Dr. Goodluck Jonathan
Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the first Nigerian president to attend the pilgrimage in Israel, has returned after seeking the face of God. According to him and his supporters, this step is bound to spur positive changes in Nigeria in the coming months. How far that is true is yet to be seen, writes Ojo M. Maduekwe
Two pictures of President Goodluck Jonathan from his recently concluded pilgrimage to Israel which appeared on the front pages of many national dailies have been circulating the internet and several social media fora like the facebook and twitter. When you take a close look at the photos, the question that keeps tugging at your heart, begging for explanation is whether President Jonathan was genuine while praying and being prayed for or if he was doing all that for the paparazzi.
Intent being a matter of the heart one can only believe what Jonathan and his stooges say regarding the purpose of his trip to Israel. But, it is there for all to see that right from the beginning when the news broke that Jonathan would be attending this year’s pilgrimage, the whole affair has been one scripted play orchestrated by the different actors involved.
The stage-managed pilgrimage has painted President Jonathan’s government as an increasing unpopular one doing its best to grab at straws to stay afloat- a calculated move the presidency and Jonathan’s supporters are cashing in for political capital. The good news that they’ve brought back from Israel is that the president is now a born again.
It was the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, one of the president’s staunchest supporters who said “I believe strongly that this, being the first historic pilgrimage by any president in Nigeria since 1914, would be a turning point for our country. Since Nigeria has been amalgamated, almost 100 years ago, no Nigerian president has undertaken a pilgrimage to the holy land of Israel. We have never been to the holy land that God gave to the children of Israel and from where almost every religion of the world emanated from.
“To a large extent, this being the first pilgrimage by a Nigerian leader to Jerusalem, visiting the holy sites, I believe strongly that God is going to look at Nigeria favourably and our lives will never be the same again. I am very convinced that this is a turning point for national rebirth. Any transformation that does not have spiritual connotation is not enough,” he said.
The governor of the oil rich state was speaking to a crop of pressmen at the Enugu International Airport on his return from Israel.
Akpabio was among the 19 governors who were reported to have joined President Jonathan on his spiritual journey of discovery. On October 22, the governors, as well as some serving ministers had accompanied the President on the Christian pilgrimage to Israel. As expected, these government functionaries were in turn accompanied by some of their several aides, whose expenses were paid for in full by their state governments.
While one may look away from the cost of the pilgrimage to governance in Nigeria, political experts reckoned that with the number of churches and a great parade of Nigerian pastors and spiritual leaders, one wonders why the President needed go to Israel to be a changed man. They said this was not the first time the president would be born again. Remember the figure of President Jonathan kneeling at the alter at the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) camp and being prayed for by the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, sometime in 2011?
While commencing the 2013 Christian pilgrimage to Israel, Rome and Greece, President Jonathan was reported to have said the pilgrimage exercise was not a business trip or jamboree, but a spiritual journey which importance could not be over-emphasised. Nigerians are known to always resort to praying a problem away and currently the country is facing great challenges.
“Nigeria needs both political and spiritual transformation. The country is facing a lot of challenges; hence this pilgrimage exercise will serve as an intercessory tool for the nation to seek the face of God in this trying moment of our national life. Christ is a winner and conqueror! I have no doubt that this exercise would help the nation overcome its current challenges,” the president, represented by the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, was quoted to have said.
Certainly not everybody was happy with the President’s trip and the obvious scripted appearances of piety. On the social media, a war of words did ensue between the Presidency and the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement. The Presidential Assistant on New Media, Reno Omokri, and the founding Chairman of the PDM, Bashir Yusuf, at the weekend, were embroiled in frenzy over the pilgrimage.
Yusuf, it was reported, started the tweet-fight when he alleged that it was an attitude of double standard for the President to after seeking the face of God for the country’s development, would return home only to encourage corruption and looting. It was as well noted that Yusuf claimed that President Jonathan ensured the circulation of such pictures to make him look like he is now ‘born again’ and to fool voters in the build up to the 2015 polls.
Yusuf said: “GEJ’s picture in Jerusalem is everywhere. He is doing what he knows how to do best: manipulation of religious sentiments. As 2015 draws near, he is now born again. You pray before the Wailing Wall seeking the face of God and you return home to loot the treasury. You make jest of your creator. Don’t worship today and loot tomorrow. GEJ can fool some people some of the time, but he cannot fool all the people all the time.
“I want to speak about GEJ and corruption today. He is my President today and I want to hold him accountable for the looting perpetrated under him. I say it without fear of contradiction that GEJ’s government is the most corrupt in Nigeria’s history. Nigerians are wiser now. We want to hear what you have to say about Oduahgate. Nigeria has never been bled this badly.”
But Omokri responded, saying, “Mallam Yusuf, Nigerian leaders have been photographed and shown on TV while performing pilgrimages for decades. Why attack now? In fact, your boss Atiku was photographed and televised during hajj while in office. There is nothing wrong with it. Please respect religious freedom.
“You should be ashamed of yourself for criticising the President for going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It’s unthinkable that such a religiously intolerant fellow as yourself managed to become the chairman of PDM. Voters, please note his tweet,” Omokri said in defence of his boss.
Of course it is imperative to glory in God. Political observers however said that alone won’t fix the societal ills that are being experienced in the different states of the country; it won’t address the issues of kidnapping and terrorism; neither will it automatically unite the different ethnic nationalities that are gearing up to discuss their continuous existence at the proposed national conference.
The numerous problems facing Nigeria and the uncertainty in the political atmosphere as the nation speedily inch towards 2015 would not disappear because the President and 19 governors with some ministers went to Israel on pilgrimage. Nigeria’s problems which were not as a result of force majeure but man made would require a concerted and conscious effort by every stakeholder to address, not prayer alone.
For some political observers, as a changed man that President Jonathan and his cohorts claim to be, maybe where to begin for the President is in forgiving his supposed enemies. Let’s say he starts by forgiving Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, of whatever wrong the governor may have done him. After Amaechi, then he would do well to extend that olive branch to the rest of the G7.
According to political experts, an outstretched arm of a loving father of the nation to his strayed children would be a good place to begin. They said Akpabio’s remark that President Jonathan’s trip would give Nigeria a spiritual rebirth would amount to nothing if dedicated leadership is not pursued to better the lot of Nigerians. They advised the president to match his faith with works; take advantage of his spiritual rebirth and win back the heart of Nigerians by addressing squarely the country’s many problems.
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