By deploying
hundreds of police officers to prevent the Speaker of the House of
Representatives from entering the National Assembly Complex, the
President has revealed his hand to be a devious one. Having asked the
Speaker to convene the House to consider extending the state of
emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, the Jonathan government
then deployed the nation’s police to stop the fourth ranking citizen of
the nation from entering his place of work.
Speaker Tambuwal
was going to the House as a result of the letter from the Presidency on
a matter of urgent national importance. Tambuwal did not have to accede
to the presidential request to reconvene the House; but because he is a
statesman and not a political hack, he assented so his chamber might
consider this a matter of vital national importance.
Despite the
removal of the police officers and security team around him, he still
proceeded - at great personal risk - to answer the call of duty. He took
the risk, believing his personal situation was a secondary thing when
the fate of the nation comes into question.
The President and his men have their handwriting all over the invasion of the National Assembly.No Commissioner of Police will ever embark on such an action without the clearance of the Inspector General of Police and no IGP will order his men out here without approval by the Presidency.
Nigerians know where the buck stops. The Jonathan Presidency must take
full responsibility for the attack on the leadership of the National
Assembly.
This government
cannot claim to be unaware of what the Police would do. This gangster’s
antic occurred almost at their doorstep. The Jonathan presidency can no
longer play ignorant regarding the noxious things done for partisan
ends.
Instead of
seriously treating Boko Haram’s incursion against our internal security,
the President’s men decided to turn the event into a partisan and
embarrassing circus. Perhaps they saw this as a birthday present to Mr.
President. But it is nothing but brigandage masquerading as governance.
What this Presidency does not realize is how terribly it has exposed
its pettiness and dictatorial penchant for elevating narrow political
interests above the fate of the nation.
There is little
wonder the nation is losing ground to Boko Haram. This government has
allowed, and even welcomed, the downward slide. If seriously committed
to breaking the spine of this insurgency, the Jonathan government would
have ensured that the House met without disturbance or partisan rancor.
Instead, Jonathan and his men used the gravest armed threat the nation
has suffered in forty years to lay a partisan political trap for one
single man, instead allowing the House to deliberate for the good of 170
million people hoping for a way out of the growing carnage.
The conduct of
the Presidency shows that whenever dire national interests conflict with
that of individual ambitions, the former will be rejected to violently
promote the latter. The priorities of the Jonathan Presidency are as
wrong as wrong can get. Their actions are devoid of national purpose.
They reek of pungent ambition. A weakness of character now permeates
national leadership.
This Presidency
leaves the nation’s grave problems unattended yet have the rashness to
create new ones by trashing the nation’s democratic institutions and
mocking constitutional checks and balances. The most notable achievement
of the Jonathan government has been to bring democracy to its knees.
This is not the hallmark of a President but the work of a potentate.
While enjoying
the taste of this cheap tactical victory, it is hoped Nigerians and the
international community are sampling the bigger picture. In trying to
quash the opposition by all means necessary, this government unleash
forces they do not even recognize let alone control.
Thus, Nigerians
are in a precarious situation. In the face of the menace of Boko Haram’s
terror and rampage, members of the loyal opposition have extended the
hand of cooperation to this government often and without condition. We
have provided suggestions on fighting the group and winning the hearts
and minds of the people. Had the Jonathan government taken these
suggestions, things would not be as they are today. This government
scoffed at our help. Even when the Speaker answered the call of duty, as
a patriot should, Jonathan and his men were more concerned with setting
an ambush for him than in resolving the serious matter at hand. For
them, the only serious matter, was their political standing.
While the
opposition has been loyal to the nation, Jonathan and the PDP led
government have not. This is the point of our greatest departure from
the course.
The Jonathan Presidency is a government that has lost its head. This
government has run amok and has jettisoned all sense of proportion. The
nation now faces two threats. One is Boko Haram’s attack on the people.
The other is the Presidency’s attack on the people’s democracy. As such,
a state of emergency now exists in Abuja, in Aso Villa itself, because
of this breakdown of democratic governance. Jonathan and his men are the
reason for the state of emergency. It seems that the only way this
emergency shall be lifted is for this government to perpetuate itself in
office. The removal of this government from office shall not be done
with military power, armed might or police brutality. Their ouster will
come from a nobler source; the power of the people and their want for
democratic good governance.
No comments:
Post a Comment