Goodluck Jonathan and Nigeria’sdemocracy

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the nation’s number
one citizen no doubt has become a significant
portion of Nigeria’s democratic story in several
fronts. Not just by virtue of the office he occupy but
going by the litany of activities which has heralded
the entire happenings of the presidency of the
Otuoke man. This flurry of activities dates back to
his pre emergence days when he was still the vice
president of the most populated black nation.
Taking a cursory look at various developments, one
will be tempted to ask “has Jonathan contributed in
advancing or rather scuttling our yearnings to
emerge as a true democratic nation?”
Ordinarily, given the level of seeming
disenchantment or perceived displeasure with his
leadership style and of course his whole
administration especially among the nation’s elites,
one may be encouraged to hastily answer the above
question albeit unfavourably. However, before I
attempt the question, I would like to consider
several events that took place in the build up to his
presidency and the various political developments
and happenings thereafter with the view to take a
position whether his emergence in the nation’s
political firmament has contributed in the
advancement of our democracy or otherwise.
Going back to memory lane, since Nigeria got
independent in 1960, she has largely been led by the
military whose modus operandi worldwide is
dictatorial. These military regimes emerged from
series of coup’de’tat where the man at the helm of
affairs is either shoved aside if he is lucky or in
extreme cases killed like Gen. Murtala Muhammed
and Aguiyi Ironsi of blessed memories to make way
to a new government without recourse to the
feelings of the governed. Those governments after
emergence, always fabricated reasons to justify
their actions with a long list of what the ousted
regime got wrong amidst other reasons usually
summed up in a political cliche of preserving the
national interest. Those who opposed them either
did so from exile or would soon pay the maximum
price for the vituperations which is often termed as
heating up the polity and or treasonable felony
irrespective of the content of their ideas. Prof. Wole
Soyinka and Ken Saro-wiwa are cases in point.
Journalists were put behind bars at will just for
discharging the duties for which they were trained.
Molestation, brutalisation and intimidation of the
citizenry was their stock in trade. One could just be
beaten to stupor for daring to dress in clothings with
any semblance of camouflage and so many other
inhuman treatments were often metted out on the
citizenry by the men in khaki. They were indeed the
symbols of maximum authority and their fear
marked the beginning of wisdom.
And so the Nigerian nation continued to exist in the
midst of this unstable leadership which oscillated
between intermittent civilian rules and various
military juntas untill the divine intervention of June,
1998 when it appears that God got interested in the
affairs of the Nigerian nation.
That intervention from above directly or indirectly
marked the turning point in Nigeria’s political history
and brought us to where we are today in
governance. But first of all, there was need for a
seamless transition from a junta which do not allow
criticism and which is largely authoritative to a
democratic dispensation which encourages freedom
of expression among other freedoms. And that
transition had to come from someone who has an in
depth understanding of both sides of the divide or so
thought the stakeholders at the time. A military man
in agbada or in a civilian costume was considered
the best bet for this task. Atleast to blend our
mentality which was already affected immensely
and largely shaped by dictators in leadership
positions.
And so came the enthronement of Gen. Olusegun
Obasanjo, a retired military man as the
democratically elected president of our dear
country. True to expectation, the military man in
civilian costume tried his best to separate his
training from the expectations of a democratic
leader but then the bible says and I quote” train up a
child the way he should go and when he grow up, he
will not depart from that”. Obasanjo having joined
Nigerian army at a tender age, spent greater part of
his life acquiring military training and internalising
the military norms and so expecting him to depart
from this path is simply being unfair to the old man.
And so his presidency was rift with clear cases of
intolerance, authoritarianism and scapegoatism.
Impeachment was a viable tool at the hands of the
presidency, EFCC was ready to investigate and
prosecute the dissenting few among the corrupt
many. Any citizen who makes public his opinion of
disapproval of the government can be sure to get a
reply directly from mr. President( ask the jaga jaga
crooner) Almost all government institutions were run
covertly by the presidency to ensure that oga’s
interest is covered. Senate and house leadership
must abide by the instructions of the oga at the top
or risk being removed seamlessly. No wonder, we
had as many senate presidents and speakers of
house of Representatives between 1999-2007. They
were simply being changed like pieces of clothes in
the wardrobe. Even a sitting governor was at a time
kidnapped for daring not to play ball.
With the foregoing scenario, nobody dared to
discuss the freedom of information bill seriously. Of
course, INEC as a government institution must
abide by the whims and caprices of mr. President
and thus free, fair and credible elections could only
have been a mirage. But all these are not the point
for today’s discourse, so permit my digression.
And so after the attempt to blend the citizens
military shaped mentality of governance with the
emerging ( now supposedly emerged) democracy
using an Obasanjo who understands both sides, it
was time to start true democracy by trying out a
true democrat. Born and bred as a civilian, Umaru
Musa Yar’adua of blessed memory was elected the
president of Nigeria in a keenly contested
presidential election of 2007 through the
machinations of the then President Obasanjo who
used his training skills to foist the choice of the ABU
graduate both on the north, his party the PDP and
on the whole nation even when his ill health could
not allow the man to address lagosians during one
of his presidential campaigns in the build up to the
election. Be that as it may, safe for the political
hawks that surrounded the presidency of the ailing
Yar’adua, most of whom were the wife’s loyalists
(kai!, this firstlady syndrome didn’t start today) he
almost gave a good account of himself as a true
Democrat by showing signs of respect for the rule of
law. The first opportunity to demonstrate this was
when the election tribunal anulled the election of an
Obasanjo’s kitchen cabinet member as the
Governor of Anambra state, and Yar’adua upheld
the judgement against popular expectations
especially given the prevailing norm at the time
where the president’s boys were largely seen as
untouchables. Notwithstanding, Yar’adua was still
accused of lopsided appointment and unduly
favouring his kinsmen, I was once told by one of my
northern friends that Yar’adua practically moved his
cabinet from Katsina government house to Abuja ( a
story for another day). Like most Nigerian leaders
before and even after him, his government was
equally accused of corruption though not linked to
him but his cabinet members and of course, our
then very powerful firstlady.
And so the journey of our democratic discovery
continued against all odds, as Yar’adua later gave
up the ghost amidst several controversies(story for
another day) and clandestine activities among
several actors excluding the number two man who
decided at the time or better put was compelled by
prevailing circumstances to just look on not
withstanding his status.
The long absence without proper handover and
eventual death of president Yar’adua soon exposed
the first of the several defects with which our
constitution is riddled as it became clear that the
authors of the most important legal document in our
national life either failed to envisage the mortality of
a president or waived it off as unimportant. Trouble
started after over two months of vacuum in the
nations seat of power as president Yar’adua who
travelled out of the country on 23rd November, 2009
without transmitting power accordingly and was
later smuggled into the country in an unclear
circumstances on the 24th February, 2010.
But Nigeria, being blessed with rich natural and
human resources never lacked the brains to solve
the difficult political puzzle posed by this lacuna in
our constitution. Sooner than later, the senate think-
thank evolved an initiative to address the issue that
was fast becoming a national embarrassment by
invoking what the senate referred to as “doctrine of
necessity” on the 9th February, 2011 making way
for Dr Jonathan to assume the status of a president
though in acting capacity.
This new doctrine soon made the siddon look
Otuoke man become the main man, alas Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan became the President of the
federal republic of Nigeria in a twist of fate. This
development marked a paradigm shift in the
nation’s democracy. In his siddon look days, many
percieved him as being weak especially as he lacked
rich or sophisticated background. This manifested
severally in the manner Yar’adua’s powerful allies
and cabinet members often disregarded him in
several ways. This disrespect snowballed even into
his acting presidency days when his oga at the top
was farway from Nigeria in search of medical help.
Most of the powerful guys still continued to treat the
ijaw man with contempt prefering to heed
instructions from the then powerful firstlady.
A story was told of a minister who rebuffed his
instruction and travelled out of Abuja when his
ministry’s attention was most needed. The Otuoke
man in his liberal, civil or as many may prefer timid
nature kept his cool and allowed nature to take care
of the situation.
This liberal disposition of mr president has
continued to manifest even when he is leading the
nation now as an elected president with enormous
powers.He has allowed so many institutions to
perform their duties without undue interference. The
legislature under this dispensation has become the
most stable and no longer a situation where senate
and house leadership are being changed at the
wave of the presidential hands. INEC has largely
become independent and this has manifested in the
rate of free, fair and credible elections which the
body has recorded in his administration. Even the
police has been given free hands to enforce laws in
line with judicial pronouncements. Freedom of
information bill has long been passed and signed
into law by the president. Hence,journalists and
public commentators are free once again to express
their views without any fear of molestation or
intimidation overtly or covertly. Sitting public
officials criticise and in some occasion even insult
mr president without the fear of being impeached or
being hunted by EFCC. The opposition has been
strengthened and events are allowed to occur
naturally and thus continues to expose the
avalanche of defects in our constitution. It is
progressively becoming clear that the document
which was bequeathed to the nation by the men in
uniform cannot be relied upon to run a democratic
Republic. To address this, mr president has made
move to draft a people oriented constitution which
will be more encompassing by yielding to the
various calls for national conference where issues
affecting our nationhood was discussed, although
not implemented yet.
Although many see this qualities of the president as
weakness or naivety, I choose to differ. I believe he
is liberal and indeed a true democrat.
With the foregoing, I shall submit that Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan has indeed raised the bar in advancing the
course of our democracy through his liberal
disposition and respect for the rule of law.