The 2015 Presidential and National Assembly(NASS) elections have come and gone and winners and losers have since emerged. Only two of the candidates were actually in the race; the others went there in order to get some political mileage from their participation by using it as a bargaining chip to worm themselves into the warm embrace of either President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(GEJ) or General Muhammadu Buhari(GMB RETD.). Yet, some others simply went there to enrich their curriculum vitae(CV) by adding the title of “former Presidential Candidate of Party X or Party Y.”
This is what happens in a title – crazy country where an individual may parade dozens of useless awards/titles, even though he is the notorious criminal next door.According to the result released by the Independebt National Electoral Commission(INEC), General Buhari(retd), the Presidential candidate of the All Peoples Congress(APC), emerged winner by polling a total vote of 15,405,928 to overwhelm the candidate of the PDP, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan(GEJ) who polled a total of 12,663,950 votes. According to the result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC),President Jonathan of the PDP got at least 25 % of votes in 25 states and Federal Capital Territory(FCT) while General Buhari(retd.) of the APC scored at least 25% of the votes cast in 26 states and FCT. One of the highlights of event, albeit a negativity, is that in Kano State, the APC candidate, GMB polled 1,903,999(80.53%)votes while the PDP candidate, GEJ, polled 215,779 (9.13% votes).In the same vein, the announcements of the results were briefly disrupted when the former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, MR. Godswill Orubebe forced himself into the venue and openly accused the National Chairman of INEC, Professor Jega, of partiality in favour of the All Progressives Congress( APC). He complained bitterly of INEC’s acceptance of APC’s petition regarding the Rivers State Election, while refusing to accept that of the PDP in respect of the results in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa. As a result of the peaceful disposition of President Goodluck Jonathan, the matter was amicably resolved to the chagrin and discomfiture of a cross section of responsible members of the global community especially the members and supporters of the PDP. At the time of filing this report, the grapevine was awash with the news that the Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) of Kano State who presided over the controversial result of the Kano State poll was dead. According to the unconfirmed report, the Kano REC, Mikhail Abdullah, died in a fire outbreak at his house in Kano State, north west of Nigeria. Perhaps, by the time this viewpoint is published, the authenticity of the story would have been verified.
I wish to commend President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) for presiding over a great presidential/NASS election that was devoid of any atom or scintilla of manipulation from his office. For the first time in the political evolution of Nigeria, an election was conducted and the nation’s President was not implicated in any case of Magomago, Wuruwuru or even Jibiti. I pour encomiums on GEJ’s decision to concede defeat in a timely manner rather than turning the political space into a war theatre in a frantic bid to actualize his political agenda. Unlike majority of our politicians who are guided by the doctrine of Prince Niccolo Machiaveli which posit that the end justifies the means, President Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan belongs to the School of Thought who posit that the highest form of heroism is the ability to conquer self (of the virus of pride, hubris and arrogance. As the President and Commander -in-Chief of the Armed Forces who controls all the accoutrements, appurtenances and trappings of legitimate power, he had the option to turn Nigeria to a wasteland of death but, as Providence guided him , he chose to pull Nigeria back from the precipice of a bottomless chasm and canyon. Praise God for the gift of President Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan without who I would not have had the peace of mind to do this piece you are reading. At a time when some blood-thirsty tyrants were threatening that “the baboons and dogs would stew in their own source” if they did not win the election, the most powerful person in the country, GEJ, was frantically searching for peace and tranquility. As a Christian, GEJ did not have an option because THE BOOK enjoins the followers of Christ to always pursue peacel more so, at a time Christendom is celebrating the death and resurrection of the RISEN CHRIST.
It is also gratifying to note that President GEJ’s humility in the face of insuperable odds is in tandem with the doctrine of the former U.S President , Bill Jefferson Clinton, who during one of his visits to some African nations enjoined Africans to build strong political institutions instead of building strong or powerful politicians or persons. At a time like this, we appeal to General Buhari(retd) and his party, APC to remind themselves of the imperatives of actualizing the promises made in his manifesto. We are waiting eagerly to see the actualization of bringing the dollar and Naira exchange rates to a parity i.e on equal level; we can no longer wait to welcome the promise of GMB to run a free education scheme up to university level. Of course, the preachments of his bosom friend, Professor Tom David West, that fuel and kerosene can be sold at give away prices of say, N30-N40 per litre. In fact, we expect the price of Kerosene to be sold at the official price of N50 per litre even before he is officially inaugurated as Head of State on May 29th.In the same vein, since government is a continuum, we expect Mallam Buhari to complete the great projects of his predecessor such as the completion of the Second Niger bridge, the Alaoji power plant in Aba, Abia State as well as the creation of the 6th state for the South East region as recommended by the National Conference Summit. Perhaps, there is a need to amplify the fact that the Igbo speaking states are not adequately represented in the APC. In order to ensure that federal funds to the states in general and IGBO states in particular are not diverted or embezzled by corrupt and greedy politicians, it may be necessary to advise GMB to set up a body of eminent Igbo citizens who will be responsible for mansging federal government’s funds in Igbo states. I advise that as a result of the preponderance of corrupt politicians in Nigeria, GMB should appoint Presidential Liaison Officers or a small group of men of integrity in each state in order to enhance transparency and accountability and to keep a close tab on how federal funds are expended in the states. This is, perhaps, one of the ways to ensure that corrupt and greedy state governors do not convert federal funds into their private pockets thus giving the impression that GMB is a hater of any section of the country..
Once again, I wish to doff my hat to President Ebele Jonathan for the maturity he exhibited in looking beyond the shenanigans of the 2015 presidential election/ results. A good War General is the one who knows when to deliberately lose a battle in order to win the war. On our part as media professionals, we did so much to facilitate victory for our darling President but , as always , there is a limit to what good luck can do, even though the name of our hero is DR, GOODLUCK. Unlike some other politicians who do hot have all the time ahead of them , our hero, President Jonathan, is young, energetic with all the verve and vim to conquer new grounds and frontiers. So, why should he be desperate to clamber onto to power even when the deadly stratagems of his traducers and assailants are clear and unambiguous, after all, there are so many IVY League jobs in the international community for such exemplary personalities as our hero. These jobs beckon on GEJ to make a pick, The story of GEJ is an entrancing and engaging story of a village boy who went to school without shoes, perhaps with mere D 34 shorts as a result of financial impecuniosities but who, as a result of dint of hard work, perspicacity, candour and adroitness, rose from grass to grace, from obscurity to sublimity. He is one of us and we are so proud of him. His ability to conquer his challenges gives us fresh hope that nobody was born to be perpetually poor. President Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan has proved that ones altitude in life depends on ones attitude. We are aware that his octogenarian kinsman ,Professior Tam David West, once taunted GEJ of not having big biceps. This means that he is weak. In his pathological hate on President Jonathan, Professor Tam David West, a bosom friend of ALHAJI Buhari, said that while he was already a professor, the little Goodluck Jonathan was still struggling to get a secondary school certificate. This is the height of envy and little mind. Perhaps, there is a need to state that there is no correlation between the age of Methuselah and the Wisdom of Solomon. Elsewhere, Professor Tam David West, would have provided invaluable guide to President Jonathan , more so, since they all hail from Niger Delta or South/South but Alas! Professor David West chose to be a Fifth Columnist in the house..Yet, it was this self- same Prof Tam David West that his new friends in the Caliphate jailed on the grounds that he enriched a foreign Oil company -Stinnes Corporation. Further more, other reasons for sentencing him to jail was that as Minister for Petroleum, Professpr West had the temerity and effrontery to drink tea with some foreigners as well as having the courage to receive the gift of a gold watch from foreign investors. His traducers did not find any reasons why a Professor Tam David West who hails from the minorities segment of Nigeria should be rubbing shoulders with those who were “born to rule.” Alas!, today, these traducers of yesterday have become his best confidants. It’s a free world!
In conclusion, I wish to emphasize that in spite of every thing , I am proud of the roles we played in order to safeguard GEJ’s presidential agenda. Those who accuse him of not having big biceps should know that you don’t need to be a Hitler in order to be a ruler in a democracy. President Jonathan’s approach to political engineering should be set up as a field of study in Schools of Management; it qualififies to be a subset of the so-called Management Theory Jungle which is made up of a litany of Management Theories from the First World and Asian countries, Today, Goodluck Jonathan’s Management theory should be a matter for more intensive and exhaustive study in the Schools of Management and Political Sciences. In 2015, President Jonathan did for Alhaji Buhari what Buhari could not do for him in 2011.He congratulated Alhaji Buhari on his election victory and pledged to co-operate with him. He invited him to find time to visit Aso Rock so that they could discuss the issue of transition. He wished him well. But in 2011, when President Jonathan was declared winner, General Buhari(retd.) was full of rage and this culminated in a breakdown of law and order and Imo State alone lost about ten youth corpers who were slain by the mob who held Nigeria hostage leaving a trail of death, agony and anguish in their trail. We did so much for President Jonathan but there is a limit to goodluck.
–
John Mgbe
johnmgbe@yahoo.com
