By Fredrick Nwabufo
It is 9:10am, and former
President Goodluck Jonathan arrives at the mouth of the aircraft at Nnamdi
Azikiwe International Airport. His hat gives him away too soon as he saunters
into the waiting metal bird. I cast a piercing glimpse at him, and said to
myself, ‘’that was once the most powerful man in Africa, and perhaps, the most
misunderstood’’.
We then journeyed on the wings of
the bird from Abuja through Abidjan to Niamey.
But wait.
I was an irrepressible critic of
Jonathan, yes, and I exercised this right as a citizen of Nigeria maximally
under him. I was not arrested, detained
or had minatory messages sent to me by his supporters or agents. I was not afraid
to speak up or ”wail”. Other critics, including those who called for protests
or even revolution during his administration were not hounded and dispatched to
court for trial on farcical charges of treason. I enjoyed freedom.
However, under President Buhari,
I cannot exercise my rights to freedom of expression, thought and opinion
without the nagging fear of arrest, and the paranoia of secret service agents
waiting for me at the airport for being a loud mouth or for wearing a banned
T-shirt — since the DSS is now a fashion police.
Although President Jonathan had
his challenges and failings; he is an exceptional gentleman and a democrat. He
brooked opposition and harboured no political prisoner.
For two days, I have listened to
him speak at the Constitutional Term Limits Summit taking place in Naimey,
Niger Republic, where I am a participant. So far, he has exuded brilliance,
keenness of mind, understanding of the issues and their corollaries.
Really, I have always wondered
why he is tepid about national issues unlike some past leaders of the country;
so I asked him the reason for his taciturnity.
He said:
‘’Let me thank you for asking me
that question. That means you want to hear my voice, otherwise you would not
have asked why I have been a bit silent on national issues.
‘’I may not be 100 percent right. I believe a
former president has to be careful in commenting on national issues; otherwise
you become a nuisance to society. Because having being the president of the
country for a period of time, there is a number of information available to
you; you do not always expect a sitting president to do things exactly the way
you do, and sometimes, when you try to comment on national issues, of course,
there are people that will defend the president, sometimes, they leave the subject
matter and begin to castigate some aspects of your administration they observed
weaknesses in, in order to divert the attention of the general public from the
issue.
‘’Yes, former presidents should make comments
from time to time on our national issues, but it should be issues that are
quite critical; issues you think, you will not be able to reach out to the
president; if you reach the president and have conversations with him, you do
not need to go to the media and discuss the issues otherwise you will create
more problems in your country. In Nigeria, we have this platform; the council
of state that former presidents belong to, it could be a good platform to
discuss issues.
‘’I do not advise that a former
president should be active in political commentary; it will create more
problems than solving the problem.’’
Also, I had asked him if he
regretted conceding to President Buhari. My interrogation was to test for
little annoyances. But it turned out negative. He appeared assured in the
decision he made to accept defeat.
Here is what he said:
“I always say that if you want to
take a public office you should be ready to make personal sacrifices. If you
are not ready to help people, then you have no business going into politics.
“What we should also know the
process of building a society. People die in the process of a building a
society. I have no regret up to this time, no matter the circumstances; I have
no regret because what I did will continue to shape political discussions, not
only in Nigeria but across the continent.
“Some people may not appreciate it, but as we
continue to strengthen democracy, people will begin to look at conducts that
are acceptable and some that are not. If the little contribute I have made will
help to improve our democracy in the country and on continent, yes, I will do
the same thing again.’’
But really, why do succeeding
governments in Nigeria become so parlous that previous ones are looked upon in
nostalgia?
@FredrickNwabufo
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com