Dissecting Jonathan’s Uncommon Statesmanship

AHEAD of the just concluded presidential election, the political atmosphere was tense and sober. The economy was unstable as uncertainty pervaded the entire political landscape.

Members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the major opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) were at each other’s jugular over who takes over power at the centre.

The electioneering campaigns of the two parties were characterised by calumny, hatred, divisiveness, tribal and religious sentiments, hate documentaries, name-calling, and cheap blackmail. Many Nigerians and the international community were worried and concerned of what will befall the country during and after the election, especially in the face of Boko Haram insurgency that has been threatening the existence of the country.

As the election date drew closer, the stakes became higher. Pockets of political violence were recorded across the country, despite several peace accords signed by political stakeholders across the country.

People relocated to their home states, while those who could afford it travelled out of the country to avoid being caught in web of post-election crisis.

Between Jonathan and his major challenger, General Muhammed Buhari (rtd.) of APC, Jonathan had an edge. Apart from the power of incumbency, his party has wide following, and has been in power for 16 years. Its past national leadership had once boasted that they would rule the country for 60 years. Everything was working for President Jonathan and his party before the crisis that led to defection of its five governors to the APC erupted.

With this, the opposition began to grow stronger in leaps and bounds, but PDP thought it would not last for long. With the choice of Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo as their presidential candidate and running mate respectively, the PDP suddenly woke up from slumber, knowing full well that the die has been cast.

Many saw the choice of Osinbajo as a masterstroke considering that the Southwest zone has the numerical strength to decide the election. It was at this point that President Jonathan and his men hurriedly moved into the Southwest with all sorts of promises and pacts. But it appeared the people of the region had made up their minds to support their son, having complained of being neglected by President Jonathan’s government in the last five years.

From the Northern angle, there was discordant tunes in the PDP as the people of the region appeared to have felt short-changed by President Jonathan’s decision to contest the 2015 Presidency after an alleged agreement in 2011 that he would return power to the North in 2015.

First to disclose the alleged agreement was the governor of Niger State, Alhaji Muazu Babangida Aliyu and former president of the country, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Although the presidency denied it, asking for a proof, many knew that the situation did not go down well with the Northerners in the PDP who found succour in the APC, while pretending to be genuine PDP members.

In one of his interviews with The Guardian months before the election, former vice-chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and secretary of Northern Elders Forum (NEF) Prof. Ango Abdullahi made it very clear that the North would vote en masse for any party that gave the region its presidential ticket. A warning the Presidency and the PDP leadership did not take serious ahead of the election.

The PDP governors especially from the North played along with President Jonathan in his second term, but failed to do their homework to ensure his victory at the poll. A political loophole, the APC capitalised on to penetrate the North, formed formidable alliance with them to ensure that President Jonathan and the PDP would be defeated in the election.

Not many including President Jonathan saw it coming until when the presidential election results started trickling in. First to release their results were states in the Southwest region, a region President Jonathan and the PDP had hoped on to win the election.

Disappointedly, President Jonathan only won in Ekiti State out of the six states in the zone. Ekiti is the smallest state in the zone in terms of population. President Jonathan failed to secure victory in any of the Northwest and Northeast states with the exception of Taraba. In the North Central zone, President Jonathan won only in Nasarawa and Plateau states while Buhari won the rest of the states.

The Southeast zone that voted en masse for President Jonathan in 2011 failed to provide votes that were equal to that of Kano State.

Having realised even before the final collation of the poll result that he has lost the contest to his major challenger, Buhari, President Jonathan displayed a rare statesmanship and sportsmanship by congratulating Buhari. To him at that point, there were several options which its outcome may be neither be here nor there, but untypical of an average Nigerian politician, President Jonathan toed the path of wisdom and patriotism by conceding defeat to save the country from post-election crisis, which prophets of doom had prophesied ahead of the poll.

President Jonathan did not stop at that, he has gone further to stop his party, the PDP from challenging the outcome of the poll.

With this, President Jonathan has not only written his name in gold in the country’s democratic process; his action has ushered in a new dawn in the country’s democracy.

For the PDP, the situation calls for repositioning and re-strategising to provide Nigerians with credible and viable opposition that will keep the incoming government on her toes. It is a herculean task that must be accomplished if the country’s democracy process must grow further.

If APC can provide virile opposition within a short period to the extent of dislodging PDP from the Presidency, nothing stops PDP that has been in power for 16 years to replicate the feat.