JONATHAN: DEPLOYING WISDOM TO DISARM THE ENEMIES WITHIN

To many, President Goodluck Jonathan is simply seen as a very lucky man. But beyond this popular opinion, he is more of a firm believer in the potency of natural wisdom or common sense. This is the secret behind his rapid and steady rise from grace to higher grace. For many who don’t know him; Goodluck Jonathan can be easily mistaken for someone who does not have the head to carry the burden that Nigeria has painfully become. Right from his days as deputy governor in Bayelsa State, he has never believed in the vain and negative attitude of “I know it all.” For this reason, he devotes ample time to listen to a wide range of opinions. Jonathan is also known for trusting in the abilities of his aides. Unfortunately, this has in no small measure dented his vision as most of his lieutenants have abused the deep confidence reposed in them. It accounts for why some government officials pursue agendas clearly outside the vision of the president.

Much of the problems created or existing in the nation’s polity are the premeditated handiwork of members of the president’s working team. It is a sad fact that most people in government are there for the wrong reasons. Very few persons enter government to serve the interests of the larger society. In such a feral situation, political leaders will need more than the normal to succeed. For a few of us that saw it well in advance, we warned the president about the dangers of working with a legion of “enemies of the nation.” As complex as Nigeria is, there is no way “enemies” will not infiltrate the presidency. What every head of government needs to do in order to defeat these “enemies” or cabal is to be proactive. The major aim of the cabal is to hijack the presidency and dictate the turn of events in the country to their favour. It is however pertinent to note that while every administration grows its own cabal, there are key institutions that feed the “cabaltocracy.” They are the NNPC, CBN, and Customs Service. Of late, the Nation Assembly too has joined. The running of these critical sectors of the nation is mostly shrouded in secrecy. Any attempt to open their doors to public scrutiny is usually rebuffed. All amounts of resources are deployed to shield the activities of members of the cabaltocracy. Where it is believed that a particular person may not “play ball’, unorthodox means are employed to perpetuate their culture of crime.

In the case of Goodluck Jonathan, the signs were too clear to the leadership of the cabaltocracy that they cannot trust his presidency. This was mostly responsible for the strong resistance to his ascension to the presidency even in an acting capacity. When with the “doctrine of necessity” their world seems to be collapsing, the cabal decided to employ some other means to either colonize or destroy the GEJ presidency. It was obvious that they could not colonize Aso Rock because right from inception, Goodluck Jonathan had promised to stand with the masses. What many were afraid of is whether the president would be able to stop the cabal from destroying his administration, bearing in mind the number of enemies within.

Unknown to many, including the president; the sudden removal of fuel subsidy on January 1st was part of a subtle design to throw him out of office. Members of the cabal- in and outside government saw an opportunity in the fuel subsidy impasse to perfect their plans. There is no doubt about the fact that fuel subsidy was putting a big hole in the nation’s purse. Just as there are many ways to kill a rat, there were also several ways to withdraw fuel subsidy. Expectedly, the “enemies within the presidency” went for the option that will drastically weaken the purchasing power of the already 70% poor that are living below poverty line. The aim was simply to pitch the masses against government and expect the birth of an Arab Spring in Nigeria. To prove how true this opinion is, the anti-subsidy apostles never saw any need to deploy palliatives before the removal of subsidy. It would be recalled that some insignificant palliatives were only announced after labour and CSO had gone on the streets to call for the reversal of the fiscal policy. Why didn’t Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi offer to take salary cuts before asking Nigerians to make sacrifice? Thank God, the president did not follow them blindly.
In line with his usual self, President Goodluck Jonathan deployed wisdom to disarm the many “enemies within” by standing with the masses. He emphatically reasoned like a political leader- not like a technocrat. Left with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the minister of finance and economy and Sanusi Lamido, the governor of the CBN; the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration would have been part of history by now. These highly respected technocrats are simply doing the bidding of the World Bank and IMF- not that of Aso Rock. As part of a subtle agenda to protect the economies of key western nations, the World Bank and IMF usually prescribe fiscal policies that will hit hard on the poor and fuel anti-government sentiments among the masses in developing countries.

A close watch of the oil industry in most OPEC countries suggests that the best way to remove fuel subsidy is make local refineries functional. Okonjo-Iweala and Sanusi are not keen about this. Unfortunately, these anti-subsidy apostles have invested so much resource to argue that there are no credible Nigerians to run our economy successfully. They will be quick to cite the state of our four refineries to back their unpatriotic argument. This is a big shame. How can a country that cannot manage her refineries convince the international community that their investments would be safe? Let us stop deceiving ourselves. Unknown to many, the anti-subsidy apostle are actually the true enemies of the Nigerian masses. They are friends of the mostly corrupt fuel importers who have stolen billions of Naira from our common wealth in the name of fuel subsidy. That was why they could not dare call for a probe of the subsidy funds. They also downplayed the important need to refurbish our refineries so that they (importers) can continue to import fuel and make unregulated profit on top of the bent backs of 70% of poor Nigerians that cannot rely on their income to provide food, shelter, education, transport, and health care for their families. Let us note that the finance minister and CBN governor have been making so much noise about corruption but done nothing practical to fight it. Rather, it is the National Assembly that has taken the bull by the horn to expose the rot in the system.

It is the prayer of millions of Nigerian masses that President Goodluck Jonathan continues to use wisdom to fight his enemies within. This is the only way they can be protected from the ravaging and unpatriotic activities of the cabaltocracy within and outside government.