Opposition dismisses Jonathan’s self-assessment

Opposition parties have dismissed President Goodluck Jonathan’s assessment of his administration in the last two years, saying the President has not performed. They also said that Nigerians did not need a marking scheme to assess the Jonathan administration. The Action Congress of Nigeria and the All Nigeria Peoples Party said these on Thursday while reacting to the President’s speech at the Democracy Day event in Abuja on Wednesday.

Jonathan had, at the event, faulted the assessment of his administration by critics, saying his government had done well.

He also urged Nigerians to be objective, adding that they should develop a marking scheme in assessing his administration.

But the ACN, in a statement in Ibadan, on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, reminded the President that it was not the business of the opposition to spoon-feed his administration on how to govern.

“Mr. President, Nigerians need no marking scheme to know that the rate of unemployment went up, under your watch, to an unprecedented 23.9% by December 2011, according to figures given by the National Bureau of Statistics. Today, the figure must be hovering above the 50% mark!

“Nigerians need no marking scheme to know that under your watch, security of lives and property, and the welfare of the citizens – the raison d’être of any government – are at the lowest ebb.”

“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?”

The ACN said the Washington-based global advocacy and campaigning organisation, ONE, listed Nigeria, under President Jonathan, and Democratic Republic of Congo among “laggard countries’’ pulling Africa back from reaching the MDG goals by 2015.

“This global body did not use any ‘Jonathan-style marking scheme’ to name Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Ghana and Ethiopia as the top performing countries in Africa (on the MDGs), even when they are less endowed than Nigeria.”

The party said it would not have wasted its energy on commenting on the mid-term performance record of the Jonathan administration, had the President not disingenuously decided to blame imaginary enemies of his administration for his token achievements in the face of mounting challenges facing the country.

It said, “Mr. President, it is never too late for you to put your shoulder to the wheel, shun the political jobbers around you, reinvigorate your cabinet by chasing away the deadwood there – though some of them come highly recommended on paper – and giving Nigerians a more purposeful governance.

“When that happens, you will not need to waste valuable time on lecturing your much-sapped compatriots on how to assess your administration, and you would have succeeded in rending those seemingly implacable critics of yours in the media and the opposition jobless.”

Also, the ANPP, which reacted through its spokesman, Emma Eneukwu, said it was not impressed by Jonathan’s assessment.

It said that it had gone out of its way to proffer solutions to the myriad of problems facing the country, out of sheer patriotism.

“Needless to say that such suggestions from us and other well-meaning groups and individuals have been so arrogantly ignored by the administration,’’ it said.

The party wondered why Jonathan was suddenly irritated that Nigerians had not given his administration a pass mark, after about three years in office.

It said that after being bashed by Nigerians for non-performance he had to encourage himself by becoming the exam setter and marker.

The ANPP said, “Performance is like a pregnancy that cannot be hidden. Where did he perform? Is it power, security, job creation, corruption or other infrastructural developments?

“The President knows he has failed Nigerians. Note that it is non- performance of the President that pushed him to aggression and fighting imaginary enemies. A performing President moves with air of confidence knowing that the people are on his side.”

But the Presidency described the statements credited to the opposition political parties on the mid-term performance of Jonathan as reckless and irresponsible.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said contrary to the position of the opposition parties, Jonathan had achieved so much in the two years of his administration.

Gulak said, “The ANPP, ACN, Congress for Progressive Change and other political parties are just making statements that are reckless and irresponsible.

“Have governors of ACN, CPC or ANPP states presented mid-term report to the people of their states? The answer is no.

“This is the first time in history that a President will present his mid-term report to the people of the country. He told Nigerians in clear terms what he has done in the last two years.

“President Jonathan’s achievements are facts and verifiable. They are there for all to see, they are not rhetoric.

“Nigerians should be the ones to be talking and not the ACN and others that will never see anything good in this administration. That was why he said Nigerians who want to assess him should design their marking scheme.”

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