Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan finally accepted his ‘nomination’ as the sole candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for next year’s presidential elections. But what is new? The piece below, titled “What Jonathan will say in 2014” was published on this page nearly three years ago.
“My dear compatriots, after my election as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2011, my intention was to serve a single term, then hand over the baton of leadership to another elected president. I also pledged to transform Nigeria and make it a country we can all be proud of. I promised Nigerians a breath of fresh air.
As we approach another election year, it is pertinent to reflect on these issues as we look forward to the future. It is on record that when I took office, over a quarter of Nigerians were unemployed. Though we set up various strategies to address the problem, unemployment remains unacceptably high and millions of Nigerians still have no jobs, nor any means of livelihood. I believe it would be unfair to bequeath such a burden to another administration.
My fellow countrymen, you will recall that even before I became president, about 100 million Nigerians lived in poverty. In the last three years, my government has confronted poverty head-on. By empowering our poverty alleviation agencies, we recorded some measure of successes. But poverty cannot be eradicated within four short years. Our efforts are bearing fruit, though not as quickly as we wanted. With more time, I am optimistic that we will defeat poverty and free Nigerians from hunger and disease.
Four years ago, I approved the establishment of nine federal universities in different locations across the country. I am happy to inform you that these universities will soon produce graduates. Our opponents may say none of Nigeria’s universities appears on the list of the top 1,000 universities in the world and that our education is still in doldrums. To them I say: education takes time to develop. The decay we met was too deep to be sorted out in three or four years. We have made significant progress, but need more time to consolidate.
Dear Nigerians, there is a well-orchestrated conspiracy by sections of the international community to label Nigeria as the most corrupt country in the world. These people do not understand our cultural values and norms, so they see simple ‘thank you’ gestures to our family, friends, allies and traditional leaders as acts of corruption. I refuse to allow them define our innate generosity. It is public knowledge that our anti-corruption agencies have recorded appreciable successes under my administration. We are slowly winning the war on corruption.
Our detractors have been making farcical allegations that government has returned the country to the debt trap, with nothing to show for it. I agree that Nigeria now owes more than it did when we exited our debts to the Paris Club in 2004, but every dollar of loan we have taken is in the best interests of Nigeria. Having said that, I also believe it will be unjustified to leave these debts as our legacy to a new government. Obviously, a little more time is required to sort out these challenges.
On security, our critics only see the negative aspects of the situation without giving credit to what we have achieved. From the time I assumed office, my administration has consistently devoted about a quarter of all budgetary allocations to defense and security. That we have not completely defeated terrorists or made Nigeria secure for foreign investment is only a ploy by the opposition. No government has allocated more funds to secure our country than my administration. Like every country in the world, we still have security challenges, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
My fellow compatriots, in view of the myriad of challenges still confronting our dear country, Nigeria, I have carefully considered all options and consulted widely with my family, party, state governors, traditional leaders and the fuel subsidy cabal. My conclusion is that it would cowardly to run away from these challenge without consolidating the transformation I promised. It is my firm conviction that within the next four years, we will eradicate poverty, provide jobs for all Nigerians and ensure the security of lives and property. Fresh air is on the way.
Finally, I wish to reiterate my conviction that harping on ethnic, religious and regional differences have done more harm than good to this country; what most Nigerians want is simply good governance. That is what I promise. It is therefore with a deep sense of humility that I inform you of my intention to seek my party’s nomination, and if successful, stand for election as president for another term in office. No sane person would want to remain in such a difficult, thankless job, but it is a painful sacrifice I am prepared to make for our Fatherland.
Thank you, and long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
