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President Jonathan’s Victory; ‘A
National blessing not a Curse’-By Emmanuel
Ajibulu Newsdiaryonline
Wed April 20,2011
I Congratulate the President-elect, President Goodluck Jonathan.
I also wish him and the Vice-President-elect, Vice-President
Namadi Sambo best of luck as they enjoy their mandate for the
next four years as President and Vice-President; may Nigeria be
better for this new political order. It is very obvious that the
pattern of the voting this time around indicates that Nigerians
ostensibly voted individuals as their President and not for PDP
as a party. The scripture says, people rejoice when a divine
leader is on seat, to GOD be the glory for the outcome of the
election.
The President once again in his usual manner showed good display
of tolerance and statesmanship when he paid tribute to his
political opponents, Major-General Buhari; Mallam Shekarau;
Mallam Ribadu and others, and called on them to run the
government together. “The progress we seek for our country is in
our hands. I am confident that with this new spirit of national
re-awakening and our sense of collective ownership of the
Nigerian project, a firm foundation has been laid for
participatory governance and progress. Together, we will build a
new economy that is strong and dynamic and underpinned by a
patriotic work ethic. Together, we will make our society to
emphasise the most noble of our national values and, together,
we shall recreate a great nation wielded in unity and harmony; a
nation marching towards collective progress in which no one is
left behind,” he said.
Some have argued that with the end of Military rule and the
enthronement of democracy and true federalism, there is a shift
in the balance of power from the North to the South, the people
in power yester years are still living with the mentality that
power must reside in a particular ethnic group and are finding
it difficult to embrace the philosophy that the society is
changing positively. I truly avail myself to be identified with
this stand point. The present day government should impact
purposefully on the people, they must be accountable to the
people and all their deeds must be transparent. As we can see
that the power of the electorate is great in our present day
Nigeria and not otherwise, we must start to educate our people
to take advantage of this new love. Corruption impedes economic
development and erodes trust in public institutions. The
President-elect Goodluck Jonathan must start to build
institutions with credible people at the helms. All lazy public
servants, political appointees should be shown the exit door. He
should start to address Nigerians on process developments of his
government, step by step budget implementation, what revenue
accrued to the federal government. Every kobo should be
accounted for and funds should be dispensed in a most frugal and
prudent manner. Nigerians should be vigilant this time around on
the issue of budget deficit or surplus as the case may be.
Thankfully the passage of freedom of information act
had just been made by outgoing parliamentarians (House of
Reps & Senate). The people are the watchdog; and would endeavour
to expose the misdeeds of government irrespective of whose ox is
gored. No more religious and ethnic sentiments.
However, the European Union Election Observation Mission to
Nigeria had onMonday reacted to the allegation by some
dissatisfied Nigerian politicians that the last Saturday’s
presidential election in the country was rigged and that
“sophisticated rigging system” was deployed to perpetrate
electoral malpractices during the polls. It would be recalled
that it previously alleged last Saturday that there were reports
of planes delivering what was suspected to be presidential
voting card already thumb-printed in several states of the
federation. But the representative of the EU team, Alojz Peterle,
stated that; “I don’t know of reports of direct rigging.” He
maintained that ballot boxes were better sealed during the
election when compared to what obtained in the previous
elections. He further noted that collation was well organised,
“I saw arithmetic problem; they (INEC official) have to check
how the figures were done together.” Earlier in a briefing same
day, Mr Peterle, while presenting a preliminary report, stated
that there was considerable improvement in Nigeria’s quest for
democracy and asked aggrieved parties to explore legal options
in venting their grievances. He observed that the overall desire
of Nigerians in 2015 should be to achieve zero violence before,
during and after elections.
Election is just like a football game while you play it to your
best ability and you still fail to win, what do you do,
lamenting or preparing for the next match? The best answer is to
forget failure or blaming around but to rectify the faults and
start to prepare better for the next game. Those who do not
succeed to win this particular election should sum up their
mind, to reset and update their schemes and work well with those
who are successful and by doing so Universe will remember them
for success promptly next time. Abhor or detest what is good
will never produce good fruits. It is not the best to shed blood
as a sign of defeat. There must be a winner and also a loser.
Let’s all accept the good work done by INEC and stop
jeopardizing innocent Nigerians, wasting of resources etc.
Everyone should come together, those who emerged as winners and
those in the opposition, for the development of our Nation; a
lot needs to be done to revive the fortunes of Nigeria.
However, I strongly condemn the attitude of those who are
calling General Muhammadu Buhari names, he is a patriotic leader
with many distinctions to his credit, and has always displayed
dispassionate stand in different capacity where he had served
especially in the fight against corruption and indiscipline. I
also salute his courage and timely intervention when he
called for calm when the uprising in the North became intense
and disturbing to Nigerians and the international communities. I
think he should be commended particularly when he said: ‘‘We
condemn any statement or attempt by any individual to throw the
North in the flame of ethnic or tribal politics or any action
that will create tension and violence in the North.’’
In the general overview INEC under the leadership of Professor
Attahiru Jega has delivered an indisputably credible
Presidential election. Though not completely hitch-free, but it
recorded a substantial compliance with electoral guidelines and
rules. However, whoever that is aggrieved can approach the court
of law, armed with evidence to establish a breach, otherwise
silence may be golden here.
Moreover, the media should be widely seen in playing the role of
agenda setting and to also be socially responsible in terms of
qualitative, objective, and investigative style of reporting
with strict adherence to the ethics of the profession.
Headlines, opinions, feature articles, reports, cartoons and
even pictures that are capable of inciting the people against
one another under political, ethnic or religious lines should
not be used for publication, things like this can trigger
reprisal attacks and further break down of law and order in the
country. As the watchdog and fourth estate of the realm much is
expected of the press to promote peace and harmony which
ultimately will work for overall good of the nation. Goodluck to
Nigerians and God bless Nigeria.
Emmanuel Ajibulu is a social commentator, critic and
Communication
consultant based in Abuja.
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