President Goodluck Jonathan’s address to Nigerians on the occasion of the nation’s 52nd Independence anniversary attracted widespread reactions across the country. The facts and substance of the message have continued to resonate long after the anniversary activities were concluded. The myriad challenges facing his administration and the efforts to solve them constitute the heart of the message.
Among the challenges the President amply recognised in his address are the persistent insecurity in the land, the deluge of floods ravaging many states of the country, corruption and the economy, all of which he said his administration had been working assiduously to tackle. He, nevertheless, claimed progress in the economic sector, as well as in the fight against corruption. He reeled off gains in the economic sector, among them, a claim that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has risen to over 7 percent, with N6.8 trillion in both local and foreign direct investment commitments.
This, he said, has likely made Nigeria the “preferred investment destination in Africa.” On security, Jonathan gave his administration a pass mark, adding that the government has been in constant consultation and collaboration with neighbouring countries and other friendly nations to check insecurity. The government’s fight against corruption, he said, resulted in the decision of the anti-graft watchdog – Transparency International (TI) – to rate Nigeria as the “second most improved country” in the fight against corruption, a step behind the United States.
This claim has since generated controversy, with the authorities of Transparency International denying that they ever gave Nigeria such endorsement. Earlier, at an interdenominational church service in Abuja to herald the anniversary, the President reportedly said Nigeria’s problems required divine solution. He called for a year-long national prayer and solicited the participation of every citizen. We empathise with the President in his daunting task of leading Nigeria out of the present troubling times. It is, however, regrettable that after 15 months in the saddle as president, Dr. Jonathan is still struggling to communicate to Nigerians the new direction he is trying to chart for the nation.
He ought to have gone beyond this to the stage where the people can clearly see where the nation is headed. Instead, it appears that the president is still learning the ropes of governance. His independence speech evidently mirrors seeming helplessness and lack of preparedness to take personal responsibility for the problems facing the country. His unsure steps are not reassuring.
There is no doubt that the task of leading a country as large and complex as Nigeria could be challenging. But, anniversaries such as the one we celebrated last week give presidents opportunities to renew their vision and pact with the people. We think the president largely squandered this opportunity. His anniversary broadcast was rather vacuous, and poorly written and delivered. It was clearly lacking in inspiration, especially for those who looked up to the president to inspire the citizenry towards achievement of our national aspirations.
The president was also unfortunately misled by his aides on some of the “achievements” he claimed. Occasions such as independence anniversaries should be epoch-making in a nation’s history. It ought to be a window into the stuff that a leader is made of. Such occasion provides a rare moment for deep reflection on the nation’s journey since independence and how the leadership intends to address the problems that have made the people despondent, and instill hope in them for the future. Such hope can only be based on a sure foundation that the people have seen, not promises.
On all accounts, the president’s speech did not meet these expectations. The attempt by the president to elevate spirituality to state policy with a call for a prayer programme on the occasion of the anniversary is also out of place. Undoubtedly, prayer is very significant in the affairs of mankind, but prayer without doing the right thing will not build a great country.
Genuine commitment to action that will improve the wellbeing of the people and the development of the country is very important. It is beyond doubt that the nation is in a state of paralysis right now, and insecurity of life and property has reached its most frightening level. Promises to tame the menace have not yielded concrete results. Neither has corruption abated. But, we believe that all hope is not lost. The president must inspire himself, first, and make a clean break from the past. He should think outside the box, take bold decisions and implement them.
It is high time we start implementing all these “paper works”………. Nigeria is no more a young boy that is lured by a gift of toy. A Man of 52yrs should be brave enough to make decisions and carry them out without cowardice so in my opinion i say let the man who sits in the helm of affairs in the color of Nigeria start to sit up, and stop feeding us with empty promises and hopes.
Let us disintegrate if we cannot integrate.
Yet he still want to rule again
Jonathan’s call for national prayers reminds me of the famous Biblical proverb which says: “Is Saul also one of the prophets?” »»» (http://www.LiveSpeech.org)
I believe strongly that goverance is a collective responsibility. All hands must be on deck to ensure the success of our leaders in general and president Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in particular.
mr president dont need to say it all before we see his heart for us. I think he is putting in his best so far. If we always follow news of what is happening in nigeria, we outh to see that many sectors are experiencing significant improvement. For example secrity, from the begining of this year till date, we have seen the number of boko haram members kill and arrested in a gun battle, the number of planted explosives discovered and disarmed, the number of bomb manufacturing factories discovered and destroyed, the number of boko haram camps discovered and cleared, or do we want to wake up one day and see that terrorism is no more in nigeria?. In the power sector, there is no town in the whole of nigeria that has not experienced signifcant improvement in power supply with the newly completed power stations added to the national grid. Lets say the truth, is there no improvement in the power suply in ur area? …i cant go further becos of time but my advise for all is that we should always endeavour to listen to network news everyday, this will help us know much about what is happening in nigeria this is one of the ways we can be carried along in the happenings in nigeria. Thank you 4Rm edwinonyenuchie@yahoo.com
President Jonathan is an intelligent person. He is what Nigeria needs at this time.
yes u hv siad wat u want but action speak wat of dos arm robbr in ur cbnt . national assmbly senate an d u jampac dem mr presdent ur not a kid all so we ar not kits so b coution of ur self an do d write thing for nigerian not dis an dat we ar tired of forktail story pray but do d write thing for d masess or rember ur last day ..may (god) see us throug amen
Goodluck should not be blamed,for the problems of Nigeria are purposely planted by power seekers.
i dnt understand dis politice,is an igbo man leadng u-pre.jonathan or hausa’s people blc he is afraid of dem
make una go seat down. Leave him alone we elected him, he is ever our president untill hid tenur will elape
Toooo!!!!!!!!!!!!! let start Fasting and Prayer from now till next coming election since our HEAD has able to identify our problem to be SPIRITUAL and the solution to such problem is Fasting and Prayer. With GOD all things are possible.
pls let all join the Fasting and Prayer for the betterment of our tomorrow.
When are we going to stop deceiving ourselves? Is Nigeria problem truly spiritual? It is capital NO. Our problems are physical. We know the causes of our problems and we can list them out only if we want to be sincere to ourselves.
When has jonathan become a prophet? Well, if fasting and payers will help, let’s try it, but, do not ever mock God. For that will be very fatal for Nigeria
D day we start telin ourself d truth,like good couples.we wil arive
Praying is good but Thats the least u can hear from any serious Minded President on an important Day like this..Leadership is about Findling Solution and Not praying for magic.The only good thing about this man is that God Used him to Wrestle power away from the Oligarchies so dont expect much from an ijaw zoloogist.
prayers and fasting good
but faith without work isnt dead
Badluck Jonathan should stop deceiving himself thinking that he’s deceiving Nigerians. Jonathan has grossly failed this great nation. He has lost reputation and credibility as a president. Good number of Nigerians regrate voting for him as president.
We Nigerians have a syndrome that bring setback-criticism. blame not a president who has focus and steadily walks towards it. Have we not had enough inspirational but deceptive speeches so far and what is wrong on calling God into the anniversary? Or we wrongfully take an anniversary day as a day of meriment and squandering of nation’s economy only? we should know that JONATHAN is at the moment rebuilding the wreck already caused by our past administrators and so no beautification or rise in standard will be the priority of the moment. He remains eligible for election and if we are sincerely in need of positive changes and a country of no indifference, he should be considered the only eligible for next election.