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Defections: What Nigeria can learn from Ghana
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My political journey a miracle, says Jonathan
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Tinubu lauds Abati at 60, as Obasanjo, Otti, Hamzat, Daniel, Oshiomhole, others honour media personality at book presentation
By Oluseye Ojo
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, on Friday weighed in on the threats by American President, Donald Trump to send troops to Nigeria to defeat ‘terrorists killing Christians in the country.’
Kukah spoke while giving the keynote address, entitled: ‘Nigeria: Time to Re-Load’, at the 60th birthday and launch of three books of Dr. Reuben Abati, former Special Adviser to ex-president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, yesterday.
The books presented by Abati include ‘Portraits: People, Politics and Society’, ‘How Goodluck Jonathan Became President’, and ‘A Love Letter and Other Stories’, which offer a glimpse into Jonathan’s presidency and the inner workings of Nigerian politics.
The cleric stated that Trump’s comments should not elicit anger from the Nigerian authorities and the citizens, noting that the American president’s threats should rejuvenate Nigerians into finding solutions to the country’s seemingly intractable challenges.
He noted: “We are confusing Trump for a sickness. He’s a symptom, not a disease. Trump is a symptom of the disease that is in our country.”
He charged Nigerians to According to the cleric, rather than take offence at Trump’s words, Nigerians should reflect on the many self-inflicted ills in the country, including ethnic divisions, religious intolerance, corruption, over 60,000 abandoned projects, and the failure to conduct free, fair, and credible elections.
The clergyman noted that if it would take Trump’s threat to get the banditry, insurgency and other forms of terrorism comprehensively tackled, so be it. Using a popular Nigerian proverb to drive home his point, Kukah said: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a woman that kills a snake or if it’s a man that kills a snake. What matters is that the snake should not escape.
Archbishop Kukah regretted that Nigeria had never produced a leader who sees the country as his constituency.
“Well, you ask yourself now, who are the prominent Nigerians, Nigerian statesmen that their names resonate across the length and breadth of Nigeria without punctuation.
He decried how elected public officials have been defecting from their political parties to others without consequences.
He said Nigeria should come up with laws that would make it extremely difficult for politicians to defect from one party to the other, during the pendency of their office tenure.
According to him, Ghana went through worse things in respect of defection like it has been happening in Nigeria for more than two decades, before Ghana reviewed its constitution, which puts a halt to incessant defection from one party to another then.
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“In Ghana, the law states that if you defect, you have 42 days for a new election to be conducted. It is an election in which you cannot participate. Sometimes, people think that all we’re looking for in a democracy is good men to govern us. Absolutely not.
Kukah also challenged former president Goodluck Jonathan, who was at the book launch, to probably write his own story on what happened when five lawmakers in the House of Representatives, including the then Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
‘Our law says if you defect, you have to write a letter to the Speaker, who will announce that you have defected. Now that the Speaker has defected, who will make the announcement?”
In his remarks at the event, former President Goodluck Jonathan attributed his improbable political journey to a miracle, rising from deputy governor to President within four years.
“It was a miracle. From deputy governor to becoming president of this country within four years. it’s only God that made it possible,” he stated
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who chaired the programme, remarked that Abati’s books are a testament to the power of storytelling.
For Abati, the celebrant and the author, the day was a celebration of his life’s work.
“I’m grateful to Goodluck Jonathan for giving me the opportunity to serve
I’m grateful to my family, my friends, and my colleagues, who have supported me every step of the way.”
The books were reviewed by a frontline journalist, Louis Odion.
Dignitaries that graced the event included two former Ogun State Governors Segun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel, as well as former governor of Edo State, Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
Also in attendance were Abia State Governor, Alex Otti; Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede; Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; and the Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Abdulkabir, among others.
The list also comprised Ambassador Godknows Igali; Access Holdings Chairman Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede; The Sun Newspapers managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Mr Onuoha Ukeh, Punch Newspapers’ Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Joseph Adeyeye; publisher of The Guardian, Lady Maiden Alex-Ibru; advertising executive Biodun Shobanjo; and ThisDay publisher, Prince Nduka Obaigbena, as well as Abati’s wife, Mrs. Kikelomo Abati and other family members.
