A LOOK AT FORMER PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S STYLE OF GOVERNANCE AS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUHARI’S CURRENT ADMINISTRATION
May 19, 2021 | News
With the established fact that every President and political leader has his style of governance, and that there are no two Presidents who are alike, but what matters at the end of the day is the impact made, and the legacies left behind, which differentiates one President from another.
-By Zik Gbemre
A LOOK AT FORMER PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S STYLE OF GOVERNANCE AS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUHARI’S CURRENT ADMINISTRATION
All governments in Nigeria, especially from 1999 to date, are practically the same thing. It is just that some are far worse than others…
While each President has his style of governance, what matters and differentiates them is the impact and legacies that are left behind…
While each Government and President have their faults and weaknesses, the one which has received more condemnation by the majority of the Nigerian populace, should be seen as the worse…
With the established fact that every President and political leader has his style of governance, and that there are no two Presidents who are alike, but what matters at the end of the day is the impact made, and the legacies left behind, which differentiates one President from another.
When Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan recently revealed why he did many things he did while he was in office as the nation’s number one citizen. He noted that whatever position one occupies in life, what matters most is how the person impacted the society and what he will be remembered for. He added that it has always been his principle never to use a temporary privilege, a temporary position that God gave to him to punish people. In his exact words: “One thing they said which touches me and that has been my own belief, mostly when I started politics, is not to use a temporary privilege, a temporary position that God has given to you to punish people. Some of the things I did while in office, which people made reference to, were because of that belief not to use my position to cause the death of anybody. Any position I have occupied, my divine providence should not be used to create hardship for people,” he added.
While I must agree with former President Jonathan, that indeed, he was one who didn't use his position as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to frustrate the lives and freedom of Nigerians. In fact, under Jonathan, freedom and liberty of Nigerians was not determined by party affiliations, and Nigerians had that freedom to criticize and protest whatever they see wrong in the country then. The 2012 fuel subsidy protests were perhaps the hallmark of such freedom enjoyed then by Nigerians in registering their grievances with the then Government of the day. Even most of the APC leaders in the opposition then, including President Muhammadu Buhari, were part of those who consistently protested and criticized every decision of the then Jonathan administration. But all of that changed under President Buhari, who sees his perceived enemies and political opponents as threats that must be silenced by all means, with some being leveled with frivolous allegations of one crime or the other, and intimidated with either the EFCC or the DSS. Even when the Nigerians youths tried to use the EndSARS protests to register their displeasure with the way things are being run by the present administration, the said protests were infiltrated with criminal elements and hijacked by apparently hired hoodlums. At the end of the day, the genuine protesters were shutdown, with many losing their lives at Lekki Toll Gate nightmare, which justice has still not yet been served till date.
President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has no regard for the Rule of law, and should be seen as a defector civilian dictator who does as he pleases, with no regard for what Nigerians think. Sadly, the Nigerian Federal lawmakers are just there doing nothing to checkmate the excesses of the Executive Government. As they say, dictatorship does not happen in isolation…It needs support of all government institutions to thrive. That is the sad reality under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The truth is that Jonathan did not temper with or trample on the freedom and rights of Nigerians in my opinion. No matter how he was provoked, ridiculed with caricature cartoons and skits online, and criticized, he never at any time retaliated with the influence of his exalted Office then to oppress and intimidate anyone. This made many to see him as weak and docile. But to me, his ability to ‘restrain’ himself from using the instruments of power to do and undo, showed strength and a gentlemanly character. Jonathan had the sagacity to manage the diverse ethno-religious interests of the nation, but under Buhari it seems as if the nation is being torn apart due to his lopsided and skewed managerial style.
However, just like this administration, only in a different scale, Jonathan’s administration was also seen as an ‘Ijaw administration’ mainly that didn't recognize any other tribe in the South-South. Under Jonathan, the Ijaws practically became ‘the untouchables’ and this made them quite boastful and wasteful.
According to an online commentary comparing the two political leaders: “The difference between both men is of the type between dark and darker. Muhammadu Buhari is an epic atavistic and frighteningly provincial. He does not see the world beyond his native Daura, Hausa-Fulani enclave. To understand how the man’s mind works, you need not look further than his pattern of appointment since being hurled back to power by the voice of a violent mob in 2015. 90% of his kitchen cabinet is dominated by Hausa-Fulani Muslims. Much like what was obtainable when he was PTF chairman under the late Sani Abacha, all the key projects executed by his administration since 2015 are domiciled in the north- the pine, construction of roads and railway lines. He sees Nigeria exclusively from the prism of North First, North Always. Beyond his choices as an occupant of the Nigerian presidential seat, his utterances also give him away as an 18th Century tribal leader. Once in the US, he blatantly told a group of bewildered journalists that his administration will focus its priorities on areas that gave him 97% votes and practically nothing to those who gave him 5% leading to the promulgation of his famous 97/5% rulership formula which has characterized his reign till date.
“Mr. Jonathan, I must admit is not exactly the best thing that has happened to inspirational leadership since the days of Nelson Mandela, but he was much more broad-minded as a leader, seeking out the best hands to help in the execution of the key projects of his administration. He did not feel inferior amongst technocrats and went out of his way to employ the best hands to offer their bit in the development of Nigeria. He had accomplished technocrats like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Femi Adesina, Olusegun Aganga, Ben Nnaji, Chinedu Nebo amongst other high-profile individuals in his cabinet. The progress that Nigeria recorded under his administration is price stability, fair exchange rate, growth in the economy, thriving entrepreneurship and robust infrastructure provision were all anchored by the quality brains Mr. Jonathan employed to help with the running of the country at the time.”
The only problem was that, despite these technocrats, the Jonathan administration, which enjoyed great revenue due to the high price of oil then at the international market, was also one of the most corrupt governments this country has ever witnessed. In fact, it was as a result of the gross misgovernance of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that the majority of Nigerians voted in President Muhammadu Buhari because they needed a change from the Jonathan administration. Nigerians were tired of Jonathan’s corrupt misgovernance, especially with the Petroleum sector then under Madam Dezieni Alison-Madueke, that they opted for the only worst choice they had at the elections by voting in Buhari. And that opportunity was given to President Buhari, who today, has ended up becoming a dictator and a thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian people. In other words, it was Jonathan’s maladministration and misgovernance that made it possible for President Buhari to be given the opportunity to enter Aso Rock, which many Nigerians are regretting today. Except for those who seriously benefitting from the present Buhari Government either as appointees, party affiliates, close associates, his fellow kinsmen, fronts and allies. These set of persons will never see anything wrong with, or say anything bad about the President Buhari administration that has left Nigeria on the verge of becoming a totally failed State.
And today, President Buhari remains the worst thing that has ever happened to this country’s political history. Buhari has so-failed this country to the extent that the nation’s security situation has not only moved from bad to worse, but is practically non-existent. Who would ever thought that a retired Military General like President Buhari, would be in Government while Boko Haram terrorists would abduct over 300 males school children from his own Katsina State, while he was on a visit the same day?
Several surveys and polls conducted on the streets and online, in comparison of Jonathan’s administration and that of Buhari, showed an enormous dissatisfaction and wide condemnation of the Buhari Government by the majority of Nigerians, than that of Jonathan regime. Most families in Nigeria today are suffering unprecedented hunger, people die in their thousands daily over hunger-related issues. Jobs are being lost across sectors and no new ones are being created. Insecurity has worsened as unemployed youths in their numbers take to crime and criminality. Kidnapping has found a new abode in Abuja- something that was unimaginable several years ago. School children are being kidnapped on their way to school in Lagos and this has become a daily occurrence. Bombs are still flying around in the north east and the IDPs continue to die of starvation.
Even in the area of fighting corruption, these two governments have their faults. Though, Buhari came in with stand to fight corruption headlong, but he is seen as the biggest enabler of corruption in today’s Nigeria. When his close aide, Mr. Babachir Lawal was accused of awarding a contract to a company he has overriding interest in at an inflated cost, rather than ask his aide to step aside and order proper investigations as is usually the norm, Buhari quickly picked his pen and wrote an epistle to the Nigerian senate, independently clearing and absolving this man of any wrong doing- without any proper investigation. So much for an anti-corruption fighter.
The bottom line is that all governments in Nigeria, especially from 1999 to date, are practically the same thing. It is just that some are far worse than others. But the hardship under Buhari is unprecedented, and can be felt to the bone.
Zik Gbemre.
May 19, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
-By Zik Gbemre
A LOOK AT FORMER PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S STYLE OF GOVERNANCE AS AGAINST PRESIDENT BUHARI’S CURRENT ADMINISTRATION
All governments in Nigeria, especially from 1999 to date, are practically the same thing. It is just that some are far worse than others…
While each President has his style of governance, what matters and differentiates them is the impact and legacies that are left behind…
While each Government and President have their faults and weaknesses, the one which has received more condemnation by the majority of the Nigerian populace, should be seen as the worse…
With the established fact that every President and political leader has his style of governance, and that there are no two Presidents who are alike, but what matters at the end of the day is the impact made, and the legacies left behind, which differentiates one President from another.
When Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan recently revealed why he did many things he did while he was in office as the nation’s number one citizen. He noted that whatever position one occupies in life, what matters most is how the person impacted the society and what he will be remembered for. He added that it has always been his principle never to use a temporary privilege, a temporary position that God gave to him to punish people. In his exact words: “One thing they said which touches me and that has been my own belief, mostly when I started politics, is not to use a temporary privilege, a temporary position that God has given to you to punish people. Some of the things I did while in office, which people made reference to, were because of that belief not to use my position to cause the death of anybody. Any position I have occupied, my divine providence should not be used to create hardship for people,” he added.
While I must agree with former President Jonathan, that indeed, he was one who didn't use his position as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to frustrate the lives and freedom of Nigerians. In fact, under Jonathan, freedom and liberty of Nigerians was not determined by party affiliations, and Nigerians had that freedom to criticize and protest whatever they see wrong in the country then. The 2012 fuel subsidy protests were perhaps the hallmark of such freedom enjoyed then by Nigerians in registering their grievances with the then Government of the day. Even most of the APC leaders in the opposition then, including President Muhammadu Buhari, were part of those who consistently protested and criticized every decision of the then Jonathan administration. But all of that changed under President Buhari, who sees his perceived enemies and political opponents as threats that must be silenced by all means, with some being leveled with frivolous allegations of one crime or the other, and intimidated with either the EFCC or the DSS. Even when the Nigerians youths tried to use the EndSARS protests to register their displeasure with the way things are being run by the present administration, the said protests were infiltrated with criminal elements and hijacked by apparently hired hoodlums. At the end of the day, the genuine protesters were shutdown, with many losing their lives at Lekki Toll Gate nightmare, which justice has still not yet been served till date.
President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has no regard for the Rule of law, and should be seen as a defector civilian dictator who does as he pleases, with no regard for what Nigerians think. Sadly, the Nigerian Federal lawmakers are just there doing nothing to checkmate the excesses of the Executive Government. As they say, dictatorship does not happen in isolation…It needs support of all government institutions to thrive. That is the sad reality under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The truth is that Jonathan did not temper with or trample on the freedom and rights of Nigerians in my opinion. No matter how he was provoked, ridiculed with caricature cartoons and skits online, and criticized, he never at any time retaliated with the influence of his exalted Office then to oppress and intimidate anyone. This made many to see him as weak and docile. But to me, his ability to ‘restrain’ himself from using the instruments of power to do and undo, showed strength and a gentlemanly character. Jonathan had the sagacity to manage the diverse ethno-religious interests of the nation, but under Buhari it seems as if the nation is being torn apart due to his lopsided and skewed managerial style.
However, just like this administration, only in a different scale, Jonathan’s administration was also seen as an ‘Ijaw administration’ mainly that didn't recognize any other tribe in the South-South. Under Jonathan, the Ijaws practically became ‘the untouchables’ and this made them quite boastful and wasteful.
According to an online commentary comparing the two political leaders: “The difference between both men is of the type between dark and darker. Muhammadu Buhari is an epic atavistic and frighteningly provincial. He does not see the world beyond his native Daura, Hausa-Fulani enclave. To understand how the man’s mind works, you need not look further than his pattern of appointment since being hurled back to power by the voice of a violent mob in 2015. 90% of his kitchen cabinet is dominated by Hausa-Fulani Muslims. Much like what was obtainable when he was PTF chairman under the late Sani Abacha, all the key projects executed by his administration since 2015 are domiciled in the north- the pine, construction of roads and railway lines. He sees Nigeria exclusively from the prism of North First, North Always. Beyond his choices as an occupant of the Nigerian presidential seat, his utterances also give him away as an 18th Century tribal leader. Once in the US, he blatantly told a group of bewildered journalists that his administration will focus its priorities on areas that gave him 97% votes and practically nothing to those who gave him 5% leading to the promulgation of his famous 97/5% rulership formula which has characterized his reign till date.
“Mr. Jonathan, I must admit is not exactly the best thing that has happened to inspirational leadership since the days of Nelson Mandela, but he was much more broad-minded as a leader, seeking out the best hands to help in the execution of the key projects of his administration. He did not feel inferior amongst technocrats and went out of his way to employ the best hands to offer their bit in the development of Nigeria. He had accomplished technocrats like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Femi Adesina, Olusegun Aganga, Ben Nnaji, Chinedu Nebo amongst other high-profile individuals in his cabinet. The progress that Nigeria recorded under his administration is price stability, fair exchange rate, growth in the economy, thriving entrepreneurship and robust infrastructure provision were all anchored by the quality brains Mr. Jonathan employed to help with the running of the country at the time.”
The only problem was that, despite these technocrats, the Jonathan administration, which enjoyed great revenue due to the high price of oil then at the international market, was also one of the most corrupt governments this country has ever witnessed. In fact, it was as a result of the gross misgovernance of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan that the majority of Nigerians voted in President Muhammadu Buhari because they needed a change from the Jonathan administration. Nigerians were tired of Jonathan’s corrupt misgovernance, especially with the Petroleum sector then under Madam Dezieni Alison-Madueke, that they opted for the only worst choice they had at the elections by voting in Buhari. And that opportunity was given to President Buhari, who today, has ended up becoming a dictator and a thorn in the flesh of the Nigerian people. In other words, it was Jonathan’s maladministration and misgovernance that made it possible for President Buhari to be given the opportunity to enter Aso Rock, which many Nigerians are regretting today. Except for those who seriously benefitting from the present Buhari Government either as appointees, party affiliates, close associates, his fellow kinsmen, fronts and allies. These set of persons will never see anything wrong with, or say anything bad about the President Buhari administration that has left Nigeria on the verge of becoming a totally failed State.
And today, President Buhari remains the worst thing that has ever happened to this country’s political history. Buhari has so-failed this country to the extent that the nation’s security situation has not only moved from bad to worse, but is practically non-existent. Who would ever thought that a retired Military General like President Buhari, would be in Government while Boko Haram terrorists would abduct over 300 males school children from his own Katsina State, while he was on a visit the same day?
Several surveys and polls conducted on the streets and online, in comparison of Jonathan’s administration and that of Buhari, showed an enormous dissatisfaction and wide condemnation of the Buhari Government by the majority of Nigerians, than that of Jonathan regime. Most families in Nigeria today are suffering unprecedented hunger, people die in their thousands daily over hunger-related issues. Jobs are being lost across sectors and no new ones are being created. Insecurity has worsened as unemployed youths in their numbers take to crime and criminality. Kidnapping has found a new abode in Abuja- something that was unimaginable several years ago. School children are being kidnapped on their way to school in Lagos and this has become a daily occurrence. Bombs are still flying around in the north east and the IDPs continue to die of starvation.
Even in the area of fighting corruption, these two governments have their faults. Though, Buhari came in with stand to fight corruption headlong, but he is seen as the biggest enabler of corruption in today’s Nigeria. When his close aide, Mr. Babachir Lawal was accused of awarding a contract to a company he has overriding interest in at an inflated cost, rather than ask his aide to step aside and order proper investigations as is usually the norm, Buhari quickly picked his pen and wrote an epistle to the Nigerian senate, independently clearing and absolving this man of any wrong doing- without any proper investigation. So much for an anti-corruption fighter.
The bottom line is that all governments in Nigeria, especially from 1999 to date, are practically the same thing. It is just that some are far worse than others. But the hardship under Buhari is unprecedented, and can be felt to the bone.
Zik Gbemre.
May 19, 2021
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes