Permit
me to use this medium to extend my sympathy to the victims of last weekend
fiercely attack by the violent sect- Boko Haram, on Baga- a town in Borno
State, North East Nigeria, where about 16 villages were reportedly to have been
burnt to the ground. I have no idea why
the report was kept away from the public for days or probably the media didn’t
get the report is something worrisome. But to say that the presidency does not
know that such a terrible attack happened in a part of its country and yet
didn’t condemn it even at the flag off rally of the 2015 campaign in Lagos is
weird and grossly inhumane. Well, that’s an issue to be discussed another day.
It`s
my birthday and have decided to write this passionate piece as an advice and a
cautionary note as my gift to the President. I sincerely hope that he takes
every word seriously and thinks about it.
The
2015 general election is just few weeks away, the polity is heating up and
every major contender for different positions is doing all they could to secure
victories at the polls. On Thursday, 8th January, 2015, President Jonathan was
in Lagos where he flagged off the 2015 campaign for his party- The People
Democratic Party. In his speech which lasted for approximately 30 minutes, we
saw a different President, totally different from the gentleman and easy going
Jonathan that we know who spoke in an unusual way full of actions, attitudes
and force.
President
Jonathan has been generally perceived as a gentleman who has achieved most of
his political ambitions so calmly backed up by luck and not by force. But in
his speech at the flag off rally in Lagos, the President spoke with much anger,
pains and not as a gentleman but like someone who is ready to do all within his
power to secure victory in the next month election.
During
his speech, while criticizing the opposition and past Nigerian leaders for his
woes and failures, he failed to articulate his widely acclaimed achievements in
a very straightforward way for the people to understand. Rather, he was
aggressively criticizing his opponents. Even the little achievements that he
well brags of in the Agricultural Sector are yet to be felt in the prices of
foods and condiments in the country and also in the overall well being of the
people. Every night, a lot of Nigerians still go to bed hungry and wake up with
no hope of what to eat.
The
truth is, the force that he brought to the campaign ground should have been
used to restore over a million Nigerians that have been internally displayed by
war. That force could have also been used to rescue the Chibok Girls from the
hands of Boko Haram their abductor. In addition, the same force could have been
used to crush Boko Haram completely. Furthermore, that same force and
aggression could have been used to move millions of Nigerians out of the
poverty line and do more great things for national interest.
His
personal technique for fighting corruption is not in any way working and
effective and has not in any way sanitized the system or even makes it to be
less corrupt than the way he meant when he became President 6 years ago.
Although,
it is a bold statement to combat corruption by building institutions that will
make corrupt practices difficult to execute, but it is sluggish to still be
talking about building institutions after 6 years as President while the
ultimate bravery is to arrest and prosecute corrupt persons according to the
law. There is no saner part of the world where corrupt practices are not
considered to be criminal offences and where corrupt persons are not
appropriately dealt with according to the law. So building institutions is not
just enough, punishment must also be accorded legitimately.
Mr.
President had enough time to hit hard at the opposition while giving his speech
at the rally last week but he forgot that under his watch over 200 school girls
from Chibok community in Borno state were abducted by the deadly terrorist
group since last year and are yet to be rescued.
President
Jonathan had enough time to shout at his critics at the rally but ignored that
just last weekend under his watch, Boko Haram 'Burnt to the ground' about
16 villages, in Baga, Borno State and
killed about 2,000 people and as I write this piece he`s yet to say a word or
lift a hand.
In
spite of all his shortcomings, President Jonathan wants a second term and
instead for his campaign to be based on vital issues revolving around national
developments and taking responsibilities for his many failures, he forcefully
went on attacking and blaming everyone for his failures. He may decide to plead
to compassionate Nigerians for more years to fix his wrongs, but he must
remember that this election is “issues based” and cannot be won by force.
Gone
are those eras when elections are declared “do or die” and out of fear people
voted for mediocrity. Time has passed and season has changed every vote he needs
would be justified convincingly.
Unlike
2011, when he got the mandates of the people by luck and achieved this position
on a platter of gold, this time around President Jonathan is not going to get
it easily. He`s going to justify why he needs a 2nd term and why compassionate
Nigerians must let him remain in office beyond May 29, 2015.
There
is no level of force that the president decides to bring or introduce into the
system that will add a vote to his votes. The best he could do now is to remain
the gentleman we used to know him to be and campaign like a gentleman he is.
Because heating up the polity that is already overheated will do him no good.
In
conclusion, Dear Mr. President, I have this impression that you have exhausted
your luck and want to turn to force, but you cannot win this election by force.
As it stands now, neither luck nor force can add a single vote to your votes.
Before now, elections might have been won by force or by violence, but those
are no more. Nigerians have woken up from their slumbers and do not care about
the qualifications or the age of your opponent; the best you could do is to
appeal to the leniency of the people but this election cannot be won by force.
God Bless Nigeria
Ogundana Michael Rotimi
I tweet @MickeySunny
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