General Editor, Lasisi Olagunju, X-rays the non-dictatorial stance of President Goodluck Jonathan, concluding that the president would need to apply some of the character traits of a strongman to solve the myriads of problems bedeviling the polity.When a man rises from the creeks, crosses the Niger and penetrates the rocks of Abuja to sit on the throne, should he live in those rocks as a lamb or as a lion' Is being effective the same as being a strong man' What sort of leader really does Nigeria need to achieve self actualisation'People often meet their destiny on the road they take to avoid it, so says the French in a proverb. President Goodluck Jonathan's journey so far has always been a tryst with his good luck. Fate has made his foray into the world of politics an extremely eventful one. From a sandalless school boy to a president over more than 150 million people, he has to naturally appreciate God and hand over his life to him. During the week, Jonathan was in the news as he declared that he is no lion, no tiger, that he is not the puffing Goliath, nor the adventurous David; that Pharaoh have no special appeals for him, nor is Nebuccadnezar. Jonathan, for effect, added that he is also not a Military General. He was replying critics who are never tired of painting him weak and indecisive.Goodluck Jonathan came into national consciousness when he was called upon to fill the void created by the impeachment of his boss, Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha. The same Jonathan's chi (God) shocked the world when it carried him into the Rock in 2007 as the nation's number two man. The world rose to enthrone the man three years later as the president following the ill-health and eventual death of his boss, Umaru Yar'Adua.At his campaign rally in Asaba in February this year, Goodluck Jonathan exuded so much confidence in the ability of his Presidency to fight the factors holding down the nation's development. He was ready to confront retrograde forces. While he noted that peace had returned to the Niger Delta, he urged the people to give him 'the next four years to witness development that you have never imagined'.'All along, we have been exporting crude, exporting gas without adding value to it. We must add value to our crude, we must add value to our gas before we export and we can only do that with latest investment in the petro-chemical industry '. That was in Asaba.In other parts of the country, the man promised hope. He promised action. He promised decisiveness and integrity in governmental pronouncements. His message on the Facebook was more than hope. He promised the youths what they always wanted- jobs. He assured the elderly decent living and security for all, including those with investments.The man did not promise to be hard or harsh or brash in fulfiling his pledges. So, why would he announce that he would not be a lion- a dictator in the kingdom of animals' His friends would say he had to say it because enemies had quietly been selling the idea that this president is a 'woman'. They argue that in a democracy, you do not need strong men to make things work. What you need are strong institutions. Strong men, they say, ultimately negate the good of the people. But his enemies are not amused at all. Led by the loquacious Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), they are saying no one asked our president to be a dictator or maximum ruler to be decisive and effective. And because Jonathan said he is also not a General, enemies say they know he is definitely not one; that he is actually the boss of Generals and must know that as Commander-in-Chief, he should be giving out orders (not appeals) to military commanders.Our president is also not a Pharaoh or Nebuchadnezzar. Who were the Pharaohs' Who was Nebuchadnezzar' The Pharaohs were powerful; they were strong.They ruled and ruined their enemies. No leader should choose them as role models if their stories end there. But have we found out if it was not these Pharaohs who built the famed Egyptian Civilization and its physical symbols, the Pyramids' Egyptian Pharaohs were Field Marshalls, so to say. They fought wars to protect their country. History says many of the Pharaohs won wars and got additional land for their kingdom.The historical Nebuchadnezzar was the king who rebuilt Babylon. He was known for his military might, his strategic planning and pin point tactics as a military leader. In the Bible, however, Nebuchadnezzar was the Babylonian King who compared himself with God and was sentenced to madness for "seven times." But God later had mercy on him and he came back to the throne and ruled over a prosperous Babylon. So who wants to be called Nebuchadnezzar' Our Bible-reading Jonathan rightly rejected it and certainly does not have to be one before restoring our own fallen Babylon.Jonathan was right again when he said he was not a lion. Carnivore lion devastates the world around it. The rise of poor Jonathan to the powerful man we know as our president does not allow him to be vicious. But could it be that this argument is oblivious of the image of the leader as the lion' Students of power, especially the realistic Machiavelian school, would say the leader has to be the lion, the king of the forest, because there are wolves to be dealt with for the forest to know peace. Italian statesman, Niccolo Machiavelli, would laugh his heart out hearing our 'Prince' say he is no lion. He would say if he can't be lion, then let him be the fox with trap -detection instincts. A president is a lion who is not allowed to deny his lionness. Jonathan was made president to make the nation safe for both the weak and the strong. He was not elected to seek to be loved. 'Care about peoples approval and you will be their prisoner," counsels Lao Tzu who lived several thousands of years ago. Indeed, Machiavelli would wonder how Jonathan could ever contemplate not being a strong man as an attribute and not be sorry for the land. Jonathan said he is not a strongman to force things on Nigerians. Unfortunately between the strong and the weak there is no seat for any one else. The ruler 'must be strong to keep the state intact" is Machiavelli's solution for the kinds of challenges currently facing Jonathan's Nigeria. But what man says strength is a mark of negativity in democratic leadership'If Jonathan loathes Machiavellian thoughts with its cold-blooded selfishness, then he must decidedly hold himself out as a believer in the more positive outlook of Machiavelli"s "opposite," Thomas More, author of Utopia, who believes the leader must always be the popular "good man" playing by the rules, and refusing to believe that men are inherently bad. But More's life itself did not deny that this is a very dangerous world that has no place for the meek and the gentle. He was stubborn and unyielding to the King and the powerful and worked against their excesses. The Utopia, despite its 'goodness' and 'correctness' as a book was, for years, not published in English Language for fear that the wicked world of England would go for the head of the author. Thomas More kept the published Latin edition as discreet as possible until he finally lost his head in the hands of the crown.Now, is there any lesson in the life of Thomas More for anyone who wants to be the lamb in the land of wolves' Perhaps the greatest anti-Machiavelian political leader in the last two centuries is Mahatma Ghandi who elevated his passive resistance philosophy to an art of leadership. His non-violent preachings and actions notwithstanding, Ghandi's life and those of other members of his dynasty have continued to remind us that this world is a world of war.The I-am-not-a-lion statement of President Jonathan will be in the news for a long time. It will continue to define his every action. He has so far comported himself well as a gentleman. But let him be lion enough to scare away the wolves for the land to know peace. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said as much on BBC's Hard Talk a few years ago on the Late Umaru Yar Adua that it takes more than being a good man to be a good president.
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