Skip to main content

Time To Move On – A Brief Note To Jonathan Supporters By Inibehe Effiong

Dear supporters of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, if you truly want to fight for a better Nigeria, fight for a better Nigeria on principle, not based on interest; do so dispassionately, not selectively.

If you hate corruption, injustice and bad governance, it should not matter who is in power. It should not matter which region or religion a leader or politician comes from. It should not matter the political party that is in power.


You are an accomplice if you only speak out when it is convenient for you, but remain silent when your favourite politician is in government.

Some of us have been consistent in our criticisms. Some of us have been consistent in resisting tyranny irrespective of who is in power.

People from my home State, Akwa Ibom, who hated me for constantly deprecating the evils of the Godswill Akpabio regime are now pretending to be his adversaries.

Some of them wished me death in the past because of my opposition to Akpabio, but they started singing a different tune the moment Akpabio left the PDP for the APC. The people who defended Akpabio’s tyranny are now defending governor Udom Emmanuel’s tyranny.

There is nothing that I criticized Akpabio for while he was a governor that Udom Emmanuel has replicated and I have not spoken out against. I do not care who the governor is. What I care about is what a governor does.

There is nothing that Jonathan did while in office that I criticized him for, that has taken place under General Buhari and I kept mute. The same way that I opposed Jonathan’s misrule is the same way that I am opposing Buhari’s misrule.

Those of you that are debating whose misrule is better or worse are just dissipating energy on frivolity. There is nothing like ‘a better bad president’. If we are ever going to change this country, we have to stop expressing preferences for certain categories of bad leaders.

Mr. Jonathan, whose defeat you are still bitter about, is closer to Buhari today than most Buhari supporters. They have a common interest. Jonathan has moved on with his life but you are still bitter about 2015. You are taking sides against your fellow citizens in the name of partisanship.

Those of you who are still obsessed with Jonathan’s defeat should remember that history is a judge. Most of you that are attacking people over their political views in 2015 were the most vociferous defenders of impunity, corruption and injustice under Jonathan.

Many of you are still fervently rooting for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. How can you hate your regular citizens over their political decisions and views in 2015 and at the same time be defending the same Atiku whose money, influence and support along with Saraki, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Tinubu and others propelled Buhari to power?

People like Reno Omokri should not insult our intelligence by pretending to be activists or advocates for good governance. We know that if your favourite politicians were in control today of the federal government today, you will be doing exactly what Buhari supporters are doing, just like you did under Jonathan.

The very fact that you are unwilling to admit the flaws of Jonathan’s government which largely caused his defeat says a lot about your sense of patriotism, character and false outrage.

In any event, how many of you are willing to support a fresh presidential candidate who is not part of the rotten political establishment in 2023?

You cannot be recycling thieves and expect some of us to take you seriously simply because your preferred thief steals less than another thief. If we truly want to change Nigeria, we must stop supporting people who have been part of the destruction of this country in the past.

2023 is far away, but many of you are already projecting the same corrupt and recycled politicians for the next round of presidential election. That is not how to change a country.

For some of us, PDP is APC and APC is PDP. If we are going to move Nigeria forward, we must look beyond these evil twin.

We have a collective responsibility to confront the forces of darkness that have overwhelmed our country.

The Buhari regime has declared war on the suffering masses. Buhari has imposed economic sanctions on Nigerians by implementing unconscionable austerity measures and policies at a time that responsible nation’s are introducing palliatives and social intervention programmes to cushion the harsh effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

We cannot effectively hold this oppressive, corrupt and incompetent regime accountable if citizens do not unite. Jonathan has since moved on, Atiku has ostensibly moved on after 2019 elections. It is time for you to move on.

It is time to fight for a better Nigeria.

inibehe.effiong@gmail.com
Twitter: @InibeheEffiong
 

Opinion

AddThis

: 

Original Author

: 

Inibehe Effiong

Disable advertisements

: 

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS



from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/3209T8e
via EDUPEDIA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...
Post a Comment
Read more

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...
Post a Comment
Read more