“Mr President, Nigerians need no marking scheme to know that under your watch, security of lives and property, as well as the welfare of the citizens – the raison d’etre of any government – are at the lowest ebb. A day before you demanded a marking scheme from Nigerians instead of giving them better life, a popular musician was attacked by a nine-man gang that snatched his car and deprived him of his money in the country’s economic capital city – the fate being suffered daily by millions of your compatriots!
Economic figures
“Mr. President, what marking scheme does one need to know that despite the seemingly impressive economic figures being reeled out by your administration, the average Nigerian is worse off today than he or she was before you assumed office? What we are seeing is growth without development. The so-called 6.5 per cent economic growth announced by your Finance Minister is meaningful only on paper. How does that help the thousands of university graduates who are scrambling to work as truck drivers? How does it make Lagos-Ibadan expressway or the East-West road safer for Nigerians?”
Managing Director/Chief Executive, International Energy Services Limited, IESL, Dr. Diran Fawibe: “High level corruption still constitute about 10 percent of production costs, which is compounded by the dearth of infrastructure, particularly power shortages. Nigerians do not feel the President is committed to the fight against corruption because in spite of all that are being said, corruption is on the increase. We see an inverse relation because in spite of the ‘fight’ corruption is still on the increase, which implies that corruption is fighting back. But if we are very proactive about the fight, there will be a reduction, which means that we haven’t yet proffered a solution to fighting corruption effectively. Note that the corruption we are talking about here is not the one at the lower levels, but corruption at the highest level among people in government and positions of leadership. This is why the incidence is not reducing.
“The insecurity in the system is a big disincentive to foreign direct investment because at the just-concluded OTC in HoustonTexas, all the foreigners who spoke, cited insecurity as a limiting factor to investment. The shortage of power is still a very great impediment to development, and Nigeria will not witness much jobs creation due to lack of power. The cost of direct generation of electricity by homes and businesses is very huge. So if power and corruption can be tackled effectively operating costs will be reduced significantly. Mind you we have identified these problems over and over again, but it is how they are being tackled that will indicate whether we are making progress or not.”
Yoruba socio political group, Afenifere
Yoruba socio political group, Afenifere, disagreed with President Goodluck Jonathan on his mid term assessment saying he should allow Nigerians to give an unbiased verdict of his administration. Its Secretary General, Basorun Sehinde Arogbofa said in an interview in Akure that the President cannot objectively assess himself. Arogbofa likened the mid term assessment of the present administration by the president himself to the yoruba philosophy of a lizard that falls from the Iroko tree and praises itself if no one praises it.
He said: “The President cannot set the examination for himself, set the marking scheme, mark his answer sheets and give himself pass mark. He should allow Nigerians to assess him. We have reservation about that method of self assessment. It is not for the President to blow his trumpet. He should allow the people he is governing to assess him.”
Former President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Festus Iyayi
Radical university lecturer in the University of Benin and former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Festus Iyayi, disagreed with the President saying that has not performed. He said: “The President mainly spoke of his achievements in broad terms. If I may ask, how many jobs has he created? None. Unemployment is on the increase and what is the impact of his administration on unemployment; graduates are roaming the streets without jobs. What impact has his government made on the inequality between the rich and the poor? He has not done anything in this regard. Corruption has been on the increase since he came into office, what has he done to tame corruption. The level of inflation is on the increase and workers’ wages is not enough to take them home. The value of the Naira is very weak as against other currencies, worse than when he came into office. The level of insecurity in the country has been on the increase. We are experiencing a worse situation than what happened in the Niger Delta with bombs in Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna etc.”
Yinka Odumakin, Human Rights Activist
If President Jonathan has done well, Nigerians would have as well been better off. If he has done well, it would have been well with Nigeria. The President should quit self-deceit and face the reality on the ground. The country is hemorrhaging and Nigerians are groaning. A President who is doing chest thumbing in the midst of all that is going on may not be abreast of the situation.”
National President, Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Shetima Yerima
“President Jonathan has insulted the sensibilities of Nigerians. Nigerians have come of age that never again are we going to just sit and fold arms and have people talk about policies which do not have any impact on the people in the society. Never shall we fold our arms and allow people to be lying, organizing the media, standing on the podium and looking at the face of over 150 million Nigerians and talk about policies as regards their so called transformation agenda while the common man on the street cannot feel the impact of that
transformation. So, to that extent, they have failed, they have failed. Two years is a long time to address out of 7, 5, 2 point agenda or whatever they call it. But we have not seen a quarter of it. The economy is nothing to write home about.
Unfortunately, the Minister of Finance reels out statistics of achievements but physically you cannot feel the impact of that performance. So, we are no longer fools and we cannot be fooled by any body. I see that gathering of yesterday as gathering of friends, colleagues and those who wait for appointments from the government and are willing to give standing ovation and clap.”
Nigeria more dis-united under Jonathan — Junaid Mohammed
Well, anybody can assess himself and conclude that he has done well but for any sensible Nigerian, you will realise that there are parameters for assessing a leader. Firstly, one of the parameters is Peace and Security. So far, Nigeria has been a disgraceful country in terms of security and right from the Civil war period in Nigeria, I have never seen this kind of insecurity that Nigeria is passing through right now. Another parameter is the Economic well-being of the masses. Nigerians today live on meager allowances that cannot even cater for their family and I can say with all sense of responsibility that Nigeria has never been worse economically.
I must say that there is no development without peace and security. So if security cannot be tackled, then we cannot achieve any develop
mental strides in this country.”
Jonathan has done reasonably well in some areas—Fasheun
He has succeeded in some ways and he is still struggling in some areas. So we will not say that he has done well on all that he promised doing. If we give him pass mark in all areas that means that we are acting God and we are not God. But I will say that he has done reasonably well in some areas, therefore I will not give him below average. The President is not someone that blows his trumpet.
He can’t be the performer and the judge—Tsav
The President should not have commended himself, he should have allowed Nigerians to assess his scorecard. He can’t be the performer and the judge. Security is the primary responsibility of every government, but security is absent in Nigeria. The power sector is still a challenge, there is no potable water anywhere and corruption is still the order of the day. What we have been witnessing in this country, does not conform with the commendations the president gave to himself in his midterm report. If he had addressed these basic requirements of humanity, we would have hailed him, but he is the one hailing himself.
Former Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo
President Goodluck Jonathan has done absolutely well so far but some powerful individuals were bent on making the company ungovernable for him, but “in spite of that, he gave INEC a free hand and sufficient funding to conduct the best ever election in this country and has boldly taken on the powerful interests – and their press supporters – behind the fetid fuel subsidy issue. The economy is under expert management and growing at a healthy pace, and prices are relatively stable. The railways are waking up from their long slumber; and, in spite of the endless bad mouthing, modalities have been set in motion to make electricity more available and more reliable. It is so easy for us to forget that the late Bola Ige promised to fix the electricity problem within three months of assuming office. This reminds one of the tributes paid to President Obama by former President Bill Clinton during the fierce campaign for the former’s re-election bid when Clinton confessed that no US President, including himself could have done better than President Obama in the face of the economic and political hurdles placed on his path.”
Minority Whip, House of Rep, Hon Ahmed Datti
“Which area will Jonathan say he has performed? Is it in the rail, road, economy or power sector? As for power, the sector has been like that for over 14 years, in short since democracy started. What they have been doing is to move the goal post forward, it is now every December ritual, next year again it will be shifted. Which road would he say he has really worked on, is it the Lokoja Abuja road that has killed so many Nigerians or the East-West road in his area that has remained largely uncompleted. He has not achieved anything, look at the way the NGF election was handled which has further confirmed that PDP has not won any election. The security situation for a long time has been deteriorating and there is no room for improvement in any form. If I am asked to score him I will score him 30 percent because much has not been achieved”.
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