Oronto Douglas, the special assistant to the president on strategy, expresses optimism that his boss has done enough to win.
Why Jonathan deserves the votes of Nigerians
Because his story is one that most Nigerians can relate to. It is also one that best illustrates the positive attributes of this nation. He never had opportunity of shoes when he was going to school, just like millions of Nigerians. He had no school bag to put his school notes in. He had to trek kilometres to get to school. Yet he never despaired, in his words. He showed fortitude, like millions of ordinary Nigerians. There are problems besetting Nigerians, but they continue to strive to better their individual lots. So a man of that pedigree, who did not allow the circumstance of his youth to stop him from achieving his goals in life, represents the best aspiration of Nigerians. Of course, he also enjoys the support of God, without which most of his achievements would not have been possible..
There has been a visible hand of God in Jonathan’s life. I think 99.9 percent of Nigerians can identify with that. He is a president that every household can look up to and be filled with hope, that their child who is today selling akara or carrot can tomorrow be president of the country. Mr. Jonathan has also promised to make sure that the infrastructure that will make that possible is put in place in the next four years that he will be in power. His emergence has rewritten the story of who can lead Nigeria. He has shown that Nigeria is a nation for all, rather than for a section or a clique. I also think if you give Nigeria to people who will sell the destiny of the country, then we will be in bigger trouble. The president has consistently said all he has is in Nigeria. He schooled in Nigeria and his children are being schooled in Nigeria. This is not to disparage those who schooled abroad, but it is where your heart is that you will defend at all cost. So in terms of commitment, I can confidently say there are few Nigerians as devoted to this country as President Jonathan. I respect all the other presidential [candidates], but we are saying at this time in our history, this man that has been in office for the past nine months and has laid out plans to rescue the nation is best placed to execute the plan and that man is President Jonathan.
Friction within the PDP following the primaries
The PDP is seen by many as a party whose ticket is halfway to getting to office. But people should know that this is a new PDP, where the most popular and competent candidates are picked to run elections. However, in places where there are constitutional issues, the strategy that President Jonathan and the PDP are adopting is dialogue. I can tell you that with respect to Ogun State, there was a time the president did not sleep for two days. He held meetings with the Jubril Martins Kuye and Gbenga Daniel groups and, at a point, brought all of them together at the Villa. The president is a man of peace and always tells people, “I have no enemies to fight. I want all of us to work together.” You remember that after presidential primaries, which he won, he still went out of his way to drive to Adamu Ciroma’s house to have a discussion with a view to keeping the party together. His view was that a statesman of Ciroma’s stature cannot be ignored. He also wants to be president of all, not president of a section or region.
Criticism of president’s ‘rascal’ comment
In the statement, the president praised southwesterners for their sophistication and high level of education. If a statement regarding that is being taken out of context and used for political purpose, it is unfortunate. The President, as a true statesman would came out to say, ‘I take responsibility for this statement, I offer my sincere regrets in this regard, that what I meant is to celebrate the excellence, greatness and leadership of South-West people. It is unfortunate that one or two individuals are appropriating it and pushing it to mean insulting the most educated and sophisticated people. The president will never insult his elders and leaders. If you knew the president well, he always answers ‘sir’ to anyone who is older than him. He will never insult the elders, leaders and people of the South-West. Take note that the president is educated, he did his NYSC in the South-West, has friends from the South-West and is one person who never forgets. Some of those he did youth service with from the South-West are now working with him.
The scanty crowd at the presidential Kaduna rally
My observation is that the crowd in Kaduna had been sitting there from 7am. As at the time the President and the dignitaries arrived, people were very tired. Take note, they were zonal rallies and most of the people had to return to their homes. People came from Sokoto, Kebbi and Kano and I believe that in a place like that, it is like what happened in Port Harcourt, when the occasion ended, people wanted to go back to their buses and travel. So, if the day is getting dark, you will want to get back home. The zonal rally was organised by the zonal coordinator who is from Kastina. The president won 53 percent of the votes of the North-West delegates at the PDP rally. He may have lost in some states, but he won with 53 percent over all, meaning that he had overwhelming support of the people. Democracy is about majority. At the election proper, what the president needs is 25 percent and he got more than that in majority of these states. Ordinary people in the North-West love Jonathan. Why would they not love him? He relates with them.
Challenges of the northwest for PDP
Every other candidate has work to do in every zone. Buhari has work to do in the South-West. He has work to do in the South-East, South-West and in the North-Central, North-East and North-West. Is it everybody in the North-West that loves Buhari? Nuhu Ribadu has work to do in every single zone. So, the challenges are challenges that are not restricted to one person. Let me just say that we have a lot of people who will like to identify with the president, his history and all that.
Alleged poor performance of the PDP in the last 12 years
The president came to transform Nigeria. We believe the place to start is transforming the PDP and the president has started that work. The PDP as a party has been in office for close to 12 years. There are perceptions about the PDP that may not be salutary to Nigerians. However, the determination of President Jonathan is to transform all aspects of our lives. The opposition has been very careful not to attack President Jonathan as a person. So they have been attacking the PDP. Well, if I was working for the opposition, I would probably adopt that strategy because Jonathan is popular with the Nigerian people. So he is fully aware that the PDP will be attacked and at some point the opposition will also attack him. Look at the statement he made in Ibadan, for example, that was blown out of proportion. I am a beneficiary of Obafemi Awolowo’s free education. If I am advising the president, would I tell him to do anything against the South-West? The president did his NYSC in the Southwest and has a lot of friends in the zone. Would he now do anything against the people?
The alleged mismanagement of the economy by the federal government
The President has been in the office for nine months. He promised what we call the three Es. He looked at Electoral reform, Electricity and Energy security. He believed there cannot be good government if you do not have constitutional and robust process for selecting the leaders who will govern the country. In practical terms of electoral reforms, he decided, ‘let us practicalise what we are preaching.’ When the first bye-election came up in the Edo Central, he said it was one of the first test of free and fair elections. He told INEC and security agencies that what he wanted was one man, one vote; one woman, one vote; one youth, one vote. The president insisted on free and fair election and the ACN won. Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole flew from Benin to Abuja to congratulate and thank the president for standing on the rule of law and insisting on free and fair election. That is the benchmark for this election.
On energy security, it is important that we note that before now, people stay on the queue for hours, while some people sleep overnight in filling stations. People were sleeping three days, three nights in filling stations. Now, that is a thing of the past. Secondly, the same amount you pay for a litre of fuel you buy in Lagos is what you are going to pay if you buy in Maidugiri. There has also been improvement in power generation and this will continue to be improved upon over time.
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