As Jonathan Declares Today

LEON USIGBE writes on the circumstances leading to today’s public declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan to run in next year’s presidential election in spite of opposition to the idea from sections of the country.

The much-anticipated day has come at last.Today, President Goodluck jonathan will formally declare his intention to run in the coming presidential election. Yet, it is a day many had dreaded and hoped would never materialise, just as others fervently prayed for its fruition depending on their disposition.

Jonathan became president by default albeit, constitutionally, following the demise of President Umaru Yar’Adua after a protracted illness and under circumstances which have remained a mystery to this day. He had obstacles from the very beginning from forces which initially stood against the move to confirm him as acting president, following the apparent incapacitation of Yar’Adua.

The forces that were thought to be spearheaded by the now infamous cabal pulled various strings in their desperation to prevent his ascription of the appellation of the acting president.

They went as far as denying Jonathan access to his principal to rob insult into injury, until the Senate stepped in and invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to declare him acting president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Even though the House of Representatives was lukewarm to the idea, it was left with no choice but to concur with the Senate having correctly read the mood of Nigerians. In spite of that, these negative forces did not give up as the cabal intensified efforts to stop him on his track.

They organised for the Yar’Adua, who was obviously in a vegetative state in a Saudi Arabia medical facility, to be smuggled back into the country under the cover of darkness with the full support of the military hierarchy, which authorised the deployment of forces without the knowledge of the commander-in-chief. As far as Jonathan was concerned, fate resolved the situation with the death of the former president and his immediate assumption of office in substantive capacity.

The nearness of the time of his swearing in as president to next year’s general election was such that it was inevitable that talks of who should be the next president would soon overshadow the efforts of his administration towards providing leadership and enhancing the well-being of the citizens. Under normal circumstances, by the time he became president about four months ago, preparations for the 2011 election would have been well under way, but this was not to be because of the illness of Yar’Adua which consigned such talks to the cooler.

But once that was out of the way, the inevitability began to manifest with political permutations of all kinds and mainly on the need for Jonathan to seize the opportunity thrust on him by providence and remain in office.

On the other hand, there was consideration on the need to stick to the prescription of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s constitution for power rotation between the North and South. Proponents of rotation felt that since the South had served eight year-tenure of two terms under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was only logical that the North be allowed to enjoy a similar gesture and that would only be if a Northerner was elected to complete the remaining four years which death prevented Yar’Adua from enjoying. After all, they argued, if he were alive and healthy, it was highly improbable that he would have been prevented from having a shot at a second tenure.

Try as he could to deflect discussions on the matter in order for government not to be distracted, Jonathan was dogged by constant speculations especially in the media over his undeclared intention to join the presidential race. But the intrigues were only just beginning.

Meetings, particularly of state governors under the aegis of Governors’ Forum, were thought to have suspended deliberations on other important national issues in order to devote time to sorting out the nagging question of the desirability or otherwise of the retention of the power rotation arrangement in the PDP.

Former National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Vincent Eze Ogbulafor, attempted to be resolute on the necessity to uphold power rotation but was consumed, some say, by his inadvisable pronouncements on the issue.

As the PDP vacillated on the matter, especially with the assumption of office of Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo as the national chairman, groups emerged in no time with the sole purpose of dragging Jonathan into the race and, by the last count, they had grown to over 1,000 nationwide. Chief Obasanjo lent his weight too with his strident and open endorsement of the former Bayelsa governor.

There were also parallel groups, principally based in the North, the most prominent being the one led by former Minister of Finance and founding member of the PDP, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, which maintained that PDP must stand by the intendment of the framers of its constitution, who inserted the rotation clause in its constitution. Former military dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, both of who are the major rivals of President Jonathan, accentuated the decibel generated by those opposed to any attempt by Jonathan to remain in office.

In the end though, the highest decision-making body of the PDP, the National Executive Committee (NEC), provided him the leeway he desired by ruling that he was free to exercise his constitutional right to participate in the election as a candidate, just as anybody else in the party. This provides the grounds for today’s event at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

President Jonathan officially declared the intention to run to PDP state governors recently, even though many of them have been working for and against the project for a considerable length of time now. Similarly, in the build-up to today, he made an open declaration to members of his cabinet of his decision on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

This was preceded same day by his declaration on personal profile on the social networking site, Facebook, where he intimated his followers of his inevitable conclusion, even though he had tried to refrain from dancing to the drumbeats of politics in an effort to remain focused on the priorities of his administration.

He explained that in the last few months since he has been president, he had resisted pressure to join the partisan fray, saying “as President and leader of government, I decided not to place partisan politics above the immediate needs and priorities of our people.

I came under intense pressure to make a declaration concerning my political future, but declined to do so because that would have immediately distracted us from all the development initiatives we have accomplished so far. I, therefore, told Nigerians to give me time to concentrate on my work and that at the appropriate time, I would make a public statement on my political future after due consultations with all the segments and leaders of our nation.”

The president has obviously come to the conclusion that the appropriate time is now and feels comfortable enough to speak openly on the secret that has been known to many Nigerians all along.

“Today,” he said, “I confirm that after wide and thorough consultations spanning the six geo-political zones that make up Nigeria, with members of my family, my party, the opposition, civil society, the private sector, members of the labour unions, religious leaders, youths and student groups and our revered traditional institutions, I, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, by the grace of God, hereby offer myself and my services to the Nigerian people as a candidate for the office of president in the forthcoming 2011 elections.

“In presenting myself for service, I make no pretence that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria’s problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian; far from it. What I do promise is this – if I am elected president in 2011, I will make a covenant with you, the Nigerian people, to always do right by you, to tell you the truth at all times, to carry you along and most importantly, to listen to you, fellow citizens in our communities.

“I do not want to win your affections by giving you promises of things I would do in the future which others before me have given and which have largely been unfulfilled. Rather, I would want you to judge me by my records.”

He also outlined some achievements he has made in his short time at the helms even though he had not promised those things. For many, this may be refreshing; especially among Nigerians who desire a different way of doing things.

It is even moreso for the youth which Jonathan obviously targets with his frequent use of Facebook. The youth, who have so far responded, have expressed preference for generational shift in governance of the country.

Jonathan will seek to echo this sentiment as he addresses thousands of admirers from all over the country and beyond at Eagle Square today, as he put it, “to promise less and deliver more.” As he does so, he would look over his shoulder for the machinations of his opponents.