Nigerian scholars highlight reasons why Jonathan’s gov’t failed

by Janet Johnson

Renowned Nigerian academics have opined that President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure to lay a proper foundation for his administration is the cause of his dismal performance and Nigeria’s worsening instability.

The discussants at the launch of three books held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) last week said the president’s vacillation over issues in the public court set the tone for his neither here nor there administration.

The books, edited by Emeritus Professor John Ayoade and Professors Adeoye Akinsanya and Olatunde Ojo are: The Jonathan Presidency: The First Year, The Jonathan Presidency: The Sophomore Year, and Nigeria: Descent into Anarchy and Collapse?

“A lot of Nigerians welcomed him to the presidency with high hopes over a lot of issues that were inherited by him the restructuring of the Nigerian federation with a view to strengthening the states to generate economic prosperity in the country, the horrendous monster of corruption, the very disruptive inadequacy of electrical power supply, the culture of disrespect for the rule of law, the growing intensity of inter-ethnic hostilities and conflicts, the troubling challenge of terrorism, and the growing depth of poverty,” said the book reviewer, Ademola Omo Orangun.

“Often, he would stoke the popular hopes upon an issue, and thereby attract a lot of popular support only to slow down on the issue or even give it up altogether. By the end of the first year of his presidency, it had become almost impossible for most Nigerians to tell what President Jonathan really stood for on any national issue,” he added.

While reviewing the third book, Omo Oragun said Nigeria can become the first federal state where perceived imbalance lead to disintegration of the country because the interests of the ordinary citizens seem to be incongruent with the interests of the elite. Undoubtedly, where a federal arrangement harbours discontentment of a large number, the country may suffer a sudden death.

In his contribution, Itse Sagay said Nigeria’s problem is not only bad governance but also defective structure. “Nigerians should not think if Nigeria is well-governed, there will not be any problem. This is not true. Both governance and structure are interrelated. A good system should encourage diversity and unity. The 1999 constitution does not have this quality,” he said.

One of the authors, Adeoye Akinsanya lambasted successive Nigerian governments since mid-80s. “The federal government has always been anti-intellectual since the mid-80s and the current one is in fact intolerant of academics,” he said.