathan without a currently valid godfather(s) is a total waste of time and resources. 4.1 PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan Rule by Creation and Perpetration of Poverty PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan rule by creation and perpetration of poverty which explains the monetization of every issue. They have no pro-poor policy but sustained anti–poor policy–hyper inflationary trend, continuous job losses and creation of a narrow super rich for themselves, their friends and cronies. They privatized critical public companies to themselves, their friends and cronies without regard to competence, paying true value for the companies compromising regulating institutions and imposing intense job losses and poor services. Owing to gross incompetence, anti–nationalistic drive and war against the people, PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan for themselves, friends and cronies, embarked on massive foreign content for the privatized public companies that immediately imposed job losses, massive capital expatriation and loss of technical knowledge without improved services. This is clearly exemplified by the famed but fraudulent privatization of the power sector. The massive corruption, fraud and criminality in the oil sector is a pointer to the creation and perpetration of poverty by PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan. There is no trustworthy metering of our oil production. Fraud on oil transactions typified by the missing $20billion by NNPC is an eye opener. Refusal to establish refineries but sustaining oil importation and subsidy scam are indications of creation and perpetration of poverty. The emergence of oil theft at colossal proportion that is both huge financial losses and aggravation of ecological devastation for which there is no prosecution even when the Naval authority laboured in vain to arrest them. Recently, Naval authority said that oil theft is linked to transnational oil companies. Who can trust them when the oil mafia could raise N5billion to support re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan for their peace for the next four years? The principle of ruling by creation and perpetration of poverty is based on the consideration that it is cheaper and easier to rule hungry people than ruling well fed people. Pervasive poverty makes people open to easy electoral bribery and manipulation; such people believe in live for the moment tendency and can kill or die for a pot of porridge. The poor people turn unto God for solace and when President Goodluck Jonathan engages in annual Christian Pilgrimage to Israel and junketing from one Church to another, he thought of creating opiating effect but a clear anti–Christ gesture. He destroyed our health sector by promoting the horrendous culture of strike, under–funding and infrastructural decay. Politicizing poverty results in foreclosure of opportunity and hopelessness. To a poor man, tomorrow is a luxury. Poverty that moves people to God creates redemptive movement of Boko Haram proportion. It also embolden and enlists people to violent criminalities like armed robbery and kidnapping. President Goodluck Jonathan is not disturbed by the wave of crimes of armed robbery and kidnapping because he cannot be reached. He luxuriantly kidnapped his mother to Aso Rock’s safe heaven while he left his cousins and uncles for kidnapping by hungry youth. 4.2 PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are in Power for private and primitive purposes PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan represent ruthless and vicious internal colonialism. The primary drive and purpose for PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan for power are for conquest of State Treasury and looting it with Luciferous mindedness. For PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan, the psycho–sociology of politics is aggressive self–interest and assassination of conscience. Not too long ago, President Goodluck Jonathan said that Nigeria is not a poor country. He defended his position by saying that when he visited Kenya, the number of Nigerians that came in their private jets show that Nigeria is not a poor country. President Goodluck Jonathan has formulated the use of ownership of private jet as the test of determining poverty. He has, in aggressive self–interest and assassination of conscience, forgot his background and condition of his people in Bayelsa State as in other parts of Nigeria. PDP and Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency turn people they favour into billionaires overnight. Prof. Jerry Gana, who could not pay rent some years ago in Abuja like most of us, now, belongs to billionaire club that he and his friends could donate N5billion for President Goodluck Jonathan’s re–election bid. PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan have no regard for the people. Any reference to public interest is symbolic, crafted to opiate and deceive the people and create opportunity for looting of State Treasury on such ticket. For example, if the public complains of non–funding of the Police, they will raise billions of Naira for renovation of Police Barracks and purchasing of vehicles. The contracts will be awarded at hyper inflated prices and at the end poor or no services rendered. The contractors are themselves. 4.3 PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan Hate Nigeria and Nigerians The pervasive corruption, luxurious and extravagant life–style, massive capital expatriation and medical tourism by people in power on one hand and grinding poverty, life uncertainties occasioned by poor infrastructure, grave insecurity, mass unemployment, unemployability and environmental disaster for the overwhelming majority, show that PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan hate Nigeria and Nigerians. PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are primarily in power for the security and welfare of the people. They disregarded this purpose and horrendously substituted it with own private and primitive purposes. 5.0 PDP AS A CAPTIVE POLITICAL PARTY TO PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN PDP is not an open, free and fair political party as envisaged by the founding fathers. PDP is currently a closed, mafioso like, arrogant, exclusive and exclusionary political party, dubiously captive to the whims and caprices of President Goodluck Jonathan. He took the precedent set by Obasanjo to its zenith . 5.1 PDP is About Sycophantic and Automotive Loyalty to President Goodluck Jonathan PDP being fashioned on “come and eat” that entails aggressive self–interest and assassination of conscience has no room for constructive criticism. Constructive criticism means disloyalty because PDP is framed on authoritarian culture and personality. If anyone wants to make contribution, you must first read the body language of Mr. President and members with currently valid godfathers’ status. PDP creates robots and automaton out of members. The Jonathanian doctrine of ADOPTION is an eloquent testimony. 5.2 President Goodluck Jonathan’s Sense of Loyalty Has Nothing to do with the People President Goodluck Jonathan, like the dictum of Pope ex cathedra. is absolutely infallible–knowing everything, correct at all times, all powerful, god among men and dispenser of wealth and poverty as he wishes. History and academic certificates (for those who overvalue academic qualifications) could not make President Goodluck Jonathan to know the fallacy, self–deceit and power illusion of creating automatons out of people. We shall use some Governors very loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan to illustrate that he does not value performance by the Governors but how, in his stretch of imagination, eavesdropping currency, sycophancy, dubiety, machination and other methods, his parochial interests are promoted and ego machine lubricated. Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State is one of the best performing Governors in the country. He is the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum. He is very loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan by every sense of the word. If President Goodluck Jonathan’s relationship with him is based on performance, then we are at loss with the same current of relationship he is having with Governor David Jang of Plateau State and Governor Gabriel Suswan of Benue State. Governor David Jang is the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum of President Goodluck’s Branch. He has so grossly underperformed that Plateau State University Bokkos, nine years old, cannot graduate students for non-accreditation of Courses because of non–funding. He built a super–inflated new Government House at Nine Billion Naira (N9,000,000,000.00) at a time he is owing workers arrears of salaries. He was deeply steeped into loyalty to the President so as to create his own domain of influence peacefully and with Presidential support. In the recent primary elections, he “won” the primary to the Senate and caused his kinsman, Senator Pwajok, from the same village with him, to become gubernatorial candidate of the PDP. Governor Gabriel Suswan is one of the most non–performing Governors in Nigeria. Benue State Primary Schools were on strike for a full session. He could not access the UBE counterpart funding to give befitting classroom blocks for the State. A pass from Abuja to Makurdi will show the revolution that Governor Tanko Al Makura brought to bear to primary and secondary schools in Nasarawa State. Workers are owed salaries. No infrastructural development any where. He is extra–loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan so as to create some condition for himself in Benue State with Presidential endorsement. If President Goodluck Jonathan is committed to service to the people, he would have jettisoned his relationship with Governors of Plateau and Benue States. He would not have allowed Governors of Kano and Rivers States to decamp to APC by all means. It is a growing public knowledge that the Presidency is re-considering its relationship with Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State despite every sense of loyalty of the Governor to the President because Queen (Empress) Patience Jonathan does not like him again. 5.3 Jonathan’s Presidency is About Royalty and Mercantilism President Goodluck Jonathan’s fullness is power lust, the paraphernalia of the office, the creation and sustenance of monarchy out of the presidential system, fiefdom, and the devolution of power to imperial First Lady. Royalty entails creating condition for sycophancy, intolerance of criticism, privatisation of the State and contempt for the people. People are only needed for unquestionable obeisance under marked protocols. Royalty is achieved by internal colonialism. Owing to tenure limitation, royalty is driven by mercantilism. Being the President, all the resources of the State belong to him and he has to accumulate as much as he can before the end of his tenure. The N21billion raised overnight confirms the ruthless looting of public funds to sustain people that can contribute this kind of dirty money. Nobody can question how this money is raised because the institutions to check it are under the President. 6.0 PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IN IMPERIAL AND COLONIAL FITNESS, THINKING FOR US AND GUIDING OUR THOUGHTS AND WAYS PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are acting as resurrected Lord Lugard giving orders on how we think and act. 6.1 Thinking For Us PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan have sustained the destruction of our education system such that the quality of reasoning in public domain is intellectually and psychologically poor and weak. The dominion of quest for money even for those not actually poor has sent deep intellection to the background. 6.1.1 Politicians are the Same and Everybody is Corrupt Arising from psycho–social effect of internal colonialism, PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan threw the lame duck idea to the public domain that politicians are the same and everybody is corrupt. It is not true and cannot be true. Politicians are not the same. There are politicians that are self–serving with no concern for the public and there are others out to serve as a competitive factor. The challenging aspect is not much the individual drive but the philosophy and policy of the platform. For example, an individual who wants to serve the people as against serving the godfathers of the political party will be fought to a standstill. PDP is the best example of such platform. Dr. Chris Ngige, former Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Osunbor, former Governor of Edo State and Chief Lucky Igbinedion, also former Governor of Edo State are loud statement of how PDP platform does not tolerate public service at the expense of its entrenched interest. It is equally erroneous to say everybody is corrupt. Many good people are driven away from politics because of the way some people have privatized and lionized the game. To use the character of those who rule by corruption to judge others driven away by them is mischievous, unfair and ignorant. It is PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan that socialize and glamourize corruption we are seeing. 6.1.2 There is no difference Between PDP and Other Political Parties There is a great difference between PDP and other political parties. PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan, with incumbency advantage are corrupt, distant, aloof and callous. The people are surplus to requirement at their feet for their private purposes. Other political parties are working hard to defeat PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan through popular choice of the people. These political parties are competing for power through the people, so people are central to them. Edo State presents an excellent example of what change can bring. The massive infrastructural change introduced by Governor Oshiomhole cannot be achieved under PDP. PDP in Edo State is serving as an interesting opposition party. 6.1.3 PDP Members Decamping to Other Political Parties, So the Same The beauty of democracy is not only the freedom of choice of leaders but freedom of members moving from one political party to another. It is part of dynamism of politics, political parties and political freedom. Politics allows for fluidity. This explains why inelastic factors such as gender, race, tribe, religion and place of birth are discouraged from being used against anyone or group. Nobody has control over these factors and it will be unfair to use it to anybody’s prejudice. Change of political parties cannot be used against anyone and it is unfair to say because one decamps from one party such person must be held down and judged by the past political party. The reason(s) for change from one political party to another may vary but the fundamental point is that the change offers opportunity to meet new people, new philosophy and new methods. 6.1.4 Don’t Insult Mr. President; Respect the Office of the President One factor that has crept into public domain is fraudulent censorship skillfully packaged as insulting Mr. President. Put in another way, it posits “respect for the office of the President”. This is a skillful resistant to criticism, opposition, de – intellectualization of the society and gagging the public. It did not work under the military and it cannot work under democratic government. It is a mark of emotional outburst to call whatever comment or criticism made against Mr. President as an insult or being disrespectful. President Goodluck Jonathan is occupying an esteemed office with enormous powers affecting the security and welfare of the people. It is his onerous duty to live to his obligations and be above board. But where he is boldly and conspicuously acting against the law, abusing the powers of his office, perpetrating corruption and poor governance, what are we expected to say so that it cannot amount to insult or being disrespectful? This is the tomfoolery of the exponents of cowardly censorship in democratic environment. We will not succumb to subtle, fraudulent and cowardly censorship of our right to resist and denounce incompetence, abuse of office, breaking the law, poor governance and socialization of corruption by the President and any other public office holder. 6.1.5 Labelling Oppositional Comment as Treasonable Where facts to prove the truth of an event are short supply, it is tempting and rewarding to resort to brow-beating or intimidation. Mr. President and his man Friday, Dr. Doyin Okupe are always very fast to run to legal armoury to wade intimidating weapon of the offence of treason. If it is not easily deployed against anybody, it is very much available against Governor Rotimi Amaechi. 6.2 President Goodluck Jonathan as an Anti – Christ Dr. Doyin Oand kupe in the most hypocritical, sycophantic and blasphemous outburst referred to President Goodluck Jonathan as Jesus Christ. President Goodluck Jonathan in his rulership cannot satisfy the law of love your neighbour as yourself. How can he match the record of our Lord Jesus Christ who laid his life for us? What has President Goodluck Jonathan to show that he sacrificed anything for Nigerians, not to mention laying his life for Nigerians? The number of Nigerians he is killing on daily basis as a result of corruption, infrastructural decay and poor governance are more than the people killed by all the violence that erupted during his tenure. This is so as conflicts are triggered by his anti–people and poor governance policies. President Goodluck Jonathan is an Anti–Christ. Junketing from one church to another is not enough. This is crash phariseeism with no reward from God. He cannot deceive us as Christians to see him as one of us. We shall judge him for electoral purposes by the contents of his character and not being a Christian by form. For him not to refute such sacrilegious and blasphemous equation with Jesus Christ is to say that he carries the mark of the beast. 7.0 PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN HAVE NO RESPECT FOR IDEAS BUT FACES AND STATUS The core programme of PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan for Nigerian underdevelopment is rejection of ideas as guiding light of progressive societies. With internal colonialism firmly in place, ideas are surplus to requirement. In consequence those of us in the knowledge industry are the poorest and burdened by a huge debts while others are forced to engage in brain drain or export of their “heads” (human capital). 7.1 PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are Interested in Problems Engaging the People than Solution Every act constitutive of poor governance creates problem for the people. A party and government that rule by corruption, deepen corruption and socialize corruption are only interested in creating problems for the people. PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan lack the adage in their leadership lexicon: “prevention is better than cure”. They believe that problems must have been left unattended to, aggravated tremendously, costing too much in terms of lives and property before it can attract their attention. Such aggravated problem will provide opportunity for super–inflation of contracts for their family. From communal crises all over the country, Boko Haram incident, the horrendous culture of strikes, infrastructural decay, to every policy of the government, there are conspicuous insensitivity. The bold signature of PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan that they are interested in problems engaging the people than solution, is manifested in rejection of ideas but patronage of faces and status that are invited to “come and eat”. 7.2 Present Condition of the Country is Enough for PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are totally satisfied with the present poor condition in Nigeria and of Nigerians. They never executed budget 100% and the remainder never returned to the treasury like under Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. When PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan talk of development, they are talking of and executing projects for symbolic and deceptive purposes. If they are genuinely concerned, the level of development will be far above what we are seeing. Bulk of whatever amount budgeted to execute projects goes into service of their corruption infrastructure. 7.3 PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan Are Notorious for Administrative Impunity PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan recognize power as for their private and primitive purposes totally oppositional to complaints and inputs from the people. President Goodluck Jonathan does not respect public complaints, demands and input because power is for his private and primitive purposes and that of his party loyalists. President Goodluck Jonathan does not acknowledge and reply letters from the people. This is the simplest and hardest statement of alienation of the people. A citizen at enormous cost sits down, compose a letter and post it to his (supposed) President only for the letter to be ignored and fit for dust bin. The open letter of former President Olusengu Obasanjo attested to the fact that he wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan four times without reply or acknowledge. We experienced it on many occasions we wrote on strike matters. Mr. President will not acknowledge letter at any personal cost to him. He has good number of supporting staff and at liberty to employ more to handle public communications. Yet, arrogance, callousness and impunity constrained him to ignore public letters. This administrative impunity, which has become the horrendous signature of public service in Nigeria, has, in turn, entrenched administrative corruption. The administrative corruption is captured in the culture of connection and bribery for every public service rendered in Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan is versatile in administrative impunity because he is running a captive and predatory government where public communication is a disorder. People are only needed for obedience, service and sacrifice; they are not needed for complaints and demands. President Goodluck Jonathan engages in administrative impunity because he knows it all and has great contempt for the people. He knows it all because he has charted the primary purposes of government as being for his private and narrow predatory class. He needs no input to achieve such internal colonialism. Entertaining letters from the public and considering them will throw up the necessity for knowledge driven and patriotic government that are clearly surplus to requirement. PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan are not prepared for such tasks. 8.0 PDP AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN ENGAGING IN DIVIDE AND RULE SYSTEM Flowing the internal colonialism, PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan apply the divide and rule system to entrench and stabilize the oppression. 8.1 Sustaining the Culture of Strike President Goodluck Jonathan is very interested in sustaining the horrendous culture of strike in order to break a unity between the organized labour and the general public. He enjoyed workers going on strike leading to loss of lives. He turned blind eyes to his legal responsibilities and that of his Minister of Labour and Productivity to avoid strikes. He always ignored notice of strikes and warning strikes. He will delay granting the requests of the labour as if he is going to refuse them. He will end up meeting their demands thereby creating a yawning economic gap between the workers and the public. With the strike extracted improved income the workers are poles apart better than the general public. In consequence, they cannot join the public grievance for poor governance. 8.2 President Goodluck Jonathan Using Divide and Rule in PDP to Flush out Doubted Loyalty The divide and rule technique used by President Goodluck Jonathan to deal with the society is exerted on his party, PDP. There is no internal democracy within the party. While President Goodluck Jonathan found it convenient to allow the Governors to control the party machineries in their various States, the same is not with Governor Elechi of Ebonyi State. As a mark of gratitude to Senator Anyim Pius Anyim for Co-ordinating Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), huge sums of money were deployed to snatch the party structure from the Governor’s feet. The Governor has been constrained to decamp to the Labour Party. 8.3 Divide and Rule in the Niger Delta When the good people of Niger Delta should be rejoicing that their son is the President of the country, he is using the opportunity to divide and rule the region. He used the Soku Oil Well to divide Rivers and Bayelsa States and Ijaws of Rivers and Bayelsa States. He breached the on-going means of resolution of the dispute and by controversial method gave the oil-well to Bayelsa State. In doing so, it may look as a case of partiality and excessive love for Bayelsa State. The mistrust that he has generated will take a long time to be resolved. Mr. President has not done much to fight oil theft because parties involved have underhand transactions with him. They are handsomely funding his re–election bid. Mr. President’s relationship with the organized oil mafia is far more important to him than aggravation of ecological devastation it is causing. No Niger Delta cause shall be served under President Goodluck Jonathan so long as his private desires are met. President Goodluck Jonathan postponed ground breaking of $16billion Delta Gas City in Delta State because he was warned by his Ijaw Ethnic group not to come. There is no doubt that the postponement caused inter–ethnic misgivings between Ijaw and Itsekiri people in Delta State. Despite this culpable ethnic chauvinism, one may ask what is the State of the Federal Polytechnic in Bayelsa State established when he was the Vice President? It is in shambles. Poor oil and gas industry practices fueled by pervasive corruption and mafioso operations aggravated under President Goodluck Jonathan with huge environmental and health implications on the people of the Niger Delta. 9.0 THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE BETWEEN LABOUR PARTY AND PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN While every political party is at liberty to choose its political alliance by adopting Presidential Candidate of another political party as its own, the ownership structure, ideological drive and class appeal of the Labour Party definitely warrant interrogation of its unholy alliance with President Goodluck Jonathan. 9.1 Labour Leadership in Alliance with President Goodluck Jonathan for Corrupt Bounties and Class Favouritism The corrupt and inept President Goodluck Jonathan’s Federal Government is greatly beneficial to Labour. Corrupt and inept governance provided necessary condition for Labour to create its own empire out of Nigeria. The Labour can ask for their own welfare enforced through strikes even if the entire infrastructures around them are falling or collapsed. We are faced with limited and poor health infrastructure with heavy pay packages for Health Workers. Our lives and blood are used for the bargain. Nigerian Lecturers are satisfied with good pay in the midst of limited and poor infrastructure in the schools. They will go on strikes using the limited and poor infrastructure as the bargaining point but will settle down with increased pay and accommodated the infrastructural decay. They instituted academic corruption. They dominate the schools management and borrow acts of corruption, ineptitude, laziness and other negative attributes from President Goodluck Jonathan to keep the schools in perpetual poor condition. 9.2 Lazy and Inept Labour Leadership Content on Feasting on Corrupt and Inept President Goodluck Jonathan’s Federal Government There are many beneficial and challenging frontiers in need of Labour development. The vast and enthusiastic private sector, designed to prosecute our economic growth, has no legal framework for job security and fair bargaining for workers. Nigerian Labour has no energy to use its enormous influence to get a legislation or strong policy order from regulatory authorities. The Nigeria Medical Association in laziness and ineptitude could deploy its entire resources to prosecute industrial action for its members in the public health sector and fueling inter–disciplinary rivalry therein. It cannot see how it can develop good entrepreneurial framework for its members by taking good advantage of the vast capital market in Nigeria, create a window to reverse the Health Tourism in favour of its members and generate massive employment through expanded and sophisticated private medical practice. 9.3 Nigerian Labour Lacking Productivity and Patriotism Found President Goodluck Jonathan’s Corrupt and Inept Federal Government as Sweet Bed Fellow Nigerian workers show the greatest form of lack of patriotism and finding a corrupt and inept government in place is dream come true. Every incident of corruption by political office holders find full accomplice of workers. Workers conspired with Board of Directors to ruin the companies that have now compounded the unemployment market. Nigerian workers don’t care for productivity as if Nigeria is not their own. They want to be driven when it comes to responsibility but they drive when it comes to issue of pay package or welfare. 9.4 President Goodluck Jonathan and the Labour are in Alliance for Predatory and Colonial Purposes President Goodluck Jonathan found an ally in Labour since Labour only cares for their pay. Labour is not disturbed by corruption and poor policy of the Government provided their pay rise is guaranteed. Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) presents the most unfortunate example. The massive corruption by the Universities’ Leadership, who are their members, means nothing. The brazen academic corruption by its members means nothing. The breeding and nurturing of cultism by its members mean nothing. Any reference to corruption and infrastructural collapse is just a cunning invitation for pay rise. ASUU has no concern for poor governance at national and campus levels. President Goodluck Jonathan is very pleasant with this interesting corrupt compromise from ASUU. The public universities can continue to deteriorate despite massive infusion of funds so long as they don’t disturb the Federal Government in their corruption industry. President Goodluck Jonathan instituted Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme at the National Universities Commission for foreign universities. By this practice, he has condoned poor productivity and corruption in our universities, triggered huge capital expatriation and encouraging Nigerians to pursue foreign education. 9.5 Labour through its Party in Alliance with President Goodluck Jonathan for Status Quo to Rigidly Remain President Goodluck Jonathan has created an enabling environment for Labour to be partaker of plundering of Nigeria. They want the status quo to be rigidly and steadfastly sustained. The present state of industrial anarchy and under–development are satisfactory to the Labour Leadership. This explains the unholy alliance between the Labour Party and President Goodluck Jonathan. Thanks ELAIGWU E. APEH, Esq. President NIGERIA FOR CHANGE ASSOCIATION
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:31:02 +0000
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