Why President Jonathan Deserves Our Votes
Ayodele Afolabi
The reason why I think President Goodluck Jonathan deserves the vote of Nigerians in the presidential /National Assembly poll slated for March 28 this year is not far-fetched. I believe without any fear of contradiction that re-electing President Jonathan is the best course of action that Nigerians can take, if we do not want to go back to Egypt! To lay the foundation as to whether he should be the choice of the people, one is constrained to do a comparative analysis between President Jonathan and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari.
There is no doubt that many Nigerians will say in the affirmative that President Jonathan stands tall in every facet or parameters that can be used to assess the two leading presidential candidates.
Without venturing into the distant past of Buhari, the current issue surrounding his ordinary school certificate leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Since 1985 when his regime was toppled, Buhari has never participated in any national event, except contesting for elections.
In his personal capacity, he has neither developed himself intellectually or entrepreneurially. He is not known to have chaired any panel, board except the Education Trust Fund.
He has not funded a business enterprise. No block of classroom, roads, public building or monument has been named after him. In his capacity as former head of state, no regional or sub-regional body has given him a task to do. When one juxtaposes this with what his contemporaries or senior former military rulers have done for themselves, one cannot but ask whether Buhari is a fit and proper leader that Nigeria needs?
It is a truism that you can’t give what you don’t have. To develop the economy to the admiration of the people, one must have some residual knowledge and not wholly depend on the handout prepared by an aide.
Even if one is not corrupt, it does not follow that one should be indolent. Given the modest sum that Buhari earns as a retired general, it cannot be out of place for him to own a small business enterprise.
It is not corruption to borrow money from the banks and establish a Buhari farm like his compatriots because in so doing, he would have added value to the nation’s economy either through what is produced in his farm or the employment he gives to our teeming unemployed youth.
Therefore, given this template, I am of the considered view that Nigeria deserves better than Buhari. On the other hand, President Jonathan, a former university lecturer has demonstrated that the education he acquired was not a fluke. Within just four years, he has set a record by revolutionising the nation’s education sector, which can be considered his primary constituency. Today, every state of the federation boasts of a federal university. Also, when northern political and opinion leaders look the other way when our youth who are presumed to be leaders of tomorrow are deliberately being undermined by not providing them good and qualitative education, Jonathan who should ordinarily have cared less, ventured into the creation of Almajiri schools to take the boys off the streets of the northern states.
As a matter of fact, the people of Katsina, the home state of Buhari ought to show appreciation by casting their votes for President Jonathan because he built the only federal university in Katsina state as well as six Almajiri schools in that state. Before he became the president, Katsina and 11 other states in the country had no federal university.
The 2015 election should be about records of performance and not based on primordial sentiments. The president has within four years grown the nation’s economy to the point where it is now the largest economy in Africa. According to the UN, Nigeria’s average life expectancy rose from 47 to 52 years under this administration. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), attested to it when it promoted Nigeria to a Middle Income Nation in 2013 from a Low Income Nation. The KPMG also listed our interstate high speed rail project as one of the world’s top 100 infrastructure projects. On the other hand, the International Food Policy Research Institute said that hunger has reduced in Nigeria under Jonathan from 16 per cent to 14.1 per cent.
If such highly respected international institutions have attested to the fact that Jonathan is performing, then he should be given an opportunity to complete the good work he has started. Beyond the political razzmatazz and sloganeering by the APC, which wants to create an image of a non-performing president, one area that an average northerner should consider and vote for Jonathan is his unparalleled achievement in agriculture, considered as the economic mainstay of the region. Before he came to the saddle, the issue of fertiliser has been a very knotty one that no government before his administration has been able to solve. Today, farmers across the country can access fertiliser directly without any hassle. It can be recalled that the fertiliser procurement and distribution was a veritable channel of corruption. Billions of dollars went into private pockets from the fertiliser scam, as middlemen inflated costs and supplied adulterated products to farmers.
If objectivity is their watch word, the 14 million farmers who were registered by the ministry of agriculture who connected them directly to fertiliser supply through an e-wallet system by which the agriculture ministry send texts to farmers to go and pick up their fertiliser and improved seedlings direct from their locality, should cast their votes for Jonathan. What about dry season farming that has created jobs for countless number of youth? With dams and irrigation tools provided by the federal government, there has been tremendous improvement in agricultural output. Farmers in the northern parts of the country have never had it so good until Jonathan decided to encourage rice farming. Today Nigeria grows enough rice to feed her citizens. Rice pyramids have replaced the popular groundnut pyramids in Kano and other neighboring state.
From just about four rice processing mills in 2011, the number has increased to over 14 across the country. An average voter in the North-central zone of the country can only appreciate the good work the president has done in the zone by casting their votes for him. For instance, in the area of power supply, the president constructed the Zungeru hydro-power project, which is nearing completion and has commissioned the Geregu thermal power plant to increase existing power generating capacity to the national grid.
On rail transport, Jonathan constructed and completed the ItakpeAjaokuta-Warri standard gauge rail line; construction of the Kaduna-Abuja standard gauge fast train line cutting across Niger state. He completed the dredging of the River Niger up to Baro port while the river ports at Baro and Lokoja are almost completed.
On roads, Jonathan embarked on the duplication of the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road, dualisation of the Suleja –Minna road. The construction of Oweto bridge and rehabilitation of Otukpo-Oweto road in Benue state. On water resources, Jonathan completed the Mangu water treatment plant and supply scheme which provides 10 million litres of portable drinking water per day and serves Gundri and Mangu township in Plateau state. His administration completed the Gurara phase 1 waste transfer project to Abuja. There are also several other irrigation schemes constructed and completed by President Jonathan.
The southern zones of the country also have their fair share of dividend of democracy, including road construction and rehabilitation.
Of particular interest is the LagosIbadan road now under construction. The Benin-Ore road that used to be a nightmare to travellers has since been reconstructed. Before now, it used to take an average of 7-8 hours to go from Benin to Lagos. But the story is pleasantly different today.
The opposition APC candidate says he is coming to fight corruption, but without mincing words, the current government has been fighting corruption using legal means. The latest Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International attested to this fact. Under President Jonathan, Nigeria progressed eight points upward in the scale.
The major progress Nigeria made in the 2014 Corruption Perception Index released by Transparency International is enough testimony.
Unlike when corruption cases were selectively prosecuted and used as instrument to deal with recalcitrant political enemies by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Jonathan has said that instead of building more prisons, he would build schools and create an environment that would discourage corruption.
The opposition must know that corruption cannot be fought without using the law and legal institutions. The APC must also know that corruption is not native to Nigeria but a global phenomenon. That is, no nation has been able to wipe out corruption 100 per cent. One significant record that should endear the people and make their vote count for Jonathan is his unprecedented human rights record. Under his watch, the freedom of speech has been guaranteed. Opponents abuse the president using gutter language without watching their back. No political prisoner presently exists in Nigeria. No one is imprisoned because of their views under President Jonathan.
The era of politically motivated assassinations are gone for good. Except the killings by the misguided and bloodthirsty terrorists, there has not been any politically motivated harassment, intimidation or death of any politically exposed person. The president has given his word that no blood of any Nigerian should be shed because of politics. The most outstanding policy of the Jonathan government, which when it materialises can make Nigeria a giant in the comity of nations is the auto policy.
Today, Hyundai, Kia and Nissan have opened up vehicle manufacturing/ assembly plants in Nigeria. Apart from the multiplier effect, it will have on the economy as many job opportunities would be provided, Nigeria could also be exporting cars to fellow African countries. Gradually, the government, most especially the presidency, is now patronising Innoson cars as official cars. The policy will also encourage Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Company as well as other allied companies to come on stream as soon as possible to complement the local manufacturing of vehicle.
Surely things can get better and this is why Jonathan should be given another four years to complete what he has started and also do more.
Those who are of the view that the president has not performed and therefore, does not deserve a second term are either mischievous or refusing to see even when they have eyes.
Many people championing change today are just disgruntled members of the ruling party. They are political parasites whose antecedents make it impossible for them to be trusted. Nigerians can’t be fooled by those whose sole mission is to create a different order that will take us back to Egypt.
–– Afolabi a public affairs analysts contributed this piece from Ikare Akoko, Ondo state.