President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday, August 14, 2010 marked 100 days in office but it went unnoticed and without any elaborate ceremony.
The reasons for this could not be far-fetched. One, the president is under intense pressure to achieve much with the little time left in this administration and secondly, the circumstances that led to his emergence, as the head of state do not in any way call for such.
It would be recalled that the president came to power on May 6 this year, a day after President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was officially pronounced dead.
Truly, the last hundred days or so had been quite eventful. It started with what I call redemptive shuttle diplomacy to the United States through an opportunity offered by the invitation to attend the World Nuclear Summit as was convened in Washington DC by President Obama.
Cleverly, President Jonathan utilized that chance to re-launch Nigeria (which was consigned to the dustbin of irrelevance by uninspiring international affairs management), into the international arena. In addition, he was able to secure the removal of the name Nigeria from the terror watch list of the United States (US).
After the initial success overseas, he came back to Nigeria to confront the home zone. By merely announcing that he will function as the power minister, the supply of power in most parts of the nation has greatly improved. I deliberately did not want to use the word "regular" because that will be an overstatement.
Through the Presidential Task Force on Power, headed by a sector specialist, Professor Barth Nnaji there is an ongoing sweeping reform in that sector and a clear testimony is the recently unveiled Power Roadmap by the President. Also, considerable normalcy has returned to the downstream sector of the oil industry. I cannot remember the last time we experienced scarcity of petroleum products and long vehicular queues at the filling stations. Some good old folk called me one day and said, "Ben, so petrol could sell at N65 per litre? I thought it was impossible."
Which magic did President Jonathan weave? How could he do in about 100 days what Yar'Adua could not do in over three years? Hey! Don't get me wrong, I am not making any critical comparisons neither am I trying to rubbish anybody. Instead, I am only keen on showing how decisiveness and determination can bring positive changes.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Now you can sleep well if you have money in the banks because President Jonathan has consolidated the banking sector reforms and strengthened the financial sector through the establishment of the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) and the forging of a consensus among the three tiers of government for the creation of Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), that will facilitate sustainable economic growth and development for both the present and future Nigeria but my fear is that the prevailing spending spree in the three tiers of government where officials spend and steal money as if there will be no tomorrow will definitely frustrate the full realization of this great initiative.
President Jonathan has also raised $5.2 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) to finance the provision of critical infrastructure. In the Niger Delta, there is relative peace, which came about by the smooth implementation of the re-orientation and rehabilitation programme for the former militants.
There are many more, but the point is that if President Jonathan can achieve such great success as "transitional" President who is fully constrained by time, then imagine what he would do when he becomes elected.
I love President Jonathan for his level-headedness, patience, and ability to identify with the real needs of the masses. He is also empathetic, God-fearing, very humble and dreams about a country that will really flow with milk and honey for everyone to enjoy.
That aside, among all those aspiring to become the next president so far, none has a more credible record than Jonathan does. Ex-military President Babangida is still the grand evil genius and Nigerians have decided that evil will not govern them again. Atiku remains an outsider because of his stubbornness and inconsistency. Mistakenly, he thought that he could easily become the president of Nigeria by marrying from almost every tribe. Buhari is a cyclical loser despite being a diehard moralist.
You see, there is every reason to support Jonathan and Nd'Igbo should not be excluded from this great march of change in a country that has been so brutally misgoverned. Any Igbo that will rise to challenge Jonathan in any form should be taken as a traitor because Nd'Igbo have spoken through their political summit. Jonathan is our candidate for the election of 2011, which he has promised, will be free and fair. To prove it, N87 billion has been made available to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for preparations that will include the review of voters' register.
Nd'Igbo must forget any deep misgivings about and bitterness against the Rivers people generally, because of the acts of betrayal, ill-treatment and sabotage meted out to them by the "Mbammiri" people during and after the Nigerian-Biafran civil war. They should forget the "Rumu" and "Oyi" ethnic cleansing strategy. This is a new era of goodwill and ethnic understanding; it is such a time to move on to higher things.
Believe me; President Goodluck Jonathan has what it takes. He is still relatively young and represents the much-desired generational shift in Nigerian politics, he has no criminal record and there is no indictment against him, he has also proven that yes, he can, and that he has no appetite for corruption. He has shown that he is a true Nigerian and represents a wonderful example of good leadership. He has an aura of greatness and good luck. Above all, he is also a GCFR, I mean, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic. Who can fault that?
