It would have been enough to dismiss the utterances as the ranting of an overzealous and misguided presidential handler. But against the backdrop of the supercilious rampage and the embarrassingly obvious spectacle of presidential lawlessness in the ongoing crisis in Rivers State, it is risky to ignore the recent statements of Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Matters. Gulak castigated five northern state governors, believed to be supporters of embattled Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, warning them that they will fail in their plot to oust the president. His intemperate outburst speaks directly to the political desperation that has come to define the campaign for a second term for Jonathan. In the politics of 2015, Gulak’s combative riposte was clearly, the case of an angry man who spoke before thinking. And as an adviser to the President, it boggles the mind what kind of advice such a man gives to President Jonathan.
The five northern governors – Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) – have been under fire after paying a solidarity visit to Amaechi in Port Harcourt last week, during which youths believed to be loyal to Abuja-backed political forces opposed to Amaechi blocked them from leaving Port Harcourt airport for several hours. A statement credited to the Governors, warned of unsavory political consequences, saying the backlash of presidential demonization of democracy in Rivers State will inevitably impact negatively, on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “We will continue to make our efforts to save the party. But if our efforts do not work, we have no alternative than to fold our arms, and see PDP die and help in burying it,” Governor Nyako wrote, in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Sajoh Ahmed.
In an angry and cantankerous reaction, Gulak accused the governors of ulterior political motives and of hatching a sinister plot to oust the President from office. “They (the governors) cannot bury the PDP, as the party is above them,” he charged; adding: “their agenda is not to bury the PDP but to get President Goodluck Jonathan out but they will certainly fail. I can assure you that all those in that group and sharing their agenda will also fail woefully, as Nigerians are wiser.”
Nigerians are not only wiser; they are apprehensive of the second term syndrome that has infected Aso Rock, which now sees everything only through the prism of a second term for Jonathan; ignoring the fact that the second term should be conditioned on the president’s performance in the first. So far, by public opinion and by demonstrable evidence, Jonathan has achieved little that should necessitate an early start to his re-election campaign. In terms of concrete achievements, there isn’t much in the president’s record for his campaigners to show as proof of Jonathan’s superlative performance.
But at the risk of sounding naïve, what was there, in the solidarity visit to Amaechi that had to do with Jonathan’s imperial ambitions for 2015? What is wrong with five PDP governors intervening to resolve a crisis that, in large measure has been created by the president and members of his family? Why has it become so fashionable and politically correct to demonize any person who aspires to contest the 2015 presidential election? Assuming arguendo that the governors intend to build a rival platform to contest the 2015 presidential election, is it a crime to aspire to be president of Nigeria? Is there any clause in the Nigerian constitution which stipulates that a president must serve two terms? Why are Jonathan’s supporters so desperate for their man to remain in office for a second term?
Section 135 (2) of the constitution allows a presidential term of only four years and does not guarantee an incumbent an automatic second term. Jonathan is indeed free to run for a second term, which he has to win in a free and fair election. It is a betrayal of public trust and a shame that men and women given power, authority and public resources to serve the public interest are so self-seeking as to devote the better part of their time grandstanding for the future, while the country stutters. Nigerians must clearly see these reprehensible, divisive and disruptive antics, for what they are: cheap blackmail intended to coerce other Nigerians to acquiesce to a predetermined desired end.
Utterances such as Gulak’s are not new. Before Gulak, Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, reportedly warned while on a visit to the United States that the current peace in the Niger Delta cannot be guaranteed unless Jonathan gets a second term come 2015. And the leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, Asari-Dukubo, went even further to declare that “there will be no peace, not only in the Niger Delta, but everywhere if Jonathan is not president again by 2015. It must however be stated that these war-mongering threats are doing much harm to the very cause they seek to advance. Jonathan’s case for a second term can only be made with concrete evidence of good governance and service delivery to Nigerians, not fire-spitting, intimidation or threats of brimstone on the country. Indeed, in other civilized democracies, Gulak and Kuku would have been relieved of their duties for bringing their public offices, funded by the Nigerian taxpayer, to so much odium.
It is regrettable that Jonathan has, wittingly or unwittingly, failed to rein in his handlers and stop them from holding him out, as anybody, other than the President of Nigeria. His deafening silence in the face of these irresponsible threats by his attack-dogs has made the public to assume that these overzealous handlers speak the mind of the president. If Mr. President is in any way uncomfortable with, and finds these utterances unacceptable, it has taken him too long to make this known. Nigeria is bigger than any of its parts and no individual, has a special claim or right more than any other to the presidency; so let no one dare say, or even think, that Nigeria will disintegrate unless Jonathan is given a second mandate. The Nigerian constitution is explicit in Section 130(1) that “there shall be for the Federation a president” who can only be so designated and hold the office on the basis of a broad mandate spelt out in Section 134. The oath of office demands of the president, in thought, words and deeds, a pan-Nigerian view. It is not for nothing that the president is regarded as “father of the nation.” This is because, of all elected officials, only the president holds a nationwide mandate. It is the duty of the incumbent to assert this sacrosanct principle.
The irrationality of the second term campaign for Jonathan is all too obvious. It is a belated attempt at reinventing the political wheel, by standing logic on its head. There are so many problems that deserve priority government attention more than the president’s second term. If Jonathan wants a second term, it obviously cannot be on the platform of his first term performance. The evidence is just not there. If his supporters must canvass a second term for Jonathan, they should ask their man to lift his performance and raise his game. This is the challenge of presidential leadership.
