The Jonathan We Know – A Response To The Antics Of Reuben Abati

These are indeed precarious
times for Reuben Abati. And
like any sinking man,
desperate to hold on to a fast
dwindling job, Dr Abati has
resorted to desperate
measures. The flurry of
articles from him in recent
times speaks volumes about
his desperation. For a man
who hid under the
“umblellah” (sorry, umbrella)
of social activism for many
years, the opportunity to
partake in the sweetness of
power has been a
mesmerizing experience
which he is in no hurry to
willingly relinquish. Dr Abati
desperation is such that he
has even resorted to abusing
and insulting Nigerians. His
latest article titled “The
Jonathan they don’t know” is
just another wasteful
enterprise aimed at
refurbishing a bad product. It
is rather too late in the day
to attempt to turn an
imbecile into a genius.
Reuben, in his desperate
article created a strategic
divide based on perceived
loyalty or otherwise. A very
unfortunate division was
created based on activism or
passivism. His battle line
consists of the “They” and the
loyalists. Loyalists, by his
definition, being those
benefitting from the
potpourri. Those in the
privileged league of the
manipulators and
beneficiaries of our
commonwealth. Those who
persistently deny the nation
of deserved economic and
material development. The
thieves who roam the
corridor of power and keeps
the lock to same in their
bulging pockets. These, to
Reuben Abati, are the good
Nigerians, those who have
left Goodluck Jonathan in
peace. The “They” according
to Abati “refers to all the
cynics, the pestle-wielding
critics, the unrelenting, self-
appointed activists, the idle
and idling, twittering,
collective children of anger,
the distracted crowd of
Facebook addicts, the BBM-
pinging soap opera gossips of
Nigeria, who seem to be in
competition among
themselves to pull down
President Goodluck Jonathan”
Obviously, to this exalted
company belongs the likes of
Sonala Olumhense, Pius
Adesanmi, Okey Ndibe and a
host of others. I must
confess that my humble self
also has company in this
prestigious group. Reuben,
however, belongs to that
other group of “good
Nigerians” those who sleep
and wake up with scandals,
those who keep corruption as
comfortable bed fellows. We
heard of the rumbles of the
Abuja plots of land, even
when Abati was pretending to
be a social critic. This rumble
had hardly abated when the
opportunity to explore his
true identity came by the way
of the presidential
appointment.
To Reuben, the group of
“They” are a “bunch of
unintelligent people
repeating stupid clichés and
too many intelligent persons
wasting their talents lending
relevance to thoughtless
conclusions”. So, our exalted
group of “They” consists of
either plainly stupid people
or naively intelligent people.
It is worth restating that
Reuben Abati once belonged
to this maligned group.
Reuben’s insult to the
intelligentsia and those
Nigerians who have sacrificed
so much to ensure that the
Nigerian state assumes its
true position in the comity of
nations is unpardonable. It is
bad enough for a hypocrite
to denounce his initial
constituency, it is criminal to
turn around and lambast
same for failing to see the
sense in your sudden
turncoat and imminent
disintegration. It is so easy to
castigate the same group of
“They” who fought to ensure
that the Jonathan Presidency
becomes a reality. Has
Reuben pondered on the
causes of the massive
evaporation of the
uninhibited flow of affection
and national support for
candidate Jonathan? What
turned the almost hysterical
Jonathan-mania into rabid
Jonathan-phobia? Conscience,
they say, is an open
wound…. Only truth can heal
it.
Reuben’s effort to blow the
trumpet of achievement for
Goodluck Jonathan sounded
very hollow, even on the
pages on which they were
written. For a previously
“shoeless” President (Reuben
can never stop us from
making reference to this
appropriate description) who
promised heaven and earth
on his campaign trips, the
boast of 4,400 MW of
electricity in a nation that is
still in perpetual darkness
went beyond the bounds of
pardonable mischief.
Reuben’s lukewarm reference
to presidential concerns on
corruption is nothing but
laughable – “That is why he
has directed the relevant
agencies to get corrupt
persons to answer for their
misdeeds” Reuben, when the
current charade on
corruption is over, we hope
that genuine convictions
would indeed be possible.
Farouk Lawan is still a free
man, walking and enjoying
free sunshine with millions of
bribe money yet to be
accounted for. Otedola’s
cheeks are growing rosier
every day while the nation’s
Attorney-General is probably
the richest Nigerian today
courtesy of a lax regime that
encourages graft.
Furthermore, Reuben’s
attempt to speak about his
master’s inordinate love for
the women folk smirks of
nothing but jest. True,
Jonathan has loads of
females in his government
compared to his
predecessors. However, the
concern of majority of
Nigerians is with the innate
penchant of this man to
surround himself with the
most corrupt and despicable
Nigerians ever created,
whether males or females.
Without wasting so many
words like Reuben is fond of
doing, the truth about
Goodluck Jonathan stares at
one in the face. It is not for
nothing that he is viewed as
clueless. This is a simple
English expression within the
grasp of even the barely
literate. Jonathan has so far
demonstrated his lack of
understanding of the basic
mechanism of governance,
the constitutional and moral
obligation of a government to
the people and the fine
etiquettes of Presidential
approach. He is an
opportunist who jumped at
the ship of state without
adequate preparation. His
government is belligerent; an
example is the latest crude
and rude articles from
Reuben Abati and the
unpalatable appointment of
Doyin Okupe as a frenzied
attack dog. Jonathan is
manifestly corrupt and he
has no qualms in attempting
to brush this under the
carpet. It is beyond
comprehension, that the
President of over 150 million
people, people who continue
to excel in various spheres of
human endeavour, would
publicly declare on national
television that he does not
give a damn about declaring
his assets. Reuben Abati is
yet to address this sore point
in his numerous essays.
Abati has my sympathy in his
attempt to refurbish the
morally tainted and
structurally deformed
presidency of Goodluck
Jonathan. True, Jonathan is
“nationalistic” in orientation
in terms of federal
appointments (to use the
Nigerian phrase, he is a good
disciple of national
character), nevertheless,
former criminals of the
creeks are now handling
sensitive national security
apparatus. The old Ijaw
Generals of the ill-famed
creek wars are now multi-
billionaires, smiling
comfortably to the banks
every month, courtesy of a
truly national President. The
likes of General Tompolo et
al. Who cares whether
Jonathan eats cassava or
whole meal bread or even
boiled plantain for that
matter? The key thing is that
in an austere environ when
millions are out of jobs, when
crime is blooming like the old
Onitsha market and when
terrorism is sweeping the
land like a raging inferno, our
belligerent President spends
billions annually on food.
This is an undisputable fact
that Reuben failed to
address. Abati has gone miles
in his unfortunate academic
odyssey of rationalising a bad
product. He has thrown
terms around, starting with
Corporate Social
Responsibility, a la the
infamous Otuoke Church
building, to the new “Saul
Complex” in his latest tirade.
Whether corporate
responsibility or Saul
Complex, a decaying product
would always stink, no
matter the intensity of the
advertisement.
The Jonathan we know? The
Jonathan we know is a
President who promised so
much and yet intent on
delivering so little. The
Jonathan we know is an
opportunist. An over-
ambitious man toying with
the fate of millions. The
Jonathan we know is a man
who assumes a position of
authority fully beyond his
capability and
comprehension. The Jonathan
we know is a President who
is so enwrapped in the loin
clothes of his wife such that
the country is actually
confused as to who is in
power. He thus brought
nothing but baggage into the
act of governance. The
Jonathan we know is a
president who glorifies
corruption and embraces its
evil warmth – “if corruption
does not kill Nigeria, Nigeria
will kill corruption” The
Jonathan we know is a non-
performing President, a
colossal failure. This is the
verdict of the people,
Reuben.
No Nigerian has any quarrel
with any part of the country
producing the leadership.
What we care about is
performance. We care less
whether the President is an
Itsekiri or Ibibio. We have no
qualms with the Ijaws
(whether the 4th most
populous or 10th most
populous) producing the
President. All we desire is a
leader intent on ridding our
body polity of its various
nuances. A leader committed
to emancipating the fast
dwindling lots of poor
Nigerians. A leader
committed to faithfully
fighting the strangulating
hold of corruption and the
endless evils that have
truncated our march to
greater glory. We need a
leader that can go beyond
the pretences of party politics
and truly be a leader indeed.
Our complaints against the
lacklustre performance of
Jonathan have nothing to do
with his ethnic origin, Reuben
and mavericks like him do
not need to confuse issues.
We simply do not want the
man because he is not
performing. Period.
Yes, great minds like
Abraham Lincoln, Mahtama
Ghandi, Martin Luther King
and Kwame Nkrumah made
the world easier. Yet
whatever they achieved was
with plainness of approach,
honesty and integrity. They
were not achieved with the
purchase of hundreds of
porch cars for a frivolous and
egomaniac meeting of wives
of discredited heads of
governments. They were not
achieved on the lavish
expenditure of state fortune
on state banquets or meals.
They were not attained with
dourness and stupidity. They
came out of a vibrant
methodology and pragmatic
visions. Jonathan lacks these
qualities. Comparing the man
Jonathan to these great
minds is illusory and vain.
Reuben’s attempt is that of a
sinking man desperately
trying to catch a lifeline of
straw.

Dr Olusegun Fakoya

#CONSENSUS 2015