|
 Published
June 6th, 2010
“In this responsibility of consolidating
and deepening our democracy, we are committed to ensuring
that the remaining period of the administration is not a
transitional period but one which, we hope, will one day be
viewed as a watershed, a transformational time in our young
democracy. For us in Nigeria, this is our time. Either we
continue with more of the same or we change the game.”— Then
Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, in an address to the US
Council of Foreign Relations
Note to the
Reader
In order to enable the reader easily navigate the materials
presented herein as well as properly comprehend the infinite
complexities of the issues addressed herein, this article
has been segmented into five unequal parts, namely:
Behold! The Chosen One! PDP Zoning Conundrum; Inauguration
and the Hidden Bumps; Agency Relationship, and; Conclusions.
Cumulatively, they run into several pages.
Due to the quantum of materials presented in this work,
however, each segment has been configured as self-contained
mini article although linked together overall, allowing the
reader to skip any segment and go straight to the one that
is of interest to him/her at a time. Should the reader
decide to take it all in at a time, however, I should advise
that this is not a hit and run (guerilla) journalism, but a
full plate of materials that demand investments in time,
intellectual and perhaps spiritual resources as well to
fully comprehend. This series has been carefully and
painstakingly put together to inform, enlighten and to
educate. It should not be read in a hurry.
I’m, therefore, soliciting the readers’ time because walking
his way through this pathway may not have the feel and ease
of a walk in the park. That said, whoever is unwilling to
invest the resources indicated above is seriously advised to
proceed no further and take his leave here. For those with
those investible resources and staying power, however, it is
my hope that their investments will be richly rewarded as
they cut through in this presentation the thicket of
Nigeria’s public life in its immediate past into the present
and transiting into a better and glorious future under the
budding Jonathan presidency. Bon voyage!
Behold! The Chosen One!
In a world that is actively in denial of the divine and
steadily drifting away albeit calamitously from God like a
melting iceberg cut loose and, instead casting its lots with
speculative theoretical pontifications of man as the sole
driver of his fate, it is infinitely gratifying and
refreshing indeed to perceive or hear even the faintest
acknowledgements of the divine in the affairs of modern man.
Yet even as the high priests of science, which is the
art of probing into and discovering the laws and principles
governing natural phenomena (God’s creations), are working
hard night and day in secluded laboratories formulating and
propounding theories designed to severe the umbilical cord
connecting man to his God in order to bring into fruition
the Godless society that is after their Godless hearts,
humanity has, on the whole, refused to be derailed from the
path of the divine through subtle scientific manipulations.
And that would account for the continued growth of religion
in the face of the relentless assault on God and religion
particularly in parts of the developed world. And this
defiance is noticeably more pronounced in the developing
world like Nigeria than in the so-called advanced societies,
such as for example, the United States, where God has been
all but completely taken out of public life altogether, and
replaced with the god of secularism to fill the void.
The deliberate attempts to exclude and banish God from public
life as public policy in the United States and consign Him
only to private life in an attempt to please atheists,
agnostics, and non believers, is tantamount to pleasing man
rather than God. The United States constitution does not
provide for freedom from religion but freedom of
religion and religion is all about God and nothing else.
How is it then that the wishes of an insignificant minority
have been allowed to override the greater interests of the
vast majority of the people in a democracy where the
minority is supposed to have its say and the majority its
way? Democracy has been turned on its head. It’s
mindboggling!
It is extremely doubtful if the Founding Fathers of the nation
wanted it that way since as with other civil rights, freedom
of religion was not originally provided for in the US
constitution at inception, but only brought about through
amendments in subsequent years through the Bill of Rights.
Therefore, it can be said without equivocation that freedom
of religion was an afterthought, which though necessary to
prevent the imposition of a state religion as it was in
Britain, has now been abused and interpreted to mean freedom
from religion. This has now led to a society that has
progressively and steadily moved away from God and anything
God. This is gradually heralding the Godless society in our
own time! Indulging the aberrant wishes of unbelievers and
every fringe group in society is the new meaning of
“political correction.” Political correction has gone
haywire, putting society and morality in great jeopardy as
our children are brought up not to know God in schools and
in public places as more and more parents are alienated from
places of worship through the deliberate relegation of God
to the background.
An average child knows nothing about God in the US in any
substantial sense except those schooling in educational
institutions owned and operated by religious organizations
like the Roman Catholic Church, for example. The teaching of
the utterly speculative theory of evolution coupled with
slavish adherence to political correctness has made certain
that God is banished from public consciousness. This has in
turn helped in no small way to banish Him from private
consciousness as well in huge swathes of the population.
The other day I made a quote from the Bible while chatting
with a gentleman of African-American ancestry in his mid
twenties at my place of work, and he looked at me with an
attitude of bewilderment, seemingly perplexed at the mention
of Bible. A little surprised at his countenance, I then
asked him whether he had ever read the Bible to which he
answered vigorously in the negative as though I had
mentioned an illegal or harmful document to him. It wasn’t
like he belonged to any other religion other than
Christianity using different scriptures. He just didn’t
belong to any. Period! Was he an atheist? Not necessarily. I
walked away shaking my head in disbelief. Millions are like
him, cut off from God in their formative years through
deliberate public policy. And the reader might ask, where do
they pick up their moral values from? From the drug, gang
and sex infested streets, of course! Where else when kids
are allowed to literarily live their lives off the streets
24/7 all year round with parents who need help themselves
hardly in control? This is the type of society that
political correction is helping to create.
But we’re about Nigeria here not the US with different sets of
reality. Did God have anything to do with the emergence of
Jonathan as president of Nigeria? Associating “God” with the
emergence of a president in a country like the US is an
anathema that might provoke serious constitutional crisis in
the polity as atheists and non-believers alike would
forcefully demand a retraction of such statement, but not in
Nigeria. Below is a whiff of an acknowledgement of the
divine in our public life with particular reference to
President Goodluck Jonathan, which can only be publicly
voiced as it is in a developing and religious nation like
Nigeria that still has a place for God in her public affairs
even though individual government officials might be steeped
in unbridled corruption. But do not for a second imagine
this as a one-off personal opinion, but the main current of
the flow of public opinion in Nigeria concerning the
president. Therefore, it can be said to be fairly
representative of the national mood.
“My stance is informed by the fact that Jonathan is
obviously a leader that God has given us. He could not have
become the leader of Nigeria without divine direction and
intervention. You can see very clearly, he is the first
person in Nigeria to rise from deputy governor to acting
president and president of this country. Obviously without
spending a kobo because he did not spend any money. When he
contested to be deputy governor, he was on Alamieyeseigha
ticket. He contested on the platform of Obasanjo/Yar’Adua
ticket, these were the people behind that ticket; he did not
spend any money. Then to become acting president, he did not
spend any money.
“God anointed him. Then from there, he became president. It
is the first time in the history of Nigeria, that one
individual has held these three positions; it had never
happened.
“What I am saying is that there must be a generational
change in this country. Those Nigerians who are above 60
years should give chance to a new generation to take over.
The author then takes aim at his own generation and concludes
there is need for generational shift in the nation’s
governance even as he rules out IBB and rules in Jonathan.
“Because our generation is a failed
generation. We have held power for 50 years and we have
nothing to show for it.
“In the PDP, Jonathan will have the ticket because the way
all the PDP leaders had reacted, he is going to have the PDP
ticket. Nobody else is going to have the ticket because of
the goodwill he has got. Because of the humility he has
exhibited. And because of the way God has been backing him.”
—High
profile anti-corruption crusader and PDP chieftain, Godwin
Daboh.
As the above
quote clearly indicates, it has been observed severally of
the unusually fast-paced political career trajectory of the
man, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as one with the touch of
divinity. It’s simply impossible to demur. Consequently, I
have found myself concurring with that position held by many
at home and abroad. And that makes me a true believer of
the divine dimension in human affairs, which postulates that
the growth and evolution of humankind is coded as much in
our biological as it is in our spiritual genealogies. And
Jonathan is perhaps one of the best living examples of that
postulate. He just might turn out as the one with the Midas
touch as well to rescue our nation from the doldrums.
There’s no
gainsaying the fact that his rise to political stardom has
been nothing short of meteoric and unheard of, particularly
in a predatory political environment with “Pull Him Down”
(PHD) tendencies—carefully navigating slippery slopes and
terrains, effortlessly dislodging, and leaping over daunting
obstacles mounted on his path to greatness by his political
enemies. And the more he overcomes the more obstacles are
erected on his path by those who refuse to see or too
blinkered to see the inexorable hand of God at work.
There are
parallels in history the most notable of which dates back to
the Biblical times of King Saul. Quite like the “Chosen
One,” David, during his tribulations in the hands of
demons-possessed King Saul, it would appear that nothing
thrown at Jonathan by his political enemies ever sticks to
his slippery “Teflon” skin. (See my article, “Jonathan
Fits the Bill in 2011: Could He Be Nigeria’s Obama?”
http://www.focusnigeria.com/jonathan-2011.htm).
Recall how King Saul, tormented by evil spirits, refused to
give up plotting the death of David. And the more David
overcame Saul’s evil plots the more plots were hatched by
Saul to exterminate him. But in the end we are told that
Saul paid with his own life with the triumphant David
assuming the throne in fulfillment of the divine plan for
him. Unknown to King Saul, he was plotting against God! I
can see history repeating itself with regard to Jonathan and
those plotting against him. He had barely overcome the plot
to prevent him from assuming the office of acting president
when Ogbulafor and his men at Wadata House erected another
road block to prevent him from becoming president by
contesting the next presidential election. Yet if the David
analogy teaches us anything this new roadblock will go the
way of the others before it—practically bulldozed out of the
way with Ogbulafor & Co. from Wadata House, because it is
being erected on the path of the Chosen One! And unknown to
them, they just might be fighting against God. Yet other
political adventurers, thinking themselves smarter than the
rest of the bunch, will continue to try their luck to block
Jonathan from exercising his God given right to contest the
next election in the name of zoning. But as it was with King
Saul so might it be with them because man does not learn
from history and therefore doomed to repeating it over and
over again. He is doomed to the path of perdition, because
he is arrogant and hard-hearted. More often than not, man
tries to play God when he is only a mortal. Many are playing
God in Nigeria!
Let me put
it in Biblical terms: No weapon fashioned against Jonathan
by political enemies has prospered and people should draw
appropriate lessons from that. That doesn’t make him
infallible or superhuman but one who has found favor in the
eyes of the Almighty. And he seems also to have found favor
in the eyes of Nigerians of all ages and persuasions as
well, including, take this, politicians of opposing parties
even with elections just around the corner! And it seems
that the only people against Jonathan are the very same
people who fought tooth and nail to deny him the title of
acting president, not ordinary Nigerians and politicians in
opposition parties in particular, who ordinarily would be up
in arms against the head of the government formed by the
ruling party. So far, the reverse is the case with Jonathan.
A while ago
I read in one of the dailies that opposition parties are not
averse to Jonathan’s candidacy for the next presidential
election because they are hoping that it would cause
division in the PDP and thus give them a leg up to upstage
the party in the next elections. If that is truly their
strategy, it would not only be a tacit endorsement of
Jonathan for the race but a recipe for his eventual victory,
which would translate to their crushing defeat because their
hope of a splintered PDP on account of Jonathan running is
forlorn and therefore not realizable. So long as the PDP
remains the ruling party its internal bickering will never
result in its disintegration and anyone counting on that is
a political neophyte. It’s not only a dumb strategy but a
self-defeatist move, because Jonathan is the only man out
there in the PDP who can redeem the tattered image of the
party before the next election. This new reality is
gradually dawning on the party. Those in doubt should go and
read and re-read his “Democracy Day” speech and watch how
that resonates with Nigerians at this moment in time. He
sure knows the right buttons to press for effect and he is
only one of few politicians around with no known stain on
their names. All those crowding into the field bear
liability names that their own children would be glad to
drop if given the opportunity.
What can we
make out of the Jonathan phenomenon? What conclusions can we
draw from his endless honeymoon with Nigerians? Godwin Daboh
the author of the quote reproduced above was a high profile
IBB supporter only a few months ago, but he has switched
camp to Jonathan all of a sudden. And even former AGF,
Michael Aondoakaa, booted out by Jonathan has come out to
condemn PDP’s zoning and declare him eligible to contest the
next presidential election. Quite uncharacteristically, the
NLC has come out to make similar declaration and so also has
the CNPP of all groups, just to mention but a few who have
added their voices to the groundswell of support for
Jonathan’s candidacy.
What then is
responsible for this? It is far from an ordinary honeymoon
because Jonathan has been around with us for a while since
Yar’Adua’s ill-health thrust him suddenly into national
limelight in November 2009 and, therefore not entirely new
to the nation. It’s far from performance because Jonathan
has yet to make his mark in the sand of times having just
assumed office as president. It’s not about his popularity
with Nigerians because he was little known before he became
acting president under the Yar’Adua administration. What is
it then? What makes Jonathan tick?
There is a
better explanation and we must turn to the divine for
answer. And this reminds me rather uncannily of the
derogatory description of then candidate Obama by his
Republican opponent, Senator John McCain, during the 2008 US
presidential campaigns as “The Chosen One!” Gosh, though
meant to mock and belittle Obama, how apt and prophetic that
description turned out to be! Unwittingly, McCain had
crowned Obama “King of the Jews” so to speak even before the
US elections were held. And the American people only came
out on election-day to simply adopt God’s choice as they,
per divine force, must. McCain may have fancied himself
mocking candidate Obama but he was indirectly mocking God.
And what were the results? He found himself blown out in the
race as his campaign went into complete disarray afterwards
after losing the wheels of his “Straight Talk Express.” And
as they say the rest is history. God is not mocked.
Although the
Republicans in the US always wear religion on their
foreheads as head bands, they’re spiritually tone deaf to
the realism that Obama, just like David, had been
pre-ordained as president of the United States long before
the elections actually held. And it was reason he came when
he came barging on the political turf like hurricane with
all the stars in alignment. The same is equally true of
Jonathan and indeed every other remarkable leader in the
world. God-ordained leaders burst onto the scene at critical
moments of a people’s history to effect a change in
direction and redeem its people usually from either
self-inflicted or externally imposed maladies and
conditions. So, as it was with Moses so it was with Martin
Luther King, Jnr., George Washington, and Nehru Ghandi. And
so it was with Chairman Mao Zedong and Winston Churchill.
While not
laying any claims whatsoever to prophetic visions, that
recognition has left an indelible and unmistakable
impression on my clairvoyant mind to the effect that
President Jonathan is not about calling it quits just yet
until God is done with him in His divine plan for the
plundered, harassed and abused nation by swarms of political
locusts since her flag independence, even if Jonathan wants
to. This is because there is no running away from God’s
mission when the call comes as the Biblical Jonah found out
the hard way. Jonathan will soon come to the conclusion that
he cannot run away from this mission even if he wants to.
His life has
been a series of miracles. A man of humble beginnings who
rose from the position of deputy governor to become the
president of the biggest and, arguably, the most influential
black nation on the face of the earth in under three years,
is nothing short of a miracle of Biblical proportions. And
it will go down as a pivotal moment in the history of our
dear nation that is still groping in the dark and in search
of a new direction in a new beginning. It appears to me that
by some divine plan the salvation and redemption of our
nation may well come from a leader from a minority ethnic
group in Nigeria since leaders from the majority ethnic
groups have grounded the ship of state and left us high and
dry. In the 50-year old history of our beloved nation in
which all ethnic groups have equal stakes in the affairs of
the nation, not once have the minority ethnic groups
produced a leader of the nation until now, by an act of
providence rather than by design, except General Yakubu
Gowon who hails from the Middle-Belt state of Plateau.
Those who
mischievously claim that former President Olusegun Obasanjo
(OBJ), had set up the North with late President Musa
Yar’Adua at the helm to be succeeded by his deputy,
Jonathan, because he knew that Yar’Adua would die in office
are only being clever by half, because they are imbuing OBJ
with supernatural powers that he doesn’t have. OBJ is not
God, not even a medical or traditional doctor, for that
matter, who could foretell the death of Yar’Adua or anyone,
for that matter. Was it OBJ that put Yar’Adua in the Katsina
state Government House for eight consecutive years too?
These same people are quick to tell us that only God gives
and only God takes power as He pleases. So when did OBJ
become God who determines who will die in office and who
takes over power from him? It’s the silliest claim that has
ever assailed my ears and speaks to the primitive and
superstitious character of those spreading that cow dung.
And if some misguided power merchants in the North that have
been swimming in power for 38 out of the 50 years of our
nation’s existence are now threatening fire and brimstones
for being out of power for a mere four years should Jonathan
decides to run for the presidency, my gut reaction is to say
to them: Bring it on, baby! But I’m not going there yet.
Rather I would say to them: Go, get some help! These people
need help and I’m dead serious about this.
Certainly
any group that cannot survive in Nigeria on its own without
political patronages needs help to wean it from its
dependency status. The shrill cries of desperation emanating
from sections of the North since the death of Yar’Adua and
the morbid fear that has gripped them by the prospects of
being out of power for four years if Jonathan runs are all
symptoms of economic dependency and describe a people who
cannot survive without political patronages, which is a sad
situation indeed. If the Ibos, Yorubas and the entire
minority groups have been surviving without political
patronages in commerce and industries, there is no reason
why the North or sections thereof cannot survive outside of
power and feels threatened with extinction whenever power
shifts from its base even for a few months. This power
dependency syndrome needs to be broken for good now before
it threatens the unity and stability of the nation because
the status quo is not unacceptable as other regions
increasingly and trenchantly lay claim to the presidency as
well as their birthright and collective patrimony.
If the
minorities in Nigeria ever had the right to preside over the
affairs of this nation, this is the time to press it firmly
within the ambit of the constitution. And it just might turn
out to be what the nation needs to forge ahead. Unity,
progress and stability in Nigeria which have eluded the
nation since independence may well lie not in the petty
jealousies and acute political rivalries among the major
ethnic groups of the Yorubas, Ibos and Hausa/Fulani stocks,
but in the political ascendancy of the so-called minority
groups, who undoubtedly constitute the majority population
in the nation’s ethnic demographics. Yet they do not
begrudge any of the major ethnic groups for holding
political power over them. The nation as a whole,
particularly the Hausa/Funlani stocks in the North, has a
lot to learn from the minorities in Nigeria who have allowed
others to exercise political power over them since
independence without complaining like the major ethnic
groups. Unlike other major ethnic groups, they have no
ex-this, ex-that; ex president this or that; ex-military
ruler this or that. Yet they do not complain and exhibit the
highest level of patriotism not easily found in the majority
ethnic groups whose selfish actions have always brought the
nation to the brink of precipice.
PDP Zoning
Conundrum
Now here is
one of such ex-this, ex-that, ethnic bigot from the North,
Senator Jubril Aminu, former ABU VC, former NUC Chairman,
former Federal Minister of Education, former Nigerian
Ambassador to the United States and now chairman of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations—a man one would think
should know better than the talakawas in the North mouthing
this trash in a Tribune interview (05302010):
“I am disturbed on
this issue of retaining power in the North in the spirit of
the PDP’s principle of zoning/power rotation because it is
pretty difficult to remove a sitting President, with all
the powers and influence, from office”.
“The South has had
eight years and the North ruled for three years before the
death of President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. So, the agreement has
expiry time and we should honour it,” the Senator added.
To say the
least this is more than unfortunate. It’s a disgrace to
Aminu’s academic and democratic callings to play the ethnic
card. Still wondering why Nigeria is not keeping pace with
her peers in the world? Still wondering why Northern Nigeria
remains a Republic of Panhandlers? You’ve got the answers
right here from Aminu! It’s precisely because retrogrades
like Aminu many of whom are garlanded with chains of degrees
hanging down from their necks to their ankles are in power
in Nigeria. He’s the clan head of those who would readily
sacrifice meritocracy for ethnicity. He wants zoning to
override the constitutional rights of Nigerians to vie for
elective offices in their own country. He wants half of the
nation disenfranchised by the PDP zoning. He wants half of
the nation to sit and watch the other half produce the
president for eight years before ever thinking of running.
Yes, he wants their sons and daughters reduced to political
spectators not players in their own country all in the name
of zoning. He wants to perpetuate the North/South divide in
so far as it puts the North back in power. But Aminu will
not tell us what the North has done with power for 38 years
as Daboh queried.
Now we can
see how deep-rooted the virus of ethnicity really is in
Nigeria with even supposedly educated people like Aminu as
its carriers. If educated elites in the North are still
harboring the virus of ethnicity in their bloodstreams as to
get “disturbed” because a Nigerian from an ethnic group
other than his own is vying for the presidency in this 21st
century, what hope there is for our dear country? And you
begin to wonder if some of these people who claim to be our
leaders actually understand the concept of the supremacy of
the constitution? And you begin to wonder whether Aminu has
even the minimum understanding of democracy at all even as a
senator. Mind you Aminu is the chairman of an important
committee. He is one of the “leaders” in this dispensation
that Nigerians are counting on to deepen and solidify our
democracy now trying hard to rubbish the constitution. And
you begin to wonder where they got their degrees and
professorships from in the first place? Is it any wonder why
the North remains the most backward region in the nation
despite the fact that it has been in power for 38 years with
people like Aminu in charge? In this 21st
century, not 15th or even 14th
century, Professor Aminu and his ethnic gladiators are still
vectors of the ethnic virus that is still ravaging parts of
Africa, including Nigeria, rather than the common folks one
might suspect as vectors.
Elements of
the old order in the North like Adamu Ciroma, Abubakar Atiku
and, of course, Jubril Aminu, are harping on power zoning
claiming it was a party agreement. But they would not tell
us who and who were at the table when the agreement was
allegedly made or the precise terms thereof.
Now let’s
look at the issue a little closer because so much of it is
still up in the air. They tell us that the presidency was
zoned to the North in 2007 as it was allegedly zoned to the
South in 2003. Fine! But the problem which immediately
arises with such proposition is that there are no “north”
and “south” zones in Nigeria. In fact the terms “north” and
“south” are alien to the Nigerian constitution and cannot be
found in any statutes in Nigeria except in colonial times
when we had “Northern” and “Southern” Protectorates. What
exist presently in Nigeria albeit informally are six
geographical zones, namely: North/east, North/west,
North/central, South/east, South/west, and South/south
zones. There are no “northern” or “southern” zones.
So where is
this talk of zoning the presidency to the north or south for
eight years coming from when neither of them is a zone even
in the informal sense? If we are going to zone the
presidency it should be zoned to the zones, not to non
zones. It should be borne in mind that the six zone
arrangement is informal not legal or constitutional and has
therefore never been used to deny any one from another zone
his/her constitutional rights in any shape or form. If
anything, the zoning is used for administrative not
political purposes, because the constitution only recognizes
states and local governments not zones of whatever
description. But if we want to do zoning that means
beginning with and ending with the six zones mentioned
above. In other words, if we truly want to practice zoning
it should be in the law and the constitution permitting the
presidency to be zoned to any of the six zones at any given
time and see where that gets us as a nation. Head or tail,
the South/South that has never, ever tasted power is as good
as any if not in a much better position to produce the next
president. If there is no Northern zone nothing can be zoned
to the North. And if there is no Southern zone nothing can
be zoned to the South either. I don’t know about Aminu but
it seems pretty simple and straightforward to me.
Aminu cannot
and will not be allowed to rely on a secret agreement
allegedly made by his party men in smoke-filled backrooms to
bind every Nigerian and the nation. It will not happen
because the PDP does not and cannot represent Nigeria and
Nigerians. Aminu says he’s “disturbed” at the prospect of
President Jonathan exercising his constitutional right to
present himself for election in 2011 and possibly prevent
power from shifting back to the North.
And you
begin to wonder where Jubril Aminu was when Abubakar Rimi
and Barnabas Gemade contested PDP primary with OBJ in 2003.
And you begin to wonder also where the man was when then VP
Atiku was grandstanding to upstage OBJ in 2003 with PDP
governors lined up behind him. And you begin to wonder aloud
why PDP’s zoning beast was left slumbering on a back bench
at the PDP convention in Abuja and nobody, not even Aminu,
the apostle of zoning, remembered to wake him up. Could it
be because all the North was interested in then was
dislodging OBJ from power, zoning or no zoning? If zoning
meant nothing then to the North why would it mean anything
now when a man from a zone that has never tasted power at
the center is in the saddle? Why is the North always
agitating for power? It bothers me that one region would be
so inured to power that it literarily goes berserk at the
thought of losing power to another region.
What the PDP
action shows conclusively is that zoning has never been
implemented or enforced by the PDP and that’s why the party
would allow all comers from any zone in the country to
contest its primaries. If zoning was in force it wouldn’t
have allowed others outside of the favored zone to contest
its primaries as it has always done since its inception.
Again this is a no brainer. I don’t know about Aminu but
it’s pretty straightforward to me. But don’t take it from
me. Take it from a PDP chieftain and President-General of
Ohaneze, Professor Ralph Uwechie, who went through the PDP
primaries with OBJ, Rimi, Gemade and a host of other
aspirants from both north and south, as reported by Vanguard
053110:
“I
am saying that the idea of zoning to the North was the
personal idea of Obasanjo who was not chosen in 1999 as a
Southern candidate. He was not. It was at the end of his
term that he promoted the idea of zoning Presidency to the
North. It was never so at the beginning. If it was so at the
beginning, why is it that many people from the South,
registered by the party were screened in 2007 to contest
presidential election?
They were screened, including
myself and certified okay and we paid N5 million each for
the contest. If it was zoned to the North, why were we
screened and certified okay and then N5 million accepted
from us which was non-refundable.
They should have told us to
go, that the presidency was zoned to the North. They should
not have screened us and then asked us to go and pay N5
million because we are from the South and the Presidency was
zoned to the North. I was not the only person. Donald Duke
was there. Horsfall was there. Nobody told us that we were
not qualified. If it was zoned, they should have told us no,
you are not qualified, we won’t screen you and we won’t
accept your money. So, there was no zoning in PDP.”
Get the
point? Uwechie is telling us that there was no “zoning” in
PDP in 1999 and OBJ was not nominated as a “Southern
candidate” in 1999! Zoning therefore was an afterthought
apparently sold by OBJ to the North to let him have his way
with them. But even this is speculative as OBJ himself has
publicly disavowed the so-called zoning agreement of the
PDP.
Now Aminu,
who has not told us he was party to the agreement he now
fervently seeks to enforce, says the South has had eight
years and the North three before Yar’Adua’s death. Therefore
he wants the North to have another five years to equal OBJ’s
eight years in office. How about someone in the South
telling Jubril Aminu, the ethnic jingoist, that the North
has had 38, not 3 years in power and the South only 12
years, therefore the South should be allowed to complete her
38 years in power to equalize the North’s cumulative tenure?
How about that? Is the North talking about equality, equity,
and fair play? That sounds like it to me. The south should
and must insist on equality or parity of tenure with the
North if the North is now suddenly interested equality and
fair play and we still have a long way to go to achieving
that parity. And the North has a really long wait ahead of
it.
Aminu is
talking about the turn of the North? How about the turn of
the South/South that has never, ever produced a leader for
the nation? Is he trying to tell the South/South that it has
no right to produce a leader or that it should be satisfied
with rounding up Yar’Adua’s four-year term and quit for the
North? That sounds like an unwarranted provocation. These
people are really out to provoke another civil war for real!
Let them start it by denying Jonathan his right to contest
the next election. The South/South will not start a civil
war, but if it is taken to them they will answer it in kind.
I would, however, advise the Aminus of the North to quit the
PDP now if they insist on the North producing the next
president because PDP will jettison that so-called
“gentleman” agreement and throw the contest open to all in
accordance with the supreme law of the land—the constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
After all,
Abubakar Atiku, who is another ethnic bigot insisting on
transfer of power to the North, quit the PDP to become
president of the Action Congress (AC), only for him to jump
ship when it became clear to him that he’s a stranger in the
land of the Bola Tinubus and Bisi Akandes of the South/West!
He is back to the PDP to continue to play his self-serving
politics of ethnicity and division. But Aminu and Atiku
would have to contend with the first Chairman of the PDP,
Solomon Lar, who publicly declared that the PDP zoning
arrangement was not meant to be permanent and could be
jettisoned by the party at any time it deems appropriate,
which position has been reiterated by the party itself
through its officials as reproduced extensively for the
records somewhere below in this article.
Yet it must
be recognized that Aminu’s cry carries security implications
for the nation that should not be glossed over by the
nation’s security agencies. As far as I’m concerned, it has
raised a red flag. His statement carries a subtle threat and
a hint of desperation. He is lamenting the difficulty of
preventing Jonathan from contesting. Is this not a coded
message to Northern military elements to move against
Jonathan and possibly abort his plan to run? Jonathan should
move to put his house in order and that’s why I had earlier
called on him to put his stamp on the military hierarchy
inherited from Yar’Adua, especially now that he has a
northern VP at his back ready to step in to grab power for
the North. We are all witnesses to what Abacha did to Ernest
Shonekan to return power to the North. It’s within our
collective living memories. We are also witnesses to what
they did to MKO Abiola of blessed memory.
Only OBJ has
survived their machinations and put them in their proper
place perhaps due to his military background and that’s part
of reason why he’s now hated in the North. Jonathan should
watch them because the same desperation for power is now
being openly exhibited by northern elements in civilian
garbs. These people must be watched carefully with eagle
eyes for possible mischief because I will not put anything
past them in their desperate attempts to regain power for
the North. Vigilance is the eternal price for democracy,
freedom and liberty.
God works in
mysterious ways and He is truly in control. After this
article was rounded up and put away, I checked with the
Nigerian online news reports before retiring to bed only to
be confronted with this report posted at the African Herald
Express with this screaming headline: “They want to
poison Jonathan—cleric,
http://africanheraldexpress.com/content/they-want-poison-jonathan-%E2%80%93-cleric.
Although I’m not ordinarily carried away by clerical
utterances emanating from Nigeria owing to their mercenary
tendencies, I took this one quite seriously enough as to
retrieve the article to add this report to since it
buttresses the security concerns I had expressed in the
preceding paragraphs only a few hours earlier.
It’s
remarkable and quite instructive that the same threats being
made on the life of President Barack Obama in the United
States by racial bigots and on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jnr.,
before him, are now being made on the life of President
Goodluck Jonathan by tribal bigots in Nigeria who want
political power back in their zone by all means necessary.
What happened to Chief MKO Abiola must never be allowed to
repeat itself in Nigeria else the long predicted break up
might just be realized well ahead of its predicted arrival
time. This is not about ND militancy, and the North or more
appropriately, those who are using the name of the North to
cause mischief, must be warned that any harm visited on the
person of the President that is calculated to return power
to the North will swiftly and automatically be translated to
a declaration of war and a break-up of the country and let’s
see who suffers the most from the divided country, the South
or the North. North and South Korea already provide the
template about the resulting consequences. However, my sense
of patriotism will not permit me to say more.
The
troubling report states that the Dr. JCF Onuoha, Pastor in
charge of Foundation Miracle International Chapel, had
warned President Goodluck Jonathan “to beware of those
around him to avoid being poisoned.” In the words of the
pastor:
“God came to me in a revelation that some powerful people
have been holding series of meetings to poison Jonathan and
get rid of him. He has to be careful because many of them
come around him pretending they are with him but they came
with evil intentions.
“The group I am talking about includes some powerful royal
fathers from a particular section of the country. They are
not happy with Jonathan and they are hatching all kinds of
plot to get rid of him”, he emphasized.
The cleric said that according to the revelation, the plot
is to kill Jonathan and create an opportunity for his vice,
Namadi Sambo to take over.”
Just what I
hinted at above, folks! Was this mere coincidence that both
the pastor and I are getting these same terrifying vibes at
the same time and issuing forth warnings to President
Jonathan to put his house in order? I don’t think so. God is
fully in control in Nigeria. Aminu is fighting against God
who put Jonathan in there. So far as we know, President
Yar’Adua died a natural death and no one was responsible for
his death. It was a good thing with the benefit of hindsight
that Jonathan never saw Yar’Adua upon his return before he
gave up the ghost otherwise mischief makers might have
insinuated and concocted all manners of theories. Jonathan
did not give them that window to speculate dangerously. That
being what it is why should any individual or section of the
country forfeit his/its right to contest election because of
Yar’Adua’s death? From where did Aminu get the notion that
God put Jonathan in power merely to conclude Yar’Adua term
and then quit for the North because a Niger Deltan is not
fit to rule on his own term?
These clowns
are playing with a time bomb and the unity of the nation. He
should ask all those who stood in the way of Jonathan in the
recent past what became of them. Niger Delta has come of age
politically and not ready to play second fiddle to any other
region in this and future democratic dispensations. We are
here on equal terms in this clobbered union of ethnicities
or mini nations called Nigeria.
The
redemptive feature of it all though is that the Aminus and
the Atikus are in the minority even in the North as many
credible Northerners and north based civil groups have
publicly voiced their positions acknowledging and affirming
the right of the president to contest the next election, “if
he so wishes.” And that is as it should be, for, no one
should be disqualified from contesting election except in
accordance with the laws of the land and the constitution.
It’s all we ask for—the enforcement of constitutional rights
and nothing illegal or extra-constitutional.
Inauguration
and the Hidden Bumps
(a)
Administrative Bumps
It’s my
humble conviction as it’s indeed of millions of my fellow
compatriots that Jonathan’s meteoric rise to power in the
face of man-made obstacles is not without a divine purpose.
And he may well fulfill Senator McCain’s prophesy concerning
Obama in Nigeria. However, of all the transitions that
Jonathan has undergone within this short timeframe, the most
dramatic and historical were those that occurred within the
late Yar’Adua presidency. Jonathan started off with Yar’Adua
as vice president in May 2007. However, between November
2009 and May 2010, Jonathan had metamorphosed from VP to
acting president and from acting president to president in
less than six months! It’s a transformation that is probably
unequalled anywhere in the world. But there are hidden bumps
along the way.
Unknown to
many the Jonathan presidency has been off to a bumpy start
not only on account of the series of obstacles thrown in its
path by enemies of democracy and Yar’Adua death, but the
many unfulfilled promises he inherited from Yar’Adua. Unlike
Yar’Adua, Jonathan did not inherit a buoyant or even a
decently performing economy with budget surplus and close to
$50bn stashed away comfortably in foreign reserves. He
inherited a near bankrupt economy with budget deficits and
notoriously underperforming budgets year in year out.
He didn’t
inherit a successful administration but a failed government
that lived its entire life in the bubble of sloganeering and
in inconsequence thereof was being transposed by some
undiscriminating Nigerians on Nigeria as a “failed” state.”
Thus the term “failed state” in relation to Nigeria gained
currency under the Yar’Adua administration. Ordinary and
notable Nigerians alike were openly describing Nigeria as a
failed state under the Yar’Adua regime. It was that bad
because there was no progression but retrogression virtually
on all fronts—from power, energy, security, political
reforms, constitutional amendment, Niger Delta and all the
way to foreign relations, producing nothing but a climate of
hopelessness and despondency in the citizenry.
That is the
very definition of a failed government. And if we equate a
failed government with a failed state as some individuals
have done, it would mean that Jonathan inherited a “failed
state” from Yar’Adua. The proper position, however, is that
it was the government that failed not the state because the
state is a permanent and an ongoing concern while a
government is a temporary agent of the state. Jonathan
inherited a failed government rather than a failed state.
And although the failure of a agent could be translated to
the failure of his principal under the principle of agency,
such can only be momentary because the government, as the
agent, is never permanent and must quit being the agent of
the state at some point in time to be replaced with another
agent who might perform as it has indeed happened.
Therefore, Yar’Adua’s failed government cannot rightly be
transposed on Nigeria as a failed state as both entities are
different even if one is temporarily the agent of the
other.
But it
wasn’t only in the domestic arena that Yar’Adua failed
signally. He failed spectacularly in the international arena
as well. Jonathan didn’t inherit a nation that was highly
regarded in the international arena. He inherited a nation
with crumbled international profile downgraded from its
heights barely a few years ago into the abyss of nothingness
and placed on an international terror watch-list at will.
Jonathan didn’t inherit a nation that was robustly engaged
with the world as was its predecessor, but a nation on
retreat and seemingly heading the way of reclusive North
Korea.
What did
Yar’Adua leave behind for Jonathan? We know about the ad hoc
Amnesty deal that was hurriedly, haphazardly and shoddily
put together for militants but soon grounded until Jonathan
stepped in. We know about power supply and electoral reform
promises that were never meant to be fulfilled and weren’t
fulfilled under Yar’Adua. We know about the callous and
opportunistic cancellation or suspension of railway
modernization projects and NIPP power projects without clear
cut alternatives. We heard a lot about rule of law, probes
and sundry acts of willful distractions from the problems on
ground. Yes we sure heard a lot too about “the war on
corruption” from Yar’Adua. Didn’t we? It makes me want to
laugh!
But in the
end the question remains: what value added tangibles and
intangibles did Yar’Adua leave for Jonathan? I look around
but see none except a truckload of ballooning slogans
billowing in the air Yar’Adua left at the presidency that
Jonathan must have to figure out deflating to end the era of
mass deception and cheap propaganda.
(b)
Legal Bump
The Yar’Adua
locomotive had run cold before Jonathan took over and must
be restarted to usher in a new administration not a
carryover. Although President Goodluck Jonathan has been
around the nation’s presidency since the inauguration of the
Yar’Adua administration on May 29, 2007, his presidency
actually began on May 06, 2010, pursuant to and in
fulfillment of constitutional provisions for presidential
leadership succession following the death of President
Yar’Adua on May 04, 2010. However, between Yar’Adua’s death
on May 04, 2010 and the swearing in of Jonathan as president
on May 06, 2010 (approximately 48 hours apart), Nigeria was
without a substantive leader. It is understandable, however,
that a nation that declared 7-day of mourning the passing of
her leader would even notice let alone be concerned with
legalism and constitutionalism more so as the then acting
president Jonathan was obviously in charge and control.
But being in
charge and in control after the president’s passing, is not
the issue here. Although Ag President Jonathan was firmly
“in charge” as the nation’s leader at the time,
nevertheless, he was not the nation’s “substantive
president” at the time of Yar’Adua’s death and there was no
“substantive president” either, in the intervening period
immediately following after the death of President Yar’Adua.
This might sound academic but it is an issue of practical
significance.
The fact of
the matter is that “Acting President” Jonathan was “acting”
for nobody upon Yar’Adua’s death before he was made the
substantive president on May 06, 2010, since he could not
have been “acting” for a dead president. Jonathan was still
functioning as acting president after Yar’Adua’s death for
48 hours (two clear days) before he was made president. The
question then is who was he acting for post Yar’Adua’s death
between May 04 and May 06, 2010, before he was sworn in as
president? The clear answer to that question is, nobody!
This is because there could be no “acting president” without
or in the absence of a substantive president.
The title
“acting president” presupposes the existence of a principal
or substantive president in whose behalf and in whose place
another could lawfully and constitutionally function in
acting capacity pending his return to power, death,
resignation, abdication or removal from office due to
medical unfitness to discharge presidential duties. At the
occurrence of any of the above mentioned events, Jonathan
would immediately have ceased to function in acting capacity
and either reverted back to his former position as VP (in
case of Yar’Adua’s return to office), or made (sworn in as)
president immediately upon Yar’Adua’s death, within
minutes, not days to avoid power vacuum. But what did we
witness instead? That principal, Yar’Adua, demised on May
04, 2010, yet Jonathan continued to function in acting
capacity until May 06, 2010. He must have been acting
for himself or a dead president!
I will not
however make that an issue in this presentation because it
requires an exhaustive treatment to ascertain the status of
Jonathan within that brief passage of time. It’s hoped that
students of constitutional law would have to work out the
implications, if any, of that presidential lacuna that
existed momentarily upon Yar’Adua’s death and its possible
effects on our constitutional democracy. Suffice it to
state, however, that under no circumstances must the nation
be left without a substantive leader for a second because
the constitution doesn’t contemplate such presidential
lacuna. Those in charge of the review of the 1999
constitution must, therefore, urgently advert their minds to
the existence of that “black hole” in the power
configuration at the time and address this danger because,
God forbid, it could happen again in the future.
It is,
however, submitted that Ag President Jonathan should have
been sworn in as president immediately upon the death of
Yar’Adua in order to avoid creating any lacuna whatsoever in
leadership succession. It is further submitted that
Jonathan’s continued functioning as acting president after
Yar’Adua’s death was illegal and unconstitutional with the
further implication that the Nigerian nation/state was
without a constitutional leader between May 04 and May 06,
2010.
Therefore,
all acts purported to have been carried out by Jonathan as
acting president during that brief period in question were
illegal, unconstitutional and, therefore null and void
although they may be covered by the doctrine of Omnia
presumuntur rese ese acta by which the acts public
officials are deemed to have been carried out under valid
authority unless and until the contrary is proved or
established. In this case however, I hold that the contrary
is indeed provable.
Agency
Relationship
It’s perhaps
fair to conclude that had the National Assembly and the
Federal Executive Council (FEC) been true to the letters and
spirits of the constitution Jonathan could have been made
the substantive president long before Yar’Adua’s death due
to the late president’s clear medical incapacitation and
thus avoid the leadership void alluded to above.
Regrettably, that was not to be the case. Prior to his
inauguration as president, however, Jonathan had functioned
as the acting president courtesy of the doctrine of
necessity ingeniously and graciously invoked by the National
Assembly to invest him with presidential powers as an
interim measure following the refusal and/or inability of
the late president to transfer presidential powers to him
while hospitalized abroad at the King Fahd Hospital, Saudi
Arabia. Factually, Jonathan has been in power only since May
06, 2010, and not since he became acting president back in
February, 2010. This means that prior to May 06, 2010,
Jonathan was only carrying on the functions of president on
behalf of President Yar’Adua who, though medically
incapacitated at the time, was constitutionally the
substantive president and Head of State.
It’s
important to make this clarification lest some mischief
makers later come out to claim that Jonathan has been in
power since November, 2009, when Yar’Adua took ill and
rushed abroad for treatment! No, Jonathan has not been in
power that long and nothing could be farther from the truth.
For the records he has only been in power for about four
weeks at the most so far.
A lay person
might begin to wonder: if Jonathan was not in power, how
come he had been running the show in the absence of late
President Yar’Adua since he became acting president— signing
and implementing budget, deploying troops to Plateau state
to quell ethnic strife, firing the National Security
Adviser, demoting former AGF Michael Kaase Aondoakaa,
dissolving and reconstituting the federal cabinet,
ex-cetera—all of which are acts that can only be carried out
by someone who is in power?
The answer
to the above poser can be found in the law of agency. And it
is simple even if somewhat esoteric. Here it is: Jonathan
was Yar’Adua’s agent and Yar’Adua was Jonathan’s principal!
And believe it or not, Jonathan did all that he did not
because he was in power but because he was an agent of
President Yar’Adua his principal, and merely carried out the
functions of his principal as constitutionally delegated to
him in the president’s behalf.
In other
words, he was merely exercising power belonging to
someone else without actually being in power! There
is a difference between being in power and exercising power
on behalf of another. It’s like the difference between a
nanny/babysitter, who is temporarily exercising power over a
child on behalf of its mother and the mother of a baby, who
is the repository of power over the baby, which powers she
can easily withdraw from the babysitter/nanny at any time
and send her packing. Metaphorically, Jonathan was no more
than a babysitter. The babysitter/nanny is temporarily
empowered by the baby’s mother to do what the mother could
do in relation to the baby in the interim without the
nanny/babysitter being in power. Folks, whether we knew it
or not, Jonathan was our nanny/babysitter, babysitting us
for President Yar’Adua while he was away!
Thus all
that Jonathan did prior to May 06, 2010 he did as agent for
and in the name of Yar’Adua and per force belongs to
Yar’Adua who was his princicipal and not for himself.
Therefore if, for instance, Jonathan had heeded the motion
of then Yar’Adua’s Information and Communications Minister,
Professor Dora Akinyuli, asking the FEC to invoke the
provisions of section 144 of the constitution to declare
President Yar’Adua medically incapacitated and unfit to
perform his duties, Jonathan would have carried out that act
on behalf of Yar’Adua and in the name of his administration
whether or not it was in the interest of the president. It
makes no difference whether or not the actions of an agent
are ultimately beneficial or harmful to the interest of
his/her principal so long as they’re within the purview of
his/her powers under the agency.
This might
sound fictional and totally confusing to the lay person not
schooled in the mechanics of the law; in particular, the law
of agency. However, where an agent acts on behalf of his/her
principal within the powers conferred by the agency
relationship, his acts belong, not to him/her, but to the
principal who then assumes total responsibility for the acts
of the agent for good or ill, whether the acts are harmful
or beneficial to the principal. Be that is it may, the
principal is not without a remedy. In the event therefore
that the principal disapproves of the actions of his agent,
the only course open to him, in this case, President
Yar’Adua, is to forthwith terminate the agency relationship
and recall his acting presidential powers, and thereafter
proceed to reverse the actions of the his agent—in other
words, undoing what Jonathan had done where possible. But
only if he himself had not been removed from office already
by his agent, altogether! Interesting!
The law of
agency is writ large in public affairs, more so in a
democracy and in no way limited to this instance alone. For
instance, when the state prosecutes criminals, it does so on
behalf of the people in general not on behalf of the victim
of crime because the state is the agent of the people as a
whole, who are the principal of the state. When voters go
out to vote during elections to elect their representatives
in parliament, and Federal and state executives, they’re in
law, directly creating an agency relationship between
themselves and their representatives in government from the
president on down to the local government councilor, who are
agents of the voters (electors), and the voters are their
principals. Again, when a voter goes to the polling station
to cast his/her vote for a candidate he/she is appointing
that candidate as his/her agent in government who is thus
empowered to act on his or her behalf and in his or her name
although the average voter might not understand what he/she
has done with his/her vote.
A ballot is
a powerful legal instrument that creates important legal
relationship between the voter and the candidate and
therefore the government that results from the vote. It’s a
legal-cum constitutional contractual relationship with the
principle of agency at its core. Therefore, whatever these
officials do in office is done in the name of and on behalf
of the voters whether or not the voters approve of their
actions. The only course left for disaffected voters is to
recall the offending representatives. A governor, Gray
Davis, was recalled in the US state of California a few
years ago by disaffected voters who wanted him out and that
paved the way for the emergence of the present Governor of
California, Arnold Schwartzeneger. And in Nigeria attempts
have been made to recall offending representatives, e.g.,
Senator Jubril Aminu, the new apostle of zoning, from
Adamawa state, who was faced with parliamentary recall by
his antagonists back home. The same was true of Senator
Ibrahim Mantu of Plateau state, who suffered a recall
process by angry constituents.
In the same
vein, President Yar’Adua could have moved to withdraw
Jonathan’s acting presidential powers and undo his acts if
he had recovered from his illness in time to bounce back to
power if he disapproved of his Jonathan’s conduct in any
particular instances. But that was not to be and Jonathan
acted on his behalf as his agent till death snatched him
away. Therefore, at least in law even if not in fact, it was
Yar’Adua that was still ruling us till May 04, 2010, when he
passed away. Like the nanny example cited above, he was
still mothering us as babies through Jonathan his
babysitter, babysitting over 150 million babies in Nigeria!
But for Yar’Adua’s death, Jonathan would still be
babysitting us till today perhaps till May 29, 2011. It
should pass for a world record and a decent spot in the
Guinness Book of World Records.
Thus if
former AGF, Aondooakaa was demoted it was Yar’Adua that did
it through Jonathan. If Jonathan dissolved and reconstituted
the FEC, it was Yar’Adua that did it in law. If ex-governor
James Ibori and former PDP chairman, Victor Ogbulafor, were
being brought to Justice on corruption charges, it was
Yar’Adua that did it in law, and so on and so forth, so long
as he remained the head of the administration and Jonathan’s
principal and would not relieve himself of the title of
president and invest it in Jonathan.
But the
reader might protest thus: President Yar’Adua bluntly
refused to and never transferred power to VP Jonathan before
he died. The National Assembly did. So how come was
Jonathan Yar’Adua’s agent? Could an agent be forced on an
unwilling principal? Put another way, could a third party
create an agency relationship for other parties who are not
themselves privy to the agency creation? Great question! The
answer to this question lies in the Resolution of the
National Assembly transferring power to then VP Jonathan to
act for and on behalf of President Yar’Adua with the title
of acting president. Ordinarily, agency relationships are
created directly by the parties themselves. But it can also
be indirectly or otherwise imposed by operation of law and
the constitution on parties without their consent or
imprimatur. Presidential agency relationship is a creation
of law and the constitution and the parties consent is
implied by law.
In this
connection, it will be recalled the National Assembly based
its action in part on the Doctrine of Necessity. Was that
enough to ground its action? No, because it also stated that
Yar’Adua’s BBC interview in which he admitted his medical
incapacity was deemed sufficient as transmission of notice
to the National Assembly that he was on medical admission
abroad and thus satisfying the requirements of the
constitutional provisions to trigger transfer of power to
his vice. This is an instance of an agency created by
operation of law. Since President Yar’Adua did not challenge
this and he in fact subsequently referred to Jonathan as
“acting president” through his spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi,
upon his secreted home coming from Saudi Arabia, he had
constructively ratified and/or acquiesced in the agency
relationship created on his behalf by the National Assembly.
The legal
implication of this is that he had transferred his
presidential duties to VP Jonathan as acting president thus
creating an agency relationship in which Jonathan could do
whatever he wanted in his (Yar’Adua) name within the law.
Armed with those powers Jonathan wasted no time in
exercising his newly acquired presidential powers as acting
president by kicking out AGF Aondoakaa and National Security
Adviser, dissolving and reconstituting the FEC; in short,
completely taking over the Yar’Adua administration and
knocking out Yar’Adua men in the cabinet and reversing
Yar’Adua policies—all in the name of Yar’Adua!
What then is
the whole purpose of the above legal treatise? It’s to show
that Jonathan’s rule has only just begun since May 06, 2010,
and that his actions prior to that date properly belong to
Yar’Adua, and not to Jonathan. It is also to draw attention
to the leadership void in law created by Yar’Adua’s death
when Jonathan was still functioning as acting president
albeit unconstitutionally so that it can be addressed in the
ongoing constitutional amendment.
That said
I’m concerned here with the Jonathan presidency, not
Yar’Adua’s, even though Jonathan necessarily played a part
in the latter first as deputy president and later as acting
president. And as with every dispensation the Jonathan
presidency has a beginning date. However, it’s yet to have
an end date. What is the end date of the Jonathan
presidency? No one knows for sure because the answer is
buried in the womb of time and only those steeped in the
esoteric arts of clairvoyance can venture an answer. I don’t
know if I’m one.
But one
thing is for sure though: constitutionally, it will come to
a screeching halt on May 29, 2011 to bring to an end this
troubled constitutional dispensation for democratic renewal.
It will be up to President Jonathan to renew his mandate for
four years. There is no reason why he shouldn’t and every
reason why he should for the sake of our young democracy
that needs to be nourished, deepened, and perfected through
democratic renewals of electoral mandates.
But how I’m
I sure that Jonathan will run in 2011 given the position of
his party regarding zoning? It’s because I’m, if you like,
Nigeria’s political oracle, for want of a better word. I’m a
student of history and I understand perfectly the political
dynamics in Nigeria on the basis of which I made the
prediction in a previous article titled: “Jonathan’s Date
with History,” that “…just it has always done in the past,
the same PDP will meet to reverse itself…”
In a well
publicized interview granted by the party’s auditor, Dr.
Ortom, who, by the way, is from the North, the party
literarily reversed itself contending that the ex-Chairman,
Chief Victor Ogbulafor, “spoke for himself” and not for the
party when he unilaterally zoned the presidency to the North
and arrogantly ruled out Jonathan from contesting.
In his own
words as reported by the Tribune (052210) edition and other
media:
“Though there is position of zoning in PDP’s constitution,
it is not a rigid arrangement. It is a flexible arrangement
made by the forefathers of this party who wrote this
constitution. But I want to let the public know that since
1999 when this party came into existence and started
election and appointment of political offices, there has
never been a time that anyone who is interested in vying for
any position in this party has been excluded.
“From 1999, you will recall that the election was keenly
contested by Dr. Alex Ekwueme and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
who came from different zones and in 2003, the election was
keenly contested by the incumbent president, Chief Obasanjo
and Chief Barnabas Gemade who was from the North Central and
at no time did the PDP screen them out.
“They were allowed to participate, they went through the
process as enshrined in the constitution and the guidelines
and a candidate emerged at the end of the day and we jointly
worked together for the success of our party.”
The national auditor also referred to the participation of
late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi alongside then incumbent President
Obasanjo in the 2007 PDP primary, even though the position
was supposedly zoned to the South.
“President Goodluck Jonathan is free to contest election if
he so wishes or desires at any time. If he decides to
contest, nobody can stop him. He is free to do that; the
constitution allows him because the constitution of our
party is subject to the constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria,” he stated.
What more
could have been said to prove my prediction right? Not a
word more! And like I stated further in that article,
Ogbulafor himself would have uttered those very same words
if given the chance to remain as PDP chairman. Nigerian
politicians have no enduring principles but flow with the
wind wherever it blows. The PDP has effectively reversed
course and all that remains is for Jonathan to formally
declare his intention in the affirmative. The waiting game
begins.
In fairness
to the party, however, it never met to take the position
announced by Ogbulafor in the first place, and so it was
easy for Dr. Orton to dissociate the party from the
statement credited to Ogbulafor. The question is why did he
wait so long to disavow his chairman’s unilateral outburst
in the name of the party?
He alone can
answer that. But my guess is that everyone in the PDP
hierarchy was counting on Yar’Adua’s recovery given the
propaganda messages that were spewing forth from the bowels
of the presidency to deceive the people and no one wanted to
be in the bad book of a recovered and smoking President
Yar’Adua out to take his pound of flesh from those who
betrayed and abandoned him, never minding that they might
have acted in accordance with the constitution! Like
ordinarily Nigerians they were victims of con-men in the
presidency euphemistically referred to as Yar’Adua kitchen
cabinet, and deserve some pity.
That said
Ogbulafor’s statement was not only inflammatory but
extremely damaging to the fragile unity of the nation for
which he must be made to account. If Nigeria was tinderbox,
Ogbulafor would be the one who provided the spark that set
off the conflagration that consumed the nation. The
consequences of his misguided and unguarded utterances are
still reverberating in the polity even with his forced exit
and likely to grow in intensity threatening to rock the very
foundations of our nation. Such is the power of words from a
significant source. He is unfit for a leadership position
and therefore rightly removed as head of the ruling party.
The damage
control now embarked upon by the party would have been
totally unnecessary but for Ogbulafor’s gratuitous and
self-serving outbursts. That said, every indication points
in the direction of the Jonathan presidency subjecting
itself to democratic renewal for the next four years in
2011, in which case we can look forward to the Jonathan era
ending in 2015, making a total of approximately five years
in office.
However, so
far as this writer is concerned, and subject to the
sovereign will of the Nigerian people in the forthcoming
election, the Jonathan presidency is already extended to the
year 2015 and this series is entirely based on that
assumption without in any way, shape or form, pre-empting
the outcomes of the 2011 general elections. Ultimately, it’s
not my prediction that counts but the will of the people
expressed in their votes as long as their votes are allowed
to count and are actually counted to truly ascertain their
electoral preferences at the polls.
Conclusions
This
prediction does not, however, call for lethargy or
complacency on the part of President Jonathan in delivering
the goods as promised, because he will be held to account
for his promises made to the nation in prime time.
Dithering
and lethargy, which were the hallmarks of the defunct
Yar’Adua administration should die with the Yar’Adua
administration and never to be associated with the Jonathan
administration. If indeed he has been called like Jonah to
serve as many have come to believe, he should deliver to us
the purpose of that call before the next elections not
necessarily in full scale in all areas due to time
constraints, but in significant strides that produce
tangible results and not mere plans of actions, preachments
and platitudes. He should walk the walk.
And the
evidence of that should begin to manifest itself in
increased energy and power supply in our homes and offices;
in improved conditions of our highways; in total and
devastating, all-out war on corruption with all gloves off
for a surgical operation to excise the malignant tumor from
our polity; in security of lives and property and better
quality of life for our citizens and; generally, in the
unleashing of the beast of the innate, creative and
entrepreneurial geniuses of Nigerians so demonstrably
manifested elsewhere around the globe, but in Nigeria. It’s
time to turn the page. Yes, it is time to deliver!
God bless
Nigeria.
Franklin
Otorofani, Esq. contact:
mudiagaone@yahoo.com
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