Jonathan - No Longer Shoeless

President Goodluck Jonathan

I have never been a huge fan of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The first time I heard about him was during the Alamieyeseigha cross-dressing  saga when he was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state. The next time he was prominently in the news was in 2006 when the EFCC was investigating his wife and now first lady, Dame Patience for alleged involvement in multi million dollar money laundering. It came as a huge surprise when Chief Obasanjo selected him as the running mate of Umaru Musa Yar’adua. GEJ was obscure as a Deputy Governor and rather unremarkable as a Governor. My opinion was that Yar’adua with his rather quiet and retiring personality needed a charismatic and likeable deputy to complement him. Somebody like former Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State. Be that as it may, he was chosen and got elected Vice President and by providence (goodluck??) became President.

In 2011, he contested on his own terms to become president after completing the last one year of the Yar’adua presidency. While I didn’t think he was the best candidate, he was certainly the candidate in the best position to win. Firstly, he was an incumbent and in Africa, incumbents hardly get defeated in elections. Secondly, his party the PDP was head and shoulders above the other parties in terms of personnel, reach and finance. It would take the political equivalent of a tsunami for the PDP ground to shift as it concerns the presidency. The CPC in 2011 was merely a thunderstorm. Thirdly, he was perceived by a good section of the populace as a man of destiny. As “Shoeless Jo”,  he gave the impression of a man of humble beginnings who through sheer good fortune had attained the highest office in Nigeria against all adversity. He was living the Nigerian Dream and attained that breakthrough others have prayed, fasted and tithed for, to no avail. The Yar’adua death and succession saga also played in his favour. Lastly, a lot of Nigerians especially those in the South and Christians wanted to break the Northern Muslim hegemony of Nigerian politics. The election of 2011 was less about Jonathan vs Buhari but more about the South & Christians vs Northern Muslims. Politics being a game of numbers showed that the result will be in his favour. I didn’t vote at the 2011 elections but if I did, Jonathan would have had my vote

The first half of his Presidency has been uninspiring to say the least. I don’t think even the most ardent supporters of GEJ expected any miracles from him. Nothing in his unremarkable past leadership showed he will be an outstanding president. He has never been the most charismatic of people but he totally failed to inspire any confidence in people. He always sounded hesitant and unsure of what was required of him. He never really did look presidential. There is no doubt that he has definitely brought some improvement. You can always point to the airports, the roads, railway, the privatisation of the electricity sector, economic growth amongst his success. However, the security situation got worse under his watch, the education sector is crumbling and he seemingly turns a blind eye to corruption. And yea, there is still the case of the missing NNPC billions.

2014 has brought a step change in the Jonathan presidency. No longer is he “Shoeless”, he has definitely got his boots on. The changing of the Service Chiefs, the sacking of Oghiadomhe as his Chief of Staff, the signing of the anti-gay bill, the removal of Stella Oduah and the suspension of Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi shows a man who has finally realised he is the President of the Federal Republic and the buck stops with him. I am liking this new decisive President Jonathan who is prepared to take the bull by the horn and take the really tough decisions. He is definitely getting battle ready for the 2015 elections. He seemed to have reserved his ammunitions for the last legs of his current Presidency. I believe there are much more surprises to come from President Jonathan in the next few months. This year will be a defining year of his Presidency but I doubt if it will determine the result of the next elections. The 2015 election is Jonathan’s to lose and the man with Goodluck does not do defeats.