Amid
the heaping of blames for Nigeria's economic woes on Goodluck Jonathan
by Nigerians, Niran Adedokun explains what the faults of the former
president were.
I am not one of those who think former President Goodluck Jonathan
is the worst thing that happened to Nigeria after God made Satan like a
lot of Nigerians think currently.
Nigerians have an unusual capacity to take in the dramatic. We are
drawn in by the eloquence of men and when such fluency is combined with
some elements of drama, we mostly lose the tendency for soundness. I try
to detach myself from that mob reasoning whose motivation is most often
discovered not more than some tempest in a teapot.
The level of unreasonableness and rapidity of presumptions have
even now worsened with the capacity of the social media to sell
falsehood and untested information. Like the downpour that lumps the
chicken and pigeon together, social media has conjoined folly and wisdom
in a marriage of perpetual discomfort.
I recently saw a Facebook post, which got me wondering what a lot
of us Nigerians make of the reality of life and living. The post sought
to know why the Supreme Being ever allowed a man like Jonathan to rule
Nigeria. And when I saw it, I felt that the error therein define
Nigerians’ perception of the necessary ingredients for the development
of their country. Expectedly, that post gained some traction but I
disagree with it on two fronts.
For starters, does God decide who becomes President in any country?
Do we realise that the choices that we make ultimately determine what
happens.
For example, would President Muhammadu Buhari be in office if
Christians prayed round the clock and Muslims sat on their mats without
casting their votes on March 28, 2015? Wouldn’t Buhari be back in Daura
tending his cattle without the interventions of mortals?
Reminds me of a story I read in The Believer’s Authority, one of
the classic offerings of the late American Pentecostal preacher, Kenneth
Hagin. He told of how Jesus Christ appeared in a vision to teach him
about the authority that a believer has. In the course of their
discussion, an evil spirit appeared, making a lot of noise and causing a
cloud which made it impossible for him to see Jesus. Hagin waited for
Jesus to do something but he didn’t. The preacher said he later came to
himself, rebuked the spirit, saw it hit the floor like a bag of salt and
then the cloud cleared and he could see Jesus again. Thereafter, Jesus
explained that if Hagin did nothing about the situation, there was
nothing he, Jesus, could do as he already completed his own job years
back! This is one fact that Nigerians, especially Christians, must wrap
their heads around. There are things that God cannot do for us!
Secondly, I think it is totally unfair to judge Jonathan only on
the basis of current alarming revelations of sleaze. Here, I should be
clear, corruption is horrible and everyone found culpable by our courts
should be made to pay for their misdeeds but we need to put these issues
in perspective.
One understands that Nigerians are angry with Jonathan on the
assumption that the current vulnerable state of the economy is a direct
effect of the volume of monies allegedly stolen under his watch but that
is not exactly so. Nigeria’s economy is at its prostrate state because
successive leaders failed to put action behind the rhetoric about
diversifying the economy.
In spite of all the instances of theft and pilfering that have
recently been revealed, Nigeria will not be at this state of affairs if
crude oil still sold for say $100 per barrel. The situation with the
price of crude oil has left many economies globally in dire straits.
Russia, Saudi Arabia. Canada and Venezuela are currently on differing
levels of struggles due to this crunch.
Unfortunately, we do not seem to have learnt much from this
situation. This administration is in the main; seems to concentrate
diversification efforts on commodities and the extractive industries
rather than exploring manufacturing, the enormous human resources as
well as the creative and tourism potential of the country. Even then,
budgetary allocation for Agriculture in the 2016 budget does not reflect
the urgency with which Nigeria needs to diversify.
Then, if we did not have a Jonathan who was not desperate to remain
in office, could the 2015 elections have gone so smoothly? Some argue
that then chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission,
Prof. Attahiru Jega, would not have allowed any manipulation but a
president whose eyes were set on a second term would not have appointed a
Jega in the first place!
Again, Jonathan did more than this. I do not remember any
administration doing as much as Jonathan did to revamp and modernise
agriculture. The YouWin Enterprise initiative, even if tokenistic, was
an innovative employment generation programme which encouraged
entrepreneurship and empowered hundreds of Nigerian youths. YouWIN was
the first time I saw people benefiting from a national scheme without
recommendations from some highly placed individuals. Modest attempts
were made under Jonathan to rebuild a few institutions while the
capacity of our security forces to respond to crimes cannot be said to
be the same as in 2010. Not too long ago, the Minister of Power, Works
and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, was quoted as acknowledging that
Jonathan built more roads than any previous government in Nigeria while
the strides made in the reform of power, provided a pedestal for this
administration to build on. The Jonathan administration also attempted
to save by setting up a Sovereign Wealth Fund.
In spite of whatever strides he made however, some character flaws would deny him the crown for good governance.
One is his deficit in courage. Jonathan came across as a man who
could take a stand in power. Someone who listens to every opinion
without committing to anything. The inability of Jonathan to curb many
of those who worked with him from the mindless plundering of the nation
is a case in point. Reference can also be made to the excesses of his
wife, Patience and Chief Edwin Clark who has now done a Judas on him.
A corollary to this is the penchant of the former President to
speak out of turn. While in government, Jonathan hardly said anything
right at the appropriate time. When he spoke, he did with a lot of slips
some of which accounts for the whittling down of his popularity. Till
date, Nigerians remember sound bites, like “I don’t give a damn about
asset declaration”, “stealing is not corruption” and many other faux
pas.
Even now, the former president has yet to see the memo. At this
time when his closest aides are answering corruption charges, Jonathan
should be courageous enough to step out and explain the circumstances
around the allegations against his administration. He is not the one on
trial at the moment and he should be bold enough to take on this
government which is determined to rubbish his administration or savour
the dignity of silence until he is called upon to account.
But as this administration and Nigerians continue to probe the
past, not paying attention to the weakness of our national institutions
will make it all futile.
The inefficiency of our bureaucracy, the hypocrisy of our political
elite, the betrayal of public trust by the National Assembly, a unique
body meant to check the excesses of other arms of government and protect
the people must be addressed without let.
If all the stories of fleece under Jonathan are true, how does the
National Assembly exculpate itself from this grand conspiracy against
the people? How can Nigeria continue with anti-corruption agencies which
wait on executive prompting before getting to work, one which summarily
appropriates the roles of courts? How do we reform a Central Bank that
flouts its own process on the altar of political convenience ruining
thereby the monetary policy of the state and destroying the national
economy?
The problem with our leaders, to my mind, is not as much a question
of their personal idiosyncrasies as it is the failure of democratic
institutions to perform their constitutional roles. Even President
Buhari is on this path now unless something gives and everyone holds the
ball firmly. For, do not less us deceive ourselves, there are no good
men in public office, only institutions can restrain leaders from
executive waywardness.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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