Wake Up And Smell The Coffe, GEJ!

Few hours after the bombing of the United Nations building at Abuja, in which hundreds of Nigerian and International public servants tragically lost their lives, I went to my Facebook wall and I effusively vent my spleen.


My anger or rather comment read thus: "I have said it before and will say it again ....this Bros is weak-kneed! His docility has cost us so much. Nigeria has been reduced to a theatre of terrorism under his watch. It is now obvious that this guy is not fit for the throne!!!!!!!! May the souls of the victims rest in peace.!!!!!!!


So that nobody will accuse me of negative characterisation, I tried to couch my comment in innuendo. Of course any discerning Nigerian reader would know that my anger was directed at Mr President, the commander in Chief of the armed forces of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck .E. Jonathan


The first reaction to my comment came from Elo, my journalist friend, who asked tongue in cheek " Are you sure you didn't vote for him?". Another friend of mine, Frank, said "I dey laugh".
To say the truth, I was expecting some of my friends to jeer at me or derisively say "we told you".
Well, like I stoically told Elo and the rest of Facebookers who knew I rooted for Mr President before and during the Presidential election, I am not ashamed to admit here that I voted for him. There were two evils as far as I was concerned and I went for the lesser one. I went for a fresh blood, an individual still in his mint condition (or so I thought) who at least held out a measure of promises for Nigerians across all strata instead of a recycled generation of spent horses who had brought Nigeria down at the the heels. I opted for a breath of fresh air as against a geriatric leadership and its miasma of despotic disposition which General Muhammadu  Buhari represented.


But in the light of the violence being unleashed on Nigerians by Boko Haram (an Islamic sect with no clearly defined ideology other than terrorism) on a daily basis and with the latest bombing of United Nation building in Abuja last friday, 26th of August 2011, I am not sure anybody in Nigeria would like to fondly call President Jonathan a breath of fresh air. Of course by no stretch of the imagination could he be described as such at the moment. In point of fact, to many Nigerians, uncle GEJ is fast becoming a sickening stench of incompetence; a halitosis of cowardice that is choking everybody and driving them up the wall.
From all indications, one thing is incontestable and which has become a settled knowledge: Nigeria with her intricate network of complexities and peculiar paradoxes is just too hot (to govern) for a passive and introverted Dr Goodluck Jonathan, whose ilks are in Research Institutes, in sleepy rural towns. He just seems to me like a lost ball in high weeds; a lead actor who has completely lost the plot.


A friend of mine who was also responding to my emotional outburst on Facebook reminded me that the war on terror is a difficult one to fight. He went on to tell me that, even in America with all the money, muscle and mania at their disposal, they find it difficult to win the war on terror. Well, my reaction was that, what USA is doing about terrorism is a common knowledge to all. But can we say the same thing about our beloved country, Nigeria? While USA go after terrorists using both human and technology driven intelligence and annihilate them, Nigeria government allegedly go into negotiation with these savage criminals who had bombed several police stations in the North East of Nigeria and even Police Headquarters in Abuja (to make a point). Worse still, I overheard that amnesty is being proposed for them. The argument is, if the Niger Delta militant group in the creek could be given amnesty by the Federal Government, the right hand of amnesty should be extended to these bunch of criminals. God, that is sickening!!!! Retch!!!! The proposition is not only parochial, it is also illusory and can only come from sick minds.


Again, contrary to assertions and impressions in some quarters that this Islamist rebel group is faceless, there are empirical facts and verifiable evidence to prove otherwise.The allied Security agencies of the Nigeria nation can not tell me, they have no single clue  from all the several arrests they have made so far. They can not tell me, members of this deadly Islamist group do not use means of communication like phones and internet, in this era of telecommunication advancement, where records can be requested and investigated. They can not tell me these criminals and their sponsors are ghosts that can not be traced and fish out, unless they want to tell me they are inept or hopelessly out to lunch !


However, I have some advice for our Mr President. First and foremost, let him forget the provincial notion that because 'goodluck' brought him to power then he's going to govern Nigeria or deal with this touchy and slippery issue of insecurity, using his 'goodluck' charm. If there is anytime in his checkered life that he needs to prove to all that he is not laid-back and weak-kneed, like some of us think of him, this is the time. This is the time to step out of line, break the mould and for once, swim against the tide of godfather-ism, tribalism, partisan politics and smoke out all the enemies of our beloved nation. This is the time to shun the line of least resistance and beard the Lion (Boko Haram and their sponsors) in its den. And if he has not assembled and addressed his security think tanks, he should do so now and foster a synergy between them and foreign security outfits that are ready to assist. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.


ADEDAYO GABRIEL FATOKI 

WHY THEY FAILED.

WHY THEY FAILED

2011 general elections have come and gone. Winners have emerged and have taken oath of office and allegiance and losers have taken their defeats in good faith (those who have not, are already in various Tribunals spread across the country, contesting the election results). Need we tell the winners to perform and deliver on their campaign   promises? Need we tell them if they do not perform, the same fate that befell some of their colleagues who failed to be re-elected in the 2011 April poll awaits them? Well, they do not need to be clairvoyant or possess Ivy League degrees under their belts to know just that. It is a no brainer! Nigerian voters are becoming increasingly intelligent by every election year. From the pattern of voting in the last general election, it is clear to all that in a free, fair and credible election, Nigerians know what to do to politicians that will not serve their interests.

Meanwhile there are some vitally important lessons to be learnt from the four–week long exercise. Yes, some lessons to be learnt by the losers (I wish I had better names to call them). First and foremost let me start off by reminding them what late Chief Obafemi  Awolowo said after the 1979 Presidential election which he lost to Alhaji Shehu Shagari : ”The greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising each time you fail”.
Again, I will remind them of what E.W Kenyon (1867-1948) says in his book, SIGNPOSTS ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: “Never lose heart because the first effort fail. Go back and find the reason. Pick up the wreckage of old failures and build them into success”

 I can understand if Gen Mohammad Buhari says he is not going to stand for any election in Nigeria again. But, I do not expect politicians like Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Mr Fola Adeola, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, Dr Ade Dosumu and a host of others who still have age on their sides, the cardiovascular wellness and musculoskeletal fitness to withstand the rigour of governance in the next 8 or 12 years, to say goodbye to politics too soon. As a matter of fact I write this piece for them and their likes. I will like to highlight where some of them got it wrong in the build up to the April 2011 general elections and proffer solutions to their mistakes.

The first mistake I observed was that many of them went into the elections with serious image problem. The general public had very bad impression about many of them. Perception they say, in Public Relations parlance, is reality. To have bad image is not the problem, the challenge has always been how to manage it. Former President Bill Clinton had a very serious bad image towards the tail end of his first term in office (Everybody still remembers the Monica Lewinsky saga), a serious scandal that almost cost him the second term in office. His publicists sprang into action, knocked down ugly stereotypes about him and began to tell everybody who cared to listen how he stabilized and improved the economy. Of course, superior argument won. Clinton won party nomination and went ahead to win the second term in office, the Lewinsky saga notwithstanding. That was the power of public relations! 

However, in this political clime such P.R stunt is still missing. At a minimum, I expected the P.R experts working with Gen. Buhari to organize series of interviews on national televisions at prime time for their principal. The man would have had opportunity to correct and trash some of those brutal and despotic images some people had of him. It is true his followers up North perceived him as a progressive populist, but what about the South where the generality of the people perceived him as a religious bigot and ethnic jingoist. Even, the post election violence that consumed some part of the North, people still blame him for it. 

Mallam Nuhu Ribadu also was perceived to be a master of discriminative and selective justice, of double speak and a willing tool in the miscarriage of justice if the price is right. People frowned at his association with the same corrupt politicians he condemned in very damning terms when he was the anti-corruption czar. The Mallam went into the Presidential contest with this weighty moral question and expected to win.
  

The second mistake I observed was in the area of alliance. No Boxer will tell you he won a fight all alone without an input from any quarters. As a matter of fact, the quality of his corner decides whether he wins or lose any bout? Sam Walton says, “Individuals don’t win in business, teams do.” As it is in business, so it is in politics, no individual wins, teams do. Prior to the election, I expected politicians to build alliances across Nigeria. I expected Gen Buhari for instance, to deliver  public lectures in places like University of Lagos, Anambra state university, University of Ibadan and so on. I also expected him to hold business meetings with the business moguls, the doyens and captains of industries and interact with the major shakers and movers in the entertainment industry. While meeting and interacting with these eminent personalities, he would have had the opportunity of presenting his vision and mission, and gain friendship and followership across the nation. As far as I am concern, Gen Buhari’s popularity is more skewed towards the  Almajiris in the North than anywhere else in Nigeria. To win an election, especially Presidential contest in Nigeria as presently constituted, one has to shed his puritanical toga and be seen to be friend to all.

Another mistake I observed was in the Presidential and governorship debates. Only few of the candidates were adequately prepared for the debates, perhaps they didn’t think they were so important to their successes at the poll. During the governorship debate held in Lagos, Mr Fashola, the incumbent governor showed the world that it is not for nothing that he is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The man sold himself and vision to the Lagosians, little wonder the landslide victory recorded at the poll.  As the NN24 Presidential debate showed, only Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau shone like a million stars. His eloquence and preternatural composure in front of television camera was legendary. The Mallam swept everybody off their feet by his oratory and 21st century carriage of a President. If debate is all it takes to win election I am so sure Alhaji Shekarau would have won the Presidential contest so convincingly. Gen Buhari, who held out much hope and nursed the ambition of upsetting the ruling party, was so incoherent on one of the most important nights in his checkered civilian life.  The man seemed to be so bereft of ideas to govern Nigeria that one wondered if he really prepared for the presidential debate. 

Party structure is another issue worth mentioning. Many of the political parties lack the structure and the mercenaries to win elections. Of all the parties, only Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seem to have the spread and the structure to win Presidential election in Nigeria. The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, for instance failed very woefully in the Southern part of Nigeria because it lack the structure. As a matter of fact the party was built around one individual.

 Lastly, many of the parties had no clearly defined action plan to win elections. An action plan as I know it is nothing more than a set of long-term strategies and short-term tactics. Again, take CPC as a party for instance; it concentrated much of its effort and activities in the Northern part of Nigeria (Little or nothing was happening in the Southern part of Nigeria). A tumultuous crowd attended its campaign rallies in most parts of the North; Gen Buhari who was synonymous with the Party had a cult followership. Of course, all these gave the party the delusions of the grandeur, that it can give the PDP a run for its money at the poll.  But it was mistaken. 

There was even a time when CPC alliance with Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN was on the cards. However, inability of both parties to concede grounds and reach a happy medium stalled the much touted  partnership.

Naturally, one would have thought that all the opposition parties would close ranks, rally behind one candidate and confront the elephantine PDP that had the spread and structure. But that was not to be. The PDP waxed stronger and trounced the oppositions in what has been dubbed a landslide victory.

ADEDAYO G. FATOKI writes from Lagos.