The Re-invention of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan – By Dr. Jideofor Adibe

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists, Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Jideofor Adibe, PhD, NNP Columnists, Presidency Sunday, December 11th, 2011

By Dr. Jideofor Adibe, London, UK – Dec. 12, 2011 – Something is happening imperceptibly to our President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ). Shortly after he assembled a new cabinet following the April 2011 general elections, it seems there has been a gradual but deliberate abandonment of the public persona which GEJ used to good effect when, as Vice President, a cabal within the presidency sought to prevent him from being sworn in as the Acting President. GEJ’s pre-April 2011 persona was that of a gentle, if diffident man, who would readily give a sympathetic ear to any argument and does not mind changing his mind several times on the same issue. This persona ironically made him come across to many people as a very humble and unassuming gentleman, who saw the office of president as a burden bestowed on him by destiny, which he was struggling with difficulty to carry, and relying on his name of ‘Goodluck’ to help him carry it. I believe this persona of an uncomplicated guy- next- door who was in dire need of protection from the more sophisticated Goliaths in the political arena, was a key reason why many people during the PDP’s presidential primaries and the April 2011 elections axiomatically declared him a good man, a sort of a biblical David chosen by God to take the country forward at this moment in our political history. It would also seem that for most of the Governors, GEJ’s special appeal during this period was the same public persona of a diffident and malleable man who could be easily swayed. That type of person, they must have reasoned, was someone they could do business with because they could always convince him with a ‘superior argument’ rather than Atiku, who could be too ‘politically smart’ to be swayed or Buhari who could remove the immunity clause in the constitution and herd as many of them as possible into jail for any infraction.

GEJ’s pre-April 2011 public persona was solidified with his rather touching story of how he grew up and went to school without shoes. That public persona resonated well with many ordinary Nigerians making it extremely difficult for the proponents of zoning to turn him into an odious figure. In fact, my belief is that were GEJ a little more self-assured or strongly opinionated on anything during the hotly contested PDP presidential primaries it would have been much easier to demonise him and the zoning argument would perhaps have achieved a different outcome.

I believe the abandonment of GEJ’s pre-April 2011 public persona became pronounced during the Justice Salami-Justice Katsina Alu saga. It will be recalled that in August 2011 the Nigerian Judicial Council suspended Justice Ayo Salami from office with immediate effect following his alleged disregard of the Council’s directive to tender apologies to the NJC and to the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, with whom he had been involved in an altercation bordering on allegations of corruption and influencing election tribunal proceedings. The NJC had recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice Salami for misconduct. Despite the hoopla in the media against the NJC’s decision, the ‘normally’ indecisive President acted decisively, quickly accepted the recommendation of the NJC and refused to bulge despite the media campaign.

There was equally the case of the President’s proposal for a- single term tenure for the President and Governors. Just when everyone thought he had quietly allowed the idea to die a natural death in the face of an overwhelming popular opposition, the President later declared that the idea was still alive and that contrary to media reports that the single term tenure proposal was for six years, it was actually for seven! He has stuck to his gun on the issue, insisting that the opponents of the idea had misunderstood his intentions.

The government’s proposal for the removal of subsidies on petroleum products has followed the same emerging trend. Rather than recoil from a fight as people feel the pre-April 2011 GEJ would do, he has stuck to his gun, feeding into the impression that he is now being re-invented as a man of conviction, who will hold onto his belief, no matter the level of opposition. The emerging new GEJ, who will quietly but firmly defy pressures, reached a crescendo during the just concluded PDP gubernatorial primaries in Bayelsa State, the President’s home State. Though the PDP has continued to deny it, the general belief is that GEJ is behind the decision to disqualify Sylva Timipre from contesting for the PDP gubernatorial primaries because of his alleged political sin of campaigning against his being made the Acting President when the late Yaradua had become very ill and a cabal within his government held the country hostage. The significant thing here however is not that the President was opposed to Timipre’s candidacy but that he remained adamant in his opposition despite the reported interventions of the South South Governors, the Governors’ Forum and other eminent Nigerians that reportedly included former President Shehu Shagari and former Head of State Yakubu Gowon. Also though there was a court order (or ‘motion on notice’, depending on which side you are in the confusion), the PDP went ahead to hold the nomination – despite popular anger that the party was flouting a court order. The new GEJ, as if to damn the pressures, quickly congratulated the party for doing a ‘good job’ of conducting the primaries.

The new GEJ also showed in the way Mrs Farida Waziri was sacked as the Chairman of the EFCC. The issue here is not just the sacking but the manner in which it was done decisively. He sacked her just before he left for France, ensuring that the news would still be ‘hot’ in the media by the time he would be meeting with his French hosts. The art of ‘making a statement’ by finding a major scapegoat in the anti-corruption war just before a foreign trip was perfected by the wily Obasanjo who would often use such to demonstrate to his foreign audience that his regime was serious in fighting corruption in the country.

I believe the putative re-invention of the President holds opportunities and threats both for the country and for President GEJ himself. On the positive side, the persona with which he won the PDP primaries and the subsequent general election can hardly be counted upon to take the necessary tough decisions that will transform this country. Leadership is rarely a popularity contest so a more decisive President, who is not afraid to give rewards or sanctions, is what the country needs. If the new decisive GEJ is able to bring immediate improvement in the economic circumstances of ordinary Nigerians, the re-invention will be deemed successful. If however nothing changes on the economic front, the new decisiveness will be perceived as emerging traits of dictatorship. Again, there is a risk that in a bid to show that a new tough guy has emerged, the President may fail to realise when his decisions or policy options are truly contrary to popular will. And with so many of his current decisions such as the single term tenure proposal and plans to remove petroleum subsidies being unpopular (at least in the short term), there could be a legitimacy crisis, especially if the implementation of these policies do not lead to an immediate improvement in the material circumstances of ordinary Nigerians. There is a further risk that a re-invented GEJ, seeing that he is able to get away with one tough decision after another, may misread the situation and react in ways that may lead to reversals in our democratic gains. There is equally a possibility that if Sylva Timipre contests and wins the Governorship election in Bayelsa State under another party’s banner, the ‘fear’ of being an ‘ordinary’ citizen when Timipre will still be Governor, could affect the reported decision of GEJ to leave office in 2015. The re-invented GEJ also means losing the innocence that was part of his political capital before and during the April 2011 elections, making it much easier to turn him into a hate figure for counter mobilisation if he decides to contest in 2015.

However this re-invention of GEJ turns out for the country, what is clear is that the President seems to have become more comfortable with the exalted office he occupies. And that too has both its merits and flipsides – for GEJ and for the country.

The author can be reached at: pcjadibe@yahoo.comwp_posts

Short URL: https://newnigerianpolitics.com/?p=15635

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