Last
week, following the colossal killings of security personnel and other
innocent Nigerians by insurgents, President Goodluck Jonathan ran back
from South Africa where he was rounding up an official visit to proceed
to Namibia for another state visit. In this report, GEORGE AGBA examines
what may have prompted the president’s decision and the resultant
effect.
With the speed of lightening, President Goodluck Jonathan jetted back to the country from South-Africa where he had been since penultimate Monday for a state visit. He took off from that country a day after Benue Ste Governor, Gabriel Suswam and his Nasarawa counterpart, Tanko Almakura went to Aso Rock to brief Vice President Namadi Sambo on the massive killings that took place in their respective states. As soon as Jonathan got the brief later that night from his deputy that there was bloodbath in the country, he may have told himself that he had no option than to stop midstream his business trip to South Africa and abort his state visit which he was to leave South Africa straight to Namibia for and come back home.
The disappointment which may have enveloped the Namibian president and other top officials of that country over Jonathan’s abrupt postponement of his state visit to them could be well imagined. After all the preparations which, no doubt, had been concluded, it was sad news for them that the man they had spent a lot of money to host was no longer coming. Apart from people of that country who may have also noticed the embarrassment which the security situation in Nigeria may have caused the president of the most populous nation in black Africa, the sudden u-turn negotiated by Jonathan to come back home and face the security challenge may have also sent wrong signal to the entire world that Nigeria’s leader is incapacitated by terrorist activities in his country to the extent that he can hardly attend to international businesses.
Close wathchers in government circle contend that it is too bad for the country’s image for President Jonathan to stop in full flow his ongoing foreign trip and return home because cultists, terrorists and other militia groups have taken over the country. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Rueben Abati, in a statement last Thursday noted that Jonathan would return to the country to personally oversee efforts to tackle the fresh challenges to national security. “In view of recent developments at home in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan has cut short his visit to South Africa and aborted his state visit to Namibia which was due to start today. The President is returning to Abuja immediately to personally oversee efforts by national security agencies to contain the fresh challenges to national security which have emerged this week in Borno, Plateau and Nasarawa states. President Jonathan will on arrival meet with the Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police and heads of national security services to review the security situation in the country”, Abati stated.
But who would blame the president to have taken that decision. One could imagine what may have flashed through his mind when he received news of the massive killings in the country. “Me; leave South Africa to Namibia with what I just heard, so that what happened in 1967 would repeat itself? I should proceed to attend to my official visit so that I give room to these my country men from the opposition extraction with their shrill voices to start calling me names like Nero? God forbid”, he might have reasoned. Take it or leave it, the president was just smart enough to have scampered back to base. If he hadn’t, the verbal attacks he would invited on himself at this critical moment would have been legion. Even when he came back, nobody bothered to query what would have become the global perception about Nigeria. Besides, his coming did not save him from further attacks, with some opposition elements calling for his resignation.
Recall that Jonathan who was attending the International Earth Summit in Brazil last year had come under attack for leaving Nigeria at the height of insecurity in some parts of the country. Opposition parties and even close quarters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including some lawmakers elected on the party’s platform were unanimous in alleging that the president fiddled like Nero while Rome was on fire. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), while describing the president’s action as reflective of an insensitive and confused leadership, had contended that Jonathan ought to have cancelled the trip, no matter how important, as a symbolic show of solidarity with grieving Nigerians. “Again, we are constrained to ask whether this President is getting quality advice from the myriad of aides surrounding him, or whether, like his benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, he has decided he may not even take any advice from his advisers. In other climes, the usual thing is for leaders to cancel foreign trips or rush home from such trips when their countries suffer tragedies”, ACN had noted in a statement.
House of Representatives member, Zakari Mohammed who also asked on president to be sensitive to plight of Nigerians had said Jonathan’s action was tantamount to a father who abandoned his house while it was on fire. “He swore to an oath to protect lives and property of his citizens. Is this the right time for him to move when his house is on fire? He should be more sensitive to the plight of his people and take the right decision at the right time”, Mohammed noted angrily. His counterpart in the green chamber of the National Assembly, Abiodun Faleke, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency had added: “While his people are being buried for his lack of security effectiveness, yet he travelled to another country to tell the world about his weakness or his transformation agenda.”
Human rights lawyer, Mr Bamidele Aturu who described the president’s action as born of poor judgment had also said, “They are just killing our people anyhow and he has chosen this time to travel, it is very sad because for me, this is not the time to travel. And it is so sad because the protection of lives, according to the constitution, shall be the primary reason of government”. It was only the Senate that made an exception by making a case for Jonathan. Senate spokesman, Senator Abaribe to this effect had noted: “The Senate is not in the habit of running the country, it is a different arm of the government and I believe that if we have international obligations, we must keep to them. The Senate knows that the executive arm has its own responsibility and the Senate has its own responsibility.”
The president’s men are wondering whether now that the recent event where the militia groups have compelled Jonathan to come back home from his foreign trip with their harvest of killings has made is any difference to when he stayed in Brazil to conclude the earth summit meeting. The thinking is that since he came back last Thursday, it had been one verbal attack or the other against the president without anyone or group suggesting the way forward in the fight against terror. A top presidency official lamented that, while only last Friday the president held a meeting with his security chiefs which Nigerians were yet to see the outcome of, Jonathan has come under strings of attacks over speculations that he may be intending to declare state of emergency in the states that are worst hit by the killings. “All effort by presidential spokesman to refute the media report and assure Nigerians that there was no such intention generated more attacks on the person of the president, instead of addressing the security issue. Rather than bringing ideas that would assist the president tackle the security menace, they are busy distracting him with criticisms. What a country!” He added.
So far, the only support that came for President Jonathan was that given by South-South and South-East governors who announced a strong endorsement of his leadership and charged him to confront terror wherever it may be found in the land. After a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, the governors noted in a communiqué: “The meeting was concerned at the condemnable behaviour and antics of some Nigerians and their evil collaborators in assaulting the collective psyche of the nation, by waging various acts of terrorism; the South-South and South-East Governors not only commiserate with the President, the Governments of all affected areas, the victims, their families and majority of peace-loving Nigerians, but salute the resolute stance of Mr. President to confront terror wherever and whenever it occurs in Nigeria, while appealing to all law-abiding citizens to sincerely join hands with Governments to stamp out these and other evils from our society”.
As it stands now, President Jonathan may be in a dilemma as to the best possible approach to contain what many have described as becoming worse than the civil war. Whichever method he adopts to tackle the security challenge would still be the devils alternative, as it appears he cannot escape criticisms while on the hot seat. On Monday, he held another meeting with the security chiefs in his office to mull the way forward on ending the killings in parts of the country. While Nigerians await the president’s line of action, there is also the fear that he does not miss the target, following the many criticisms which are posing as distraction before him.
With the speed of lightening, President Goodluck Jonathan jetted back to the country from South-Africa where he had been since penultimate Monday for a state visit. He took off from that country a day after Benue Ste Governor, Gabriel Suswam and his Nasarawa counterpart, Tanko Almakura went to Aso Rock to brief Vice President Namadi Sambo on the massive killings that took place in their respective states. As soon as Jonathan got the brief later that night from his deputy that there was bloodbath in the country, he may have told himself that he had no option than to stop midstream his business trip to South Africa and abort his state visit which he was to leave South Africa straight to Namibia for and come back home.
The disappointment which may have enveloped the Namibian president and other top officials of that country over Jonathan’s abrupt postponement of his state visit to them could be well imagined. After all the preparations which, no doubt, had been concluded, it was sad news for them that the man they had spent a lot of money to host was no longer coming. Apart from people of that country who may have also noticed the embarrassment which the security situation in Nigeria may have caused the president of the most populous nation in black Africa, the sudden u-turn negotiated by Jonathan to come back home and face the security challenge may have also sent wrong signal to the entire world that Nigeria’s leader is incapacitated by terrorist activities in his country to the extent that he can hardly attend to international businesses.
Close wathchers in government circle contend that it is too bad for the country’s image for President Jonathan to stop in full flow his ongoing foreign trip and return home because cultists, terrorists and other militia groups have taken over the country. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Rueben Abati, in a statement last Thursday noted that Jonathan would return to the country to personally oversee efforts to tackle the fresh challenges to national security. “In view of recent developments at home in Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan has cut short his visit to South Africa and aborted his state visit to Namibia which was due to start today. The President is returning to Abuja immediately to personally oversee efforts by national security agencies to contain the fresh challenges to national security which have emerged this week in Borno, Plateau and Nasarawa states. President Jonathan will on arrival meet with the Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police and heads of national security services to review the security situation in the country”, Abati stated.
But who would blame the president to have taken that decision. One could imagine what may have flashed through his mind when he received news of the massive killings in the country. “Me; leave South Africa to Namibia with what I just heard, so that what happened in 1967 would repeat itself? I should proceed to attend to my official visit so that I give room to these my country men from the opposition extraction with their shrill voices to start calling me names like Nero? God forbid”, he might have reasoned. Take it or leave it, the president was just smart enough to have scampered back to base. If he hadn’t, the verbal attacks he would invited on himself at this critical moment would have been legion. Even when he came back, nobody bothered to query what would have become the global perception about Nigeria. Besides, his coming did not save him from further attacks, with some opposition elements calling for his resignation.
Recall that Jonathan who was attending the International Earth Summit in Brazil last year had come under attack for leaving Nigeria at the height of insecurity in some parts of the country. Opposition parties and even close quarters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including some lawmakers elected on the party’s platform were unanimous in alleging that the president fiddled like Nero while Rome was on fire. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), while describing the president’s action as reflective of an insensitive and confused leadership, had contended that Jonathan ought to have cancelled the trip, no matter how important, as a symbolic show of solidarity with grieving Nigerians. “Again, we are constrained to ask whether this President is getting quality advice from the myriad of aides surrounding him, or whether, like his benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo, he has decided he may not even take any advice from his advisers. In other climes, the usual thing is for leaders to cancel foreign trips or rush home from such trips when their countries suffer tragedies”, ACN had noted in a statement.
House of Representatives member, Zakari Mohammed who also asked on president to be sensitive to plight of Nigerians had said Jonathan’s action was tantamount to a father who abandoned his house while it was on fire. “He swore to an oath to protect lives and property of his citizens. Is this the right time for him to move when his house is on fire? He should be more sensitive to the plight of his people and take the right decision at the right time”, Mohammed noted angrily. His counterpart in the green chamber of the National Assembly, Abiodun Faleke, representing Ikeja Federal Constituency had added: “While his people are being buried for his lack of security effectiveness, yet he travelled to another country to tell the world about his weakness or his transformation agenda.”
Human rights lawyer, Mr Bamidele Aturu who described the president’s action as born of poor judgment had also said, “They are just killing our people anyhow and he has chosen this time to travel, it is very sad because for me, this is not the time to travel. And it is so sad because the protection of lives, according to the constitution, shall be the primary reason of government”. It was only the Senate that made an exception by making a case for Jonathan. Senate spokesman, Senator Abaribe to this effect had noted: “The Senate is not in the habit of running the country, it is a different arm of the government and I believe that if we have international obligations, we must keep to them. The Senate knows that the executive arm has its own responsibility and the Senate has its own responsibility.”
The president’s men are wondering whether now that the recent event where the militia groups have compelled Jonathan to come back home from his foreign trip with their harvest of killings has made is any difference to when he stayed in Brazil to conclude the earth summit meeting. The thinking is that since he came back last Thursday, it had been one verbal attack or the other against the president without anyone or group suggesting the way forward in the fight against terror. A top presidency official lamented that, while only last Friday the president held a meeting with his security chiefs which Nigerians were yet to see the outcome of, Jonathan has come under strings of attacks over speculations that he may be intending to declare state of emergency in the states that are worst hit by the killings. “All effort by presidential spokesman to refute the media report and assure Nigerians that there was no such intention generated more attacks on the person of the president, instead of addressing the security issue. Rather than bringing ideas that would assist the president tackle the security menace, they are busy distracting him with criticisms. What a country!” He added.
So far, the only support that came for President Jonathan was that given by South-South and South-East governors who announced a strong endorsement of his leadership and charged him to confront terror wherever it may be found in the land. After a meeting in Asaba, Delta State, the governors noted in a communiqué: “The meeting was concerned at the condemnable behaviour and antics of some Nigerians and their evil collaborators in assaulting the collective psyche of the nation, by waging various acts of terrorism; the South-South and South-East Governors not only commiserate with the President, the Governments of all affected areas, the victims, their families and majority of peace-loving Nigerians, but salute the resolute stance of Mr. President to confront terror wherever and whenever it occurs in Nigeria, while appealing to all law-abiding citizens to sincerely join hands with Governments to stamp out these and other evils from our society”.
As it stands now, President Jonathan may be in a dilemma as to the best possible approach to contain what many have described as becoming worse than the civil war. Whichever method he adopts to tackle the security challenge would still be the devils alternative, as it appears he cannot escape criticisms while on the hot seat. On Monday, he held another meeting with the security chiefs in his office to mull the way forward on ending the killings in parts of the country. While Nigerians await the president’s line of action, there is also the fear that he does not miss the target, following the many criticisms which are posing as distraction before him.
