THOSE WHO RUINED JONATHAN’S SECOND CHANCE

The presidential election has come and gone and the winner and loser have emerged. The loser is no other person than the incumbent president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. The president, though looking always relaxed and calculated, lost grip of his government, no thanks to the many associates of his who did not help him. Some of them were involved in corruption charges while others were enmeshed in different political crisis and these in no way contributed to his downfall.
PATIENCE JONATHAN
The wife of the president means different things to different people. She is one woman who actually denied her husband a return to Aso Rock. Patience is always in crisis with one politician or the other. It was said that her fight with Governor Rotimi Amaechi was why the Rivers State governor engaged the president in political war. She is also alleged to have used abusive words on opposition politicians and recently. She told PDP supporters at a campaign rally that anybody who shouts “change” must be stoned. This, of course was a dangerous word uttered by a woman of her calibre. Madam Jonathan indeed forced Nigerians to remove her husband from the number one seat.
EDWIN CLARK
Respected elder statesman, Edwin Clark also was part of those who ruined Jonathan’s chances. His utterances also did not help the president because along the line, he stepped on toes. He was sometimes in an exchange of words with Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso. It took the maturity of Kwakwanso to resolve the matter. In an interview the Kano State governor granted the media, he respectfully said that Edwin Clark should be forgiven as he has come of age. He pointed out that when Clark was younger, he knew much about Nigeria but that at his present age, he has lost his pan-Nigeria toga. Pa Clark talked as if Jonathan was only the president of the Niger Delta and for this many did not forgive him.
STELLA ODUAH
She became very popular when she lavished an amazing N255 million on two cars in a country where the poverty level is high. She was alleged to have also neglected her duty as the minister for Aviation and focused on her personal businesses. Stella Odua was already a rich woman before she was called to the government. However, Nigerians are alleging that her closeness with President Jonathan must have been the reason the president did not sack and probably prosecute her when the scandal broke. This singular act contributed in no way to the downfall of Jonathan as Nigerians saw him as weakling who could not tackle corruption.
FEMI FANI KAYODE
Definitely, he was President Jonathan’s toughest spokesman most especially just before the election. Fani Kayode lampooned many highly rated Nigerians most especially those from the opposition party, APC. He believed the president had 100 per cent chances of winning the election but he never knew that Nigerians had made up their minds to change the government. Fani Kayode is currently being prosecuted by the EFCC for corruption charges. He was once minister of Aviation and also served in different capacities. The appointment of FFK, as he is fondly called, contributed in no way to the already battered image of President Jonathan.
DIEZANI MADUEKWE
Another person worthy of mention here is the minister of Petroleum, Diezani Maduekwe. She is someone whom the media has written a lot of stories about concerning her involvement in both corruption and other dirty deals. In the past, she was accused of being involved with two young oil barons who through her position as minister of Petroleum got juicy oil deals from the government. She moved from one controversy or the other and Nigerians expected the president to have sacked her long ago but he didn’t touch her to the extent that she became one of the powerful women in the land by virtue of her position and closeness to the president.
BABA MOHAMMED
The FCT minister has been having problems with party leaders, most especially in Bauchi State. He is alleged to have used abusive languages on the leaders and also was rumoured to have been involved in different scandals in his ministry. He promised the president that he was going to deliver his home state of Bauchi for him but it’s nothing because the result from the state was not commensurate with the kind of influence he claimed to have in the state.
THE SUBSIDY THIEVES
Nigerians will not forget in hurry what befell the country some years back when the oil subsidy riot and crisis broke out. The nation then was on the verge of collapsing before the intervention of God. After the whole scenario, some notable names were mentioned and many people are flabbergasted to read the names of those they did not expect to be included. Indeed, these subsidy thieves have ruined the country’s treasury. Despite the revelation, no single conviction was recorded by the Jonathan administration.
THE MILITANTS
Militants have been involved in many scandals, right from their days as kidnappers who demanded for huge amount of money till date. They so much disturbed the Yar’Adua administration before the coming in of President Jonathan who later settled them and sent many of their boys for training on many handiworks abroad. Today, majority of the boys under the control of Asari Dokubo and Tompolo are millionaires, even without having good levels of education.