At
the presidential level, Goodluck Jonathan has taken the Oath of
Allegiance and the Oath of Office on three occasions — first as the
vice-president, as the acting president and again as the substantive
president. These pledges were taken, not as a sectional or ethnic
leader, but as a national leader. But in recent times, particularly
within some Ijaw enclaves, many act as if Jonathan is the President of
the Ijaw ethnic group.
It is so disconcerting when you see and
hear some Nigerians of Ijaw extraction talk and act as if “without
Jonathan, there will be no oil, no Nigeria.” Please disregard such
chest-pounding and insensitive talks.
Frankly, I do not know if President
Jonathan supports or encourages such fervour. I do not know. However,
what seems clear is that he or his Minister of Justice, the Inspector
General of Police, the State Security Service or other security and
intelligence agencies have not cautioned those who swore to push the
country off the cliff in the event the President does not continue in
office past 2015. What nonsense!
Democracy is not about personalities.
Sure, there are influential and visionary individuals who may help with
the democratic process; but really, democracy is not about individuals
but about the collective, the process and institutions. Whether
President Jonathan stays or goes – whether he is rehired or fired from
the presidency — is up to the electorate. If he is fired, Nigeria will
not burn or disintegrate. The oil will not stop flowing. But hubris and
egos emanating from the creeks want you to believe they can move
mountains. They can’t!
One needs not be a lawyer or a
constitutional scholar to know that Jonathan is qualified to seek the
presidency the second time. He can and he should. All the talks about
“war,” “blood,” “cutting off oil pipelines” and making the country a
“living hell” if he is not allowed to are nothing but an empty talk.
In functional democracies, no one comes
off the street or the farm to become the president. There are many
things to worry about, i.e. the screening process and the party primary.
Jonathan, as with everyone else with presidential dreams and
aspirations, must convince his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, to
vote and select him as the party’s flag bearer. Whether or not the
nomination process is free and fair is up to the party and its members.
Slighted and aggrieved members have access to the courts. It is not for
militants or ex-this and ex-that to dictate to or threaten the PDP and
the country.
No one voice is louder than the voice of
the country; no single personality is more vital than the wishes of the
collective. Nigeria has myriad problems. However, that does not give
anybody, any braggart the right to think they have the power to bring
the country to its knees. What is this country turning into?
We have politicians bastardising the
political process. We have those in the public and private spaces
stealing the country blind. We have a judiciary that is less than
stellar. We have a legislative branch that is more concerned with
enriching itself than enriching the nation. We have non-state actors
killing innocent citizens at will. And now we have petty and pesky
individuals threatening the survival of the country. What is going on
here?
Really, what is going on in Nigeria? On September 8, 2013 PoliReporters,
an upcoming media outfit, reported that, “Former leaders of militant
groups in the Niger Delta region have ordered former Vice-President
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to tender an apology to President Goodluck
Jonathan for tearing the ruling PDP apart.” The militant groups went on
to declare Atiku “a persona non-grata in the region.” How does a
self-serving group declare any Nigerian a persona non-grata in his or
her fatherland?
According to the Sun newspaper
(September 6, 2013), it was this same group — Leadership, Peace and
Cultural Development Initiative — that “warned the Peoples Democratic
Party and the Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi on the consequences
of not re-electing President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.” And of course
there is the Coalition for Militant Action in the Niger Delta that’s
openly threatening the safety of Amaechi.
What we should worry about – what
militants should worry about – are the unhealthy and worsening
conditions in the region and the country. They ought to ask their
respective governors what they’ve accomplished with several billions in
monthly allocations. They should ask their state and federal
parliamentarians what role they are playing in the development of the
region and the country. They should demand from their public servants
good governance and accountability. They should demand socially
responsible behaviour and sound environmental practices from the various
oil multinational companies.
Instead of threatening Jonathan’s
opponents and critics, they should march to the Presidential Villa and
demand accountability and public goods and services. It is not for these
and other militants to dictate to the PDP or any other political party
what it should do in terms of its primary and presidential candidates.
Who the country elects as its number one citizen is wholly up to the
people.
With this in mind, why do we have all
these militants clamouring for Jonathan to continue in office? Ok, they
have the right to support his candidacy and his presidency, but why
threaten those who oppose him? Why call into the question the character
and reputation of those who criticise him? This unbounded and irrational
loyalty to Jonathan will not, in the long run, augur well for the
region and its people.
The behaviour and pronouncements of many
of these militants do not put the region and its people in a good
light. And by the way: Why must all Ijaw belong to the PDP or pledge
allegiance to Jonathan? As great a human being as Obafemi Awolowo was,
not all Yoruba supported him or his politics. And not all Igbo supported
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu or Nnamdi Azikiwe. So, where did the Ijaw
get the idea that it must be “Jonathan or hell”? Where? The idea that
any Ijaw who does not support or sing Jonathan’s praise is a saboteur or
anti-Ijaw is sheer nonsense.
In the end, you must understand this: An
effective and visionary leader does not need the support of
arm-twisting and fire-spitting militants. No! He earns the people’s
trust and affection by his good and measurable deeds.
Punch Columnist: Sabella Abidde (sabidde@yahoo.com)
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