By Femi Aribisala<\/p>\n
Jonathan is the most highly-educated president in the history of<\/p>\n
Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The English have an expression: \u201cgive a dog a bad name in order to kill
\nit.\u201d It refers to the malicious misrepresentation of someone in order to
\ndiscredit him. This has been strategy of the opposition to Goodluck
\nJonathan to date. This opposition comprises an unholy alliance between the
\nAPC, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders Forum as well as
\nthe Boko Haram. In complete disdain for the office of the president of
\nNigeria, the membership of these institutions has gone to great lengths in
\ndespising, disdaining and abusing the person of Goodluck Jonathan.
\n\u201cClueless\u201d opposition<\/p>\n
One favoured insult is to refer to him as \u201cclueless.\u201d Taking a leaf out of
\nthe infamous notebook of George Bush who told all kinds of lies against
\nJohn Kerry in the 2004 presidential election in the United States, now
\nreferred to as \u201csnow boating;\u201d President Jonathan\u2019s traducers are seeking
\nto establish falsehood about him and his administration just by sheer
\nforce of repetition. It is therefore necessary to ask the question if,
\nindeed, Goodluck Jonathan can be rightly described as \u201cclueless.\u201d What
\nexactly is \u201cclueless\u201d about Goodluck Jonathan?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shehu Shagari was president of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983. He had very
\nlimited formal education and never attended a university. Nevertheless, he
\nwas not called \u201cclueless.\u201d Olusegun Obasanjo was president of Nigeria from
\n1999 to 2007. He did not go to university before becoming President: he
\nonly enrolled after he left office. Nevertheless, he was not labeled
\n\u201cclueless.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some would like us to believe Goodluck Jonathan, who has been
\nsubstantive president since 2011 is \u201cclueless.\u201d However, Jonathan is the
\nmost highly-educated president in the history of Nigeria. He has a B.Sc.
\nin Zoology; an M.Sc. in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology; and a Ph.D. in
\nZoology. It is preposterous to describe such a man as \u201cclueless.\u201d Indeed,
\nthere are few Nigerians with comparable educational credentials. Who are
\nthose \u201cclueful\u201d ones ranged in opposition against him? Surprise, surprise!
\nThey are former military dictators with no university training whatsoever
\nand dubious politicians with forged university certificates.<\/p>\n
Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State wants to be president. But what he
\ndisplays most of the time is cluelessness. When he captures newspaper
\nheadlines, it is to shout things like: \u201cJonathan wants to kill me;\u201d or
\n\u201cJonathan is not qualified to contest in 2015.\u201d Somebody needs to advise
\nKwankwaso that abusing and disparaging the president is no substitute for
\nhaving substantive policies on how to govern Nigeria.
\nLegacy of \u201ccluelessness\u201d<\/p>\n
Who can be more clueless than many of the Northern politicians who have
\nbeen in power in Nigeria in the past to very little effect and are still
\nclamouring for power today? These men have defrauded the North and the
\ncountry over the years? They have ruled for some 38 years but failed
\nwoefully to promote meaningful economic development in the North or the
\nSouth.<\/p>\n
In their years of Northern rule both at the state and the federal level,
\nnot a single model Islamic school was established in the North that
\nteaches Mathematics. Instead, the children of the \u201ctalakawa\u201d are
\nrestricted to Koranic memorization and recitation. No single Islamic model
\nschool was established in the North that teaches Chemistry. The singular
\nfocus was on Arabic grammar. No single Islamic model school was
\nestablished that teaches Biology. The children of the poor were limited to
\nIslamic history.<\/p>\n
Northern politicians failed to draw inspiration from such excellent Muslim
\ncountries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, where
\nWestern education is not deemed to contradict Islamic education. Instead
\nof educating the youth, some of our Northern politicians kept them as
\nfodder for instigating insurgencies for their selfish power-political
\ngain. It is no wonder therefore that, in the 21st century, when a \u201cThird
\nWorld\u201d country like India has landed a spacecraft on Mars; an insurgency
\nhas arisen in the Nigerian North-East claiming that \u201cWestern education is
\na sin.\u201d
\nNortherners opposed to Jonathan, like Muhammadu Buhari, Ango Abdullahi,
\nAdamu Ciroma and Junaid Mohammed have never demonstrated any belief in the
\neducation of the masses. Their children don\u2019t attend almajiri schools and
\nbeg on the streets. When in power, they pay no attention to the mass
\nilliteracy in the North. This makes them no different from the Boko Haram
\nthat maintains western education is sinful. Now that we have a South-South
\npresident from Otuoke in Bayelsa State who is committed to Northern
\neducation, these same do-nothing politicians are claiming he is clueless.
\nWho needs their \u201ccluefulness?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jonathan\u2019s northern agenda<\/p>\n
Atiku Abubakar showed remarkable cluelessness when he observed that the
\nNorth would not be voting for Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. If the North
\nwould not vote for Jonathan, who then would they vote for?<\/p>\n
In 2011, Jonathan received over 8 million Northern votes. Since then, he
\nhas bent over backwards to reward the North. He has highly favoured the
\nregion in his appointments. The former Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim
\nMantu said: \u201cQuote me; in a long time we have not had a government where
\nthe northern extraction has enjoyed so many appointments like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, under Jonathan, the Vice-president, President of the Senate,
\nSpeaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice of the Supreme
\nCourt are all from the North.<\/p>\n
Jonathan\u2019s opponents would have us believe he is \u201cclueless\u201d but, within
\nfour years, Jonathan built 125 Almajiri Schools in 13 states in the North;
\nsomething Northern rulers themselves failed to do. At the commissioning of
\nthe first Almajiri Model School in Gagi, Sokoto State, the Sultan of
\nSokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa\u2019ad III, observed that Jonathan\u2019s action was
\nunprecedented in the history of Northern Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cClueless\u201d Jonathan went on to establish ten new federal universities;
\nseven of them in the North. It is important to list them, so Nigerians can
\nbe in no doubt how ridiculous the allegations against our president have
\nbeen. Jonathan established the Federal Universities in Lafia, Nasarawa
\nState; Lokoja, Kogi State; Kashere, Gombe State; Wakari, Taraba State;
\nDutsin-Ma, Katsina State; and Dutse, Jigawa State. No other president in
\nthe history of Nigeria has this kind of legacy, North or South.<\/p>\n
The Jonathan administration has more than doubled the budgetary allocation
\nto education in the country. It sponsored 7000 lecturers for post-graduate
\nstudies at home and abroad and licensed 100 Innovation Enterprise
\nInstitutions, while also granting 101 Presidential Scholarships for
\ninnovation and development. 51 Polytechnic laboratories have been
\nrehabilitated and
34 new NCE awarding institutions created.<\/p>\n
The result has been remarkable. There has been a 10 million student
\nincrease in basic education enrolment (UBEC) in the country. There has
\nalso been a 75% increase in O\u2019Level credit pass in Maths and English under
\nthe Jonathan administration.
\nHealth transformation<\/p>\n
Part of the grouse of Nigerians against past governments is that when
\nsubsidies are removed (especially that of petroleum), the extra money
\ndisappears into thin air without any appreciable public benefit. For this
\nreason, Nigerians insist on the retention of subsidies so that the
\nman-in-the-street can at least get something out of it. However, under the
\nJonathan administration, it has been possible to identify the salutary
\neffect of the subsidy removal on the well-being of the people.<\/p>\n
With the drastic reduction of the petroleum subsidy in 2012, the
\ngovernment created the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme
\n(SURE-P). This is designed to invest the savings accruing from the subsidy
\nreduction in critical infrastructure and human-resource empowerment
\nprojects across the length and breadth of the country. To this end, the
\nscheme has included maternal and child-health programmes.<\/p>\n
Within two years, the Maternal and Child Health scheme of the SURE-P has
\nreduced the maternal mortality ratio in Nigeria by 26%; reduced neo-natal
\nmortality by 22%; increased the percentage of births by skilled attendants
\nby 33% and increased the percent of reproductive aged women using family
\nplanning by 100%.
\nRoad transformation<\/p>\n
SURE-P has also been invaluable in engaging in a number of road
\nrehabilitation projects right across the country. For example, the
\nOnitsha-Owerri and the Vom-Manchok roads have been completed. Work is
\nunderway on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in Lagos; the Benin-Ore-Sagamu
\ndual carriage-way; the Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriage-way; the
\nKaduna-Maiduguri dual carriage-way; Lokoja \u2013 Benin road; Lagos-Ibadan
\nExpressway; Mokwa-Bida road; Akure-Ilesha road; Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega road;
\nEnugu- Abakaliki- Cross River road; Ogoja \u2013 Ikom road; Vandekiya-Obudu
\nroad; and the East-West road.
\nThe Kano-Maiduguri and the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja roads are currently
\nundergoing dualisation. The Onitsha Head-Bridge Flyover (Ojukwu Gateway)
\nand the Oweto Bridge across River Benue have been completed. The Second
\nNiger Bridge is under construction and the government is also undertaking
\nthe dredging the River. There is also on-going seaport construction and
\nthe expansion of existing ports, including Warri, Baro, Calabar, Onne,
\nOwerri and Onitsha.
\nRail transformation<\/p>\n
The railway system in Nigeria had been comatose for over 30 years.
\nHowever, the \u201cclueless\u201d Jonathan administration has managed to revive this
\nwithin two years. The Lagos-Kano line has been rehabilitated and is now
\nfunctional again. The Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line is being rehabilitated
\nand will soon be operational. Kano-Maiduguri, Kaduna-Abuja and Lagos-Port
\nHarcourt rail-lines are also under construction.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan inaugurated two Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) train-sets
\nand six air-conditioned passengers\u2019 coaches at the NRC terminus in Lagos.
\nHis administration also launched the Mass Transit Train Service (MTTS);
\ndeploying 11 trains carrying close to 15,000 passengers daily within the
\nLagos metropolis. This has drastically reduced the cost of intra-city
\ntrain transportation within Lagos.<\/p>\n
A return-trip from Agege to Ebute Metta under the MTTS now costs less than
\nN150, as against the more than N1,000 it costs by taxi. Transportation
\nfrom Lagos to Kano now costs less than N1,800 as against between N4,000
\nand N5,000 by car or bus.<\/p>\n
This is what Babatunde Fashola had to say about the \u201cclueless\u201d Jonathan
\nadministration\u2019s contribution to mass transit in Lagos State: \u201cIt is a
\nvery welcome development to our nation, Nigeria and to the Centre of
\nExcellence, Lagos State. No doubt, we require this infrastructure. We
\nappreciate it and we will continue to give every moral support that the
\ncorporation requires as we now have complementary services in the
\ntransport system of Lagos State.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are by no means the tokens of a \u201cclueless\u201d
\npresidency.
(Continued).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Femi Aribisala Jonathan is the most highly-educated president in the history of Nigeria. The English have an expression: \u201cgive a dog a bad name in order to kill it.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n