by AbdulRahman AdulRaheem

That President Jonathan is amazingly inept is hardly news to the majority of Nigerians. He is a joke. His very occupation of the most esteemed office in the land has been painfully amusing for a while. But this joke is no longer funny. Not when the lives of so many people hang in the balance.

Let me begin from the end, from what has become the standard comeback from certain quarters whenever anyone so much as offers any criticism of the President and his cronies- ‘you are part of the opposition and simply cannot see all the good work that the man is doing’. Or ‘we have become so used to the military and the jackboot mentality that we are finding it difficult to appreciate a truly democratic president.

As the 2015 elections draw nearer, we are sure to see more of such apologetic arguments for President Jonathan, as issues will definitely get muddled up and ethnic and religious sentiments will end up corrupting reasoned arguments.

But the idea that disagreeing with government policies or criticizing government necessarily comes from a registered opposition party is as silly as it is mischievous. When citizens reach the conclusion that government has failed, government had better listen. This inability of our leaders to receive criticism with grace and to make conscious effort to make amends is a bleak reality that any honest Nigerian appreciates.

The second shot in the dark in defense of P resident Jonathan is also bound to fail. If democracy is theft of public money on a scale like never before, if it is the open endorsement of corruption by  a sitting President, if it is a slavish defense of the status quo at all cost, if it is the unconstitutional ousting of outstanding judicial and public officers for not doing the President’s bidding, then we hate democracy. We hate it with a passion.

But all the above are digressions. That President Jonathan is amazingly inept is hardly news to the majority of Nigerians. He is a joke. His very occupation of the most esteemed office in the land has been painfully amusing for a while. But this joke is no longer funny. Not when the lives of so many people hang in the balance. Not when our children are being slaughtered like cattle. I do not blame President Jonathan for the phenomenon of Boko Haram. A faceless foe is difficult to fight, I get that. What I blame President Jonathan for, is his reaction to this rape of our nation. When he is not trying to score cheap political points from terrorism, he is publicly berating a governor who has cried out from genuine concern for his people.

Most painful of all, barely days after more than 50 children were slaughtered by these enemies of reason; President Jonathan went right ahead with centenary celebrations. What are you celebrating in a time of war when your children are being murdered in a most brutal fashion? But then, again, those children were not President Jonathan’s children. Had they been his, I doubt very much that he would have had the stomach for celebrations of any kind.

A president is supposed to lead a nation- to inspire a nation.

There can be no question that President Jonathan has failed woefully in this regard.

Let us not forget.

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