What Jonathan means for Nigeria Aside the compelling consideration that he is the presidential candidate of my political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), my reasons for supporting President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015 are, in many ways, instructive. First, allow me to speak within the context of my reality and experience as a Nigerian youth. More than any president in the experienced, real, imagined or documented history of Nigeria, this is the first president, who has articulated and is executing a transformational blueprint for youth development, employment generation and empowerment. Take a critical look at the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWIN) initiative. Before President Jonathan, who cared about young Nigerian entrepreneurs? Before President Jonathan ,who thought about giving grants to young Nigerian business owners? Before President Jonathan, no president took the youth sector seriously. No president opened the door of engagement to the youths, let alone empowerment! None. Before President Jonathan, no president considered our young brothers and sisters, the Almajiris in Northern Nigeria as deserving of any care and attention. Nobody thought about taking them off the streets and building schools for them. Realising that a Northern Nigerian problem, is a Nigerian problem, President Jonathan is taking steps to build a future northern Nigeria, where development is futuristic, real and sustainable through educational advancement, this is commendable. It is to President Jonathan’s credit that an enabling environment had been created for the economic explosion of our creative industry from Nollywood to the music industry, to fashion and style! Through the SURE-P project, thousands of Nigerian youths have glowing testimonials on how their lives are being turned around with the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) and the Community Service, Women, Youths and Empowerment, (CSWYE). These are facts, not fiction? I will support a president, who has shown in many ways that he is a man who is committed to touching the lives of the common man. I grew up in a Nigeria where we watched the railway industry disappear before our very eyes. But today, it is to President Jonathan’s credit that not only are our trains back, our roads that were neglected for decades by previous administrations, military and democratic dispensation are now being fixed. So tell me, why won’t I vote for Jonathan? Is it in the area of agriculture that President Jonathan has not performed? This is the president that cleaned up the rot in the fertiliser procurement and distribution process. This is the president that is empowering local farmers using Information Communication Technology(ICT.), This is the president under which our cassava production is on a consistent increase. This is the president under whose leadership our rice self-sufficiency as a nation had grown from 50 per cent to over 80 per cent. It is no fluke that under President Jonathan, Nigeria overtook Egypt and South Africa and became the largest economy in Africa! One can go on and on. Now, let’s talk about the 72-year old man who was kicked out of power as a military dictator in 1985. If there is any reason that makes a Jonathan re-election even more imperative, it is the fact that Nigeria’s opposition party, the The All Progressives Congress(APC), looked at Nigeria and went into the graves of our nation’s painful past to exhume their candidate. There is nothing new that Buhari is bringing to the table in 2015 that Jonathan did not accomplish in four years . Beyond party affiliation, as a Nigerian youth, there is something awfully about the idea of a Buhari presidency. There are some brands that packaging cannot sell, no matter the competence, creativity or innovation of the packager. This is the dilemma of the Buhari campaign. The law of diminishing returns is a reality promoters of Buhari must come to terms with. More than the problem of Buhari’s old age is the bigger problem of the age of his ideas. What ideas will Buhari run our new Nigeria with? We are being told to make a 72-year-old man president over a future Nigeria he will not be part of. How does that even sound? Promoters of Buhari are telling us to drop a President Jonathan, who has a clear record of performance for a Buhari, who Nobel Laureate, Professor. Wole Soyinka, described as a man in whom we have been offered “no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change.” We have had our share of the challenges. To state otherwise, would mean being dishonest. Insecurity, predominantly in Northern Nigeria is on the front burner. Still, our war against terrorism is best appreciated when seen within the context of a marathon and not a 100m dash. Sadly, the thing with terrorism, globally, is that there are no quick fixes. But, in 2015, Nigerians are faced with two clear choices; advancement or retrogression. In Jonathan, we have been presented a president who is not perfect but a man who is committed to taking Nigeria to the next level. In Buhari, we have been offered a Nigeria on the threshold of oblivion wrapped inside the toga of a vague mantra colorfully illustrated as ‘change’. We must chose wisely. Chimazuru Nnadi sent this piece from Abuja.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 02:18:49 +0000
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