by Femi Aribisala<\/p>\n
Between 1983 and 1985, Peter Onu of Nigeria was Acting Secretary-General
\nof the OAU. At the 1985 Summit in Addis Ababa, statesmen like Julius
\nNyerere, President of Tanzania, lobbied for his election as substantive
\nSecretary-General. However, there was a major stumbling block to Peter
\nOnu\u2019s candidature: his Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari, was campaigning
\nagainst him.<\/p>\n
Buhari claimed: \u201cThis generation of Nigerians and indeed future
\ngenerations have no other country than Nigeria.\u201d But when the crunch came,
\nhis allegiance to Nigeria disappeared. In the election of the OAU
\nSecretary-General in 1985, Buhari voted against Nigeria and for Niger
\ninstead. He secured the election of Ide Oumarou, a Fulani man from Niger;
\nas opposed to an Igbo man from Nigeria. By so doing, Buhari became the
\nfirst and only Head of State in the history of modern international
\nrelations to vote against his country in favour of his tribe.<\/p>\n
Years later, General Buhari marched all the way from Daura to Ibadan to
\ndemand of Oyo State Governor, Lam Adeshina: \u201cWhy are your people killing
\nmy people?\u201d Again, he was not referring to Nigerians as his people.
\nInstead, he was an advocate for the rights of murderous Fulani herdsmen
\nwho killed Yoruba farmers that objected to their cattle grazing on their
\nland and damaging their crops. This same Buhari who voted against Nigeria
\nin 1985, and said in 2003: \u201cMuslims should only vote those who will
\npromote Islam,\u201d is now shopping for votes nationwide. He should be
\nrejected outright.<\/p>\n
Ignorance running riot<\/p>\n
If APC had wanted to be taken seriously, it would have come up with a
\nbetter presidential material than Buhari. There is something anomalous
\nabout a party whose mantra is change, recycling a 73 year old man as its
\ncandidate for the president of modern Nigeria. Buhari has little or no
\nunderstanding of public policy. That is why APC will always come up with
\nsome excuse or the other not to have him participate in a debate with
\nJonathan. Buhari fought corruption by imposing ridiculous 300-year
\nsentences on offenders. He fought exam malpractices by imposing 24-year
\nprison sentences on school children.<\/p>\n
He dealt with indiscipline by flogging people to queue at bus-stops. He
\ndealt with food shortages by sending soldiers to break into private
\nwarehouses and shops. He fought trade imbalances by taking Nigeria back to
\nthe stone age of trade by barter (counter-trade). He sought to extradite a
\nNigerian from Britain by drugging and crating him.<\/p>\n
There is so much about Buhari ending the Boko Haram insurgency as he did
\nthe Maitatsine insurgency in the 1980s. But the General needs to be
\nadvised that Boko Haram is not Maitatsine. Maitatsine was in two towns:
\nBoko Haram is in three states with spillover effects into others.
\nMaitatsine fought with bows and arrows: Boko Haram fights with
\nsophisticated weapons. Maitatsine was a local insurgency, Boko Haram is an
\ninternational phenomenon.<\/p>\n
Anti-corruption hypocrisy: Buhari does not know what corruption means and
\nhow to fight it. He became Nigeria\u2019s Head of State through the corruption
\nof a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat and he then tried to fight corruption with corruption.
\nImposing retroactive decrees and killing Nigerians under them is
\ncorruption. Putting an Igbo vice-president in Kirikiri, while placing the
\nFulani president under palatial house arrest, is corruption.<\/p>\n
Detaining people like Michael Ajasin in jail, even after they were
\ndischarged and acquitted by kangaroo courts, is corruption. Jailing
\njournalists for telling the truth is corruption. Putting pressure on a
\njudge in order to jail Fela Anikulapo-Kuti is corruption. Shepherding 53
\nsuitcases of contraband unchecked through Customs during a currency change
\nexercise is corruption. Swearing an affidavit that your school-leaving
\ncertificate is with the military when it is not, is corruption.<\/p>\n
Transforming Nigeria: Buhari\u2019s shameful past is dwarfed by the
\nachievements of Goodluck Jonathan. Under Jonathan, Nigeria has emerged as
\nby far the largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $503 billion; nearly
\ndouble the previous estimates. South Africa now comes a distant second
\nwith $350 billion. With the unbundling of PHCN after 52 years of gridlock,
\nand with now the realizable target of 20,000 megawatts of electricity by
\n2020, Nigeria\u2019s GDP will soon double that of South Africa.<\/p>\n
CNN Money projects that the fastest growing economy in the world in 2015
\nwill be China (7.3% growth rate); followed by Qatar (7.1%); and then
\nfollowed by Nigeria (7%). This belies all the misinformation about the
\nNigerian economy dished out by the APC and attests to the astute
\nmanagement of the economy by the Jonathan administration. The seemingly
\nambitious Vision 20 2020, proclaimed under the Abacha regime to make
\nNigeria one of the 20 largest economies in the world by 2020 is now well
\nin sight. Today, Nigeria is already the 23rd largest economy in the world.
\nKudos to Jonathan, we have overtaken such European countries as Austria
\nand Belgium.<\/p>\n
Life expectancy<\/p>\n
In 2010, when Jonathan became acting president, life expectancy in Nigeria
\nwas 47 years. Today, it is 54 years; an improvement of seven years. Adroit
\napplication of SURE-P funds has reduced the maternal mortality ratio in
\nNigeria by 26%. Under Jonathan, Nigeria has become Guinea Worm-free; a
\ndisease previously affecting 800,000 Nigerians yearly. In the last six
\nmonths, there has been no new case of polio in Nigeria. If this goes on
\nfor another two and a half years, Nigeria will be declared polio-free.<\/p>\n
Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, hailed Nigeria\u2019s fight against
\npolio as one of the great world achievements of 2014. He said: \u201cThe
\ninfrastructure Nigeria has built to fight polio actually made it easier
\nfor them to swiftly contain Ebola. The fact that Nigeria is now Ebola-free
\nis a great example of how doing the work to fight things like fighting
\npolio also leaves countries better prepared to deal with outbreaks of
\nother diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investors\u2019 haven: In the last three years, the United Nations Conference
\non Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has ranked Nigeria as the number one
\ncountry for foreign investments in Africa. We also receive more
\nhome-remittances than any other African country; a vote of confidence in
\nour economy by Nigerians living abroad. They remitted $23 billion in 2013,
\na figure far more than the $18 billion received by Egypt; the country with
\nthe second highest home remittance in Africa. It is a testament to
\nGoodluck Jonathan\u2019s adroit management of the Nigerian economy that the
\nrichest African is now a Nigerian.<\/p>\n
In 2010, when Jonathan came to power, Aliko Dangote was the 463rd richest
\nman in the world, with a total fortune of $2.1 billion. Today, he is the
\n23rd richest man in the world, with a total fortune of $25 billion.
\nDangote\u2019s billions are \u201cmade in Nigeria.\u201d Indeed, under Jonathan, Nigeria
\nnow has the fourth highest rate of returns on investments in the world,
\naccording to UNCTAD.<\/p>\n
Crisis of unemployment<\/p>\n
The big challenge has to do with jobs. Every year, another 1.8 million
\npeople are offloaded into the job market. However, while the APC says
\nBuhari will create 720,000 jobs a year if elected, Jonathan created 1.6
\nmillion jobs in 2013. He has established such innovative programmes as
\nNagropreneurs and YOUWIN that support young farmers and entrepreneurs with
\ngrants, training and mentorship. He has also instituted internship schemes
\nto enhance the capacity of university graduates to secure gainful
\nemployment.<\/p>\n
The unemployment problem is compounded by the more than doubling of the
\neducation budget under Jonathan. Every Nigerian child now has the
\nopportunity to go to school. Indeed, there has been a 10 million increase
\nin school enrolment in Nigeria under this government. There has also been
\na 75% increase in O\u2019 Level credit pass in Maths and English. Jonathan
\nestablished 125 Almajiri schools in 13 northern states. He also
\nestablished 14 new federal universities. There is now a federal university
\nin every state. Indeed, the kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls derives
\nfrom the disenchantment of the Boko Haram that many Northern girls are now
\ngoing to school.<\/p>\n
Dealing with corruption: According to Transparency International, Nigeria
\nhas not become more corrupt under Goodluck Jonathan. Out of 178 countries
\nranked in 2010, Nigeria was the 134th most corrupt country. In 2014,
\nNigeria was ranked 136th. Unlike Buhari, Jonathan understands that
\ncorruption has to be attacked institutionally, from the roots. Therefore,
\nhe proposed the abrogation of the petroleum subsidy; one of the biggest
\navenues for corruption in government. However, Nigerians refused. Jonathan
\nhas sanitized the corruption in fertilizer distribution. The Minister of
\nAgriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, lamented that between 1980 and 2010,
\nNigeria lost 776 billion naira to corrupt fertilizer racketeering.<\/p>\n
Fertiliser racketeering<\/p>\n
That effectively came to an end under Jonathan. Through the innovative
\ne-wallet system, farmers are given cell-phones through which they now have
\ndirect and easy access to government-provided fertilizer, chemicals and
\nseedlings. Jonathan has also sanitised the banking system by removing
\ndinosaur managing directors, recovering indigent loans and using AMCON to
\nmop up bad loans. By instituting e-payment systems, he sanitized the civil
\nservice by removing 50,000 ghost-workers in one fell swoop. He has equally
\ngot rid of ghost voters from the electoral register; over 1 million ghost
\nvoters were removed from the Zamfara INEC register alone. Under Jonathan,
\nwe have had free and fair elections one after the other; in Edo, Anambra,
\nOndo, Ekiti and Osun.<\/p>\n
Agriculture has been transformed under this administration. Thanks to
\nJonathan, agriculture now accounts for 22% of Nigeria\u2019s GDP, more than oil
\nand gas which only account for 15.9%. Under Jonathan, Nigeria has recorded
\na more than 50% reduction in food imports. Prior to his presidency, we had
\na food import bill of 1.4 trillion naira. But now, it is less than N700
\nbillion. With the innovation of dry season rice-farming, Nigeria has
\nreached 60% self-sufficiency in rice production. According to the Food and
\nAgricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Nigeria is now the
\nlargest producer of cassava in the world. The Jonathan government built
\nsix strategically-located perishable cargo airports in Ilorin, Jalingo,
\nJos, Lagos, Makurdi andYola; in close proximity to Nigeria\u2019s food baskets.<\/p>\n
It is remarkable that Northern farmers were able to donate five million
\ntubers of yam in order to raise 5 billion naira for Buhari\u2019s presidential
\nelection campaign. If Jonathan\u2019s transformation agenda in agriculture was
\nnot working as planned, they would not have been able to do this.<\/p>\n
Femi Aribisala is a scholar and international affairs expert. He is
\ncurrently an iconoclastic church pastor in Lagos. He is also a syndicated
\nessayist for a handful publications in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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