By Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu
President Goodluck Jonathan’s state visit to South Africa is an assurance that relations between Nigeria and South Africa, two economic powers on the continent, will become better with attendant economic benefits. But outcome of the visit is not really my focus here. It is something of a coincidence that Jonathan marked his third year as President, counting from when Yardy passed on, with a special kind of engagement between him, some eggheads in his cabinet and Nigerians in South Africa.
Perhaps, this was the first time what transpires when a President engages his nationals in the Diaspora is brought home to us on screen. AIT relayed it live from SA. And that singular act changed a lot of perception. As soon as the President hit the skies with his team, some of who had been in Canada, and probably joined him in South Africa from there, comments from key opposition figures started hitting online platforms that his entourage was wieldy. Those who did not understand the dictates of a State Visit may have taken it that the President is wasteful. I am not sure if persons who harbour such views watched the town hall meeting in South Africa.
First, I saw Governors Peter Obi of Anambra state and Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state on the table with the President. There was also Senator Smart Adeyemi, Foreign Minister Gbenga Ashiru, Power Minister Chinedu Nebo, CME/Finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Trade Minister Segun Aganga, Education Minister Ruqayyatu Rufai, Agriculture Minister Adesina Adewunmi and others. Also on the trip were 80 top business leaders from Nigeria. I am not sure if they all were on the entourage of the president but it is interesting to note that the State visit coincided with the World Economic forum Africa holding in South Africa. So, somehow, Jonathan’s state visit was strategic.
The interesting about it was that the meeting had no air of presidentiality. It was held in a most friendly manner with frank questions from Nigerians and even more frank responses from the ministers. At the event, Jonathan dropped the toga of an “all knowing” and showed leadership when he dutifully recorded the questions Nigerians asked. At response time, he merely introduced some of the ministers on his entourage and latter took the back seat as the ministers directly responded to questions from Nigerians at the meeting.
That was an impressive way to engage your audience. One after the other, the ministers spoke to address questions which affected their ministry. Focus of the questions was on power and security. These issues are troubling for every Nigerian. The South African Nigerians wanted answers. Rather than force himself to speak, Jonathan called up the ministers, one after the other, to address issues. That, to me, was a magic which worked very well. Of course, he is the President, but he allowed the ministers to have the stage while he watched. I do not know what marks he will score them alter, but I guess Aganga and Okojo-Iweala stole the show that night.
Watching Aganga reel out progress made in trade and industrial growth, one is forced to review his doubts about future of the country. According to him, the Nigerian industrial/business space is promising. He gave briefs about how the cement sector had grown beyond imagination stating that a cement company in Nigeria had made quantum leaps over the past one year that investors are now showing more interest in the sector. Aganga gave a very positive report of the sector he oversees. So did Okonjo-Iweala and Rufai. When Nebo addressed the audience, you had a picture of a minister who is well studied in his work. Despite being in office for a little over three months, Nebo proved his mettle reeling out convincing facts about progress in the power sector.
In what appeared like a mini-score card presentation night, the ministers paved the way for Jonathan to summarise issues that night. Of interest to me was that the president promised that revolution in telecommunications sector will be replicated in the energy sector. He based his conviction on the successful privatisation of the power sector, the first time such was happening in Nigeria. It was however Prof Nebo who stunned the audience with information of discovery that no electrical engineers are employed in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) –now, I bet you don’t imagine a power company not having electrical engineers in its employ. However, the good news is that 500 such engineers will be engaged as Nebo said.
That was a fact that Jonathan confirmed while insisting that with steps taken so far in the power sector, Nigerians will live to applaud government revolutionary efforts. That was cheering for the audience who listened with rapt attention as Jonathan recounted the pains of where the country was at the time he mounted the saddle; and now, the joy of change though he reminded that those who chant corruption are the most corrupt. I do not know exactly how the audience took this but the applause that followed the comment indicates that somehow, the President was right in his assessment.
Somehow, I was in tango with the president when he said that in the five offices (deputy governor, governor, vice president, acting president and president) he has held so far in his very short political career, and from benefit of reports available to him, those who shout corruption at every given opportunity are the most corrupt. This drew the wildest applause from the audience in South Africa. Something tells me that we are in a deep fix with corruption. But the assurance that things will definitely change came from the president himself who assured his audience that ‘strong institutions are being built’ to tackle these issues.
Generally, I am happy that Jonathan took what would best be described as the first eleven of his cabinet on such a crucial state visit. Beyond the State visit, the WEF Africa also offered an opportunity for Jonathan, not only to market the positives that would attract direct foreign investments into Nigeria, but also an opening for the world to engage this ‘clueless’ president and his team. It appeared to me that Jonathan did not deliberately choose any politician to be with him on the trip. This is one thing I liked about it. It is a statement that the visit was not about politics, but a deeply thought out engagement process for rebuilding Nigeria.
If Jonathan appeared weak at home, in South Africa, and before Nigerians, he did not. Lacing his speech with such traditional smiles, he punched home some hard facts about Nigeria and Nigerians abroad. For instance, it was not funny for him that of the entire Nigerian population in South Africa, about 400 are in different prisons across the country. Now, that is not a problem caused by the president. But it is a pain he bears as the buck ends on his table. Hopefully, the engagement between both country leaders would cause a change in relations like Ashiru highlighted in his speech wherein he hinted on efforts to remove visa restrictions between Nigeria and South Africa for certain category of state officials. He also hinted on the relaxing of some hard immigration rules between both countries such that Nigerians would be more comfortable living in South Africa.
I also liked the set of the event. For instance, our ministers sat among the audience. It was not a high table thing. Just a handful sat with Mr. President on the table called high. Others sat among the audience and it was to me, a change as against what is normal back home. Perhaps, this set was responsible for the friendly atmosphere that existed within the hall. Beside the seriousness of the evening, it was reassuring seeing our ministers mingling freely with their people –no security personnel to shove anyone aside. It was also cool watching Nigerians walk up the table, after the event, to have a handshake with Mr. President without those dark-goggled DSS guys or starched-uniform wearing armed policemen warding you off with the butt of their guns.
I am sure the audience came off the meeting assured that change is in the wings for Nigeria. But like Peter Obi said, change has enemies. Those who are used to the status quo will resist change. Beneficiaries of the old order won’t like to be told, or even hear, that things are changing. For them, the rest must be fought and people, who find themselves in this box, don’t always fight clean. That was the message President Jonathan took to South Africa; the message that things are changing. Okonjo-Iweala states it better when she said “they will not tell you these things. They will only report the negative things to you, but here we are telling you that back home, things are changing.” If any comment left the audience wondering what next, it was Okonjo’s brief comment on the economic indicators that has placed Nigeria on the recovery map and re-ignited investor interest in the country.
To me, Jonathan’s engagement with the Nigerian community in South Africa was one of his finest moments abroad. Perhaps, his image minders need to create more of such opportunities for him.