by Uzoma Nwachukwu

It beats me hollow how some harbour the illusion that Jonathan is clueless even in the face of tangible and visible improvements in critical infrastructure across Nigeria. All the major Airports in Nigeria have been upgraded and remodeled with Enugu Airport now playing host to international flights.

When one puts himself forward for service, he becomes a target for all kinds of diatribes, name-calling and insults. Despite the overwhelming support received from teeming millions of Nigerians in 2011 when he emerged as President, it would appear to the average onlooker that President Jonathan’s popularity has dwindled greatly judging from the spate of invectives all too frequently thrown the President’s way.

Words like “Kindergarten President” “Retardeen” and “Clueless President” have been freely used both by the opposition and modern day, self-styled social media activists.

Nothing has contributed more to the negative perception than the removal of subsidy as part of the President’s policy of deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. Against the backdrop of this name-calling, I have  pondered the performances of President Jonathan in juxtaposition to those of his predecessors. I am thus compelled to ask if the President is really deserving of the “clueless” tag. Is president Goodluck Jonathan really clueless?
Far from being clueless, since his emergence as President, Goodluck Jonathan has left no one in doubt of his strong commitment to transform Nigeria. In such a short time, far reaching reforms have gone into full swing in various sectors of our National life that previous administrations were unable to achieve. His brilliant and pragmatic approach to governance and the commendable developmental milestones  are visible to even the most acerbic of critics.

The President had on assumption of office in 2011 moved to investigate the endemic corruption in the petroleum sector starting with a comprehensive audit of NNPC. Following stunning revelations of age long graft and mismanagement of the Petroleum Support fund, the administration deemed it necessary to withdraw subsidy in order to curb corruption and most importantly, facilitate the speedy deregulation of the downstream sector. It is rather unfortunate that the subsidy issue was heavily politicised and manipulated to fail by the very cabal that benefits from the subsidy regime. However, the President yielded to public pressure and retained partial Petroleum subsidies while sanitizing the process.

During the last presidential media briefing I watched the President respond to questions bothering on corruption. I could not help but arrive at the conclusion that the negative public perception against Jonathan was a natural consequence of his sincere effort to expose the oil sector (concealed by previous governments) to public scrutiny and probe. It is on record that the Aig Imoukhuede-led Presidential Panel on subsidy verification is the first major attempt by any government in Nigeria to expose and prosecute oil fraudsters. It is also heartwarming to note that EFCC  has over forty-Five (45) cases pending in court against subsidy suspects.

Unwavering in his commitment to transform the Petroleum industry, President Jonathan has stepped up a notch higher to erect institutions for Energy reforms through the new Petroleum Industry Bill awaiting passage by the National Assembly. The bill holds the prospects to revolutionalise the entire oil and gas industry when enacted.

It beats me hollow how some harbour the illusion that Jonathan is clueless even in the face of tangible and visible improvements in critical infrastructure across Nigeria. All the major Airports in Nigeria have been upgraded and remodeled with Enugu Airport now playing host to international flights. The railway lines , which had turned to artifacts and shopping malls for display of wares, have been aggressively resuscitated by this administration  and passenger operations have resumed along Kano-Lagos while the Eastern line is billed to take off by November.

Hitherto abandoned major highways across the country are being reconstructed under this administration. I recall the horror that gripped my heart at the prospect of making the tortuous journey from Lagos to Benin during my undergraduate years at UNIBEN due to the hideous eyesore that was the Benin-Ore road  back then. Only recently I made a similar journey and was amazed to see that the Benin-Ore stretch had been completed and in good shape. I have plied through Owerri-Onitsha road completed by Jonathan and now understand why the people of South East are supportive of this administration. The Ibadan-Ilorin road is also undergoing completion while Kano-Maidugri dualisation  has reached advanced stages. Through SURE P intervention, the Federal Government is working on  Enugu-Port Hacourt, Abuja-Lokoja, Benin-Lokoja and East-West road abandoned since the administration of former president Obasanjo. Most recently, President Jonathan flagged off the reconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Doubts over the sincerity of government in the project were cleared penultimate week when the Bank of Infrastructure announced its agreement to fund the project which had been awarded to construction giants Julius Berger.

In power, this administration has recorded the most significant milestone in the bid to reorganize, restructure and revolutionize power sector in Nigeria. The reforms are anchored on the power roadmap which is an implementation strategy for the Electricity Power sector Act 2005.  Barely  three years after the launch, the government has vigorously pursued the refurbishment and construction of 10 NIPP power stations i.e Geregu (Kogi), Alaoji (Abia), Omoku (Rivers), Sapele (Delta), Ihovbor (Edo) etc. They have also gone ahead to  commence privatization of generation and Distribution companies under PHCN while retaining transmission under the management contract by Manitoba Hydro Electric Energy and Natural Gas Corporation.

What is therefore strange and mind boggling is how critics continue to brand President Jonathan as clueless in the face of ongoing privatization of PHCN which stakeholders have hailed as foisting a flag of hope for steady power supply in Nigeria. So far, no other president in Nigeria’s history can boast of these milestones attained by President Jonathan.

In Agriculture, there appears to be a general consensus by both critics and supporters of President Jonathan’s administration that the sector is undergoing serious reforms under the able leadership of Dr Akinwumi Adeshina as Minister. Neither Sani Daura, Hassan Adamu, Adamu Bello nor Abba Ruma (past Ministers of Agriculture) have been able to elevate Agriculture to the front burner of national development like Dr Adeshina. This administration has successfully eliminated the fertilizer cartel and reformed fertilizer distribution processes. It has to its credit the Agricultural transformation agenda which is anchored on the launch of the cassava bread initiative, establishment of 100 rice mills, provision of subsidized Agro inputs and accessibility of loans to farmers etc. Their key  reforms have attracted foreign direct investment commitments of over $7.8 billion which will create over 3.5 million jobs in the sector before 2015. Cassava value chain support has also given the sector a big boost as over 1 million metric tons of processed cassava chips have already been exported to China in particular in the past year.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that we are on the path of sure and steady transformation. Key reforms are backed by legislation which ensures that a proper institutional framework is put in place. The President has a sacred pact with the good people of this great Nation to deliver effective leadership and transform Nigeria. He must not be distracted by name-calling and destructive politics. If the current tempo of reforms is sustained, public perception of President Jonathan will surely improve as more Nigerians feel the impact of good governance.

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Uzoma Nwachukwu is an avid reader, writer and football lover. He holds a degree in Philosophy from the University of Benin. He is also a card carrying member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party.

 

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