Anenih, Jonathan and 2015 Election

By John Udumebraye
If anybody had any doubt whether President Goodluck Jonathan will run for re-election in 2015, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief (Dr) Tony Anenih, has put such doubts to rest. Speaking at a recent gathering of party members during a tour of the South-South zone by the PDP national chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, Anenih said, I want the national chairman to go home with a word from the father (of the President) that come 2015, Jonathan will run for presidency for the second term.
While some public commentators have said Anenih has no business speaking for Jonathan, others have affirmed his right to hold an opinion on the issue as a free citizen and even more so as a senior member and chairman of the conscience department of the presidents party. Be that as it may, the major question that should concern Nigerian voters is: what has Jonathan achieved in his yet to elapse first term that makes Anenih so certain the man himself will dare to contest the presidency again?
An independent assessment of Jonathans performance in office so far may be the key to answering this question. A dispassionate comparison of the situation of Nigeria when Jonathan came into office and what obtains today will show that the country is improving in all the major indices.
When Jonathan assumed office as the president, the global economy was experiencing a major downturn and Nigeria was not immune to the trend. It is to Jonathans credit that, knowing too well the reliance of the Nigerian economy on oil and gas, he signed into law the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Bill 2010 (Local Content Bill) aimed at raising local content in the petroleum sector.
As a result, for the first time ever, Shell Petroleum, a major foreign oil company operating in Nigeria, contracted a Nigerian company, S.C.C. Limited, to manufacture high pressure line pipes at a cost of N7.8 billion. In addition, the local content law prompted Exxon Mobil to award an offshore platform contract to Niger Dock Nigeria, Plc. Obviously without the Local Content Bill which Jonathan signed into law these two highly profitable contracts and others like them would have gone to foreign firms.
Moreover, under Jonathan, the Federal Government commenced implementation of the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) which is today industrialising Nigeria and diversifying the nations economy. The proof that the NIRP is achieving results is seen in the fact that for the first time in her history, Nigeria is exporting rather than importing cement.
As the President himself recounted in his 2014 New Year message, I am pleased to note that as a result of our backward integration policies, Nigeria has moved from a country that produced 2 million metric tonnes of cement in 2002, to a country that now has a capacity of 28.5 million metric tonnes. For the first time in our history, we have moved from being a net importer of cement to a net exporter.
Speaking on agriculture, Jonathan also said in the same speech: We are witnessing a revolution in the agricultural sector and the results are evident. Many farmers now obtain their fertilizers and seeds directly through an e-wallet system. In 2013, 4.2 million farmers received subsidized input via this programme. This scheme has restored dignity to our farmers.
Indeed, so successful has the Jonathan administration been in agriculture that in late 2013, the well-regarded international magazine, Forbes, named Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Africa Person of the Year 2013. It was reported that Dr. Adesina defeated four other nominees from across the African continent to win the prestigious prize. It is even more noteworthy that Dr. Adesina was nominated primarily for ensuring more than six million farmers across the country now practise agriculture as a profitable business, and not as a development initiative without potential for growth.
Even more significant is the fact that, in order to spur young Nigerians to become entrepreneurs rather than waiting to be employed by others, Jonathans administration awarded business start-up grants of between 1 and 10 million naira to 1,200 Nigerian youths on April 12, 2012. These young people, from all parts of the country, were the first set of winners of the business idea competition under the Youth Enterprise With Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN) initiative.
Considering that as Chairman of PDPs BOT Anenih is well aware of these achievements and many more, it is not surprising that he can say with full conviction that Jonathan will seek re-election in 2015. Indeed, for Jonathan not to seek re-election will be to give up on the encouraging inroads that he has made in various areas of Nigerias economy. My position, which is sync with Anenihs declaration, is that Jonathan should not only seek re-election but should also be supported by Nigerians to continue his good works.
Mr Udumebraye contributed this piece from Port-Harcourt.