What Does Rev. Jesse Jackson Want From Nigeria? By Theophilus Ilevbare

On Democracy Day, Rev. Jesse Jackson
joined the Jonathan government in
towing the infamous path of ignominy
as he danced to the macabre steps of
the Jonathan administration’s mid-
term scorecard of the Transformation
Agenda. Jackson said it was obvious
that the ship of the Nigerian Nation is
sailing in the right course describing
the transparency of President
Goodluck Jonathan as unequalled in
contemporary democracy. My first
thoughts were to let it pass, but in
the course of my interaction with
concerned Nigerians in the diaspora,
particularly in the US, we saw a need
to bring to public knowledge Rev. Jesse
Jackson’s clandestine scheme of grand
deception in which his visits and long
association with the country’s leaders
has been shrouded.
Over the past two years, the present
administration has resorted to window
dressing and the former shadow
Senator for the District of Columbia
has being the trumpeter on the
international scene. The Baptist
minister, tried to pull the wool over
the eyes of Nigerians during the mid-
term performance report of President
Jonathan. The sight of Rev. Jackson
on that day was reminiscent of
former President of the United
States, Carter, working in the same
capacity for ex-President Olusegun
Obasanjo. Jackson’s affiliation with
the present administration can at best
be described as a relationship of
congruent characters.
When in America, he challenges the US
government to be inclusive, to
establish just and humane priorities
for the benefit of all. Across the
Atlantic to Africa, he endorses
corruption, unemployment and
undemocratic proclivities of an elected
president. His speech had nothing to
suggest that he is an advocate of
economic and social justice, but
instead, it smacked of the familiar
vibes of a political hireling.
As a civil right activist, his activism
must be people centred. Any
government that has failed in its
responsibility in providing basic
infrastructure, employment, security
of lives and property is not deserving
of such high praise. The rhetoric of
President Jonathan and his fawning
ministers does not translate to
realities on ground when citizens are
inundated daily with unprecedented
corruption, rising unemployment,
deteriorating security conditions,
decaying infrastructure and impunity,
brandishing useless figures in the
faces of Nigerians that translates to
nothing makes a mockery our
democracy. Rev. Jackson, as an
international activist, ought to have
known better that nowhere in the
world is achievement on paper equated
to hard facts on ground more so when
Nigerian politics and politicians are
involved. The scorecard of a Nigerian
President must be scrutinized before
making pronouncement on it.
In Bayelsa state, the two-time United
States democratic presidential
nominee backed the federal
government’s amnesty programme for
Boko Haram. Consequently, he was
lampooned by Nigerians for supporting
the misguided and unfortunate
amnesty offer. I will begin to take
Rev. Jackson more seriously if he
voices same sentiments to President
Obama that al-Qaeda, AQIM and
other members of dreaded terrorist
cells on US soil be granted amnesty.
He cannot feign ignorance of the
stance of America on terrorism. The
United States do not negotiate with
terrorists let alone grant amnesty.
Rev. Jackson should be in a better
position to advise and campaign
against amnesty. There is no justice in
rewarding terrorists who have turned
places of peaceful gatherings to an
abattoir, law abiding citizens are prey
as they have continued to perpetrate
their dastardly killings with
unrestrained fervor. The Boston
Marathon bombing in which not more
than five people were killed resulted in
a manhunt for the perpetrators,
putting Boston in locked down until
the suspects were apprehended. But
for whatever be the reason the
government brought Jackson to
Nigeria, it is clear it was for name
recognition rather than substance of
thought or theory. Jackson must
strive to understand the peculiarities
and complexity of issues in Nigeria
before making his comments.
Can the American political activist
aver that his several visits to Nigeria
spanning decades reflect the ideals of
his Rainbow PUSH coalition in the US
where good governance is put on the
front burner? His long years of
friendship with some of Nigeria’s
tyrannical military rulers has been
fraught with umbrageous intents.
Snippets revealed he once told a group
of African diplomats in New York City
in 1997, that Sani Abacha was the
visionary leader Nigeria needs “at this
(sic) moment,” same Abacha whose
regime was widely considered as an
international pariah. Of Ibrahim
Babangida in 1992, he said he is “The
most progressive military president
Nigeria deserves”. These were military
dictators who have been accused of
murder, embezzlement,
institutionalizing corruption, men who
have done everything in their reach
while in power to put Nigeria out and
send Nigerians to hell on earth. Rev.
Jackson fought hard in the
international community against
economic sanctions on Nigeria when
the UN was suggesting such a move in
1996 to speed up democratic changes
and return the country to civilian
control. It is same Jackson, who didn’t
see anything wrong fraternising with
a dreaded dictator that is enjoying a
democratic Nigeria today. If Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was alive,
certainly, he would have disapproved
of Jackson’s ties with the discredited
soldiers of fortune and his eccentric
international activism. Reason why
Jesse Jackson has lost relevance in his
country cannot be farfetched.
The image of a prosperous and
corruption-free Nigeria is being
painted by a motley figure like Rev.
Jesse Jackson to the world and Nigeria
stands to lose a lot if we allow him
get away with such.
Since the inception of the President
Barack Obama-led administration in
2008, Rev. Jackson – the Greenville,
South Carolina born advocate – has
made spirited attempts to launder the
image of Nigeria to America that it is
deserving of a visit by President
Obama. But he has been unsuccessful
in his latest mug’s game. On Obama’s
second trip to Africa, he has once
again boycotted Nigeria, choosing
rather to stopover at countries who
have demonstrated commitment to
democracy, good governance and has
upheld human rights. Expectedly,
President Obama does not
acknowledge him as a serious
politician. He is no longer considered
an elder statesman in the US. So,
Nigeria and other third world
countries is the way to go. If the
intentions of Rev. Jackson were
genuine, why has he failed to work
with other Nigerian activists in
Nigeria or US over the years?
Jackson’s visits to Nigeria underscores
the thinking of some “friends” of
Nigeria in America who find it
difficult to disconnect from the
wealth they see in the Nigerian
political elite. For them, that only is
important. They care less about the
intricacies and the dynamics of
control of its resources. They see
Nigeria and all they want is to be
part of the few who milk the country
dry.
Well, to the Jackson crowd, we have a
duty to remind them that the struggle
for civil rights, democracy and good
governance by Nigeria’s activists of
yesteryears and today is not in vain.

theophilus@ilevbare.com
http://ilevbare.com
twitter: @tilevbare