President Jonathan and the 2015 distraction (published in Tribune, Sunday Trust, Osun Defender, The Punch, et al)

Jonathan and the 2015 distraction

Written by Folarin Samson Sunday, 03 June 2012 05:00

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Barely a year into the life of the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the talks had started about who succeeds him in 2015. The debate has been strong and heated to the point of name-calling and direct abuse on the person of Mr President who is accused of eying a second term ticket. Those who have completely dismissed the possibility of a Jonathan re-election based on current performance have started throwing up potential heirs to the throne. The political class has been negotiating the geo-political swing for the presidency. The media in particular have never been so active in their agenda-setting function as they have put the issue on their front burners with screaming headlines. The papers with vested interest have made no pretentions of their motives in their piloted interviews and twisted analysis.

It is sad that at this critical time in our national life, trivial matters of this nature have stolen the minds of our think-tanks from grave state concerns. Worse, it is pathetic that bent under the debilitating crush of Boko Haram insurgency that has advertised the yawning lapses in our security system to the international community, we could not concentrate our strained energy on strengthening our unity to fight the scourge and sustaining our fragile democratic experiment with constructive and critical debate. One is forced to question if our politicians have become so desperate in their lust for power that the common good does not matter any longer. Have we given up so early on the Jonathan presidency a year after majority of Nigerians voted for him, even if the figures were exaggerated or inflated as alleged? This is shameful.

As expected, the presidency replied his detractors. Mr. President would not want to be drawn into discussions bothering on the future of his political career. This should have been adequate to lay the matter to rest. But not so fast with Nigerian politics. Many are clamouring for a direct answer. Again I wonder what answer could be clearer than in the declaration of Mr President at the outset of his presidential campaign not to contest a second term if given a first opportunity. And if he reneged on his words as Nigerian politicians are wont, will he not be judged by performance? These premises may sound too simplistic for a skeptical mind, which believes the elections can always be manipulated and it is easier to steer the results in personal favour as incumbent. This probably informed the recent vituperations of General Muhammadu Buhari who spoke against the Federal Government in unprintable terms.

However, no matter how tense the political climate may be and the fears about tomorrow in the political caucus, does wisdom not suggest we live one day at a time? It is rather unfortunate and saddening that we have suddenly come to the conclusion that there can be no light at the end of our tunnel and the solution is to begin to search for alternatives, including threatening death and hell. It only portrays our politicians as self-serving and power thirsty. Opposition politics in other climes is not so adversarial. The opposition is there to provide an alternative to government through well reasoned and thought out solutions to nagging social troubles. They are to point out the lapses in the sitting government for the greater good. When are we going to get it right in this country that power is only a means to an end and not an end in itself? The desire of many politicians is just to grab the power by hook or crook even when they lack quality programmes and transformational policies.

Nigerians should insist on improved governance and better policy direction. Although a year down the line there’s a general let down in the Jonathan administration, we cannot afford to pull it down more with subversive talks. We must stop listening to the grandstanding demagogues who paint our leaders black to worm their way into power. They would make worse leaders. To my mind, Jonathan was elected by popular votes despite the widespread malpractices that soiled the credibility of that election and we owe his administration support and constructive criticisms.

Mr President has to up his game or do the honourable thing if he finds the Nigerian task herculean. In objective retrospect, his first year was marred with certain ill-thought policies that threw Nigerians into hardship and regrets. We are still waiting for the much vaunted “breath of fresh air”. Hence the noise and campaign by his “loyalists” for a re-election in 2015 is not only premature but misguided and indeed tragic. Dr Jonathan owes the nation the urgent duty of halting the unsolicited campaign. 2015 can wait, we are not in a hurry and all those throwing themselves up as viable substitutes should get busy with more social works to improve their credentials. Our primary concern is the success of this running tenure and three years is still a long time for President Jonathan to prove his critics wrong, redeem his reputation and change the fortune of millions of disenchanted Nigerians.

The role of the media in propagating the 2015 agenda is quite regrettable. Dennis Mcquail, a respected communication scholar, once proposed a typology for the media in developing countries, which was that they should answer to the development needs of their country. Let’s get back to the basics. The media must through its gate-keeping thresholds sieve all unhealthy stories likely to inflame the polity or bring about political instability in the country. Such is the disturbing and destabilising talk about 2015 in a fledging administration. The editors should kill such stories until an opportune time. Those to whom I can make no such prescriptions are people who work in media houses established and run to score political points. The journalists and editors in such places have lost grip of the ethics of the profession and cannot operate a socially responsible media because as the saying goes, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Finally, I urge the political class to be mindful of the common good. 2015 is still three years away and to begin to prognosticate on a seat newly occupied runs against the grain of common sense and morality. Folarin Samson wrote from Abakaliki