JONA’S METAMORPHOSIS (2)

"'... and I say Nigeria is being piloted by God himself.  It is not going to be easy, but with God using you and us, we will get to where we want to go…' Now, as a Christian and a minister to men, who has been taught and teaches that it is God, who wills and works in us to do of His good pleasure; a statement like that gladdened my heart when it came from my president. It did then because I thought it meant that this president was going to trust and depend on God, who brought him into office, to keep him in office only for as long as He will. I thought that it would mean avoiding desperation to remain in office. I thought it would mean neither participating in nor allowing abuse of power under his watch."

In likening President Goodluck Jonathan’s current mutation to King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said he was predicating his choice, not on its aptness, but more on the president’s earlier attempt to repudiate any similarities.

That earlier attempt, we noted here last week, was at a church service in September 2011, where he said, among other things, that he didn't need to be a Nebuchadnezzar to govern Nigeria. 

For ease of reference, here again is the relevant part of that statement: “Some others will want the President to operate like an army general, like my Chief of Army Staff commanding his troops. Incidentally, I am not a lion; I am not also a general. Somebody will want the President to operate like the kings of Syria, Babylon, Egypt, the Pharaoh, all - powerful people that you read about in the Bible. They want the president to operate that way, the characters of the Goliath. Unfortunately, I am not one of those. But God knows why I am here, even though I don’t have any of those attributes, or these kinds of characters I have used as an example. But through your prayers, God placed me here. The only thing I ask you to do for me, and that is the prayer I pray every time, is for God to use me to change this country. I don’t need to be a lion. I don’t need to be Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t need to operate like the Pharaoh of Egypt. I don’t need to be an army general but I can change this country without those traits.”

'Kongi' went on to imply that those words have not been matched by the president’s actions when he told Nigerians through the media: “Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: ‘I am no Nebuchadnezzar’. Perhaps not. One judges leaders on acts however, not pronouncements, which are often as reliable as electoral promises.”

As proof of that, he pointed to various acts of impunity by the government led by Dr Goodluck Jonathan including what he described as “this latest outrage” - the November 20 attempted lock-out of national legislators from the premises of the Parliament. Describing it as “one in an escalating series of impunity”, he argued that “the buck stops yet again at the presidency and that incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan” whom he said “continues to surprise us in ways that very few could have conjectured.”

Readers may recall that I expressed my own surprise that the professor or anybody else could have been surprised by Dr Jonathan’s resort to impunity; my reason being that his very ascendancy to the president was the product of impunity.  I had written in part: “… I agree absolutely that his support for the minority in the matter of the NGF election was indeed the clearest indication that the age of innocence was gone for good. Truth is the age of impunity, which, in my dictionary, is the good old habit of doing things, anything at all, just because you can, dawned on us the day Jonathan decided to and ran for office the very first time. In my book, if any man would violate the rules in his age-grade group or boys and girls club because he has the power to, he’ll do it anywhere else - including the presidency.”

So, perhaps Goodluck Jonathan has really not metamorphosed at all, then. Perhaps we had simply known him “in part” and we are simply just nearing fullness of knowledge? 

As I said last time, one other thing that he said at that September 2011 church gathering caught my attention then and now. The president, in continuation of his defence of his governance style, said:

“You know these days for you to be an intellectual and for people to listen to you, you have to abuse government. Somebody was asking, is Nigeria on an auto pilot? Meaning a plane without a pilot and I say Nigeria is being piloted by God himself.  It is not going to be easy, but with God using you and us, we will get to where we want to go…”

Now, as a Christian and a minister to men, who has been taught and teaches that it is God, who wills and works in us to do of His good pleasure; a statement like that gladdened my heart when it came from my president. It did then because I thought it meant that this president was going to trust and depend on God, who brought him into office, to keep him in office only for as long as He will. I thought that it would mean avoiding desperation to remain in office. I thought it would mean neither participating in nor allowing abuse of power under his watch.

Three years down the road, it is clear that I thought wrong! 

JONA’S METAMORPHOSIS (1)

"Truth is the age of impunity, which in my dictionary is the good old habit of doing things, anything at all, just because you can, dawned on us the day Jonathan decided to and ran for office the very first time. In my books, if any man would violate the rules in his age-grade group or boys and girls club because he has the power to, he’ll do it anywhere else including the presidency."

 

I am sure most of my readers know that the headline of this piece is not original. It is simply an adaptation of the title of one of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka’s two plays on a certain beach preacher, Jeroboam.

Jona, of course, refers to our dear president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, whose metamorphosis has surprised many including the deeply insightful globally celebrated Soyinka, who spoke about it, in a statement titled, “King Nebuchadnezzar – The Reign of Impunity”, which he read at a media meet last week.

Likening the president to Nebuchadnezzar here and his successor, Balthazar there, the Nobel laureate pretty much lent his weighty voice to the rising tide of in your face impunity in the way Nigeria is run. The trigger was a subject treated in this space last week, the November 20 invasion of the National Assembly by the Nigeria Police under the title, Hon “Justice” Suleiman Umar (which should have been HON “JUSTICE” SULEIMAN ABBA – error deeply regretted).

Signposting, in my thinking, the point when the larva became an adult and began to suck blood,  Kongi told the media, “…this latest outrage, one in an escalating series of impunity, the buck stops yet again at the presidency, and that incumbent, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, continues to surprise us in ways that very few could have conjectured. Peaking at his own personalized example where he set the law of simple arithmetic on its head – I refer to the split in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), and his ‘formal’ recognition of the minority will in a straightforward, peer election – democracy has been rendered meaningless where it should be most fervently exemplified.”

Although I am surprised that the professor, or anybody else, is surprised by Jonathan, I agree absolutely that his support for the minority in the matter of the NGF election was indeed the clearest indication that the age of innocence was gone for good. Truth is the age of impunity, which in my dictionary is the good old habit of doing things, anything at all, just because you can, dawned on us the day Jonathan decided to and ran for office the very first time. In my books, if any man would violate the rules in his age-grade group or boys and girls club because he has the power to, he’ll do it anywhere else including the presidency.

But, please, let’s go back to Soyinka’s powerful intervention in the matter.

In likening President Jonathan to “King Nebu”, he had filed the caveat that it was simply referring to the president’s earlier effort at characterizing himself and his presidency a couple of years back.  His words: “I shall not insist that the historic/biblical figure of Nebuchadnezzar is uniquely apt for the pivotal figure of the ‘democratic’ history in the making at this moment – for one thing, Nebu was a nation builder and a warrior… However you should easily recall why I opted for King Nebu –the figure that currently sits on the top of our political pile himself evoked it, albeit in a context that virtuously disclaimed any similarities, even tendencies. Perhaps he meant it at the time when he claimed: ‘I am no Nebuchadnezzar’. Perhaps not. One judges leaders on acts however, not pronouncements, which are often as reliable as electoral promises.”

The playwright was of course referring to the president’s statement at a church service in September 2011 where he said in part:

 
“Some others will want the President to operate like an army general, like my Chief of Army Staff commanding his troops. Incidentally, I am not a lion; I am not also a general. Somebody will want the President to operate like the kings of Syria, Babylon, Egypt, the Pharaoh, all - powerful people that you read about in the Bible. They want the president to operate that way, the characters of the Goliath. Unfortunately, I am not one of those. But God knows why I am here, even though I don’t have any of those attributes, or these kinds of characters I have used as an example. But through your prayers, God placed me here. The only thing I ask you to do for me, and that is the prayer I pray every time, is for God to use me to change this country. I don’t need to be a lion. I don’t need to be Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t need to operate like the Pharaoh of Egypt. I don’t need to be an army general but I can change this country without those traits.”

Once again, I agree with the learned professor that the president, by that statement and subsequent actions, invited the comparison. But for me, it was what else the president said in that statement and his actions and omissions since then that demonstrated his metamorphosis and I shall address that next time. Stay tuned, please.