Treasury Secretary Jack Lew's Signature Gets Dramatic Makeover

The Huffington Post

It took a few months, but Treasury Secretary Jack Lew finally made good on a bizarre promise to President Obama to fix his sloppy penmanship.
"Jack assured me that he is going to work to make at least one letter legible in order not to debase our currency should he be confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury," Obama said in January after Lew's nomination.
Lew appears to have done just that, giving his once illegible signature a significant makeover, according to a report from the Rachel Maddow Show. Lew's signature, which once just looked like a circuitous roller coaster, now has the faint outline of -- shocker! -- the actual letters in his name.
Scroll Down To See Before And After Photos Of Lew's Signatures
Lew received quite a bit of media attention for his haphazard handwriting before assuming his new role. But he is not the first Treasury Secretary to give his signature an upgrade before placing it on all of our legal tender. Lew's predecessor, Timothy Geithner, also morphed his previously ambiguous autograph into a very clear representation of his name.
Earlier analysis of Lew's sloppy scrawl indicated that he "can adapt quickly and make rapid changes, but he's also self-protective."
Experts have yet to determine what Lew's updated signature will mean for the future of the Treasury Department.
Jack Lew's old signature is on the left; his new one is on the right:

“At last I have killed poverty in my life” –– SAKA, Hafiz Oyetoro

Hafiz Oyetoro’s controversial move from Etisalat to MTN as a brand face seems to have changed his fortune for good and he has also confirmed it.

“To the glory of God, level don change. Let me put it like that. I believe that in the nearest future, level will finally change. But now, level don dey change. I have murdered poverty and God has finally murdered it for me. I am no longer poor, but very comfortable.”

The lady he wanted to marry rejected him because of poverty but today his story has changed…

Oyetoro, who has also established himself as an actor and a popular face on TV, also recently stirred the scene. This is courtesy of his ‘shocking’ appearance in the MTN’s I don port advert, a commercial that many have described as an excellent one – not minding the fact that some believe it is a below-the-belt jab for Etisalat, the telecoms company for which he worked as an advertising model for some time.

Ever since Oyetoro’s crossover, in which he is required to lead a major advertising campaign to drive the network portability initiative by Nigerian Communication Commission, Nigerians have not stopped talking about him and his amazing rise to fame and riches. The deal is believed to be worth about N20m, which is enough to give the hardworking and self-effacing actor a clean break from poverty. But while the man himself has declined to comment on the positive twist in his fortune, he was recently quoted in THE NEWS as saying that he had finally conquered poverty.
In a telephone interview with Punch, SAKA said he was not ready to talk about his new contract with the telecommunications company. “For now, I don’t want to say anything. I promise you that I will talk at the appropriate time,” he said.

But when asked if his new responsibilities as a brand ambassador for MTN would not clash with his job at the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, he replied, “I am a responsible civil servant. My duty is to teach other people’s children well, just as I would expect others to teach mine. So I cannot abandon my job. I assure you, everything has been taken care of.”
A few years ago, little was known about Oyetoro.
Although he studied Theatre Arts at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ago Iwoye worked as a part-time lecturer at the Olabisi Onabanjo University before moving to Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education in Ijanikin, Oyetoro remained relatively obscure for a long while.
In those days, he managed to appear in a few insignificant theatre productions, in which he played mostly comic roles. It took a while before the qualities that would raise him a notch higher than most of his peers began to manifest.
First, Nollywood came calling with an opportunity to establish himself as a regular face on the lighted screen. Oyetoro, who was burning up with a desire to prove himself, had to grab it. Still, a few years later and with appearances in hundreds of Nollywood films to his credit, he was far from hitting the limelight.
Then another opportunity presented itself. This time, it came from Centrespread, an advertising agency. The agency wanted him to be their model for its advertising campaigns with Etisalat. The deal clicked and Oyetoro’s transformation began in earnest. That was when, for the purpose of the campaigns, he assumed a new identity: he became known ‘Saka’, a character that he helped create in 2004 for a TV comedy series titled ‘House A-part’.
Eventually, Oyetoro became the face of Etisalat campaigns. Within a short time, Saka had become a household name and Oyetoro could look forward to a brighter future free of the clutches of poverty.
In an interview published on the Internet, the actor cum lecturer admitted that he was involved in a bitter struggle against poverty for a long time.
Hear him: “Poverty was my friend and family for a long time. As you sit with me here side by side, that was how I was sitting with poverty in the past. There was a lady who disqualified me because I didn’t have a car. But, thank God, I eventually got a wife who genuinely loves me and who I genuinely love.”

 

DailyPost

Femi Fani-Kayode: Who moved the motion for Nigeria’s Independence?

Prior to 1985 Nigerians were amongst the most literate, intellectually-inclined, respected, well-informed, well-read and well-educated people in the world and this had been so since the mid-1800′s. Our education system was once the envy of the British Commonwealth and in terms of academics Nigerians scored firsts wherever they went. However as from 1985 everything changed in our country including our attitude to life, our economic situation, our sense of values, our perception of ourselves and what we stood for and our education system. From that time everything appears to have gone to the dogs and from that point it was just one period of degradation and degenaration to another up until today.
Nothing was more affected by this unfortunate state of affairs than our education system. Post-1985 the whole education system in our country simply broke down. The result of this was predictable, swift and startling as an attitude of disdain and derision for anything that lay in the realm of education and particularly in the realm of the arts, like literature and history, were treated with disdain and contempt by our people. Simply put no-one was interested. As far as most Nigerians were concerned it paid better to be a tomatoe puree importer and dealer or a sugar trader than it did to be a scholar or a professional. The result of this shameful attitude was devastating on our pysche as a people and on our culture. We just degenerated in every conceivable way and post-1985 we became a nation of traders and ceased to be a nation of scholars.
The result of all this was as follows. I would conceede that there are some exceptions to the rule but one of the weaknesses of the average Nigerian today is that, generally speaking, he does not read widely, he does not do much research, he knows little about literature and the arts and he knows nothing about his own history or the history of his country. Worse still because he does not have the discipline to do his reserach and to read widely he is prepared to accept oral folk-lore and self-serving revisionist folk tales as historical fact and to literally swear by them. No group of people that I am aware of in the world today suffer more from this strange affliction and this willful attempt to ignore or to distort their own history as much Nigerians. To make matters worse the average Nigerian honsetly believes that history does not matter and that the fact that history is not taught in Nigerian schools is no big deal. Is it any wonder that we are in a mess? They say that those that do not know or do not learn from their own history are bound to repeat its mistakes. And nowhere has this truism found more relevance and veracity as it has in modern-day Nigeria. Some of the consequence of this unfortunate mindset is the fact that the manifestation of crass ignorance and the expression of pure falsehood has taken pride of place and has become commonplace in our country when we talk about our past. Few Nigerians know who they are, where they are coming from, how their nation came about and who our heroes of the past, our great nationalists and our founding fathers actually were. Great names like Sapara Williams, Herbert Macauly, Adeyemo Alakija, Ajayi Crowther, Akinwale Akinsanya, Ernest Ikoli, Charles Onyeama, Bode Thomas, H.O. Davis, Adegoke Adelabu, Eyo Ita, Inua Wada, Mohammadu Ribadu, Joseph Tarka, Aminu Kano, Ayo Rosiji, Isa Williams, Louis Ojukwu, Alfred Rewane, Festus Okotie Eboh, S.O.Gbadamosi, S.G. Ikokwu and so many others have little relevance or meaning to most young Nigerians today. They just don’t know who these great men were or what they did for our country. What a tragedy.
Yet nowhere has the confusion of our people been made more manifest when it comes to our history than on the vexed question of who successfully moved Nigeria’s motion for independence. There has been so much misunderstanding and disinformation about who actually moved that motion and I believe that it is time to to set the record straight and bring this matter to closure. In order to do so successfully we must be guided by facts and historical records and not by emotion, sentiment or political considerations. The moment we allow our recollection of events or our knowledge of history to be guided or beclouded by such perennial considerations we are finished as a people.
The truth is that almost 90 per cent of Nigerians have been brought up to believe that the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence was successfully moved by Chief Anthony Enahoro, a man that is undoubtedly one of our most revered nationalists and founding fathers. Though nothing can be taken away from Enahoro in terms of his monumental contributions in our quest for independence (I would argue that he kicked off the process for that struggle with his gallant efforts in 1953) the fact remains that he was not the man that successfully moved the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence.
Another group of Nigerians believe that Chief S.L. Akintola, another great nationalist and elder statesman and the former Premier of the old Western Region, was responsible for the successful movement of the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence. Again though there is no doubt that Akintola played a major and critical role in the whole process, he was not the one that successfully moved the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence.
There is yet another school of thought that says that it was Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the much loved former Prime Minister of blessed memory that was the first to successfully move the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence. Again this is not historically accurate. Balewa’s 1959 motion was not the first successful motion for our independence and neither was it in actual fact a motion for independence at all . It was rather a motion to amend an already existing motion which had already been successfully moved and passed by Parliament and which had been accepted and aquiessed to by the British in 1958.
That successful 1958 motion was moved by none other than my late father of blessed memory, Chief Remilekun Fani-Kayode, the former Deputy Premier of Nigeria ‘s Western Region. Not only did he play a major role in the movement of the motion for Nigeria ‘s independence but, as a matter of fact, his was the first successful motion for independence in Parliament that was acceepted by the British and it was actually the one that got us our independence. His motion, which was moved in Parliament on the platform of the Action Group on August 2nd 1958 , was actually the landmark and most significant motion of all when it comes to the issue of our independence.

Let us look at the history, the records and the facts. Chief Anthony Enahoro moved a motion for ”self rule” in the Federal House in 1953 which proposed that we should have our independence in 1956. Unfortunately it was rejected by Parliament and it therefore failed. It also resulted in a walk out by the northern NPC parliamentarians who were of the view that Nigeria was not yet ready for independence. The tensions and acrimony that came from all this and the terrible treatment that was meted out to the northern parliamentarians and leaders that were in the south as a result of the fact that they would not support Enahoro’s motion resulted in the infamous Kano riots of 1953.
In 1957 Chief S.L. Akintola moved a second motion for independence in Parliament and asked for us to gain our independence from the British in 1959. This motion was passed by the Federal House but the British authorities refused to acquiese to it and consequently it failed. In 1958 my father moved the third motion for Nigeria ‘s independence in the Federal Parliament and he asked that Nigeria should be given her independence on April 2nd 1960 . The motion was not only passed by Parliament but it was also acquiesed to by the British and was therefore successful. That was indeed a great day and a great achievement for Nigeria .
However in 1959, at the instance of the British Colonial authorities who said that they needed a few more months to put everything in place before leaving our shores, Sir Tafawa Balewa moved a motion for a slight amendment to be made to the original 1958 motion that had been passed and approved to the effect that the date of independence should be shifted from April 2nd to Oct. 1st instead. Sir Tafawa Balewa’s motion for amendment was seconded by Chief Raymond Njoku, the Minister of Transport, and it was acquiesed to by the British. That is how we arrived at the date October 1st 1960 for our independence.
The details of all this can be found in Hansard (which are the official record of proceedimgs of Parliament) and they can also be found in what in my view is one of the most detailed, authoritative and well-researched history books that has ever been written when it comes to the politics of the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s in Nigeria titled “Nigerian Political Parties: Power in an Emergent African Nation” by the respected American historian, Professor Richard L. Sklar. Sklar actually lived in Nigeria throughout much of that period. On page 269 of his book he wrote the following “in July 1958, Barrister Remi Fani-Kayode had the distinction of moving the resolution for independence on April 2nd 1960, which was supported by all the parties in the Federal House of Representatives”.
Another excellent book that covers this topic and era very well is titled “Glimpses Into Nigeria ‘s History” and was written by Professor Sanya Onabamiro, a highly distinguished elder statesman and nationalist in his own right, who was a regional Minister and one of the main political players at the time. On pg.140 of his book and in reference to Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the Northern Region, Onabamiro wrote: “he was the bridge between the north and the south, between the old and the new, between the fast and the slow. Without such a bridge to swing the votes of the Northern members of the House of Representatives in support of the southern members, there was little hope that the crucial motion on ‘independence on April 2nd 1960″ moved by an Action Group member of the House of Representatives in July 1958, would receive the unanimous endorsement of all the parties in the House as it did”. Professor Onabamiro was writing about the Fani-Kayode motion of April 2nd 1958 and the “Action Group member” that he was referring to was my father. This is contrary to the assumption of some, including my dear egbon Chief Ladi Akintola (the distinguished son of the late Chief S.L. Akintola) who, in an article titled, “Between Akintola and Enahoro” which was written in 2001, wrote that when Onabamiro wrote this he was writing in reference to the motion that his father had previously moved on the same issue in !957. Ladi Akintola was wrong. The 1957 motion which Akintola moved had asked for our independence in 1959 and though it was indeed passed by the Federal House it was not accepted or acquiessed to by the British. Consequently, just like the Enahoro motion of 1953, it failed and this is why we did not get our independence in 1959.
From the foregoing you can see that the successful movement of the motion for our independence in Parliament was as a result of the collective efforts of a number of prominent and notable people from different parts of the country and from different political parties that worked closely together on this issue over a period of time in the Federal House and that my father was one of those people. As a matter of fact he played a key and critical role in the proceedings. His 1958 motion for independence was highly significant because it was the only successful one and it was the one that actually got us independence in 1960. As I said earlier Tafawa Balewa’s motion was not a motion for independence but rather a motion to slightly amend the original one that had already been approved by the House and acquiesed to by the British.
The simple answer to the question as to who moved the motion to Nigeria’s independence, in my view, is that Anthony Enahoro, Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Remi Fani-Kayode, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Raymond Njoku, together with their respective political parties (Action Group, NPC and NCNC respectively) all played major and key roles in this exercise and the credit for the successful passing of that motion should go not just to all those who, at different times, moved or attempted to the move the various motions but also to every single member of Parliament that sat on the relevant days and that voted for the various motions to be passed.
DailyPost

2015: I‘ll Step Down Only If APC Presents A Better Candidate — Buhari

Three time presidential aspirant and former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said he “will surely seek the mandate” of Nigerians in the 2015 presidential election under the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC except a more ‘formidable and better candidate’ is presented.
Buhari, who spoke in Minna, the Niger State capital at the maiden edition of Sam Nda-Isaiah Annual Lecture Series, said that politics should not be seen as a do-or-die affair.
He also advocated the presentation of the best candidate among many for an election.

“Whoever said he wants to contest has a chance. Let him come out because the more we are, the merrier. But I will be ready to step down if there is a formidable and better candidate” he said.
Continuing, Buhari, who is also defacto leader of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, stressed that “It is not about me but for the survival of the party. APC is about ensuring internal democracy. Whoever emerges is the person I will support. Yes I will be ready to step down”.
InformationNigeria

US Withdraws Military Assistance To Nigeria Over Baga, Human Rights Violations

SAN FRANCISCO, May 02, (THEWILL) – The United States Government has withdrawn military assistance to Nigeria citing various human rights violations by Nigerian security forces, particularly the military which is currently engulfed in a controversy over the killing of dozens and destruction of hundreds of residences in Baga, a town in Borno State during a clash with members of the Boko Haram.

The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence P. McCulley in a private meeting Thursday in Abuja with about ten members of the human rights community in Nigeria disclosed the US government position.

The US supports the Nigerian military and security agencies with training, intelligence and weapons.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report released in Johannesburg, South Africa, said its investigations into the fighting in Baga, showed that 183 people were killed, contrary to the claims by the military, which also investigated the incident and has maintained that 36 persons and a soldier died in the clash.

HRW which cited a community leader as its source, also said its analysis of satellite images of Baga, before and after the clash, showed that 2,275 buildings, majority of which were likely residences, were razed by fire with another 125 severely damaged.

THEWILL gathered from a source at the meeting who opted to remain anonymous that the Ambassador called the meeting to feel the pulse of the human rights community over the violations of basic rights of citizens by security forces under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

As the meeting progressed, Mr. Terrence announced to the activists that the US congress had previously passed a law that bars the United States from rendering military assistance to any government that violates basic rights of citizens. He said the Obama led US government has therefore ceased to assist Nigeria militarily in obedience to the law.

The source said Mr. Terence listened as his visitors expressed frustrations with the Nigerian government over its inability to bring to justice security operatives that have violated rights of fellow citizens.

The source further told THEWILL that the activists pleaded with the US Ambassador to cancel any invitation extended to President Goodluck Jonathan to attend any meetings of global world leaders in protest of the nation’s worsening human rights record.

The Ambassador however agreed with their position and assured the rights activists of the US government’s unflinching support for democracy and the rights of citizens. He assured them that their position would be communicated to the Department of State headed by Senator John Kerry.

Some of the activists at the meeting include Mr. Clement Nwankwo, Mr. Emmanuel Onwubiko of the Human Rights Writers' Association of Nigeria; Kole Shettima of the MacArthur Foundation and Auwal Rafsanjani of the Executive Director at Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) amongst others.
TheWill

New Hampshire Legislator Claims Boston Bombing Was An Inside Job Because Victim Looked Calm

By Josh Israel

NH State Rep. Stella Tremblay (R)

Several days after suggesting the Boston Bombing was perpetrated by the U.S. government, New Hampshire State Rep. Stella Tremblay (R-NH) doubled down on the claim Tuesday. In an interview on the radio show of anti-government conspiracy theorist Pete Sanitilli, Tremblay opined that since photos of a victim who lost his legs did not appear to show him “in shock” or “screaming in agony,” the attack must have been staged.
Citing Alex Jones and his conspiracy theory site Infowars, Tremblay notes that while she once believed 9/11 was a real attack by terrorists, 9/11 “truthers” have opened her eyes. This attack too, she argues, was a “Black Ops” attack staged — apparently unconvincingly — by the federal government:

TREMBLY: And the more I looked at this, in my heart, something told me there’s something wrong here. You just have to look at that backpack and you can see. If there’s an explosion, the backpack is blown to smithereens. There’s nothing left. What was it doing just laying there? Then, my first gut reaction seeing the horror of that person that had their legs blown off… you know, with the bone sticking out? And he was not in shock. I looked and I thought there’s something… I don’t know what’s wrong, but it seems surreal to me. I talked to my sister, who’s not into politics at all, and she said, “Yea, I saw the same thing.” He was not in shock. He was not in pain. If I had had those type of injuries, I’d be screaming in agony.

HuffingtonPost

My Candid Take on 2015

By Dele Momodu

Fellow Nigerians, please allow me to set the records straight before I go into the main meat of this letter. On a personal note, I have no problem with President Goodluck Jonathan seeking a second term in office. It is his legitimate Constitutional right. It does not matter if he truly reached an unwritten gentleman’s agreement with some members of his political party, openly or clandestinely. When did it become a criminal offence for Nigerian politicians to renege on their promises? At the very worst, he would have committed a moral offence of being a reprobaterather than a gentleman who keepsto his words. Finito! But that is an act of indecorum which is not punishable under any of our Acts or Statutes.

My take is simple and straight-forward: let Jonathan run, if he wants to. It is cowardly to stylishly force him out of the race. The essence of democracy is to give every aspirant a chance except we can establish legal reasons to debar him. The Nigerian Constitution permits a President to run for two terms if he can win the presidential race twice. So be it. This Constitution is definitely superior to that of any humongous political party. If the President has decided to exercise that right, there is nothing anyone can do to stop him from running if he gets his party ticket which I suspect won’t be any problem for him given the way things work in Nigerian politics.

However, difficult as it may seem, there are options open to those who don’t want him to be the next PDP candidate if they are ready to fight all the way. But they can only achieve that through Constitutional means. Members of his party can decide to change him for another aspirant, and they are not in short supply, by ensuring he doesn’t get the party nomination during their National Convention. As far-fetched as this may seem, it cannot be totally ruled out if they can muster enough resources to match him dollar for dollar. The only snag in that calculation is that I’m not sure any Nigerian currently has access to such a monstrously deep pocket, as Alhaji Atiku Abubakar discovered on his night of the long knives at the Eagle Square in Abuja barely two years ago.

First, the law enforcement agents would be encouraged to lock up the delegates in their hotel rooms and ensure that no other aspirant can reach them. Two, the incumbent President would easily receive the support of every businessman worth his salt in Nigeria and beyond without even asking. The President of Nigeria has the power of life and death and would never waste any time before deploying it. He can turn a billionaire into a pauper overnight and turn a certified pauper into a billionaire before you pronounce Jack Robinson. No wise businessman ever fights government in Nigeria. It is an unwritten code you learn from kindergarten school.

Three, Mr President understands the weakness of most Nigerians. It is the special craving, craze and propensity for political appointments. That obsession is so insatiable that even at 80 many Nigerian politicians would sacrifice anything and everything to obtain government appointments no matter how degrading or demeaning. The reason is not far-fetched. Returns on investments are usually high in Nigerian politics. Economic recessions hardly affect them. Right now, most Nigerians are moaning and groaning, yet the politicians have no cause to complain. They are awarding themselves stupendous remunerations and allowances with infinite opportunities to globe-trot on very outlandish estacode. This is why most people want to be in the good books of the President including those who abuse him in public. At the right time, the President would call them in and speak the original dialect they all understand. Money!

I believe it is for those reasons some people want to elbow the President out before the race begins. My prediction is that Jonathan will get the PDP ticket again, no matter what it takes. And my advice to those who don’t want that to happen is to either support him or quickly leave the party for him. Unfortunately, there are not too many stronger parties in contention. The only one available for now, if and when it gets registered, is APC. But even here, there are formidable obstacles to scale. How easy would it be for our dear Atiku Abubakar to return to APC with all his former AC allies in firm control? How easy would it be for a Waziri Aminu Tambuwal to persuade General Muhammadu Buhari to jettison his voluptuous dream of ruling Nigeria again? How simple would it be for a Sule Lamido to risk all his investments in PDP and hope to upstage our own BAT, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu in APC? By what magic would Governor Babangida Aliyu control enough influence in APC? These are technical issues that those leaving PDP would have to confront sooner than later. It is a dilemma offering no easy escape route.

I see four clear options. The first is there will be the original PDP under the firm grip of Jonathan. But that Jonathan-PDP may become a shadow of itself if most of the Northern Governors, members of the Senate, House of Representatives and other State legislators collectively pull out and join the Obasanjo renegades in the South Westand leave the dry shell for Jonathan and his die-hard supporters in the South-South, South-East and parts of the Middle-Belt. That is the Second option. The third is for APC to risk a Muslim Muslim ticket in Buhari and Tinubu and hope to garner enough crowds from the North West and the South West.

The fourth is for Buhari and Tinubu to sacrifice everything and reach out to Tambuwal and Rotimi Amaechi, or a similar formidable duo, and hope to break the monopoly of Jonathan in the South South. This is possible, where a bigger Rivers is already feeling oppressed by Bayelsa, Cross River is feeling emasculated by Akwa Ibom, the Ibori crowds are feeling marginalised in Delta and the godfathers are being rendered irrelevant in Edo by Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole. This scenario seems the most likely permutation to ease out Jonathan. Political pundits believe this is why Jonathan is already fighting like a wounded lion in Rivers State. Rivers has the hefty resources and more than enough electoral figures to threaten Jonathan’s ambition.

Tinubu and General Olusegun Obasanjo would have to bury their differences and rescue Nigeria from the brink of collapse. Many Nigerians still blame Obasanjo for giving Nigeria a weak and ineffectual leadership. They fail to understand why he couldn’t come up with a star-studded team of Donald Duke, Nasir El Rufai, Dora Akunyili, NgoziOkonjo-Iwealla, NuhuRibadu, Bukola Saraki, Julius Ihonvbere, Charles Soludo, Emeka Chikelu, Oby Ezekwesili, Akin Osuntokun, Frank Nweke Jnr., and others, when he left power in 2007. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar had a pool of young and vibrant technocrats like Chris Mammah, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, Garba Shehu and Adeolu Akande who could have been groomed for the new Nigeria of our dreams. However they were all exterminated like irritants by Obasanjo who squashed them underfoot. Had power been transferred to such upwardly mobile people, Nigeria would have had its own version of Obama and Cameron by now. The decision to swim and drown with the weakest links robbed us of a more energetic government.

We have no idea yet what the general electorate might do after 14 years of narcoleptic leadership of PDP. Will they put a final stop to Jonathan’s voluble ambition by casting their votes for the new-look opposition or stick fervently to the devil they already know?

While it is tempting to be bought over by the lack of performance argument against Jonathan, it can be safely assumed that one’s man’s meat is another man’s poison. There is no other way to put the lack of performance to test than at the polls. Nigerians hardly vote like normal people do. We often base our decision on primordial sentiments that include the whiff of money, ethnicity, religion, position and so on. Who knows, despite our excruciating pains in the hands of the PDP hawks, Jonathan might still manage to hypnotise enough Nigerians with his Fresh Air razzmatazz? Elsewhere, PDP would have long been consigned to the dustbin of history but not in our long-suffering and eternally resilient and reticent country called Nigeria.

I won’t be surprised if all the PDP Governors line up behind Jonathan when tomorrow comes. What will shock me is if they don’t. A lot of government money is already being stockpiled for our type of rainy day. Loads of cash will jump out of the vaults when the time comes, as it certainly will, sooner than later. How many politicians born of women can resist the lure of money in a country where money speaketh all languages and conquereth all territories?

As for me and my house, the best option for Jonathan is to ignore all those putting pressure on him to run. Truth is he has nothing to prove again. God has showered him with too much kindness. He has entered the history books for life as Nigeria’s President and Commander-in-Chief. It does not matter how long he stays in power. What would ultimately matter is what he does with it. If I were in his shoes, I will concentrate on what legacy to bequeath to future generations and worry less about the distractions of a Second Term malady. He has nothing to lose if he does not seek a second term but he has everything to forfeit if he runs and fails to win. The best way to win or lose with dignity is not to make it a matter of life and death. It would even be worse if he has nothing tangible to point at as his achievement when his tenure expires, whenever that is.

If I were Jonathan, I will take off my hat, jump into some casuals and hit the ground running. I will work like a donkey and try to prove my enemies wrong. I will make sure I conclude the power projects. That alone will instantly turn any Nigerian leader to an all-time hero. I will cut the cost and burden of governance. I will keep a lower profile and kick out most of the deadwoods in government. I will concentrate on those projects I can complete as soon as possible. I sincerely believe all the energy he’s wasting on pursuing Rotimi Amaechi and company can be better utilised. He had never fought for anything in his life. Whatever he is today was at the instance of uncommon good luck and enduring patience. Why not allow God to decide his next destination in life instead of stopping others who want to try their own luck.

It is not too late for the President to ease the tension in the land. He has nothing more to ask of God. He became Nigeria’s President without much ado. It is for him to compensate Nigerians for that unusual favour. What I see is his proclivity for enjoyment and the good life. His government is too bloated and full of unserious elements. Those goading him on today,and encouraging him to fight on all fronts, would soon abandon him perchance he fails in this mission. They are his real enemies out to preserve their pecuniary interests only.

Where are those who said Obasanjo was their god a few years ago and daily swore by his name? They have since moved on to otherclimes in search of new gods, and I doubt if they even remember how to get to the Hill Top mansion in Abeokuta.

There is no better lesson for the wise.
ThisDay