1st Phase: The Best and Worst of President Goodluck Jonathan (10th May 2010 - 28th May 2015)

by Eze Eluchie

BEST PATRIOTIC ACT

Ironically, the culmination of the actions determined as 'His Weakest Political Move' - not sacking the Chairman of Nigeria Independent National Electoral Commission, 'saint Jega', also gives rise to his best act as a patriot.

Without doubt, going by amongst other factors: the desperate manner of their election campaigns, the violent attacks on President Jonathan's and his political party's campaigns in the extreme northern fringes of Nigeria; the increasing tenor of attacks by Boko Haram, efforts at ridiculing the Nigerian State, its military and Presidency domestically and before the international community; and increasing brazen display and resort to high calibre weapons by political thugs; if the outcome of the 2015 Presidential Elections had been contested by any of the two main contenders, an orgy of violence, perhaps unprecedented in the annals of our history, would have been unleashed on the Nigerian polity.

Whether he acted in bondage and under pressure, or acted of own volition, the early concession of defeat by President Goodluck Jonathan, despite the glaring evidence of electoral fraud, manipulation and compromise by INEC officials which could have all served to provide sufficient reason to, midway, obviate the outcomes of the said elections, saved Nigeria from a seemingly inevitable crisis.

Globally applauded for the feat (though much derided by those who had supported him locally), in defeat, President Goodluck Jonathan became a winner.


WORST ‘UNPATRIOTIC ACT

President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure to exhaust all possible legal remedies to challenge the shamefully horrendous ceding of an integral part of Nigeria, the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroun, will forever haunt him as the worst unpatriotic act of his Presidency.

Rightly, efforts to cede the people and land of Bakassi had been virtually concluded under the despotic regime dubbed Nigeria’s ‘Reign of Evil’ under the rulership of ex-dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo, President Jonathan’s failure to explore all legal options available under international law (obviously under the advice of his worst political appointee, Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke) was not only unpatriotic, but in all senses of the word, treasonable.



BEST POLITICAL APPOINTMENT

Loyalty to the State and the Presidency; Positive impact on the polity; and strict adherence to the Constitution and the Rule of Law; these are the core qualities that will aide in ascertaining who amongst the political appointees of President Goodluck Jonathan deserves the accolade of being the best among his peers.

Clearly, arising from set goals of making Nigeria ungovernable for the Jonathan administration, any appointee who tried to attain appreciable success in his/her portfolio would be frustrated out of office by the lethal cabal which had attained a strangle hold on the Nigerian State. In that line of thinking, the ex-Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji stood out as an appointee who had to be snuffed out of office.

However, in keeping with the criteria above stated, the best political appointee of the Jonathan Presidency, who was loyal to the State and the Presidency, had a positive impact on the polity in the sphere of influence covered by his office and who sought to enforce the dictates of the Constitution and the rule of law to the letter despite spirited opposition from myriad quarters intent on destabilizing the State was none other than the former Inspector General of the Nigeria Police, Mr Suleiman Abba.

Ex-IGP Abba’s role in seeking to enforce the Constitutional provision which requires that elected political office holders vacate their office upon defection from the political platform through which they were elected, stood him out, among his peers as one who understood where the pendulum was swinging, which required drastic actions to instill discipline in the polity and avoid an impending catastrophe. Alas, ex-IGP Abba’s efforts were not understood for what they stood for, and as the saying goes, the rest is now history.

With the capitulation of the President even before the presidential election results were announced, loyalty had to understandably shift. Ironically, the Jonathan Presidency’s penchant to not recognize good qualities in its appointees led to a hasty and unfortunate removal of the Best Political Appointee of the regime, Mr. Abba, from office, soon after the 2015 general elections.


WORST POLITICAL APPOINTMENT

The President of the Federal Republic is just one person on whose shoulders rests the desires and aspirations of the country. His ability to govern effectively is thus to a great extent defined by the quality of persons he appoints as advisers, Ministers and to several sensitive political offices.

Without doubt, President Jonathan, going by his antecedents and work history, had not developed sufficient knowledge of the human nature as to enable him select loyal and effective political lieutenants - this led to Goodluck Jonathan surrounding himself with characters that were minuses.

By a wide margin, the most ineffective of these political appointees, whose 'wise counsel' could have served to avoid the bulk of the pitfalls which served to truncate the administration, whose lack of proactive counsel served to create the impression of a rudderless contraption and whose ignorance in the field of knowledge he was touted as expert served to mislead the government is non other than the character holding the office of Attorney general and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic, Mr. Mohammad Adoke.

Mr. Mohammad Adoke, who I have severally mentioned in Blogposts as being a 'public officer missing in action', whose office oversees the agencies charged with tackling corruption and crime prevention (areas where the administration failed woefully), failed to speak up on several topical issues, in my estimation wins the dubious distinction as the worst of the political appointees of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency.



Picture: President Goodluck Jonathan (10th May 2010 - 28th May 2015)

Goodluck Jonathan: Far Better Than His Peers.

by Eze Eluchie

In assessing all past and serving heads of the Nigerian State with a view to determining who is the best among the lot, it is clear to state from the onset that only Heads of Government who emerged from democratic processes will be considered – those who emerged from coup plots will not be considered as they are actually treasonable felons and ought to be prosecuted at anytime when we begin to get our efforts at self-governance aright.

The contenders to the position of Best Nigerian Ruler are thus restricted to Tafawa Balewa, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Yar’Adua and the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan.

Qualities to consider in arriving at an objective decision will include:
1.      Development of National Infrastructure
2.      State of National Security
3.      Expansion of the democratic space and adherence to rule of law
4.      Efforts at ensuring human capacity development
5.      Level of fundamental freedoms enjoyed by the general population
6.      Engendering conducive environment for investment

A scrutiny of the factors enumerated, the state of national affairs at the inception of the administrations of the four Presidents stated above and at the time when the said Presidents departed office will reveal that by a wide margin, the incumbent, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan stands heads and shoulders above his peers.

President Jonathan’s regime, unlike non other before him, was dogged from its inception by spirited efforts at scuttling the administration including the unleashing of a most vicious political insurgency masqueraded as Islamist terrorists; vested interests invested heavily in sabotaging State infrastructure and agencies, infiltrating the regime with stooges whose actions and comments brought ridicule and odium to not only the State and its peoples but also the Presidency; Yet, appreciable progress was attained in diverse fields of national development and innovations in governance served to bring some succor to significant proportions of the population long sidelined by the oddities of the Nigerian state.

In the area of expansion of the political space and freedoms enjoyed by Nigerians, the Jonathan presidency raised the bar to new and far higher levels that will make populations in established democracies cringe in envy. The incumbent Nigerian President was once dubbed the ‘most insulted President in the world’, yet the previously notorious State security agencies were not unleashed on anyone.

The fact that a coalition of foreign powers had massed to ensure his departure from office coupled with palpable threats to unleash unparalleled violence on the polity in the event of an electoral impasse and his often expressed mantra that his political aspirations was not worth shedding the blood of any Nigerian, served to engender an unprecedented concession of defeat even before the final results of the Presidential elections had been released – despite undisputed widespread acts of systemic electoral malpractice and evidence of compromise amongst officials of the National Electoral Commission. Nigerians will forever remain grateful for this singular act of statesmanship.

Ineffectiveness in addressing large-scale high profile corruption which was wiping the very soul of the Nigerian contraption and hesitancy in frontally confronting terror and some other faults of the regime only underline the fact that all positive attributes can never be found in the same person individual.

Being human, perfection was certainly not possible; however his pluses far outweighed his minuses. The array of choices Nigeria has had in it’s over 50 years of flag-independence from the United Kingdom explains to a great deal why we are where we are whilst the rest of the world keeps on forging ahead.

As he departs office later today, President Jonathan will go in peace resting in the assurance that within his capabilities he had tried his best and that his countrymen genuinely appreciate that amongst his peers, he has been the best thus far. Fare thee well.

Tomorrow, a new chapter begins with the Muhammadu Buhari presidency.



Picture: President Goodluck Jonathan

China - US Relationship: Daring The Dragon

by Eze Eluchie

Growing up as a lad in the suburbs of a city that was to later metamorphose into the most populous city in sub-Sahara Africa (depending on whose population figures you opt to believe), one quickly learnt that the most important lessons in life were not taught in schools or classrooms but informally on the streets.

One of such lessons learned was the fundamental need to take turns at play or whatsoever – a lesson learnt whilst playing with peers. Another, and perhaps more critical lesson, was the practice of, with a view to avoiding repayment obligations, putting up a quarrel with ones creditors, and using the guise of the ensuing acrimonious relationship as fodder to refuse to pay back due debts.

A childhood acquaintance of mine had become so adept at this second lesson described above that some of us had to practically flee from him whensoever he tried to make trouble with us – he had formed the uncanny habit of picking up quarrels with whomsoever amongst his friends when he either had some treats on him or was in high anticipation of getting some goodies from some of his older siblings or relatives. In one particular instance, seeing that his efforts to catch up with us to pick a quarrel had failed, our rascal friend crawled back to his mum in a fit of hysterical tears, crying that he would now be forced to share the sweets in his pocket because none of us was ready to quarrel with him.

No doubt, the relationship between States often times imitates what transpires in inter-personal relationships. When however pranks by youngsters gets replicated in inter-States relationships, with a potential to adversely impact global peace and commerce, then there is sufficient course for concern for all interested in the well-being of the human race. The worry takes on added impetus when the countries involved are global powers with stockpiles of nuclear warheads sufficient to annihilate planet Earth.

It is with the forgoing in perspective that one considers the increasing foray by elements of the United States military, under the guise of operating in international waters, into the volatile waters of the South China seas, an area that has gained notoriety as a constant source of friction between China and several of its neighbors amongst which include Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam.

The past few months has witnessed noticeably increased numbers of close contacts between US and Chinese military personnel and equipment in the waters of the South China seas. One can only speculate that it not an issue of if, but when, one of these close contacts will result in the firing of anti-aircraft missiles and or torpedoes, and or the death of a few service men and worse escalations between these two global super powers.  aerial and naval interceptions b

The excuse given by US authorities as justification for their forays into the South China Seas sounds as hallow as it is porous – loyalty to allies/obligations under bilateral military protection treaties and protection of international trading routs, indeed. If these were truly the case, one would wonder why there is no similar efforts at protecting international bilateral military protection agreements and efforts at protecting international trading routes, one would wonder why similar proactive measures were not deemed worthy around the territories of Russia, Yemen, Iran and Syria.

Could the interest in provoking conflict with China be with a view to frustrating the redemption of the over U.S.$1.22 Trillion owed to the land of the ancient Dragons by the US? Certainly in the event of an  outbreak of conflict between the US and China, the Chinese may as well kiss goodbye to the trillion dollar debt owed them by the US, unless of course in the very unlikely scenario that both countries emerge from such conflict with the Chinese being a position to enforce collection of such debts.

Perhaps, like we did as kids growing up in the suburbs of Lagos, it is in the best interest of the Chinese to keep on running away from provocative acts. Unfortunately, knowing the psyche of the Chinese, running away from conflict cannot be a permanent vocation – they are bound, sooner than later, to stand up and seek to defend their integrity. 

The ensuing conflagration will be severe. 

Picture: Flags of US and China