Jonathan and Buhari
In this piece, TOLUWANI ENIOLA
examines the interviews by the presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the candidate of the
opposition All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
The news of a proposed debate between
the two major presidential candidates of the 2015 general elections,
President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and
Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress, was
widely welcomed by many Nigerians who had been seeking avenues to weigh
the options of who to vote for at the polls.
While many Nigerians looked forward to
the debate with curiosity, it failed to hold. The APC had declined to
present its candidate on the grounds of perceived bias on the part of
the organisers. The APC spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in an
interview with our correspondent in Lagos, said the party distanced
itself from the debate because “the organisers were biased and we don’t
want to be ambushed.” Mohammed, however, said the party would honour the
debate if the organisers are credible.
Recent interviews granted by the two
presidential candidates, however, compensated for the failed debate as
many Nigerians listened to Buhari and Jonathan discussed their plans for
the country.
While Jonathan was interviewed by Nigerian journalists on the Nigerian Television Authority,
Buhari was interviewed by CNN’s Chief International Correspondent,
Christine Amanpour, on the same day. That the interviews were held
virtually at the same time but on different platforms further sparked
interest. some 30 minutes after Jonathan’s interview commenced, Buhari
appeared on CNN. The interviews provided a great opportunity to
compare the plans of the two candidates. The week preceding this,
Buhari had entertained questions on Aljazeera.
Jonathan, during the live media chat
apparently organised to calm the tension generated by the postponement
of the general elections, spoke on the alleged plot to sack the Chairman
of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega,
the postponement of the elections, insurgency and corruption, among
others.
Buhari also fielded similar questions
from Amanpour. The APC candidate’s voice was, however, clearer and
sharper than other occasions when he spoke on local media. Amanpour took
turns to ask him about his reaction to the poll shift, his plans on
ensuring the return of the Chibok girls if elected in March; corruption
and allegations of human rights abuses levelled against his military
regime.
Justifying the election postponement on
the grounds of insecurity earlier presented by the security chiefs,
President Jonathan failed to assuage the suspicion of the opposition who
believed that he (Jonathan) prevailed on the Independent National
Electoral Commission to shift the polls in order to buy more time.
Although INEC had maintained that it was ready to conduct the elections,
Jonathan said INEC was not ready.
Jonathan said, “When INEC picked the
dates for elections, the threat level was not high until we started the
campaign. So, it was important for the security chiefs to review the
security architecture, otherwise, the country would have gone up in
flames.
“When the issue of PVC was being branded
as a problem, INEC, from what Jega mentioned that day, clearly was not
ready for the elections. They said they were ready but they were not.
The day we held that meeting that led to this adjustment of dates, in
Lagos for example, only about 38 per cent of registered voters had their
PVCs. That means if we conduct elections in Lagos, 62 per cent of
voters would not have been able to vote.”
Buhari, while reacting to the poll
delay, disagreed with Jonathan and the PDP on the reasons behind the
postponement of the elections. He maintained that INEC was forced by the
military to delay the elections even after INEC insisted it was
prepared.
While responding to questions about the
Chibok girls, Jonathan did not promise their quick return. His simple
response was that he was “confident that most of the girls would be
rescued soon.” Jonathan, however, said he does not want to be quoted
that the girls would be rescued in two weeks, further confirming that he
is not convinced of his assurance that the girls will be freed soon.
The President had said, “I believe now
that we are working with Chad and Cameroon, in the next few weeks, the
story of the Chibok girls will change. It’s going to get better. I
believe we should be able to rescue some of them. But I don’t want to be
quoted; I don’t want you to say the President said so, that in two
weeks time or in four weeks time, I cannot say that because the
disappearance of those girls has taken quite some time. But we have
mapped out strategies, we are working with our neighbours and we will
comb all the areas. So, just give us some time.”
The request for more time which seems to
have been the President’s usual response on the subject contrasted
sharply with Buhari’s view about the real reasons why Nigerian soldiers
have failed to curb the insurgency. The APC presidential candidate, who
is contesting the fourth time, noted that the Federal Government was
not prepared to fight Boko Haram.
He told Aljazeera, “I made a statement
early on which some Nigerian media reported. The troops deployed in
Ekiti State where we (APC) believe we were rigged out, if they were
deployed in the North-East, they would have been able to rescue our over
220 girls that were abducted by Boko Haram. They know where the girls
are and know whether they have the capacity to rescue them or not.
Another interesting part of the Jonathan interview was when he had to
clarify the difference between stealing and corruption. The President
had said that there was a difference between the two acts. He was,
however, swift in correcting the statement credited to him that stealing
is not corruption.
Jonathan insisted that many social
vices were being wrongly referred to as corruption. He cited an example
that people could be easily isolated or lynched if they were called
thieves rather than being referred to as being corrupt. Jonathan’s
stance about the relationship between the two acts has continued to
generate reactions.
For the sake of clarity, many are of the
opinion that both corruption and stealing mean the same. A lawyer and
human rights activist, Prof. Itse Sagay, in an interview with Saturday
Punch, puts it succinctly when he said, “Ultimately, every act of
corruption is an act of stealing. There is no question about it. There
is no moral or ethical difference between them. Both are criminal,
immoral and anti-social acts and nobody should attempt to make one look
lighter than the other. People who commit either should be dealt with
seriously.”
Buhari was firm on his stance on the
subject of corruption. He said during the interview with CNN that
corruption has to be tackled “because there are serious citizens of this
country that (have) said unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption
will kill Nigeria.”
When asked by Amanpour what he thought
of Obasano’s endorsement, Buhari said, “It would certainly bring more
supporters to us and more confidence again to us for those who are
sitting on the fence.”
He described Obasanjo as a highly
respected politician, adding that as far as the Nigerian nation is
concerned, “there is no serious issue that can be discussed without
people seeking his opinion and listening to it.”
Exhibiting the spirit of sportsmanship,
Jonathan said he is ready to hand over to Buhari if he loses the
election just as he debunks the insinuation that he is planning to send
Jega on a terminal leave.
The president said, “In 2011, I said I
will conduct a free and fair election and that if I lose, I will happily
move on and that it should be recorded. Then I just concluded the late
President Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure. I said I will be happy to go if I
lose. I said this nation is more important than anybody. Anyone who
wants to hold the office of President and feels he is more important
than the nation is not right. So, if as of 2011, I made a commitment
that if I lose I will go, it should tell you more about my stand on free
and fair elections.”
While discussing their strategies about
how to end the insurgency, Buhari and Jonathan expressed different views
about the problem. While Jonathan accused his opponents of politicising
the kidnap of the Chibok girls, Buhari maintained that the military
had been unable to overcome the insurgents because “resources meant for
the military had been misappropriated.”
Buhari listed the failed plans by the
National Assembly to probe the funding of the Army over the last three
years and interviews granted to foreign media by soldiers, whom he said,
claimed that they had to fight without proper weapons, to back his
claim.
He said, “The National Assembly
attempted to conduct a hearing by getting the budget approved by the
National Assembly over the last three years and inviting the service
chiefs to come and tell them why the weapons were not procured and sent
to the soldiers under competent leadership and that hearing was
scuttled. So, it showed the misapplication or misappropriation of the
resources provided by government and says why the Nigerian military was
unable to defeat Boko Haram.”
The President said, “People are playing
politics with Chibok girls and it is very unfortunate. In other
countries, when there is an issue of terror, political boundaries
collapse and people work together. The interest of the country is
paramount but in this case when we have terror, then Nigerians believe
it is better to go to the United States or the United Kingdom or France
and appear on television to celebrate themselves. Is that how we will
bring back those girls?
“Let us face facts. When there was 9/11
in the US, how many Americans went round the world criticising their
government? Is it by carrying flags and singing around the world that we
will bring those girls back? I expected that those with international
connections would help the country and not the other way round.”
President Jonathan’s interview ended on a
philosophical note. Asked about what he would do differently if he is
re-elected, President Goodluck Jonathan confessed that he had learnt a
lesson. He said he had learnt that Nigerians don’t really care about
what is done but about how the things really get done.
On how prepared he is at 72 to tackle
the immense challenges of Africa’s largest economy and Africa’s most
populous nation, Buhari said, “My countrymen remember me for the proper
utilisation of those resources in education, infrastructure, roads,
social services, healthcare, etc. and these are still there to be seen
by a lot of Nigerians.”
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