Free from the adversarial politics and rancorous spirits all too evident across the channel in the opposition party’s convention in Lagos, delegates of the ruling PDP were indeed in convivial mood – with hugs, laughter and backslaps as they voted and confirmed President Jonathan as their presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections.
Just like all good stories, the matter that started with an overwhelming endorsement of President Jonathan by virtually all the major organs of the PDP as the party’s flag bearer in 2015, ended on a joyous note.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (R) and Nigerian Vice President Namadi Sambo greet supporters at a ceremony in Abuja on November 11, 2014. Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on November 11 declared his bid for re-election, vowing to finally defeat Boko Haram whose rise in strength during his first term has threatened the country's sovereignty. The 56-year-old made the announcement to tens of thousands of supporters in the red, white and green of his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at a carefully orchestrated ceremony including patriotic music, dancing, prayers and speeches. AFP PHOTO
File Photo: Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan greets supporters at a ceremony in Abuja on November 11, 2014. AFP PHOTO
The peaceful and successful PDP Convention speaks eloquently to how much the ruling party has learnt, and how deep the values of presidential democracy have taken roots in the land. It also gives a dizzying hint of how the personal charm of President Jonathan have galvanised a party that a few months ago was virtually written off as imploding and on the precipice.
The ruling PDP has once again shown its tenacity and unbelievable ability to bounce back as a united and truly national party. Make no mistakes about this; the emergence of President Jonathan as the PDP presidential candidate without the usual bad blood that follows the morning after the primaries has been a blessing for the PDP.
Swiftly naming the President’s running mate has also put to bed another potentially knotty problem. There have been some reports of scheming to drop the Vice President, Namadi Sambo, for a new running mate. By announcing that he will run again with his ever loyal deputy, Sambo, in 2015, Jonathan has shown again that he is a man that believes in, and rewards loyalty.
A Jonathan and PDP’s victory will mean that there will be no major policy reversals and that new initiatives can build on the foundations that have been laid in areas of success. This is the advantage of continuity and stability.
It will be unlikely that the Nigerian voter who has seen several thousand of kilometres of roads tarred in the past three years under Jonathan would cast a vote for the reversal of this good fortune and return to the days when our roads were highways to the land of no return.
Another area in which Nigerians will benefit from continuity and stability when President Jonathan is re-elected is the diversification of the economy through agriculture. For so long, past governments, both military and civilian, have been paying lip-service to the problem of the mono-cultural economy of Nigeria as a cheap deliverer of crude oil to the developed world.
Apart from the laudable commitment of this government to the policy of saving for the ‘rainy day’, Jonathan has embarked on an irreversible policy of transforming agriculture from the subsistence drudgery it has been over the years to a profitable business engendering food security and farmer prosperity.
Today, Nigeria is set to transform from being the biggest importer of rice in West Africa to the biggest exporter of the commodity in Africa. Even private individuals and groups are publicly testifying to the quiet revolution on-going in the Agriculture sector under Jonathan.
The emergence of the former military dictator, General Muhammadu Buhari, as the APC presidential candidate, has placed human rights and civil liberties as a major issue in the choice of a leader, given the General’s unrepentant record of severe and deadly breaches of human rights during his military regime.
Human rights community
Nigeria has made significant progress in the area of free speech and personal liberties since, and the thought of another Buhari presidency is already sending chills and shivers down the spines of citizens, civil liberties organisations and the human rights community in general. For many Nigerians, Jonathan has been most tolerant of criticisms and opposing ideas; in fact, he has continued to encourage citizens to speak out as part of their inalienable rights under the Constitution by assuring them that under his watch, no one will be sent to jail, exiled or murdered for expressing his/her opinions as has been witnessed in Nigeria previously.
Finally, the PDP argues that the choice before Nigeria is a choice between yesterday and tomorrow, a choice between advancing or reversing. Its position is: we must not hire yesterday’s man to resolve tomorrow’s problems. That will not be salutary to the narrative of stability which Jonathan’s candidature offers.
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