IF there was any shred of illusion that President Goodluck Jonathan and his party would have a smooth sail should he decide to re-contest for the office he currently occupies in 2015, unfolding scenarios are symptomatic of the exact opposite.In fact, opposition to the very idea of him contesting, appears to be drifting in very thick and very fast even as there are some indications that save for a change of heart occasioned a satisfactory delivery of his campaign promises, even his kith and kin and the average man from the South-South geopolitical zone may not shower him with the kind of unconditional love they did in 2011.Even though the President's body language suggests that he would re-contest, Jonathan is yet to declare his intention to run for a second term having given his words to the contrary in the run up to the 2011 election.While Jonathan has not clearly indicated interest to re-contest in 2015, a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, that he was in his first term and should be allowed to do his work, did not do much to convince all and sundry that he was not disposed to re-contesting.Curiously, even the President's perceived bid has so far received the blessings and total rebuke of some persons and groups with those against being in the majority.So far, among groups and persons that have endorsed Jonathan for a second term are Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State and the South- South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), while on the flip side, unfavorable reactions have come from the Ohaneze Ndigbo, former Governor of old Kaduna State and chairman of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Arewa Consultative Forum, member of the People Democratic Party (PDP) board of Trustees, Yahaya Kwande, chieftain of the CPC, Alhaji Isiaku Ibrahim and elder statesman Ahmed Joda.Jonathan's endorsement to run for a second term in 2015 recently by leading lights from the zone after a meeting of the SSPA in Effurun, Delta State, expectedly elicited a diverse range of reactions from interest groups.Though the leaders have not met since the Calabar declaration of 2004 when the region was clamouring for the Presidency to be zoned to it, nearly all the six states of the region were duly represented at the meeting where the speakers were unanimous about Jonathan's re-contesting in 2015.After all the speeches, the leaders endorsed Jonathan to complete his eight years tenure when they echoed 'yes' to a call by Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark if they wanted Jonathan in 2015.Clark, who convened the meeting, stressed that northern political leaders were being unduly antagonistic to the South-South especially since Jonathan assumed office in 2011.He specifically noted that some leaders of the north, like Alhaji Lawal Kaita had threatened, prior to the 2011 elections that unless a northerner emerged as president, they would make the country ungovernable and more so had recently threatened that except a northerner succeeds Jonathan, there would be 'no Nigeria.'Clark further stressed that the threats by the northern leaders was fuelling the Boko Haram insurgency, adding that until these northern leaders rose above sectional interest and the governors lived up to the challenges of insecurity, the threat to the northern economy and peace of the country, the quest for peaceful co-existence and development would remain futile.One of the first group to fault the SSPA's endorsement was the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which condemned leaders of the South-South for what it described as the 'ill-timed and self-centred' endorsement.According to a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, CPC decried the use of sectional meetings to cause disharmony in the polity saying: 'It is odious and utterly irresponsible for such meetings to be used for overheating the polity.'While alluding to the usefulness of regional interaction, CPC said: 'It is utterly inconceivable that the endorsement of Jonathan for the 2015 election was on agenda in a 2012 meeting. It was ill-advised, flattering and inflammatory. The drum beats of America's presidential election scheduled for November started just a few months ago. Are they saying that Nigeria exists for only elections' We had elections just last year. The performance of the Jonathan administration has not been satisfactory. What cogent, tangible or positive change has he brought''The party said the call on Jonathan to contest the next election might have been borne out of hypocrisy.The statement which further accused the South-South leaders of hypocrisy added, 'Where were they when leaders of other geo-political zones moved to ensure that Jonathan was made acting president''For the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), Jonathan's endorsement for 2015 presidential election barely a year into a four-year tenure was at best hasty and not well thought out in view of the pressing issues that the government has failed to address since coming into power like insecurity, unemployment, ailing economy, lack of basic infrastructures amongst others.The party also criticised conveners of the SSPA meeting saying the meeting ought to have been focused on the state of the nation under the leadership of the President and suggestions proffered on how best to salvage the economy.According to the HDP leader and presidential candidate of the party in 2011, Ambrose Owuru, it was preposterous for a few persons mainly from a particular ethnic nationality, hiding under the guise of the Niger Delta to meet and endorse the President, without due consultation with other critical stakeholders.The party , which observed that the Niger Delta region was yet to benefit from Jonathan's presidency in terms of physical and human capacity development, said it was wrong for a clannish leader to announce that an entire geopolitical zone would support a candidate that has failed to actualise their aspiration for a better society.'Those supporting that clamour are shortsighted. They are not concerned about suffering Nigerians. They are not bothered about development. In fact, some see Jonathan's presidency as an Ijaw affair. Whereas the man has failed to do what Nigerians expected of him' he said.Though HDP admitted that though Jonathan was constitutionally empowered to contest in 2015, it advised those, who are rolling out the drums this early to realise that there were better qualified Nigerians, who should be availed the opportunity to become president and contribute their quota to national development.'What I want is good leadership, which Jonathan has not offered. Nigerians deserve better leadership. Jonathan is not the development minded type. He is bringing shame to our region (Niger Delta)' he said.Similarly, a group, the Niger Delta Democratic Assembly (NDDA), comprising of political leaders, professionals and youth leaders from the region have resolved to distance the entire region from the endorsement of the president.A statement signed by its national publicity, Prince Sony Eguna, said the NDDA is of the view that all qualified Nigerians from any zone or tribe and political party are eligible to contest the 2015 presidential election, as the group would support and encourage good and credible leaders to emerge and fix the problems of Nigeria including the Niger Delta region, which is presently not enjoying any federal presence.'Our roads, hospitals, industries are in terrible state and the youths are jobless. We want the emergence of new Nigerian leaders to ensure the dividends of democracy gets to the ordinary Nigerians' said Eguna.According to Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Akwa Ibom State, Paul Bassey, endorsing the President for a second term when he was only into the second year of a four-year tenure was clearly a call 'too early, as it would cause a serious distraction to the President and would not allow him to concentrate. It may even give the impression that Mr. President was sponsoring such calls now because it is just too early for a person, who has just spent one and half year in office.So 'My advice to the elders from SSPA is to allow the President toconcentrate on his work rather the urge him to go start preparing for a second term in office when he is yet to complete the first.'Peeved by the liberty taken by the SSPA leaders to carry out such exercise without widely consulting with interest groups across the region, the South-South Coordinator of Citizens for Constitution Reform, Mr. Anselm Eyo has warned them to desist from making such pronouncements in order not to be seen as constituting themselves into a political party.Eyo, a lawyer and former member of the Constituent Assembly said, 'The South-South as a zone is not a political party, it is the prerogative of the PDP as a party of which Mr. President is a member, to decide, who gets the ticket come 2015.'The timing for this their endorsement is too early and would result to heating up the polity. So we should forget about who becomes the next president for now and allow the man to settle down and work. Excelling in his duties and responsibilities in this first term, may even be the determining factor for his second term. In fact, his achievements will be the determiningfactor and not the endorsement by the South-South Peoples Assembly,' he said.However, reasoning on the contrary, the Director General of Centre for Leadership Development and Conflict Resolution, Dr. Emmanuel Akpanobong said, 'We are not pushing the President to contest, but we are saying by the Constitution of the country, he has the liberty to express hisinterest to contest; nobody should make it sound as if it is unfairfor him to have intention to contest. That is different form saying it is a must for him to contest.'We are not saying it is a must, we are saying should he want to express interest, it is not illegal to do so. The issue of being too early dose not come in, to prepare a ten year event; the process must not start now. The process of making a president can take more than four years, so those, who want to see our action as unnecessary and condemn it, are wasting their time as anybody from any zone has the right to aspire, but it is the voters that would decide', he said.For one time chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the state, Mr. Ekanem Ekanem, the Jonathan has the constitutional right to contest, so the call for him to re-contest in 2015 is not out of place.For those who opine that the endorsements and call for him to re-contest were way too early, the legal practitioner begged to differ. He gave his reasons thus:'I don't see calls for Mr. President to re-contest as being too early or serving as a distraction. It is not going to be a distraction in the sense that if the president is not ready to contest, no amount of pressure would make him to contest. So any group or groups that want to crucify the leaders of South-South for asking their son to re-contest in 2015, are being selfish.He continued, 'When OBJ finished his first term, he re-contested for second term and won; so if President Jonathan feels he wants to continue for second term, he has that right, anybody who is kicking against it is beingselfish', he stressed.
Click here to read full news..
