2027: Run Jonathan, Run Away

It’s clear even to the blind that Nigerians are passing through perilous times. When compared to the past living conditions of citizens, the present is a paradise lost. The gale of insecurity that had been brought under control over nearly two years of the Bola Tinubu-led government is resurgent in a devastating manner. Though mass attacks no longer exist as it was in the past, kidnappings and mass abductions are now recurring at an incomprehensible speed. The initial successes recorded in the first two years of the present administration have been obliterated by spiking attacks unleashed on peaceful communities by bandits and insurgents in the North.

Clarion Call

Still entrapped in the bottomless pit of bloodshed and worsening economic crisis that has become Nigeria’s recurring albatross, there are moves to drag former president Goodluck Jonathan into the 2027 presidential race. Before now, there were reports that the former president was being pressured to run again. On Thursday, a youth group stormed Jonathan’s office in Abuja, calling on him to declare his interest in next year’s elections. Unlike in the past, when his wife, Lady Patience, had rhetorically asked what her husband had forgotten in Aso Presidential Villa, the son of the fisherman from Bayelsa thanked the youth and assured them that he would undertake wide consultation before making a decision.

Jonathan’s response reveals that, as far as his participation is concerned, nothing is foreclosed. What was considered a nay yesterday could turn into a yea today. Jonathan coming out to address the youth is a clear indication that something is about to change. However, sources close to the former president are yet to be assured of Jonathan’s resolve to mount a comeback bid. The effort to force the former president to seek re-election is coming on the heels of yet another legal firework to stop his bid. Some analysts are predicting that the ongoing legal tussle over his eligibility for the race could throw a spanner in the works if the university teacher decides to run.

Not Yet Uhuru

In a nation where the past is always remembered in nostalgia, with songs of lament for the present, Jonathan’s years are a fitting metaphor for a time when leaders listened and bowed their ears to the cries of the masses. Compared with the present government that has turned a deaf ear to intervening in the worsening living conditions of the masses, poverty lurks everywhere and stalks the land. The renewed hope mantra of the Tinubu-led government remains only a verbal declaration, providing no solutions to the rising levels of poverty and insecurity, among other challenges. In the face of sweeping poverty and the resurgence of terror attacks, the incumbent administration has yet to find the right solution to the problem.

To many citizens, instead of deploying measures to rein in perpetrators of insecurity, the government has continued to blame the opposition for being behind the rising level of insecurity. If the saying, “what goes around comes around”, is anything to go by, then President Tinubu should face the responsibility of squaring up with criminals and terror groups who are daily engaged in unleashing devastation on communities and holding in captivity several thousand citizens for ransom. Nigerians won’t accept the prediction of Senate President Godswill that insecurity would fizzle out two weeks after the election.

Living In Hope

Jonathan’s journey to the nation’s peak of political power was an entirely divine act, while that of President Tinubu was orchestrated by deft political sagacity built over many years of planning for success. On record, the incumbent is the first aspirant who declared before his election that he knew he would win the poll.  He was not afraid to tell the world that he would remove fuel subsidy once he assumed power.

Nearly three years after he was sworn in as President, Nigerians were encouraged by the way insecurity was tackled in the first two years. The rise in inflation was brought under control, though the prices of fuel products and energy costs became unbearable for most households. Despite assuring Nigerians of a stable power supply, the power sector is now the administration’s black eye. Now, even the categorisation of energy consumers into bands has proven helpful in tackling the myriad of rot militating against the energy sector.

Less than eight months to the next elections, insecurity and the deteriorating living conditions have thrown Nigerians into the valley of despair and hopelessness. With food prices shooting to the roof, the swelling anger in the land over mass suffering, the government’s insistence on running the country on pure economic models of capitalism is not helping matters. The citizens are being choked by many taxes. The advantage of deploying the freed funds through the removal of fuel subsidy has yet to have a defining impact on ordinary citizens. The trillions of external loans from the global financial system have attracted criticism, with Tinubu insisting that loans are not leprous.

To be Or Not?

As the present suffering and terror attacks continue unabated, the support of the Tinubu administration is receding. If, eventually, Jonathan throws his hat in the ring, which I personally doubt he would, Tinubu would find in the former President a strong contender. However, with the eligibility court matter yet to be resolved, the legal fireworks may make the campaign week. Present economic reforms have painted Tinubu’s administration in a bad light, and as hunger and insecurity continue to bite, a race between Tinubu and Jonathan could turn out to be a feisty and frightening one. Only the bold and fearless can confront Tinubu in 2027.  If Jonathan is unwilling to change his past style, he should run away, not run. As the Hausa people would say, “Da mugun rawa, gara kin tashi” (It’s better not to rise than to rise and dance shamefully)