 Published
May 25th, 2010
I do not
need a prophet to tell me that President Jonathan does not
have what it takes to lead Nigeria. This is evident in the
way he romances the big masquerade who could not offer
Nigeria and Nigerians anything, other than frustration,
poverty, senselessness and lawlessness, in eight years of
his administration.
A smart person would have known that there cannot be any
worse political albatross than this masquerade who once
boasted that he is never “embarrassed” by anything.
The masquerade that once asked someone what he forgot in Aso
Rock is trying to go back to the villa through the back
door. Is it not proper to ask him what he forgot which he
could not take in eight “senseless” years of his occupation
of the Rock villa? My sense is that he may be trying to use
Goodluck to re-launch the failed third term project.
Nigerians must be very weary of this man and his political
Good-luck son before it becomes bad-luck for all of us. Once
beaten, twice shy they say. A stitch in time saves nine.
This was the man who had the opportunity to rewrite African
history but chose not to. This is the same man Mr. President
Goodluck is looking onto. What is the basis for this
relationship, one may ask, if not a case of birds of the
same feather flocking together? Or, do we say, like
political father like political son.
A few antecedents have shown what Mr. President Goodluck
cannot do. He cannot ask Iwu to resign and hand over to next
senior officer and Iwu agrees. He cannot tell his wife that
this is not the right time to go shopping in Dubai, whether
with private jet or commercial one – Sahara.com. He cannot
refuse to relate with someone whom every body knows,
including himself, did not perform in eight years.
From the look of things, He may not be able to resolve the
issue of power. He may not be able to resist the temptation
to stay in power beyond next May, 2011, and to that extent
he will not bequeath us with a genuine electoral reform
since he is - definitely - not going to be an unbiased
umpire in a game he will be participating in. Any body that
will usher in a genuine and sound electoral reform will not
and should not, as a matter of moral finesse, participate in
the immediate next election to the reform. So we can say
that he will just be another unhealthy President.
For Mr. President Goodluck to perform, he has to do what I
usually call cleansing – borrowing again from my Pentecostal
friends. And that is to cleanse himself from the terminal
disease I choose to call the big masquerade. I have always
said that men are more honorable when they avoid what will
demystify them. It is better that President Goodluck goes
out honorably than stay back and mess himself up. If you do
not have it, you do not have it, period. Except we are
saying that Presidency in Nigeria is not about development
but arrangement of south producing, then north producing,
then east producing, then west producing and probably mid
west producing.
My greatest worry is that people who came into power the way
President Goodluck and his master did are never do wells.
This is instructive in view of the fact that they never
prepared for anything.
The first time the big masquerade came to power was in 1976
when his boss was mown down in a gruesome coup d'état. We
saw how he did not attempt to implement any of his master’s
plans except the handover. He just sat down cultivating
corruption until the handover date. He deliberately allowed
this to happen then because he was not sure whether those
who master minded the death of his boss were not still in
the system. The second time was from the prison. We also saw
that he was more of a “man of God” than a politician then.
He clutched his bible when he came out of prison and denied
that he was being drafted until he was foisted on us by the
Babagindas. Again, it is evident today that those eight
years of his administration were mere retrogressive
mechanism that sent Nigeria back 50 years, if not more.
Now President Goodluck started off as a deputy governor,
then Vice president, acting president and, now, substantive
President and commander in chief. We are seeing how he
started off with a wife who junkets about for jewelry
shopping in far away Dubai. From America to Port Harcourt,
every where he went, he kept promising very thing including
electoral reform, power stability, corruption eradication.
By amassing of these plethoras of activities to be achieved
within 8 months in office, Mr. President is either exposing
his inexperience and or ignorance towards the art of
governance or he is preparing our mind with a later alibi to
be used to plead with us to allow him another term to
complete what he has started. And this was what his master
did for eight years and later wanted to roast all of us
alive in one third term madness which he embarked upon with
all energy.
Even though those entire things he promises are vital for
our national development, one would have expected a genuine
man to concentrate on just one, which, in my opinion will
drive the rest and that, should have been electoral reform.
The point is that it is very possible to achieve sound
electoral reform in its entirety within the remaining part
of the life of this administration. And when once we have a
viable electoral system, corruption would have been reduced
to its barest minimum and this will engender the kind of
transparency that will ensure power stability and other
infrastructural development that will make us a major player
in the so much touted 20:20:20. Any promise of power
stability within these few months is a fluke, although
nothing is impossible with God.
With a full fledged electoral reform that meets the desire
of many Nigerians, Mr. President would have endeared himself
to the majority of the populace who will now genuinely call
on him to stand an election at any other time other than May
2011 instead of dancing to the demonic harp music of self
seeking aids and hungry hangers on who will be singing death
lullaby that will make him jettison the voice of reason.
To rule at all cost is not the most important thing, as far
as I am concerned. The most important thing, in my opinion,
is to contribute, either, ideas or social tenets that will
leave an enduring legacy for mankind. And this can be
achieved without being a president of a country. It could
also be achieved by being a genuinely elected president of a
country.
Chris Onyishi
Lagos, Nigeria.
ctekchris@yahoo.com
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