by Collins Uma

Jonathan has two options now: to continue shielding sponsors of Boko Haram and get their support in the 2015 elections or become sensitive to what Nigerians are suffering and let this compassion drive him towards true greatness, no matter who’s ox is gored.

Early in 2010, in the twilight of the Yar’Adua administration, I joined hundreds of other young people at Eagle Square, Abuja for the Enough Is Enough protest that demanded that the ship known as Nigeria got a definite captain. We had a president who was spending more time abroad than in the country. President Umaru Yar’Adua had been leaving the country before for medical trips abroad, including the ones disguised as religious pilgrimages. This time, however, there were more rumours concerning his actual state of health than there was information coming from the presidency to this regard. His Special Adviser on Media, Olusegun Adeniyi, wasn’t a man who’s responsibility I envied at the time. He was as much in the dark about the situation as were other Nigerians, yet he was expected to provide information to Nigerians. This he made clear in his book; Power, Politics And Death.

Yar’Adua did not leave a letter, as mandated by law, to make then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan Acting President so there would be no vacuum in leadership and the latter would have powers to properly act in his principal’s stead when the need arose. The Attorney-General, Michael Aondoakaa, in blind loyalty to Yar’Adua, was also busy telling everyone who cared to listen that Yar’Adua could be President from anywhere and didn’t need to send a letter, even though the nation suffered.

So we marched.

Through the streets of Abuja we marched for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to be made Acting President, inter alia.

We marched and sang and danced and sat on the hot tarmac in front of the National Assembly, with the totality of our diversity. Christians, Muslims, Politicians, Educationists, Rich, Poor. We sat in the sun. And, when we were done, we walked back to Eagle Square. Interestingly, nobody called us a rented crowd. Nobody asked how we could have afforded bottled water and the musicians who turned up for the event. A lot of people who were part of that march look back today and regret going out of their way to insist on Goodluck Jonathan becoming Acting President. But I don’t. If a donkey had been Vice President I’d have still insisted it be made Acting President. This is why a candidate’s choice of a running mate is overlooked at the society’s peril.

About two years later Goodluck Jonathan had become President and thrown away the goodwill that ushered him into office. The announcement of ‘fuel subsidy removal’ on New Year’s Day, bringing an immediate reversal of the yuletide season, underlined his insensitivity towards the plight of majority of Nigerians. This insensitivity is what has influenced and helped crystallize his public perception as ‘clueless’. For instance, the kid-gloves with which he handles corruption and corrupt officials isn’t really because he is clueless about solutions but more because of his insensitivity concerning the immediate and long-term effects of corruption on the people he leads.

Another area he has shown insensitivity is in tackling insecurity. Twenty four hours after the first Nyanya bomb blast, President Jonathan was partying in Ibadan and dancing in Kano. Insensitivity. More than three weeks after over 200 girls were kidnapped from Chibok, Borno state, nobody heard a word or saw any action from the presidency about the girls until the international clamour for the government to #BringBackOurGirls.

Truth be told, in three years this government has scored some good points. The unbundling and privatization of PHCN, the agric reforms, the massive road constructions and renovations, the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Enugu International Airport and remodeling of other airports in the country including construction of cargo terminals, establishment of new federal universities in all the geo-political zones, and other structures and processes which are believed will yield dividends for the nation in years to come. But, as it is said, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Jonathan’s general body language and, in particular, his difficulty in empathizing with the down-trodden, one of which he claimed to be as he rode to victory in 2011, will be what he will be remembered for, more than any reforms his administration brought.

It is not too late for Goodluck Jonathan. He has one more year to show Nigerians that he knows what leadership is. The campaign to bring back our girls can be a turning point for him and for Nigeria. This is an opportunity waiting to be seized. If we do not end terrorism and official connivance in perpetration of evil now, we may never get the opportunity again. We can reclaim our pride of place in the comity of nations, and the Chibok affair can be that springboard we have been looking for. Jonathan has two options now: to continue shielding sponsors of Boko Haram and get their support in the 2015 elections or become sensitive to what Nigerians are suffering and let this compassion drive him towards true greatness, no matter who’s ox is gored.

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.
Julius Caesar Act 4, scene 3

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Collins Uma tweets from @CollinsUma

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.