VICTOR ORIOLA in Lagos, writes on the damage done to the hard-earned image of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as a result of Federal Government’s removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant nationwide protests.
To say that the weeklong strike action embarked upon by the labour leaders and its civil society allies? to protest the increment in pump price of petroleum had done some damage to President Goodluck Jonathan’s image is like stating the obvious.? A visit to the president’s facebook attests to the fact that his towering influence must have waned considerably. Abusive language was freely used to denigrate the office of Mr. President and most of those who made comments on the Federal Government‘s attempt at deregulating the downstream sector through subsidy removal were unsparing.
At the GaniFawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, it was free for all as protesters had a field day raining abuses and other unprintable words on the president. MarylinOgar, Deputy Director of State Security Service also alluded to this fact. The Secret Service spokesperson said the reason why soldiers were deployed to Lagos State was to restore peace because of the dimension the protest was taking in the state. She particularly made reference to the attempt by the protesters to denigrate the office of the president.
Apart from those calling for regime change, some went berserk as they use all sorts of effigies and in some cases, mammals to depict the president. What a change of fortune and fall in political capital.
But the convener of Save Nigeria Group, Pastor TundeBakare while defending the actions of the protesters at a news conference recently said most of the people venting their anger at the rally were frustrated by government insensitivity to their plights.
Explaining the rationale behind some of the effigies made to depict President Jonathan at the rally, he said: “I have once set ablaze a book and when the author was about to quarrel with me that I burnt his book, I told him that the book was mine because I used my money to buy it. In the same vein, those making effigies to depict the president are at liberty to do so because they used their money”
Unlike before and shortly after the April presidential election when the president enjoyed so much goodwill having defeated both the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) presidential candidate,MalamNuhuRibadu and his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) counterpart, Major General MuhammaduBuhari (retd), if a rerun is to be conducted in Lagos State and some parts of the country today, the president may not enjoy the support that catapulted him to Aso Rock Villa last April.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of ACN, the leading opposition party in Nigeria who rose stoutly in defence of President Jonathan’s mandate even before the international organisation that he won the election fair and square has also faulted the? way the price increase regime was imposed on Nigerians.
Tinubu in his open letter to the president had summarized his suggestion on the contentious subsidy removal thus: “Government must modify the sudden and complete removal of the subsidy. Either we restore the subsidy or use the funds for other social purposes. If we are to use the funds for other programs, those programs shall be placed on parallel track with the subsidy. As more of these programs are ready to go on line, then subsidy can be lifted in phases. In this way, the public is assured government will not lower its total expenditure on their behalf, thus maintaining the spirit central to the social contract”
Former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Nasril el-Rufai explains the damage the protests have done to the president more succinctly.
‘‘This government has not solved any problem since its inception and the only thing it does is to create problems. And one of the problems it has caused is the removal of fuel subsidy which to me is unreasonable and insensitive. It is unreasonable because past governments have removed subsidy without corresponding improvement in the socio-economic lives of Nigerians; rather it brought hardship to us. But this government will never recover from it again. The protests attending the policy of government have further made this government more unpopular more than ever before.’’??
Inspite of this, President Jonathan has assured every Nigerian in his broadcast that he feels what they feel and that though deregulation of the downstream sector may come with its attendant hardship, the gains according to him far out weight the momentary pains that would soon give way to economic prosperity that has proven elusive because of the mistake by previous governments to toe the line.
“My dear compatriots, I urge you to show understanding for the imperatives of the adjustment in the pump price of petrol and give government your full support to ensure its successful implementation. I further appeal to Nigerians to go back to work and go about their normal duties as government has made adequate arrangements for the protection of lives and property throughout the federation ”he said in a nationwide broadcast on Monday to calm down frayed nerves.
Analysts say the president information machinery has not been proactive as it should.
This may have been one of the reasons, why the Director General of National Orientation Agency, Idi Faruk was sacked immediately after the strike for not living up to the expectation while the crisis lasted.
During the eight years of former military President, General Ibrahim BadamosiBabangida (retd) his information machinery was second to none. The MAMSER that he pioneer and was later rechristened National Orientation Agency after his exit was equal to the task in information dissemination and delivery. At the head of MAMSER then was an erudite professor of political science, Jerry Gana, whose delivery was splendid.
Although, President Jonathan campaign outfit, Neighbor–to Neighbour later came to the rescue, its image laundering effort was almost belated. This may have been the reason why some political commentators have faulted the timing of the subsidy removal that Nigerians were yet to fully buy into the project before the president announced that it has taken effect.