Date Published: 03/11/10

Jonathan Can Run For Presidency in 2011 By Idumange John

Democracy is considered to be the best avenue in human history, which enables man to recognize the essence of his being. Little wonder therefore, that Aristotle viewed the concept of democracy to mean the equality of all men; the rule of the poor, as well as majority rule, De Tocquiville used the term as a synonym for equality; Herbert Spenser associated it with a free-enterprise society, while Thomas Jefferson saw democracy as both a constitutional and moral imperative based on the concept of equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Across time and space, democracy has never been interpreted to mean party dictatorship. Democracy, as practiced by the Western nations requires some essential ingredients such as public participation, un-coerced voting and periodic elections.

In Nigeria since 1960, several futile attempts had been made in pursuit of democracy as a system  that guarantees happiness and the greatest good for the highest number of people. During the Second Republic, I had tremendous respect for politicians. The political leaders at that time propagated sound ideologies even though none of those ideologies was autochthonous in terms of Afro-centric or Nigeria-centric ideologies. Leaders like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Ibrahim Waziri propagated democratic welfarism and politics without bitterness. Power to the People was the political slogan of Zik’s Nigeria Peoples Party. Aminu Kano of the Peoples Redemption Party targeted the grassroots because his political philosophy targeted the talakawa. Political Campaigns were very healthy as all political parties had access to the media and other electoral infrastructure. That was a period when loyalists were swayed not by money politics but by the character, integrity and track record of the leaders.

Since democracy resurfaced in May 29, 2009, the ruling PDP, has entrenched party tyranny. The Party is confronted by several challenges. While some of these challenges were inherited as part of the military hangover, other are self-inflicted. The electoral system is the foundation upon which democracy is built. But since 1999, the system has not been able to grapple with legitimacy crises. Because of the mode of operation of the electoral Commission. The electoral system has been cruelly manipulated in favour of the ruling PDP- a party that lacks internal democracy

Already, the current PDP Chairman Prince Vincent Ogbulafor’s said sometime ago that the ruling PDP will continue in office for 60 years. This is why the party does not tolerate political opposition. The Government of National Unity (GNU) promised by PDP has been snubbed. Prince Vincent Ogbulafor may be right after all. The ruling PDP seems to be winning the battle to convert Nigeria into a one-party State. Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State was propped  up to upset Senator Ararume. Now he has joined the League of other decampees like Governor Isa Yuguda and their followers to the PDP. In Anambra State PDP schemed to destabilize the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Professor Iwu posed as the Man Friday to execute the ignoble assignment. But the APGA leadership was resilient in its determination to win by any means necessary, even though only one-quarter of the registered electorate voted at the elections. I look forward to the time Governors Mimiko of the Labour Party and Adams Oshiomole of the Action Congress would decamp to the PDP.

A worrisome dimension of the PDP dictatorship is the imposition of hardship on the masses through the wholesale corruption of the elites. The Transparency International reported in 2009 that Nigeria now ranks 130 th out of 180 countries In terms of Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has intensified the fight against corruption. For now people have confidence in the EFCC Czarina Mrs Farida Waziri who has promised not only to step on toes but to crush the legs of corrupt people.

The most recent decision taken by the Governors Forum and the Peoples Democratic Party that Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan cannot run for the office of President come 2011 is like making the party bigger than Nigeria. The decision is not only undemocratic shows that the Party is insensitive to the  aspirations of people in the Niger Delta Region, who provide the budget of the country but are denied leadership positions at the centre since 1960.  The questions this writer may want to ask are:

In my considered opinion, if Jonathan successfully completes the tenure of his boss, he is eligible and capable to run for the Presidency of Nigeria under existing platform necessary. In fact we his kinsmen would not allow him to come home if he fails to run for the Presidency of Nigeria come 2011. Since this is the first time somebody from the South-South is close to the Presidency, the general consensus among the Ijaws at home and in Diaspora is that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest the highest office of the land. The South-South deserves at least 4 years at the Presidency.

The PDP is just one of the several Parties in Nigeria. The party cannot be a State within the Nigeria state. There is no democratic nation where a political party can be greater than the people. When a political party dictates what the electorate do, then democracy would have been stripped bare of its meaning. On the contrary, it is the people that come together to form a party in exercise of their fundamental right of freedom of association. Therefore whether Dr. Goodluck Jonathan would contest the presidency or not should be left to Nigerian to decide and not a handful of people in a thoroughly emasculated cabal.

While we get ready to evaluate the Performance of Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan, it is pertinent to point out that the PDP leadership for the past eleven years has been a tale of disaster. Apart from lack of internal democracy, the party does not tolerate political opposition. The Party is also characterized by a rape of the national coffers, lack of political will to fulfil the mandate of the people, flagrant disregard of the social contract and imposing severe hardship on the masses. Although the Party preaches the rule of law, its operations are autocratic. Yar’Adua and Jonathan were set to reverse this trend before the former took ill. The onus of reversing this unedifying trend now lies on the shoulders of the Ag. President and what is left of the Yar’Adua administration is too short for him to implement the seven-point agenda.

Besides, those who argue that it is the turn of the North should understand that Nigeria is no longer seen from the North-South viewpoint. There are six geo-political zones and each zone is eligible to produce a Presidency. Since independence, the South West is the only zone that has ruled for eleven years, the other 39 years have been for the North either under military rule or democratic rule. These zones must be respected, and if Jonathan is given the opportunity to serve his own four years, he would have ruled for 5 years bringing the total number of years to 16 years for the South and 39 for the North. This is the logic that matters and not the decision of the PDP leadership. This is why if Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan does not take the courage to make swift changes, PDP may even risk been voted out of power come 2011.

All the election conducted since May 1999 fell below the minimum standards recognized by the world. The ballot box was desecrated withy impunity and the peoples votes did not count. Every election creates a climate of fear, and now this unholy vocation of ballot-box stuffing , vote buying and election rigging is presided by Professor Maurice Iwu. These iniquities are perpetrated amidst the gale of criticism. When the Chairman of the electoral body is a PDP zealot the damage done to the psyche of people can better be imagined.

Even at the National level, the PDP led administration has never implemented the budget. The National Assembly. This explains why most Nigerians are calling on Ag. President Goodluck Jonathan to prune down the seven-point agenda to three. PDP has crippled the Nigerian State, and with impunity as its national anthem and corruption as it manifesto, Nigeria can only die slowly under a PDP dictatorship. The party has very scant ideological focus and the operators seem to have lost their humanity in pursuit of raw power.

In Nigeria, today, our penchant for politics is so sickening that we are all ‘prisoners’  to PDP’s kleptocracy and bad governance. Our leaders play politics with power supply, the amnesty programme, education, health and governance. The Niger Delta imbroglio may endure as long as we play politics with the amnesty programme. When the amnesty programme was initiated, there was hope that the initiators would follow the programme through. Ag President Jonathan has to implement the amnesty programme, fix power and give governance a new meaning to secure the well being and prosperity of the nation. For me, Jonathan’s passport to contest the presidency shall be his record of performance and not any dubious, retrogressive and anti-democratic zoning system that stands on the tripod of inequity.

Ag. President Jonathan believes that nobody is near a corridor of power, there is no corridor of power as far as Dr. Goodluck is concerned. There is only a hall of public service and this explains why his actions are guided by altruism, service and humility. Such a person in my opinion qualifies to run for the presidency of Nigeria. Democracy and good governance thrive on liberty and equality and the ability of all to participate in the process.

The PDP leadership at the National level should be ashamed because the Party has not delivered even an ounce of the democracy dividends it promised. Rather, the Party has complicated the challenges of leadership in the Country. PDP is a political Party and cannot be greater than the Nigerian nation which comprises about 150 million people. When it is time contest, candidates will seek the votes of the electorate and not PDP. The implication is that there is an urgent need for the present administration to implement the Justice Uwais Reports on Electoral Reforms, which provides for independent candidacy. The decision of the Governors Forum and the PDP is not only undemocratic; it is pushing their powers too far. The PDP leadership has no right to determine who runs for Presidency in 2011. The earlier Chief Vincent Ogbulafor and the PDP leadership understands that the better for good governance in Nigeria. The South-South bearing the burden of ecological genocide occasioned by oil production should be given a shot at the PRESIDENCY, for that is the true meaning of justice.