President Goodluck Jonathan has come under heavy attack by opposition political parties and civil society groups for justifying his slow administration.
In separate reactions, the groups said that Jonathan’s comment portrays that he was not prepared to rule the nation in the first place.
It would be recalled that His Excellency during his Christmas day speech in Abuja said that his government appeared to be slow because it doesn’t want to make mistakes.
He said: “By human thinking our administration is slow; I won’t say we are slow, but we need to think through things properly if we are to make lasting impact.
“If we rush, we will make mistakes and sometimes it is more difficult to correct those mistakes,” he claimed during the church service.
Reacting to the claims, major opposition parties viz. the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Afenifere, Coalition of Concerned Northern Politicians, Academics and Professionals as well as the Ijaw Youth Council have called on Jonathan to wake up from his slumber.
In their own reaction, the CPC said he was slow because he was not prepared for governance
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, said Jonathan’s excuse was immaterial, noting that the President is always looking for excuses to justify his incompetence.
The CPC said, “If we spend seven years to prepare for madness, when will the madness materialise? That is what Nigerians should ask their President.
“He is slow because he stumbled on power; he never prepared for it. His coming to power was accidental. He has no idea about governance.”
It added, “The government and the man heading it are bereft of ideas. The government only ponders to the tunes of the corrupt. The last 13 years has been hectic for Nigerians and the Jonathan Presidency is worse.
“Despite the hue and cry of the citizenry, he has refused to change his transformation agenda which is only transforming the pockets of a few.”
Also, the ANPP said Jonathan’s statement shows his lack of leadership skills.
According to its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Emma Eneukwu: “The President is not competent to be there. He is a President by chance. He keeps on giving excuses for his incompetence and inadequacies.
“He was not prepared for the position he suddenly found himself. He came into office with the hope of learning and he has refused to learn. He has no specific programme unlike the late President(Umaru Yar’Adua), who came with a seven- point agenda.
“Jonathan came with a bogus Transformation Agenda without transforming anything. Nigerians are tired of his excuses.”
Reacting to Jonathan’s claims, the ACN, through its National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, also berated Jonathan for such an unreasonable excuse.
“The President must be a joker with his kind of submission. As the elected President, he is expected to take decisions, good decisions,” he said.
Also, Afenifere, a Pan- Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, affirmed that Jonathan’s slowness does not qualify him as a leader.
According to its Secretary General, Chief Seinde Arogbofa: “We need a President who will take actions that will solve the numerous problems and challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation. We do not need a slow leader right now.”
“Nigerians are expecting quick results and solution to their problems and not excuses for poor performances.”
The ACF has reminded Jonathan that he had only four years to spend in office.
The forum, while reacting through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, observed that Jonathan had no time to waste and must act fast.
It said, “Those who framed the 1999 Constitution and provided for a maximum of four years per tenure must have taken into account the need for thorough analyses of situations with a view to arriving at informed judgment for performance by those with the mandate of leadership.
“So, Mr. President must take into account the fact that he does not have limitless time, lest he runs out of time and go down in history as a President who used all his tenure for plans that did not deliver on his promise to transform Nigeria into a better place.”
Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin of CD said Jonathan should work with his manifesto if at all he had one.
“What is the essence of having a manifesto or a vision before occupying an exalted position or running for an office? It shows clearly that he is an accidental President, with no clear-cut vision,” the group said.
Faulting Jonathan’s claims, the convener of the Coalition of Concerned Northern Politicians , Academics and Professionals, Dr.Junaid Mohammed, said Mr. President should stop giving excuses and think of how to make things happen.
According to him: “No amount of fishing for excuses will make him a better President.”
Mohammed advised the President to learn from his mistakes and the people around him.
His words: “I think it is very disingenuous of Jonathan to advance this kind of argument so late in our democratic experience. It is a known fact all over the world that the human species are not perfect; people who come into office accidentally or even by design are expected to make mistakes at the beginning of their tenures because of the learning curve.
“But getting to two years out of a four- year tenure and we are still having this kind of excuses does not inspire confidence at all.
“He simply does not have what it takes to rule Nigeria; he lacks political savvy and he is lacking in intellectual capacity also.
“It is clear that Jonathan has the worst set of characters who are deficient in knowledge and cognate experience in leadership.”
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