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Olanrewaju AjiboyeFriday, February 13, 2015
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WHEN THERE IS VICTORY AND HONOR IN DEFEAT...

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egardless of criticisms of poor performance, President Goodluck Jonathan can still steal the show if based on his often gloated achievement if he refuses to be tempted by ambition to return to office surreptitiously.

There is problem of insecurity, especially the annoyingly intractable Boko Haram terror campaign though erroneously regarded as restricted to the Northeast of Nigeria, whereas the entire country and humanity are also vicarious targets and victims.

It is as clear as the day that our economy is in doldrums regardless of "rebasing" and "rebounding" economic jargons.

We are confounded and challenged by unemployment. In the name of politics, we divided our hearts and souls along religious and ethnic tendencies.

There is no denying the facts that under the government headed by President Goodluck Jonathan, all the above stated shortcomings are present just as they were under previous governments. And there are ample reasons to suggest massive corruption is ongoing.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan enjoyed a tremendous goodwill and sympathy on ascending the throne as acting, substantive and elected President in the past six years, but his failure to deliver on key promises he made is the reason voters are poised to punishing him and the likelihood of adopting Buhari through their voting power. It is not a personal hatred for the President and no intent to humiliate him.

But what about the achievements of the Jonathan government though they appear intangible, but matters a great deal?

And the first and most important is the clean up of the electoral process that makes votes count (It is regrettable that this laudable achievement that should be the trademark and high point of GEJ's government is now being traded away). Recall the Anambra, Edo, Ondo and Osun elections? That of Ekiti cannot in all honesty be rated due to the recently released audio that exposed the under hand dealings by the government goons suggestive of unwholesome electoral practice in the process that got Fayose elected as governor the second time. The other elections in the states mentioned above save Ekiti, portrayed the President as a statesman rather than a party man a la definition of it by the PDP.

What about politics of tolerance that sees the President having easy working relationship with other elected leaders from different political platforms until the hawks took him captive by stoking the fear of losing power to the opposition through the President's "naive" approach to power struggle.

President Jonathan will go down in history as the most lampooned in all spheres of information dissemination apparatuses. GEJ is the President you could disparage through cartoons, YouTube histrionics etc and still enjoys the silent hours with your spouse. Ideally, it should not be a virtue to celebrate by his being a public figure whose activities must be constantly subjected to scrutinies. The norm in Nigeria had always been that a leader exercises overbearing political powers, such that a transgressor can be accused of excesses deserving of punishment.

As a student of literature, I am not oblivious of the literary term- Tragic Flaw- a weakness that often leads to the downfall of a hero in a drama. In real life situation,it is also very common and other factors in its laager are the prodding, the goading and misrepresentations often crafted by a coterie of palace courtiers. They are also called "The Kitchen cabinet", "The Hawks" and "The Inner Caucus".

They do the leader no good, they are often the leader's nemesis. And they had been in existence in the eon of time. Remember them? They advised a King in Israel to tell his subjects "My father chastised you with whips, I will chastise you with scorpions."

We can go down memory lane and assess how the effects of Tragic Flaw and the acts of Palace Courtiers had not only destroyed leaders but also put the society at edge.

Sir Tafawa Balewa was a victim and he and few others paid the supreme price; General Aguiyi Ironsi and few others also sacrificed their lives and the country nearly imploded.

General Gowon was not allowed a voluntary exit; General Murtala Muhammed was harboring wolves in sheep's clothing, they went for his cortex.

General Obasanjo, in his first coming was made wiser by Proverbs 20.1 "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.",when he applied the wisdom of the proverb to the allures of power in his hands then. He refused to hold on to power and that soared his integrity both within and outside Nigeria shores.

Shehu Shagari was a captive of the palace courtiers, he was overthrown; the General Muhammadu Buhari government was cocooned from the reality of his government's disconnection with the very people he and his core believers had been trying to give quality life. He lost out through sophism based on his government's perceived high handedness.

General Babangida was fed with overdose of what he wanted by the courtiers, he has not recovered from the odium of his disgraceful exit from power. Abacha was more of a prisoner in power throughout his brutal dictatorship until he was programmed to death.

The misfortune of ill health made late Umar Yar Adua a pawn of the palace courtiers who were exercising power in his name, the height of their impunity being the last few months before his death. Yar Adua had lost consciousness but his palace courtiers usurped presidential powers and almost succeeded in precipitating constitutional crisis.

At the start of his first term, this writer did enjoin the President through an article published online, to pull out of the PDP, adopt one of the political parties and give it fresh impetus or go the whole hog to form a new party. The reason for that persuasion then and which is still germane today is because the PDP as a party is a virus, it is a 'Bermuda Triangle' that disappears vessels.

Today it is too late for the President to yield that advice but the advice the President is amenable to now is for him not to trade away whatever goodwill he has that will give him leverage, respectability and political capital in the near future.

Mr. President should know that there is no sin in losing an election and it is not the end of a political career. The real sermon is next door to him in General Muhammadu Buhari. GMB is having his fourth shot at the presidency; he had contested thrice and lost. The fourth attempt offers him great hope and that is the hallmark of conviction to a cause.

Jonathan may be seen as a villain in 2015 , he may be may a hero in 2019, it depends on how the elections are managed and his actions after office should he lose the election scheduled for, and rescheduled to, February 14 2015 and March 28 2015 respectively.

The passionate appeal and advice to the President is for him to be wary of political prostitutes who are his palace courtiers. The President is enjoined to see through their smoke screen hash tag of O.Y.O (On Your Own). Regardless of their grandstanding, they will go cap in hand to render services to the President's opponent. Before then they must have pushed to the precipice, their former boss.

Nigeria is greater than the ambition of any individual. May God grant our Commander -in- Chief the wisdom and courage to do what is right.

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