President Jonathan’s new strategies for winning South West in next week’s election remains on course, despite odds, Senior Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, writes.
Efforts by President Goodluck Jonathan, in league with Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, to gain control of the South West for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election may have started yielding result, with demands in some quarters for the president to be given a second chance to prove himself.
Among the strategies being applied by Mimiko in the exercise is enjoining them to key into the “Transformation” that will bring about development. In it, the governor has been traversing the whole of South West, especially all the 18 local government areas in the state, admonishing the electorate to embrace change that will bring about transformation of their lives. Part of his message is that Nigerians need transformation to start rebuilding the country as a true nation against a change that will bring about nothing.
Mimiko added that Nigerians need to break from the old ways of reasoning and doing things to a more vibrant and innovative approach, saying that Jonathan has cultivated the right culture and attitude for exemplary leadership, and that if there are changes in approach, there will be desired growth and development in the society.
“Let me inform you that Jonathan, as a consummate politician, has passion for the country and ever ready to transform it,” he said.
The issue of implementation of the recommendation of the national conference is another strategy to woo support for the re-election of Jonathan. In this regard, Mimiko has succeeded in organising series of pro-national conference seminars mostly in Ondo, Lagos and Oyo states where notable members of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural group, as well as traditional rulers in the South West, feature prominently. At the fora, they are made to understand that apart from the implementation of the confab recommendations, the zone will benefit more if Jonathan is re-elected, as he has promised to use his next mandate to transform the country.
According to Mimiko, the election is between light, which he (Jonathan) represents, and darkness, which his opponent represents, warning that it would amount to retrogression for Nigerians to leave the destiny of this nation with a man without adequate and sound education.
Aside the pro-national conference seminar, there was youth summit, comprising about 5,000 youths from the six states in the South West. Opponents of the president had alleged that the youths, who attended the seminar, were paid in foreign currency. This was not confirmed, though. The forum was however said to be well attended, and strictly on invitation.
TheNiche learnt that the youths were made to believe that “in the education sector, more al-majiri schools have been established across the country, while universities in the South West have benefited more from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) since the assumption of office of Mr. President, and that his administration will do more if given the opportunity on March 28 presidential election.
The convener of the youth summit further explained that Jonathan “is set to create additional million jobs” for the teeming youths of the country, adding that industries created by his administration will start exporting goods in the next five years.
Jonathan, in his new offensive, has also visited some traditional rulers in Osun State, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, and his Ijesa counterpart. The Osun presidential visit is considered strategic, given that this is the state considered to be the stronghold of the opposition in the South West. In the last general election, Osun State was the only state in the region that Jonathan did not win. The now-defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) rather won.
However, while it appears that the president, with his new strategies, may be making inroads into the South West, analysts warn that it may be too early for his camp to embark on victory lap.
Some particularly argue that some of the politicians that appear to be working for the president may not be sincere, after all. The grouse by those who reason in this line is that the Jonathan presidency has not adequately benefitted the Yoruba nation in terms high profile appointments and infrastructure uplift.
In this agitation, they list offices of the President, Vice President, Chief Judge, Senate President, Deputy Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, as being occupied by people from other geo-political zones, adding that re-electing the president would not guarantee any change in the tradition.
“What then is there for us to gain in giving him (Jonathan) another chance? Is it for us to remain the way we are, operating from the periphery of a project that we are supposed to be joint owners? Is that what Mimiko is calling transformation or continuity? This is not what we should be talking about,” said a high profile Lagos clergy who asked not to be mentioned.
The president’s campaign managers in the South West have, however, pledged remedying the situation if their principal gets another chance on March 28.
