I have come to the conclusion that
politics is too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. ~Charles de
Gaulle….
The above
famous quotes by a former French general, resistant, writer and statesman and
leader of Free France and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic sums up the outcome of the general elections held in Nigeria on the 28th
March and 11th April, 2015.Were it not for the resolve of the masses
to partake in the electoral process starting from the Voters registration
exercise, collection of permanent voters card and the patience, tolerance,
fortitude and enduring self-control exhibited during the electioneering
campaign where political hate speeches, Violence during election and the
ORUBEBE Scare at the INEC Collation center in Abuja almost threw the country
into another Civil War of sort, however, as the turbulence gather dust and
generated a quantum of heat and volcanic magma, the people of Nigeria became stronger
and united in our Diversity.
Consequently,
May 29th 2015, will be another significant turning point in the
history of this conglomeration called Nigeria. It is a day many have looked up
to as a reckoning moment in the quest for hope, succor and a better Nigeria.
The incumbent PDP led government headed by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
will be transferring the baton of power to the Amiable President-Elect, General
Muhammadu Buhari, whose emergence the common man has seen as divinely ordained.
Political pundits have however raised a poser as to the status of the outgoing
President during his almost 6years stint as the President and Commander-in-Chief
of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria, the most powerful and
populous black nation in the World. Some say, President Jonathan is a CAPTAIN
of a Giant Ship but lacks the navigational experience and clues to steer the
ship to greatness while some other opinions has it that President Jonathan is a
CAPTIVE in Aso-Rock where he just gave his nod to all advises and suggestions
given to him by the CABALS surrounding him at the corridor of power. In the
light of these foregoing some issues have been raised and these issues will
serve as a checklist for the incoming APC administration, should they fail to
buckle up, Nigerians will equally wait for them at the poll to show them the
power of the BALLOTS.
In civilized
and advanced political settings, a President of a country will stand tall and
be firm and resolute in the handling of the affairs of the nation as a Leader
and a good CAPTAIN, but Jonathan however, was carried away with the status of
the President and not the function and performance attached to that office.
Here are some of the areas Jonathan failed to take the bull by the horn:
1. FUEL CRISIS: According to the All
Progressive Congress (APC), it said the real causes of the debilitating fuel
scarcity across the country are the looting of the $12 billion domestic gas
fund under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch, the Administration’s failure to
pay fuel subsidy and the cost of interests on bank loans to oil marketers, thus
making it impossible for them to begin another round of importation of refined
petroleum products (The News). And with the ongoing fuel scarcity coupled with epileptic
and worsening power supply in the past weeks, Nigerians face another round of
government-imposed hardship until a messiah comes. Could this be a punishment
from President Jonathan for failing to get our votes at the ballots?
2. JOB LOSS: Going by the prevailing
macro-economic indicators, particularly the plunge in oil prices, which
ultimately put the value of the naira on a downward slide, pushing up prices of
basic raw materials for production, this has forced companies across the
sectors to resort to lay-off of hundreds of workers to cut cost. Similarly, the
issue of capital flight has created a vacuum in the Foreign Direct Investment
portfolio of the nation resulting in mass sack in almost every sector of the
economy. The immigration recruitment tragedy where lives were lost as well as
scores of injured applicants in the supposed recruitment scam will remain
evergreen in the history of job scandals. Until the event of the immigration
job scandal, I had only thought job scam was synonymous with the private
sectors but Jonathan administration has proven otherwise.
3. EPILEPTIC POWER SUPPLY: About four
years ago, this statement was made by the outgoing President. “If I’m voted into power, within the
next four years, the issue of power will become a thing of the past. Four years
is enough for anyone in power to make a significant improvement and if I can’t
improve on power within this period, it then means I cannot do anything…” Four
years after, despite the huge investment and budgets provided for the revamping
of the power sector, what we can infer from the charade called Electricity
reform is incessant drop in power generation due to shortage of gas supply or
as a result insufficient hydro source of energy. Apparently, corruption is the
main clog in the wheel of progress in the power sector. We were told that our neighbor
Ghana once celebrated one year of uninterrupted power supply, will our
generation ever witness such feat?
4. OVERBEARING DEBT BURDEN: According to
Business News, the debt profile of both the Federal Government and the 36
states of the federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory rose by
N1.2tn in one year, statistics obtained from the website of the Debt Management
Office in Abuja showed. The statistics further showed that the nation’s total
public debt rose from N10.04tn as of December 31, 2013 to N11.24tn by December
31, 2014. Also, Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the Federal
Government has borrowed about N473billion to pay salaries and fund the 2015
budget. With all these huge exposures, has Jonathan administration not mortgaged
the future of this country?
5. MONUMENTAL LEVEL OF CORRUPTION:
Should General Muhammadu Buhari decide to tackle only the corruption virus bedeviling
this nation, I am religiously certain 8 years won’t be enough to wipe the
scourge. Nigeria has for
long
