A BREATH OF ROTTEN AIR FROM PRESIDENT JONATHAN

Some months before the general election last year, president Goodluck Jonathan promised a fresh air to the Nigerians if elected into office in 2011. Adding that he will continue with the 7-point agenda of his predecessor, the late president Umaru Musa Yar'adua. To his luck, he was declared winner of the 2011 polls by the INEC under the chairmanship of Prof Jega. And so many people were jubilating in the southern part of the country, but the story was quite different in the Northern part of the country- where post-election violence took place which led to the loss of lives and millions of properties were destroyed. Since his assumption as the (s)elected president of Nigeria, president Jonathan has not shown any sense of competence in his administration and things have drastically changed from bad to worst. He has not been able to address the major challenges facing the country, ranging from corruption which is now a daily business between top government officials, education which is in poor state and needs to be addressed on time, transportation and then the most challenging aspect which is insecurity. We are all witnesses of what our security situation is today. Places like Yobe, Barno, Kano have now become a deadly zone to live or another Baghdad to stay, whereby bombings and killing of innocent people takes place day by day and the clueless government is doing nothing to find a lasting panacea to these problems. Kaduna and Plateau states are known to be expert when it comes to religious crises. Violence had been heard and is still being heard in these states and other parts of the country. Today, we live in fear, speak in fear and walk in fear. Presently, Children go to school in fear, our parents go to farms in fear and our mothers go to market in fear. Fear of bombs, fear of shoot outs and fear of being caught up in clashes between people of different faiths, and it has become part of our lives. In June this year, there was crises in Kaduna state (as a result of bomb attack in some churches in Zaria) which resulted/led to a serious reprisal attack that left many people dead and hundreds injured, and it was also hot in Yobe state at that time, but President Jonathan at that moment left the country to Brazil with top government officials for a so-called UN summit. Was the summit more important to Mr President than the lives that were lost during the crises? Why is he not showing concern on situations like that? Presidents that are useful to their people don't leave their country for a submit when their countries are burning. They stay back and sympathize with their people and then find a way of tackling it. But the case is different in Nigeria. Our leaders give more importance to functions than any other thing. This clearly shows the incompetence of President Jonathan to rule the giant of Africa, Nigeria, with a population of more than 150 million people. Our educational sector too is not left behind, the situation is very poor. Our schools and universities are in critical state with the exception of private ones, which are not affordable to a common man and the government never care a bit because their children are abroad schooling, so its only a poor man that will suffer to get a qualitative education. The same thing goes to the transport sector. Every day, people are involved in road accident(s) due to poor road(s). Recently there was a terrible tanker accident in Cross River state that claimed the lives of more than hundred people. Also, June 3rd will never be forgotten to the families of Dana plane crash victims, that killed more than one hundred and fifty generation, because everything in Nigeria now is second hand. Our airplanes are second hand or old modern, our roads are not good, that's why Nigerians are dying everyday like ants. The one million naira question now is this, when are we going to get the fresh air that Mr President promised us during his election campaign? For how long shall we wait? Or does he mean that Bombs/bullets in Kano, Yobe, Maiduguri, and the bloodshed in Kaduna, Plateau and the increase in corruption among top government officials, etc are the fresh air he promised us? Or is it the 200 cars purchased for African first ladies peace summit? Alas, or was it the unprecedented increament in the price of petroleum by the federal government early this year? Tell us Mr.President! Answer us Sir! Sincerely speaking, even Jonathan's best friend will not tell him that all is well in the country. A lot of things needs to be addressed. We can't continue this way if really we want to progress. Please Mr president, Nigerians are still waiting for that fresh air, but put it at the back of your mind that Nigeria is not a country for clueless people to govern.