Shall We Tell Mr. President His Ground Breaking Records?

The President and Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan would have surpassed his predecessors on ground breaking records if not held for being most notorious in the anal of administrative hegemony in this country.  The Veterinary doctor and once-upon-a-time University of Port-Harcourt lecturer turned President has sure given the nation and the global village enough conviction of his government’s stagnancy or rather put thus; a bunch of democrats bereft of quality directorial compass.

At least Nigerians won’t forget in a hurry, the boisterously vocal attitude of her presumed Masters’ degree holder-wife,  Dame Patience whose several public utterances have had cause to embarrass not just the person of the president and his retinue of intellectual aides but the nation as a whole. In fact, the issue of the president’s wife is a story for another day; but had I been one of his advisers, I would have recommended that, a technical crew of script writers, movie directors and cameramen be permanently attached to the First Lady, most especially anytime she needs to make a speech. The reason for this is to make sure her speech is well doctored like having her prepared for dry-run, take one, two, three, close-up, cut, before eventual editing for public viewing or listening as the case maybe.

President Jonathan has indeed broken enough records for archival reference. Where do we start from, an administration that recorded the highest numbers of lost lives to political violence, large scale corruptions in his government, giving state pardons to undeserved suspects/convicts, trivializing the nation’s highest honour, using state apparatus to witch-hunt perceived enemies to mention but a view.

Critics say the president has done it again! Fixing a square peg in a round hole. They opine that in his apathetical approach of allowing political sentiments to becloud his constitutional judgment, Goodluck Jonathan has once again appointed a society party maker to take over a serious agency like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Mrs. Roli Adeniyi-George, a society lady and erstwhile Ankara model who represented a moribund brand of local prints came to limelight when her alleged romance with the controversial man of God, Rev. Chris Okotie became a public knowledge; she is the newest head honcho of the NDLEA-what a funny appointment you’d say.

Before now, Roli by powers conferred on her ex-convict-hubby, though he’s been given state pardon by this administration, she was given a board slot as a national Commissioner at the National Population Commission. This and other frivolous governmental decisions that lack any intellectual values are yardsticks nominating the Jonathan administration as debatably capable of running the affairs of this nation in wrong directions.

No one is beefing Mrs. George for being compensated for being one of the wives of one of those that have the President’s ears but for God’s sake, those advising the President should tell him he needs to start putting a right peg in a right hole. We’re quite aware that, the 2015 strategy has begun and he (Jonathan) needs to appease the gods to curry favour to retain the seat but a Roli Adeniyi would have been pleased with a less critical post than the NDLEA plum job.

A post like that of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is so delicate and deserves an experienced thoroughbred professional of sterling qualities, even if not in a related field but somebody of an authority, to steer its ship. No one is doubting or casting aspersion on the credentials or capability of the revered person of Mrs. Bode George but antecedents should play a prominent role when deciding the fate of some fragile positions.

A quick glance at the track records of the agency’s immediate past boss, Femi Ajayi revealed that, the man who’s flaunting an enviable credential is a multi-disciplinary professional (biochemist, journalist and international law expert) and until that appointment, he was the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Development Cooperation and Diaspora Relations.

And prior to that, Mr. Ajayi had previously served with the Department For International Development (DFID) as a Senior Communication Specialist at DFID-ProPCom; Resident Coordination Specialist of the United System (2005/2006); UNICEF Communication Consultant for HIV/AIDS (2001); National Professional Officer for Communication and Informatics for UNESCO (1999/2001);   United Nations Information Centre (1992 to 1999), Science Editor/Member of the Editorial Board of Daily Times (1987/90), and Media Consultant to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) (1991) and so on.

It is so obvious that, all these are political gimmicks to foster support from every nook and crannies of the nation. And now that the political game is at its crescendo, there have been clandestine strategies to witch-hunt personalities perceived to be in enemy’s camp or people superficial to putting clogs in the wheel of the 2015 progress.

There’s no doubting the fact that, the celebrated case of N446.3 billion theft charges dropped against the late Abacha’s son, Mohammed by a federal high court earlier in the week and the rumoured attempt to arrest the newly crowned Emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are all calculated moves to massage and cow political allies as the case may be.

All we want is peace and unity in the country and we pray God continue to enrich Mr. President’s thinking faculty and that of his retinue of intellectual advisers. Lastly, in the word of Criss Jami “With too much pride a man cannot learn a thing. In and of itself, learning teaches you how foolish you are.”
  

Tunde Moshood Jr. is a public analyst, activist and media relations'

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