Why I Like Goodluck Jonathan The implication of saying any good thing about President Goodluck Jonathan or the presidency he leads. Suddenly, it appears the only game in town is putting Jonathan down with newer adjectives in the books. The bitter you get in your diatribe the louder the applause. That’s what is trending. That is why the other day, Simon Kolawole was almost apologetic for attributing the Osun polls to the President’s effort at sanitizing polls. He had to apologise to his fans because you only get great reviews for your work if you take cheap shots at the president. The best way to be a democrat, human right activist, fearless writer is to take on the president. And I have decided not to flow with the tide. My point is simple: I believe President Jonathan is not the only one to blame for everything going on. An employer won’t pay his staff their salaries and he blames it on Jonathan; a policeman collects bribe and the society says it is Jonathan; a husband won’t be responsible enough and, yes, it is Jonathan’s fault; a soldier in Maiduguri misbehaves and, that’s right, it is Jonathan’s fault. Should Jonathan go to the front and teach soldiers the rules of engagement? Where are the service chiefs? At the state level, local government chairmen would collect all the subventions, pay salaries of both real and ghost workers and then run to Abuja to stay in Sheraton Hotel to play big boys. Who’s to blame? President Jonathan! A governor gets 4 billion naira every month. He manages to pay salaries and then, hiding under an abnormal immunity clause, steals the coffer dry. Instead of the state’s citizens rising up against the thief in Government House; instead of working to see how they would vote him out now that President Jonathan has made credible elections possible; instead of thinking of how to stage a civilian coup in next year’s polls, they would collect their own share, endorse their tormentor and turn around to blame President Jonathan. They have forgotten that Jonathan has made credible elections possible so their votes would count. He has done his bit. Now is their turn! Or do they want Jonathan to come to their state and remove their little emperor? What about the civil servants who are the caterpillars eating everything in their sight? Should Jonathan sack all of them? Isn’t there a Head of Service in place to monitor them? And as far as security is concerned, should the president do the job of the NSA, SSS, ministers of defence, and all the other guardians of security for them? I agree he is the Commander-in-Chief but he has lieutenants. Why can’t we task them too and question their competence and patriotism? Why are we not calling for the resignation of some of them or all of them? It seems to me that too many people are getting off lightly simply because there is the president to blame for everything. And even if it is true that the buck stops at his table, the president is supported by a legion of staff to run the nation. That is why we pay them. We need to, for instance, task the minister of power on the electricity ebola. We need to ask the minister of works what is happening with the roads. And the aviation minister must get sleepless nights from us until we get safer skies. That is the way it is done elsewhere. I believe we are too fixated on Jonathan, crucifying him for even our own foibles as humans. But guess what, the president is human too: he is not omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It appears some Nigeria hope that a mythical being like that would one day rule over them. Even the people angling for the president’s job today are human at best. And believe me, if they ever get the job, we would still be here calling them names. You wanna bet? And there are no two critics of Jonathan alike. While some just don’t like the guy (for his fisherman hat, according to someone I know), some feel he has no business being the nation’s leader in the first place considering his roots. Others are doing it for pure regional-religio-ethno-sentimental reasons. Then there is the detached constellation of Nigerians in Diaspora, who just love to hate on anything in their country. They inhabit the ethereal space of the social media to spew their venom. There are also the genuine critics who believe Jonathan has made their lives hell here; that he is not good at “settling”. They blame Jonathan each time NEPA strikes or they bump into a pothole or there is a bomb blast. I’ll continue to defend their right to speak their mind. As for me, I like Jonathan and won’t apologise. Am I going to criticise him? Yes. But I would do it conscious of the fact that he shouldn’t be blamed for all that is going on. I would criticise him knowing that many people are also failing him and making it impossible for him to do a great job. I would do it knowing that he his human and that in the face of all the opposition the dear man faces daily, he is doing his best. I would criticise him with the hope to make him a better man to manage Nigeria better. I reject the current bile and hate out there masquerading as criticism. You are in the situation room. My co-tenants rose up the other day to fix one stubborn potholed road. We are now enjoying a better flow of traffic there. You see, we mustn’t wait for Jonathan all the time. I’m sure he doesn’t even know where Kuola in Ibadan is
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 00:12:48 +0000
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