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Goodluck Jonathan Steering Nigeria With A Steady Hand - Washington Times.
Nigeria has a date with destiny as March 28 and April 11 draw near.These are two significant dates that,on one hand, present Nigerians
with an opportunity to strengthen
democracy through the ballot.These dates, on the other hand, a real so beaming scaring danger signals. No thanks to politicians who are beating drums of war,stumping across the country,making campaign statements full of fury, with little about issues ofconcern to most Nigerians. As is typical of Nigerian elections, the tension is thick in the air, so muchso that the putrid smell of Armageddon has enveloped the country.
Fears are palpable,generating serious concerns among Nigerians and within theinternational community.Nigeria has travelled this routebefore, not once.
There are however reasons for genuine and heightened concern this time. Thelast few years have seen widening cracks along the Nigeria’s well-known fault lines of religion and ethnicity.
The security situation,especially in the north east, hasbeen a huge sore on the reputation of the Africa’s most populouscountry. The abduction of morebthan 200 girls from the Borno State community of Chibok nearly oneyear ago, and the perceived lack of enough effort from the governmentof President Goodluck Jonathan toensure they are rescued, are making the prospect of a peacefulpoll a tall dream.
President Jonathan has had to take the blame for virtually everything going wrong in Nigeria. Admittedly,there are issues that currently feed this perception. They include the security situation, corruption and poor living standards of mostNigerians. Ordinarily, the buck stops at the desk of the president.The opposition seems to have succeeded in creating the impression that Mr. Jonathanmerely wakes up on daily basis and does nothing. But things don’t always seem as they look in Nigeria.
That the president has been doing nothing would not pass the muster of nonpartisan scrutiny. Whatwould be correct is that the president has actually done little topublicize the many things he has been doing. In the last six years, the government has been confrontingmore fundamental issues of growt hand development with the type ofvigor and single-mindedness uncommon in Nigeria.The Jonathan administration would trump any previous administration in the effort made to tackle thenear-complete collapse ofinfrastructure such as roads,transportation and power supply.
The same can be said of employment generation andcapacity development. Nigeria’s economy has not only survived major shake-ups affecting mostadvanced economies, it has actually also been growing in leaps and bounds, emerging as Africa’slargest.He has perhaps taken an ingenious route to fighting corruption. He understands the differencebetween the symptoms of corruption and the underlyingcauses. While many had expected a frontal attack at the symptomsthrough demonstrative — even i fun lawful — actions by deploying anti-corruption forces in a frenzy ofmass arrests, media trials and public sentencing of suspects, Mr.Jonathan has chosen to allow the justice system the space to work.He hasn’t stopped at that.
He is,with the skill of a surgeon,identifying the underlying causes of corruption and taking them out oneafter the other. This is what he did with a fertilizer distribution scam,which had hampered food production and diversification effort for decades.
Perhaps, he didnot make enough noise on this, but the result of his approach is loud enough for the thousands ofNigerian farmers who now have easy access to fertilizer, completelyeliminating the meddlesome middlemen. The action is equallyloud enough for the vested interests to fight back and join the now-profitable president-bashingchoir.The security challenge is a bit more complicated.
Mr. Jonathan’s emergence represented a paradigmshift in the Nigerian political arrangement. He was the firstperson with no strong political background or affiliation, and from a minority tribe to become ademocratic president in Nigeria. He had not benefited from any of the important pillars of power such asthe support of a major ethnic group.
The template for success inthe Nigerian environment requires much more than the timing of response to a security situation,such as the Chibok abduction saga.It requires the willingness of the players within the affected area toput the safety of lives and protection of properties of thepeople ahead of their own immediate political advantage. It isnot going to be easy trimming the hair of someone who continues to run.
It could take time to eithercatch up with him or get him to willingly agree to the need to solvea problem. The ability to keep calm rather than adopt a knee-jerk and high-handed approach in the faceof treachery and impunity is a great asset the president is endowedwith. This, as the opposition is wont to do, can also be mistaken for weakness or incompetence.
Mr. Jonathan’s civilized approach to tackling issues is built around theneed to ensure social justice, equity and the rule of law. This should,ordinarily, be worthy of global acknowledgment andcommendation.
But the concertednoise from the opposition campand the penchant of someinternational observers to rush to judgment without taking fullaccount of peculiarities of an environment are a bit deafeningand blinding to the reality on ground. As elections are getting closer, the president is faced with the factsthat Nigerians are in a hurry.
They’ve waited for too long. This is a situation that is being exploited byopposition leaders, who have been calling for mob actions as againstthe rule of law.
Mr. Jonathan has equally shown that he understands that Nigerians are expecting aleader with a magic wand, who could with a snap somewhere, turnage-long and deeply rooted socialdecay into an instant state of bliss.But the magic wand could actually be a possibility if current efforts are allowed another four years to take root, grow and bear fruits.• William Reed is president of the Black Press Foundation.
Source:http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/5/william-reed-goodluck-jonathan-steering-nigeria-wi/#ixzz3TkQJUpRm
