Japheth Omojuwa: Jonathanians and the truth they must embrace (Y! FrontPage)

Japheth Omojuwa

This is where the Jonathan administration has failed in its communication. By constantly accusing these genuinely angry Nigerians as being the voice of the opposition… This means that, they will subconsciously adopt the opposition.

President Jonathan said the opposition party sponsored those who appeared at Ojota, Lagos to protest his decision to raise fuel prices. As far as he was concerned, Nigerians could not have been angry enough to be self motivated to take the stand they took January of 2012. This same parochial mentality finds expression in other ways. Someone in government once asked me if the children of the leading members of opposition were also voicing their anger on twitter and new media generally. As far as this person was concerned, the people voicing their anger were being used by the opposition to attack the ruling government. This is sadly how this government operates; it sees what it wants to see and ignores what the truth is.

Many Nigerians are taking to new media to voice their displeasure with the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration. They have effectively become the main opposition to the administration on new media to the point where the government had to adopt a bullish side to its new media engagements. If the conventional opposition did half of what these Nigerians are doing offline, a lot would have been achieved in getting more heat right into Aso Rock. One thing is clear; a lot of what these angry Nigerians are saying is what the main opposition parties are saying. This of course is understandable. What new media has done the world over is to make ordinary voices sound as the main opposition to incompetent ruling governments. While the official opposition parties are speaking in order to make the ruling government look bad, non partisan citizens are speaking out because they want to see the government do better. Both may be saying what sounds alike but they are doing these things for different reasons. They are of course both right; a citizen wants his/her government to sit up and deliver the goods of governance while the job of the opposition is to do all within the boundaries of legality to gain power.

This is where the Jonathan administration has failed in its communication. By constantly accusing these genuinely angry Nigerians as being the voice of the opposition, they are in many ways making these angry Nigerians see the opposition as having a common enemy with them. This means that, they will subconsciously adopt the opposition. If you find Nigerians on new media craving for the full registration of the All Progressives Congress, the credit for that must go to the ruling government. I don’t understand why a government that is running an economy where 2 out of 3 people are poor expects to hear a different message from its citizens. Do you really expect Nigerians to come on new media to sing the “Transformation Agenda” track when they are all privy to the fact that this administration for instance cultures corruption? How do you begin to defend the DSP Alamieyeseigha pardon for instance except your job is to do so like the two notorious doctors?

Jonathanians and those with a soft spot for them must embrace something. No one has as much resources as the ruling party to buy people into singing the kind of tune they prefer. If these angry Nigerians were bought, of course it’d be so easy for the ruling government to re-buy them. That is how it is in the world where money does the talking like football. This of course is not about money; this is about a people desperate for change. This is about a people who believe their country can do far better than the mediocrity that has been forced upon it by the Jonathan administration. The earlier President Jonathan and those in charge of making him look good accept this truth, the better for everyone. I will personally promise something; no matter what anyone calls me, I am not about to change the way I see the government until the government changes its ways. This is of course what they have proven incapable of.

————————-

 

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

Comments (6)

  1. as always omojuwa u ve said it all…we are angry and desperate for change! period

  2. I hope Reuben Abati is listening on behalf of Jonathan…. Since we have a supposedly “dead” president and “alive” cabals acting on his behalf.

  3. @omojuwa , is this an invitation for negotiation? We are a proponent of change, that change we haven’t gotten but we do know we ain’t where we used to be and we also understand the complexity of the nation hence the bureaucracy but suffice I say that some of u are very irrational in your judgement and that can give away the feelings by govt and some critical thinkers that your likes r motivated by external factors especially when put into consideration the corroboration between you and certain political elements which we knew too well yesterday.

    1. Elueme, u sound so well exactly like what this beautiful piece set out to reveal. May ur life and destiny go d direction this administration is taking Nigeria to.

      1. Thanks nero, u spoke my mind. What sickens me mostly is our helplessness. We come out to protest against our government unfairness, only to get d president call us touts and miscreants. For real? His insensitivity makes my stomach turns. & gives me this sick feelings. One thing I have regretted so far in life is voting for him.

  4. I don’t care what anyone else thinks @omojuwa is a very intelligent young man,this article says it all,very well thought out…

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail