Demola Rewaju: GEJ, Ras Tafari and stubborness of leadership

by Demola Rewaju

goodluck_jonathanGoodluck Jonathan’s style is more suited to democracy and I think we owe it to future generations to let them understand that leadership in a democracy is quite different from military rule.

There is a thin line between stubbornness and sticking to one’s principles especially in leadership. Coming from decades of military rule, Nigerians like their leaders strong, decisive and brash. We prefer like the immortal Achebe’s lead character in Arrow of God Ezeulu who of his two sons Edogo and Obika said that he prefers a son who breaks pots in his haste to one who is sluggish. We like our leaders hard and fast even if they make mistakes. Nigerians long for the days of Obasanjo’s decisive invasion of Odi and Zaki-Biam and many publicly called for such military action at the advent of the Boko Haram attacks during Yar’Adua’s tenure.

GEJ isn’t a brash leader or one who takes decisions in haste: that much is obvious but I believe he is as stubborn as any leader we’ve ever had since independence if not the most stubborn. There was a time in Ethiopia when their rulers were all brash but their reign was short. King after king fell to one conspiracy or the other, all until one young man who in his youth had been described as demonstrating “grace under fire, a certain calm demeanour that made his attackers look petty”. That man would become king and enjoy the longest and most peaceful reign of his era. His name was Haile Selassie but he is better known as Ras Tafari, juggle that a bit and you would recognise Rastafari, the person Rastafarians and reggae lovers adore and refer to as “i and I”. He was cool but hard, building stratagem upon stratagem, appearing weak but maintaining strength, all the while plotting the downfall of his enemy without even appearing to have hated him all along.

President Goodluck Jonathan hasn’t convinced me of his ability to be strategic but he can be quite rigid and no greater demonstration of this is as obvious as the sack of Bamanga Tukur as PDP chairman which every major newspaper in this country has at one time or the other predicted. Some have even gone on to predict who would fill his shoes but despite everything, GEJ has remained as intransigent on the matter as the proverbial Rock of Gibraltar. That he could even attempt to totally do away with fuel subsidy was mind-boggling but his gamble paid off as he got the largest fuel price hike in the past decades: 65 to 97 naira. There was a time when ACN wouldn’t let GEJ rest until he made his asset declaration public as Vice-President of the federation, although he eventually complied, he made it clear that it was only in deference to his then boss, the late President Umaru Ya’rÁdua. As his own man and in his own presidency, he couldn’t give a damn and absolutely refused to yield to ACN’s calls this time. Observers pointed out that none of the ACN public office holders had ever made a public declaration of their own assets.

Goodluck Jonathan’s style is more suited to democracy and I think we owe it to future generations to let them understand that leadership in a democracy is quite different from military rule. In a democracy, one leads by charisma, consensus and guile. One wears the proverbial velvet gloves which hides the hand of steel going for the opponent’s jugular. Obasanjo’s rule wasn’t emblematic of our democracy and the earlier we got it out of our system the better.

But where Obasanjo’s stubbornness was one that recognised superior argument, Goodluck’s doesn’t seem to. Obasanjo was big on loyalty but he was bigger on credibility. As loyal as Tafa Balogun was as Inspector-General of Police, he knew when to step aside and let Nuhu Ribadu’s squad harass the corrupt cop. GEJ doesn’t know when to ditch his loyalty to a person and switch teams until it becomes painfully obvious to everyone else. Bamanga Tukur should have long been forced to resign as PDP chairman and a compromise chairman agreed on whose loyalty would then be secured for the president’s perceived second term ambition. Princess Stella Oduah should be given soft landing and removed from the ministry of aviation at least to show that he is moved by public opinion and that corruption has no place in his government.

You see, a leader must above all demonstrate commitment to some values, principles and ideology such that no person, no matter how dear or highly placed can be allowed to violate that. No matter how corrupt we all feel OBJ was, we cannot doubt that he allowed high profile prosecution take place, even against his own team of loyalists.

My fear with GEJ is that his intransigence comes from a place of indecisiveness. That he doesn’t know whom to trust and so is unable to disengage from those he has trusted in the past. His stubbornness has won him many highly placed enemies and may yet turn him against the people who so loved him just a few years ago. If it is a tactic and he actually knows what he is doing, then he may yet be the Ras Tafari of Nigeria.

GEJ in dreadlocks is a sight you’ll never see though.

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

One comment

  1. Obasanjo conducted most of those high profile prosecutions during his second term.

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