itsdumebi:
THE MISTAKES OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN

My name is Dumebi Ifeanyi and I am a political animal. This article is in no way meant to insult/derogate the personality of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Its main motive is to show his mistakes and what he ought to have done.
I feel compelled to write this article in order for aspiring young politicians like myself to learn from the mistakes of one whose actions led to the near destruction of a great party which I dearly support. Many might be pleased, many might not, but affairs of state ought to be seen/stated for the way they are and not the way they ought to be. So let’s begin…..

His Nature

Any good, prudent leader knows that in order to thrive and grow in politics, he ought to know how to be Soft and Hard, Jonathan is a good man…an overly good man and in politics ‘soft/good men’ don’t go very far. He found himself in several situations where he was supposed to take the best possible action which might have been seen as morally ‘bad’.
You see, in politics and governance as a whole, you are required to be objective….certain circumstances require that you do that which might be viewed as morally ‘bad’, but in order for your government to stand, for your people to survive and for your position to remain, you must take these actions. There are situations whereby you do that which is viewed as morally ‘good’ and you will come to absolute ruin.

Image

How the people see their leader is also very important.GEJ did not manage his image well; he was viewed by the people as ‘weak’ because of his lack of charisma and confidence.

The Love of the people

Of all the mistakes that will be stated here, please pay very good attention to this one….NEVER EVER LOSE THE LOVE OF THE PEOPLE!! This is Paramount! Why? The power truly lies with the PEOPLE!
Jonathan came into power with the love of the people (the ‘I had no shoes’ story), everyone loved him but along the line, he made the people lose faith in him, especially after the Chibok girls issue.

Media/Chibok girls

The Media controls the minds of the people. President Jonathan made grave mistakes in managing the media’s representations of his actions. His leadership skills were already not to impressive and the media was not helping matters, even when he appeared to make a little improvement it still did not help as people had already grown fond of getting negative reports about him, so what should he have done? Two things I propose….
1. He should have befriended/enriched some top media house heads, gave them contracts…I mean…everyman has a price.
2. Anyone who refused to be his friend, he would have crushed…how? Influencing the revoking of broadcast licenses, strongarming…..(there a whole lot of ways to deal with them…contact me if you need more..:-)
You might say these are wicked and underhand but anyone who derives joy in destroying me before thousands of people, poisoning their minds and causing me psychological problems has no RIGHT to enjoy while I suffer! I would be foolish to have the means to deal with them and I don’t....:-)
On the chibok girls issue, the president’s lukewarmness caused his great misfortunes, had he immediately given a speech, a good one, a sympathetic one….even if he had no information yet…he would have just addressed the nation and told them that they were working on the matter/ investigating not releasing press statements through Abati….The people needed to know that they had a leader…If they had seen his face, heard his voice…it would have been much better. Had he mobilized the army earlier(or hired mercenaries), had he also given more speeches, speeches that all media houses, TV stations, radio stations would broadcast live(suspending all other programs), supported the Chibok girls campaign, heavily publicized appeals to the AU,UN..etc, these actions could have salvaged his already battered image.
He should also have invested heavily in social media at an early stage, he greatly underestimated it and thought it to be ‘’child’s play’’ but anything causing you great harm and loss of peace of mind is NOT ‘’child’s play’’.


Poor Advisers
A leader’s strength is measured by the advisers/men he has around him. He should have properly vetted those he chose for advisers and he should have weighed his political alliances. He also trusted the wrong people.

Biting the Finger that fed him

His biggest mistake till date is not keeping OBJ satisfied, biting the finger that fed him. You see, those who rise to power on the shoulders of others depend on the fortune and goodwill of him who has elevated them, Jonathan let his rift with OBJ thrive and that was a very, very grave mistake. You see, so far the Old military junta, so far the former military leaders live, Obasanjo is still as relevant as he was in the old days…..He should never have underestimated the power of the Iroko of Owu…he should never have!
In choosing enemies, make sure you know everything about your enemy….his alliances, his strengths. Obasanjo is a man who has ruled this country for a combined 11 years so he knows the inner workings of governance including its weaknesses. GEJ should have been wiser.


He was soft when he had to be firm

He could have salvaged a little of what’s left of his already battered image had he left the likes of Oduah, Abba Moro etc out to dry i.e given them up. He could have successfully built an image of a president who did not condone corruption had he done this, thus increasing the confidence the people had in him.

He associated with the STAINED

A leader should never be found associated with the STAINED, Those who have been publicly labeled as corrupt and evil. He associated himself with men who had been indicted, arrested and had one problem or the other with law enforcement thus giving the opposition media fodder and ‘staining’ himself in the process…come on…never play with ink if you have white clothes on.

Marginalizing the South west

Frankly speaking, He should never have marginalized the south-west…For God sake; they control the media and the Judiciary. I am being very realistic; He should have been friends with those with heavy political influence and should have kept them satisfied early enough. He should have sent more developments and foreign investments their way.

Poor Foundations

Apart from politics, when you build a house on poor foundations it will eventually collapse. GEJ had strong foundations in the SE and the SS but did not in the southwest and in the north, the whole Boko Haram/Chibok girls issue coupled with his Luke warmness destroyed the little he had built there.

In Conclusion, the president’s mistakes were numerous but if he had addressed the few stated above, he could have still been Nigeria’s leader today and I urge all aspiring politicians to draw lessons from his shortcomings than criticize him. Never forget…Politics is not for all, it is for a particular breed of human beings….wanna know if you have got what it takes?…..then Follow me on twitter @itsdumebi_

How come you did not include the fact that he is corrupt and rewards corruption?

NgwaManNaija4LF:
BOKO HARAM CAME INTO MY MIND...AS AN IGBO MAN..I WAS NOT HAPPY WITH NIGERIA HAVING A WEAK PRESO AND WE IN DIASPORA WANTED HIM OUT AT ALL COST. THANK YOU NIGERIANS FOR VOTING THIS CLUELESS MAN OUT.

U are among the minority igbo that voted or supported Great Grand Pa Certificateless Almajiri Buhari.

He marginalised South west...................The thing pain me no be small, equipping thug called OPC andoda silly action.

@Ops, your analysis was very lucid and true.
In politics, you must pander or agree with vital interest groups and shed encumbrances that will drown you politically for example , Abba Moro should have been made to resign after the immigration debacle,heads in the military and intelligence community should have been made to roll for the botched American rescue of the Chibok girls among other issues.

Good

Johnny Boy's biggest mistake was being born into a very small ethnic group in the wrong cardinal point of the country.

lozanni:
@Ops, your analysis was very lucid and true.
In politics, you must pander or agree with vital interest groups and shed encumbrances that will drown you politically for example , Abba Moro should have been made to resign after the immigration debacle,heads in the military and intelligence community should have been made to roll for the botched American rescue of the Chibok girls among other issues.

thank you...i am happy you understand..

Keneking:
I reserve my comment...might be banned for life

No power, no fuel, no good roads, no security, high corruption. Mention one that is not correct.

He also forgot to include his incompetence.

The write-up is rubbish.

How can you label a man who does not care about his people, long suffering people, a good man?

Nonsense.

Op very good observations. Waiting to see what his friends on nairaland will come and say to rubbish these. 10 million likes for you op

Truckpusher:
Take your analysis and shove it down your sorry assss.

With all you've said the only thing that makes sense to me is that he refused to become the puppet of the randy Ota farmer and secondly he didn't satisfy your so-called South West enough which raises the question: was Jonathan a South West President?

Best ans to this ediot called itsdumbass , he should satisfy the SW because they control the press and Judiciary .,....ok let see if Buhari will satisfy the SW, now they believe they have the power lets see how satisfied they will be.... One of the best thing GEJ did was killing Godfatherism...OBJ can now Godfather GMB..

jaybee3:
How can he be a good man but yet eat and dine with the stained?
That's a very dangerous man IMO!

Isn't that what Buhari is doing?

Is Tinubu any better than the people that Jonathan has around him?

lozanni:
@Ops, your analysis was very lucid and true.
In politics, you must pander or agree with vital interest groups and shed encumbrances that will drown you politically for example , Abba Moro should have been made to resign after the immigration debacle,heads in the military and intelligence community should have been made to roll for the botched American rescue of the Chibok girls among other issues.

The lives of the job applicants that died and those of the Chibok girls did not matter to the "good man".

Good man?

Nonsense.

Your analysis is 78% correct.

Arm-twisting the media however could not have worked successfully as you suggested.

Corruption and ethnic politics finished GEJ!

Gamesmart:


He also forgot to include his incompetence.

The write-up is rubbish.

How can you label a man who does not care about his people, long suffering people, a good man?

Nonsense.

In saying Good...i mean soft...soft hearted....indecisive..pls understand

Gamesmart:


The lives of the job applicants that died and those of the Chibok girls did not matter to the "good man".

Good man?

Nonsense.

in saying Good man...i mean soft...pls understand

.

He responded to burning National issues by setting up Committee and non of the submitted reports has been implemented till date.

mmsen:


Isn't that what Buhari is doing?

Is Tinubu any better than the people that Jonathan has around him?

What has referring to Buhari got to do with Jonathan is not a good man

This is as stupid asking:

"Isn't that what Pablo Escobar is doing?

Are drug dealers any better than the people that Jonathan has around him?"

I lost respect for Jonathan when he won't sack corrupt deziani , stomached corruption instead of fighting it, picked obanikoro as a minister even after he was played a major role in rigging ekiti election.
He pushed innocent soldiers to the war front withòut arming them thereby losing alot of men.
can't remember any single corrupt person he persecuted.
gave the wife excessive power which she abused and lots more.
I have no single love for jonathan , still boiling hia.

Hope he doesn't forget anything @Aso Rock, good riddance to Jona's rubbish.

Why did you forget Subsidy?Na the Koko gan gan be that

joewilly:
He did his best and he is well appreciated. How many people today will aceept defeat even the opposition. A stern president could have wasted human life to remain in power. we love u weak Jona

he had no choice. It was part of the peace pact that he signed. Take it or leave it,GEJ was a weakling and not knowledgable enough to rule Nigeria. He was also very corrupt. I used the word was because he is now in the dustbin of history

OP How did He marginalize d SW?

chuna1985:
Instead of using a long article that u used (which is even out of place) , lemme tell u why gej lost the election ...

According to the state of Nigeria's democracy today, who u are and d works u did does not matter, what matters is ur tribe, religion n to some extent personal interests.

Since 1999, northerners vote enmass for northerners(Muslims) n southerners vote for their christian brothers.

GEJ lost because he the SW voted for the northern candidate.

If SW voted GEJ, he would have still won.

Its very simple.

FORGET ALL THE LONG TALK.

If GEJ had dropped sambo and picked a popular yoruba man as a running mate, that would have being the master stroke to bring him back for a 2nd term, cos sambo is a political liability.

Gamesmart:


What has referring to Buhari got to do with Jonathan is not a good man

This is as stupid asking:

"Isn't that what Pablo Escobar is doing?

Are drug dealers any better than the people that Jonathan has around him?"

No, it is not.

People (adults and children) voted Buhari into office, not because he has a reputation as an excellent administrator, orator or intellectual but because of his reputation for being honest, his dealings with Abacha notwithstanding.

The argument was made that Jonathan cannot be a good man because of the people in his party and administration.

Buhari has many of the people who were formerly in the PDP in his own party and has men like Tinubu and El-Rufai seemingly in his circle.

So my question is - how can Buhari be a good man when he has so many thieves in his circle?

More:
-Allowing JEGA to continue, he should have removed him since 3yrs bk just like he did like he did to Sanusi. He ws there to facilitate d plotted Northen Agenda.
-Procastination, his hard action aainst Boko boys came too late after they have already destroyed d image of his govt.
-He did not settle lots of troubles dat befell PDP on time. No seriouse reconcilliation strategies.
-He is not a serious politian

Good article

I don't think you captured the points very well.

1. He was weak that is true.
2. He associated with stained hands, that's not true. In politics you associate with people of interest. Which every past leader at some point did.
3. He does not have good adviser, that could be considered to be true. Cos as a president you should have a team that will relate to you the feeling of the people. Which is the masses and the citizenry.
4. The media never helped matters, that as a matter of truth was majorly the problem. The first time in history that a sitting president was condemned in the media. Even when he was working and performing they hid all of that from the masses. Mind you that 85% of Nigeria don't have people in Govt and are not privy to information. So the little they get is from media. Even as a NANS coordinator in school days you use the media to shut opposition by having your arsenal around media house to report and seat on top of any negative report about his person without publishing it.
5. Chibok Girls was never an issue as Nigeria's in general have a short memory and forgiving mind to move forward.
6. Eating the finger that fed you was not true, As observed in politics of today when anointed your predecessor wants to run the show of the Govt. But as seen, most successor try to please them but very difficult as there demands are endless. At some point you forget them and try to move your state or country forward. As long as you have a good media image and working team. You will surely win re-election.
In my views, the factors that worked against Jonathan.
1. Jonathan contested election against Jega and not Buhari. I know some myopic minds without politics eyes will not agree with me. But facts that played out from the PVC distribution and it's use to the card reader was to perfect victory for Buhari from the inception. Jega was never clean as people saw him. Mind you, we are talking about human factor. Even in the white man's country where people think they are perfect and credible in transparency they still get influenced with sentiments. Talk much about Nigeria/ African.
2. Jonathan was trying to please the north by leaving a northerner as head of INEC. But he forgot the history of the country and failed to realize that for the first time he was contesting against a strong opposition with financial strength to match him with the defection and coming together of serving Governors.
3. The south west was never marginalized by Jonathan. Rather those that want to remain relevant and important denied the yoruba's a lot to ensure there relevance.

Lastly, Nigeria still and will still remain a country divided with ethnicity, region, religion and tribes. Cos the white man knows what he is doing to disintegrate the country and is still doing till date. So the earlier we come to that realization the better.

unclejb2:
I strongly believe that APC as a party has told more lies than the devil himself. Devil dey learn work from Lai Mohammed hand seriously!

you might be right, but it's GEJ we talking about on this trend and not APC. He is a liar expecially on Saturday telling Nigerians he doesn't know where his wife was. I don't think it's possible for the president not to know where his wife was on an election day.

itsdumebi:
THE MISTAKES OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN

Media/Chibok girls

On the chibok girls issue, the president’s lukewarmness caused his great misfortunes, had he immediately given a speech, a good one, a sympathetic one….even if he had no information yet…he would have just addressed the nation and told them that they were working on the matter/ investigating not releasing press statements through Abati….The people needed to know that they had a leader…If they had seen his face, heard his voice…it would have been much better. Had he mobilized the army earlier(or hired mercenaries), had he also given more speeches, speeches that all media houses, TV stations, radio stations would broadcast live(suspending all other programs), supported the Chibok girls campaign, heavily publicized appeals to the AU,UN..etc, these actions could have salvaged his already battered image.
He should also have invested heavily in social media at an early stage, he greatly underestimated it and thought it to be ‘’child’s play’’ but anything causing you great harm and loss of peace of mind is NOT ‘’child’s play’’.

Biting the Finger that fed him

His biggest mistake till date is not keeping OBJ satisfied, biting the finger that fed him. You see, those who rise to power on the shoulders of others depend on the fortune and goodwill of him who has elevated them, Jonathan let his rift with OBJ thrive and that was a very, very grave mistake. You see, so far the Old military junta, so far the former military leaders live, Obasanjo is still as relevant as he was in the old days…..He should never have underestimated the power of the Iroko of Owu…he should never have!
In choosing enemies, make sure you know everything about your enemy….his alliances, his strengths. Obasanjo is a man who has ruled this country for a combined 11 years so he knows the inner workings of governance including its weaknesses. GEJ should have been wiser.

You nailed it dude. Quite apt assessment.

He also trusted in the power of the SS/SE who were too ethnocentric and prejudiced to appreciate the anger against the 'luckiest President in Nigeria who who went on to batter the goodwill of the people who voted for him in his first term. Yes he was the luckiest...he had no antecedence whatsoever to ascend presidency based on his trail deputizing Bayelsa governance. His poor judgment led him to reject doing what would have made GEJ a goldmine in the annals of history. Things have changed in Nigeria, ethnic, tribal and religious sentiments will never save anyone. Your works will.

Posterity will confront us.