Opposition political parties,
socio-political and civil rights groups on Wednesday berated President
Goodluck Jonathan for justifying his slow style of leadership.
They said in separate reactions that
Jonathan’s comment had clearly shown that he was not prepared for
governance.
The President, at a Christmas service in
Abuja had said that his government appeared to be slow because it did not
want to make mistakes.
“By human thinking our administration is slow; I
won’t say we are slow, but we need to think through things properly if we
are to make lasting impact.
“If we rush, we will make mistakes and sometimes
it is more difficult to correct those mistakes,” he told the
congregation.
But the Action Congress of Nigeria, the
Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, the Arewa
Consultative Forum, Afenifere, Coalition of Concerned
Northern Politicians, Academics and Professionals as well as the Ijaw
Youth Council challenged the President to wake up and perform.
Berating the President, the CPC said
that he was slow because he stumbled upon power.
Its National Publicity Secretary, Mr.
Rotimi Fashakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said
the President was always looking for excuses.
The CPC said, “If we spend seven years to
prepare for madness, when will the madness materialise? That is what Nigerians
should ask their President.
“He is slow because he stumbled on power; he
never prepared for it. His coming to power was accidental. He has no idea about
governance.”
According to the CPC, the President is always
looking for excuses to justify his inadequacies.
It added, “The government and the man
heading it are bereft of ideas. The government only ponders to the
tunes of the corrupt. The last 13 years has been hectic for Nigerians and
the Jonathan Presidency is worse.
“Despite the hue and cry of the citizenry, he has
refused to change his transformation agenda which is only transforming the
pockets of a few.”
Also, the ANPP said Jonathan’s statement was a
demonstration of his incompetence.
Its National Publicity Secretary,
Chief Emma Eneukwu, said, “The President is not competent to be there. He is
a President by chance. He keeps on giving excuses for his incompetence
and inadequacies.
“He was not prepared for the position he suddenly
found himself. He came into office with the hope of learning and he has refused
to learn. He has no specific programme unlike the late President(Umaru
Yar’Adua), who came with a seven- point agenda.
“Jonathan came with a bogus Transformation Agenda
without transforming anything. Nigerians are tired of his excuses.”
The ACN, through its National Chairman, Chief
Bisi Akande, also flayed Jonathan.
“The President must be a joker with his kind of
submission. As the elected President, he is expected to take decisions, good
decisions,” he said in a brief SMS by his media aide, Lani Baderinwa.
Afenifere, a Pan- Yoruba
socio-cultural organisation, said that Jonathan’s slowness was not a
recipe for perfection.
“We need a President who will take actions
that will solve the numerous problems and challenges confronting Nigeria as a
nation. We do not need a slow leader right now,” its Secretary General, Chief
Seinde Arogbofa, told one of our correspondents in Akure,
Ondo State.
“Nigerians are expecting quick results and
solution to their problems and not excuses for poor performances.”
Faulting the President, the ACF said
he should be mindful that he had only four years to spend in
office.
The forum, in a response by its National
Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, noted that Jonathan
had no time to waste and must start performing immediately.
The ACF added that Jonathan would be judged as
the President who used all his tenure only to plan but never transformed
the country.
It said, “Those who framed the 1999
Constitution and provided for a maximum of four years per tenure must have
taken into account the need for thorough analyses of situations with a view to
arriving at informed judgment for performance by those with the mandate of
leadership.
“So, Mr. President must take into account the
fact that he does not have limitless time, lest he runs out of time and
go down in history as a President who used all his tenure for plans that did
not deliver on his promise to transform Nigeria into a better place.”
The CD through its President, Dr. Joe
Okei-Odumakin, said Jonathan should have been guided by his
manifesto if he had one.
“What is the essence of having a manifesto or a
vision before occupying an exalted position or running for an office? It
shows clearly that he is an accidental President, with no clear-cut vision,”
the group said.
To the convener of the Coalition of
Concerned Northern Politicians , Academics and Professionals, Dr.Junaid
Mohammed, Jonathan must stop giving excuses.
He told one of our correspondents, in
Abuja, “No amount of fishing for excuses will make him a better
President.”
Mohammed reminded the President that
good leaders learn from their mistakes and the people around them.
He said, “I think it is very disingenuous of Jonathan
to advance this kind of argument so late in our democratic experience. It
is a known fact all over the world that the human species are not perfect;
people who come into office accidentally or even by design are expected
to make mistakes at the beginning of their tenures because of the
learning curve.
“But getting to two years out of a four- year
tenure and we are still having this kind of excuses does not inspire
confidence at all.
“He simply does not have what it takes to
rule Nigeria; he lacks political savvy and he is lacking in intellectual
capacity also.
“It is clear that Jonathan has the worst set of
characters who are deficient in knowledge and cognate experience in
leadership.”
Punch
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