Tanimomo’s Piece of Mind (TPoM): Our President Wants Second-Term!
by ahjotnaija
Mr. Tanimomo is a scholar resident in Germany. He guest-blogs on http://www.ahjotnaija.wordpress.com He is author of the popular bi-weekly: Tanimomo’s Piece of Mind (TPoM).
Nigeria is one country that voted for a man because he declared *I had no shoes*. Nigerians certainly forgot in that moment the man in question is a career-politician with nearly 20 years of active naija-politicking. This man came around wearing a bowler hat on black traditional attire to declare he had no shoes. The contradiction could not have been more stark.
An acquaintance once counseled, *don’t ask a politician what he will do. He might lie. Ask him what he has done and you will know who he is*. Apparently, this wise counsel we largely ignored in 2011.
When President Jonathan contested, Nigerians did not bother to ask him how he had spent his nearly 20 years of service as Assitant Director of OMPADEC, Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and President.
I suspect the godluck-fever was infectious, the dreams were high, it was desirable, the air was fresh and breathtaking and he was a ‘god-fearing’ man. So, we refused to harken to wise counsel, we refused to judge the man by the work of his hands. En masse, sans rigging, the gentleman from Otuoke became the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
Recent happenings are pointers to the fact that a large chair does not make a king. This president voted on good intentions has failed the electorate woefully. In spite of the numerous failures trailing the administration of the incumbent, it is unfortunate that our PhD-President is seeking a second term. It is irresponsible to go back to a lender of seed-yams to borrow more seed-yams, justifying/blaming such return on beetles, who ate up the previously borrowed seed-yams!
Worse is, this big fish, namely the president makes an enemy of those who point out the weaknesses in his sense of judgment. He is the proverbial man with head full of lice. Come to think of it: Should the man from whose head lice are being removed be ungrateful?
Personally, I am against baseless judgments and unnecessary comparisons. Like grand-ma would say, *you will kill one child for the other if you compare children*. So, considering objective performance yardsticks in critiquing the president’s, he still is not living up to expectation. Impeaching this president for underperforming would not have been exaggerated.
Since the needful is not being done to expedite the removal of a lameduck president, the electorate is left with the singular option of removal via the ballot box. This last option is needful at this moment of our collective existence as a country.
We don’t want a president, who aids corruption and abates transparence. Corruption at the moment is at an all-time high. Not only are many officials corrupt, the president encourages, embezzlement, bribery and nepotism. Think of Oduahgate, Otehgate, the outcome of the fuel subsidy saga, Nuhu Ribadu’s report etc. Till date there are no clear explanations for the removal of fuel subsidy. Worse still, accountability seems to be the elusive leopard in the oil sector.
It needs not get worse. We must stop this economic hemorrhage. A fastest way to halt this cancer is to deny President Jonathan a second term. His infamous statement *stealing is not corruption* only lends credence to the argument that the president is both unguarded in speech and governance. One can only wonder what statements he shall utter if he won a second term!
See, we all know this: If you watch your pot, your food will not burn. Boko Haram insurgence grew out of proportion mainly because the president delayed the arrest of the situation. It would not have been a bad idea if he had ordered the Nigerian Military to wage a full-blown war on these insurgents.
Furthermore, his late response to Chibok Kidnapping is far from being commander-in- chief-like; it is, to say the least, disappointing and cowardly. Does a man not know when he has pepper in his eyes? Is it not annoying that in spite of the security challenge that we face, with no respite in sight, the president still wants a second term? This president has a full mouth of challenges already, so one wonders what he needs another mouthful for?
A child that will sell on spot-price the family house plus other valuable properties therein shall not hide his bastardly character even as a child. Every time I think of another four years of a Jonathan presidency, the duo of Ohimai and Reno Omokri come to mind. Not only have these two disappointed this generation by churning out blatantly stupid lies, praising to high heavens phantom successes of the president, they continually stifle the voice(s) of reasoning. I can only imagine the enormous power these two moral criminals will wield by 2019 if President Jonathan wins another term.
These two and others who enjoy present windfall will not only have earned millions to step into the shoes of existing corrupt politicians, they will also have religion-power to cajole Nigerians into doing their biddings. Maxims like *Rome was not built in a day*, *E go better* etc will then sell well like widely coveted hot Akara at sunset during Ramadan.
If a load is too heavy to carry, one will do well to give the load to the ground to carry. It seems the burden of the presidency is too heavy for our president to carry, the responsible thing to do is to turn a deaf ear to sycophants who are *begging* him to contest again.
So having said so much, allow me to end on this note: The president should be reminded that no one forgets the discussion of yesternight just because (s)he went to bed. Therefore, we shall not forget the missing 20 Billion Naira, Nigeria Immigration recruitment sham, his incessant travels etc.
Really, in saner climes, President Jonathan’s oral submision of Nigeria’s sovereignty by inviting a stranger *to come and fix Nigeria* would have earned him an impeachment. We have not forgotten this jamtalk too.
The sumtotal of all these matters is evident enough to prevent this incumbent president a second term. He doesn’t deserve it.
ajagunna 