President Goodluck Jonathan
By Davidson Iriekpen
President Goodluck Jonathan Sunday reiterated his call for politicians to stop distracting his administration from concentrating on governance with their campaigns for the 2015 general election.
He said in Lagos at the media presentation of a book entitled: ‘Sure and Steady Transformation’, which documents his achievements in the first one year of being in office, that the moment is for governance and not politicking for the next election.
Despite his insistence that he has not given any thought to running in the 2015 presidential race as he is presently focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to Nigerians, various groups and the opposition have been linking him with surreptitious moves to seek a second term in office.
However, the president, represented by his Special Adviser on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Mr. Oronto Douglas, said the call on politicians to stop distracting his administration had become necessary given the preponderance of reports and comments on the 2015 elections in the media.
Jonathan, who wondered why politicians are already talking about 2015 which is three years away, said they should know that in politics, even 24 hours is a long time.
He said: “There seems to be too much emphasis on politics in Nigeria than governance. In other democracies, politics stops at the end of an election, and governance starts. But in Nigeria, it is the opposite.
“Politics will not put food on the table of the people. It is governance that will. Let us focus on governance.”
He urged Nigerians not to allow politicians to distract them with talks about the 2015 elections so they could focus on a sincere assessment of his administration's transformation agenda, of which the achievements in the last one year were documented in the book, and could be accessed on the website: www.sureandsteadytransformation.gov.ng
Douglas, and the president's Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who was also at the briefing, highlighted Jonathan's numerous achievements, as contained in the 155-page book.
In his comments, Okupe rated the Jonathan administration as one of the best performing governments Nigeria has ever had since independence, adding that the president is a serious and straightforward person.
Pointing out that the president keeps his promises, he said the Jonathan administration was transforming all sectors of the nation, especially the agriculture and power sectors.
He said although most Nigerians have acknowledged a noticeable improvement in power supply, with many areas reporting about 12 hours of uninterrupted supply, this would most likely increase to 16 hours by the end of the year, when power generation is expected to reach 7,000 megawatts.
“In a very short time, the agriculture sector will be providing about 25 per cent in terms of revenue that oil is currently providing us,” he added.
He described as pedestrian many of the arguments on the state of security in the country, stating that what he knew personally, but could not make public, was reassuring.
“The slowdown in these terror attacks is not a fluke. It is because more and more efforts are being made, using technology, to nip in the bud the activities of these terror agents,” he said.
The 155-page book has 32 sections, with highlights of the achievements of each of the ministries. It also contains the president's inaugural address, and a section on building strong institutions.