Let us assume that your name is Goodluck Jonathan. You have multiple university degrees including a doctorate. You were a university teacher, administrator, deputy governor, executive governor, vice president, acting president, in that order; and now president. As elected president, you have served for two years and some months and there is a general election in 2015. The constitution provides that you are eligible to seek a second elective term, but some people, mostly opposition politicians mainly from a section of the country, are saying you should promise that you will not contest the next election otherwise heaven would fall on Nigeria.

Let me add that your State, Bayelsa is one of the richest in terms of oil deposit. Oil is the main stay of Nigeria’s economy. You are the first person from your state and even the entire South- South geo- political zone where you hail from, to occupy the office of the president since independence. You are just a little above 50 years of age. Now tell Nigerians whether or not you will contest the 2015 election. Should you decide not to contest, what would be your reason(s)?

I was one of those that were excited the day some PDP governors staged a protest walkout during the special national convention of their party. That was politics at play. I do agree that PDP needs to improve on its internal democratic processes. But that some people are demanding that the president should not contest the 2015 election, where do you place that?

Being deputy to late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Jonathan constitutionally became the successor to the former president after his unfortunate demise. In 2011, Jonathan contested the president’s office for the first time and over 22millon Nigerians, cutting across ethnic, religious and other divides gave him overwhelming support to govern them. Looking at his achievements in just two years, Jonathan has justified the confidence reposed on him, even though there is room for improvement.

If the truth must be told, when were Nigerian roads better than they are today at least since 1999? During Obasanjo’s time, hundreds of billions of Naira was budgeted for the road sector but went into private pockets. Obasanjo’s regime spent over N12trillion on electricity but the nation was in total darkness throughout his eight years in office. We are all witnesses to the current efforts of government to reposition the power sector and the improvement being recorded? The privatisation of the moribund PHCN which was thought an impossible task has just been concluded by this administration yielding about N320billion (the highest ever) and being the most transparent privatisation transaction in Nigeria. What about the on-going total overhaul of the aviation industry? When last did Nigerians travel through the rail lines as compared to the current revolution in the transport sector? What about the dozens of international standard schools Jonathan has

built for the Al- Majaris in the North and the establishment of six new federal universities? Infrastructure apart, Jonathan is the best in terms of building a democratic and civil society with most of his policies backed by legislative mandate including signing of the FOI and national minimum wage laws as well as conducting some of the best elections in history.

The tragedy of Nigerian politicians is that many of them thought Jonathan was cowardly and naïve. Now, they have come to the realisation that the man they saw as an Ijaw village fisherman is by far more intelligent, sophisticated and shrewd than most of them ever could fathom.

That was why they sponsored violence and mayhem in some parts of the country after the 2011 presidential election to overwhelm his regime but Jonathan was able to quell the situation. After that, Boko Haram terror was intensified. Seeing that insurgency tactics is also failing them, they have plotted the so-called PDP implosion decorated with ethnic and religious colours against a better and obviously winning candidate.

Any politician who wants to contest the 2015 presidential election should be free and bold enough to declare. But nobody should tell Jonathan not to contest the election because that is an insult to both the president and the tens of millions of Nigerians who gave him mandate to govern them. Trying to force Jonathan not contest is also as an affront to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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Read this article in the Leadership Newspapers