Quote
"When we are talking of four years, Goodluck Jonathan is not planning to come and stay there for any moment longer than necessary and he would never even think of tenure elongation. I can say this without any fear of contradiction and I believe in my mind and he also believes in his mind that he just wants to be a President for four years and deliver and make a point. We should help him. I come from the North".
"For instance, as far as the Nigerian state is concerned, the next step after the office of the President and the Vice President is the office of the Senate President.Let me tell you, we in the North West geo-political zone wanted that position. But Obasanjo insisted that the Igbo nation was on the fringe and as the third largest ethnic group would feel left out of the scheme of things….. Obasanjo was still President-elect. He insisted and made sure that the senate presidency was zoned to the Igbos of the South East zone. This was something Obasanjo achieved even before he was sworn-in as President. But the North West wrote letters. I was one of those who also wrote letters to him making our case for that position of the senate presidency but he did not shift his position. He stuck to his gun. That position of senate president remained in the South East geo-political zone for the entire eight years that Obasanjo was President, Commander-in-Chief."
"Maybe Obasanjo was in a hurry to leave and he wanted somebody to replace him and he decided as the chief executive and leader of the PDP, that he wanted somebody from the north. And that person did not even look for that office and he looked for another person from the South South who also never looked for that office. Both of them were nominated, elected and confirmed as President, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice President, respectively. Immediately that was done, Obasanjo left the scene.Maybe this is the misunderstanding that some of us have because Obasanjo kept saying North, South. Maybe if a president had emerged without making such an inference, people may have accepted."
Unquote
Vanguard
PRESIDENT JONATHAN'S AMBITION: Why North must support South South now, by Dalhatu Tafida
Headlines Oct 9, 2010
Says Jonathan is a seed planted by God
'Presidency is the seed of zoning and rotation'
Responding to a question on why he, coming from the North West geo-political zone, the zone where the late President Umaru Yar'Adua hailed and the zone which, had Yar' Adua not died, might still have pursued a second term in office, should not be seen as a bad person on account of his present posting, Tafida, Dr. Sarki Dalhatu Tafida, the medical doctor/politician/diplomat, who is the Director General of the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation, said, smiling.
"Yes! This issue of coming from the North, some people might say, well, Dalhatu Tafida is not a good Northerner that is why he is heading the Jonathan Campaign? And for a dose of mischief, the name of Sambo would not appear?
"Well, if people come out and say I am not a good Northerner, they should come and tell me what they have done that will make me a bad Northerner and they, good Northerners. I am thinking of this country – its future and its prosperity.
You are from the North West but some other persons would wonder where you are getting this vibes from because your zone produced late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and it is your zone, it appears, that is being robbed of the presidency. Some would wonder and say, well, maybe it is because he got a job as the Director General of the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation?
"No, first of all, I am 70 years old. Secondly, I believe I have seen it all. I have worked and I have known virtually all our leaders right from independence and, if you like, from close quarters. I believe that the North as a region, we've had our share, whether through military or civilian – we've had our share. I also believe that this gentleman, Goodluck Jonathan, coming out by sheer providence, by sheer act of God, that he wants it, comes from a group that has always been with and supported the region called North in those years when we were having problems with some parts of the Southern region. We always, one way or the other, entered the Niger Delta and we have always had our votes to make it up for us to get to power.
We had always made friends; we had always enticed them to come along with us and we had always moved along. I thought the best way to go about this is to think about the past and plan for the future.
When we are talking of four years, Goodluck Jonathan is not planning to come and stay there for any moment longer than necessary and he would never even think of tenure elongation. I can say this without any fear of contradiction and I believe in my mind and he also believes in his mind that he just wants to be a President for four years and deliver and make a point. We should help him. I come from the North".
Jonathan is a seed planted by God — TAFIDA
The most contentious issue now in the polity is that of zoning and for the first time President Goodluck Jonathan spoke about it recently but instead of shedding more light, it created more confusion? Babangida, Atiku and Saraki have responded?
The first thing Nigerians must be told is that Mr. President did not just make that statement. He did not make that statement until he had brought out a copy of the PDP Constitution – 1999 and 2001. There is a reference to wit: the office of the president and the principle of rotation. Each did not mention North or South. The PDP has operated based on that principle of rotation.
Dalhatu Tafida
But the office of the president is the seed under that zoning arrangement. When in 1999 President Obasanjo emerged as the President and, of course he picked his running mate from the North and that running mate who eventually became his Vice President was picked from the North East geo-political zone.
We then sat down to distribute the various positions in order of importance.
Who were the 'we'?
Leaders of the party! For instance, as far as the Nigerian state is concerned, the next step after the office of the President and the Vice President is the office of the Senate President.
Let me tell you, we in the North West geo-political zone wanted that position. But Obasanjo insisted that the Igbo nation was on the fringe and as the third largest ethnic group would feel left out of the scheme of things.
When precisely was this?
Obasanjo was still President-elect. He insisted and made sure that the senate presidency was zoned to the Igbos of the South East zone. This was something Obasanjo achieved even before he was sworn-in as President. But the North West wrote letters. I was one of those who also wrote letters to him making our case for that position of the senate presidency but he did not shift his position.
He stuck to his gun. That position of senate president remained in the South East geo-political zone for the entire eight years that Obasanjo was President, Commander-in-Chief.
The next most important position was the office of the Speaker. Now, instead of the North West geo-political zone getting the number three position as desired, it was the number four position that we got.
That was how Imam Salisu Buhari, then later on Ghali Umar NaÁbba and then Aminu Bello Masari became speakers.
I hope you understand my point. Then there are other offices that are zoned. The office of the chairman of the party was, during the Obassanjo years in the North Central geo-political zone. It remained there, though there were changes but the office remained in the North Central zone.
Then there is the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF. That office was zoned to the South South geo-political zone and it also remained there for Obasanjo's eight years in power.
That was how offices were distributed. And you come to the offices of the deputy Senate President, House Leader, Deputy Speaker, Senate Leader and other offices like that.
These are all part of the zoning arrangement and this is the meaning of rotation but the seed is that of the President and believe me it has to be so because if the office of the president is not the seed then there will be chaos.
Supposing you have no idea of what to do and another party comes in and, God forbids, wins the election because of a wrong choice or because PDP did not plan well, what do you think will happen? Chaos!
Would it therefore not be right to say what you have said now appears to be mere after-thought or, that if the PDP had explained like this that, the presidency is the seed after which when an individual emerges, from a particular geo-political zone, then other offices can be zoned accordingly. That is one. But Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2007, made it clear that after eight years, he could not, in good conscience, hand over to a southerner as successor because of the PDP zoning arrangement and, therefore, he needed to handover to a northerner?
Maybe Obasanjo was in a hurry to leave and he wanted somebody to replace him and he decided as the chief executive and leader of the PDP, that he wanted somebody from the north. And that person did not even look for that office and he looked for another person from the South South who also never looked for that office.
Both of them were nominated, elected and confirmed as President, Commander-in-Chief, and Vice President, respectively. Immediately that was done, Obasanjo left the scene.
Maybe this is the misunderstanding that some of us have because Obasanjo kept saying North, South. Maybe if a president had emerged without making such an inference, people may have accepted.
That is just one example. The same Obasanjo sat in a meeting on December 22, 2002, where it was agreed that Obasanjo should have his second term and after his eight-year rule, the North would also have its eight years. They called it an expanded caucus. Why can't or hasn't another expanded caucus met to repudiate that meeting instead of living in denial as is the case with what some people are saying. Just meet again and repudiate the earlier decision that would have been very clear?
That would cause more confusion. To me, the way I see it is that it is not necessary. Nigerians are always looking for reasons to give negative reasons and negative explanation to things.
And you know as everybody knows, Goodluck Jonathan is just a child of circumstance. He was Vice President. He was to spend four years with President YarÁdua, and if lucky, he would have been re-nominated to spend another four years with YarÁdua if YarÁdua had been alive.
But that didn't happen. It just happened otherwise by a divine act of God. There is this dictum in the English language that "man proposes; God disposes".We as human beings plan to do whatever we want to do in our own way and the God Almighty sits there and looks at us.
He has His own plan for us. It was God who decided in His own way to make Jonathan President, Commander-in-Chief; this was something that Jonathan himself never planned for. It was just something that God Almighty decided to do in His own way and at His own time. Jonathan did not fight for it; he just found himself in that position.
It is convenient to….?
Let me finish. All over the world and even in the western countries that we try to copy, there is no sitting chief executive that you say he should go away not because he has committed any crime. The most recent example is Australia where they have just had an election. Few months to the election, the number two, a woman, took over from the prime minister because they felt he might not make it, the lady was made acting prime minister until the election which she contested.
They thought she was going to lose and didn't want her to contest; and because of that there was nothing they did not attempt or do, all in a bid to stop her from contesting the elections but she stood and through coalition, she has formed a government in Australia.
Will somebody now say that she shouldn't have contested because she was only holding forth for the other person who was removed from office as a result of resignation?
We should go beyond that in the 21st century and we should be thinking positively now because the world is moving forward while we are still bogged down with all these things.
We should be looking for people who would deliver this country in the area of development. We should be looking for people who would do things that they say they will do.
We should be looking for ways of crafting government in a way that it would translate into peace and prosperity for the tens of millions of Nigerians yearning for good governance.
I, in my mind, believe that Goodluck Jonathan will bring better peace, better understanding for the people of Nigeria.
Why do you say so because some people believe that he has polarized the country so much that since the days of June 12 annulment, nothing more has polarized this country this much?
Let me explain to you why! Goodluck Jonathan comes from a minute minority in this country. That minute minority had never aspired; may be will never have aspired on its own to the office of the President, Commander-in-Chief of this country. But suddenly here is a man who found himself in that God-given situation of becoming Vice President and then becoming President, Commander-in-Chief of this great nation.
That is a seed planted by God Himself and anybody who tries to destroy a seed planted by God, nurtured by God, watered by God should have a rethink.
In other words, you are saying the people talking about zoning should just accept what has happened as a fiat accompli and move on? Is that what you're saying? Would you have accepted that were you to be on that other side?
I wouldn't be at that other side because there are certain things that have the hand of the Almighty God and when you look at the history of this man, his background, the way he emerged, the only hand you will see and find in his ascension is just the hand of God Almighty.
Well, to answer your question directly: firstly, I will not question whatever God Almighty in His infinite mercy has decided to do. Secondly, I believe in God and I believe that our country Nigeria needs to move beyond sentiments.
Most importantly, what we should do as a people at this critical juncture in the history of this nation is to assist this human being to make sure that that seed planted by God matures to fruition.
YES! WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE WHO MAY CONSIDER TAFIDA A BAD NORTHERNER AND THEY A GOOD NORTHERNER?
WHAT DOES TAFIDA THINK OF PAST LEADERS, ALMOST ALL OF WHOM HE KNOWS AT CLOSE QUARTERS?
HOW DID HE BECOME DG OF THE JONATHAN/SAMBO CAMPAIGN ORG.?
WHAT LESSONS DID OBASANJO LEARN AS PRESIDENT?
AS SHEHU SHAGARI'S PERSONAL PHYSICIAN, WHAT DOES HE THINK OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT?
AS NIGERIA'S AMBASSADOR TO THE UK, HOW DID HE COPE WITH THE YAR'ADUA CRISIS OF SUCCESSION?
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment