News Analysis
News Analysis
Culled from This-day Newspaper of 9/3/10
If there is any suggestion that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan cannot take big decisions as he steers the ship of state, the sack of Major General Sarki Mukhtar as the National Security Adviser (NSA) is yet a clear indication that such notions are misplaced. Not only has he taken a decisive action in a bid to stabilise his government, he has shown yet again that he would not be bothered with perceptions that he is trying to run a new government.
His first personnel change after becoming the Acting President four weeks ago was to sideline the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Mike Aondoakaa, whom he moved to the less relevant position of Minister of Special Duties. Aondoakaa had used every legal trick in the book to make sure Jonathan would not be made Acting President but would continue to “discharge presidential duties” in a very vague manner.
Rumours and suspicion had portrayed Jonathan as seeking to upstage President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by carrying on as if he was running a new government. His actions were interpreted as such. The setting up of three different panels last week was also portrayed as a move to upstage Yar’Adua. Some in a certain section of the country had even gone to the extent of trying to paint him as a sectional leader.
Armed with these sentiments, which are always guaranteed to sway regional opinions in Nigeria, his opponents had swiftly moved to “cage” him. The Nigeria Governors Forum, goaded by some governors from the South-south where Jonathan hails from, attempted to intimidate the Acting President by declaring that Yar’Adua could not be removed as President by the ministers who may want to invoke Section 144 of the constitution.
It was also reported that 12 “elderly” ministers (excluding Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, contrary to reports), had walked up to Jonathan and warned him not to make any move aimed at invoking Section 144 which could have seen Yar’Adua declared incapacitated and possibly removed as President. Several groups had also emerged obviously to instil fear into Jonathan and “incapacitate” him.
The Sunday morning religious massacre in Jos, in spite of a curfew and military presence in the troubled city and its environs, was also a slap on the face of the Federal Government. Everybody seemed to have agreed that it was first and foremost a failure of security as the killers were said to have operated for about three hours and left before the military moved in.
Coming shortly after Yar’Adua was flown back to the country from Saudi Arabia without the knowledge of Jonathan, as well as the controversial deployment of troops from the Brigade of Guards without the Acting President being informed, the Jos crisis was ultimately going to undermine Jonathan’s presidency and effectively portray him as someone who had no support of the security community and a leader who may not be able to hold the country together in these trying times. Put in another way, Jonathan was battling for his political life. He needed to act swiftly and decisively.
Ironically, it is yet unclear how much of Yar’Adua’s script Jonathan is acting. Replacing Aondoakaa with Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, for instance, would not be strange to the ailing President as it emerged that Yar’Adua was already planning the change since the middle of last year but was only waiting for the appropriate time.
Also, the appointment of Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aliyu Gusau as the NSA may not be strange to Yar’Adua. THISDAY learnt that before the President took ill, he and Gusau had become very close and he had often sought counsel from the retired general.
Gusau, who is now a two-time NSA, is very close to General Ibrahim Babangida, as well as President Olusegun Obasanjo, although he is believed not to have worked for Obasanjo’s third term bid.
The appointment of Gusau – replacing a Fulani general with another Fulani general – is expected to silence some of the political agitators who are passing word round in the North that Jonathan is anti-North. Every reference to sacking the military chiefs in the last few days has been interpreted to mean a move against the North. Gusau, being an experienced intelligence chief from the North, could be a big counterforce to any attempt to undermine Jonathan in the security circle.
With two key decisions on personnel taken by Jonathan, it is just a matter of time before he wields the big stick, dissolves the cabinet and sets the ball rolling for the administration in the absence of Yar’Adua.
Rumours and suspicion had portrayed Jonathan as seeking to upstage President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua by carrying on as if he was running a new government. His actions were interpreted as such. The setting up of three different panels last week was also portrayed as a move to upstage Yar’Adua. Some in a certain section of the country had even gone to the extent of trying to paint him as a sectional leader.
It was also reported that 12 “elderly” ministers (excluding Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, contrary to reports), had walked up to Jonathan and warned him not to make any move aimed at invoking Section 144 which could have seen Yar’Adua declared incapacitated and possibly removed as President. Several groups had also emerged obviously to instil fear into Jonathan and “incapacitate” him.
Coming shortly after Yar’Adua was flown back to the country from Saudi Arabia without the knowledge of Jonathan, as well as the controversial deployment of troops from the Brigade of Guards without the Acting President being informed, the Jos crisis was ultimately going to undermine Jonathan’s presidency and effectively portray him as someone who had no support of the security community and a leader who may not be able to hold the country together in these trying times. Put in another way, Jonathan was battling for his political life. He needed to act swiftly and decisively.
Also, the appointment of Lt. Gen. Mohammed Aliyu Gusau as the NSA may not be strange to Yar’Adua. THISDAY learnt that before the President took ill, he and Gusau had become very close and he had often sought counsel from the retired general.
Gusau, who is now a two-time NSA, is very close to General Ibrahim Babangida, as well as President Olusegun Obasanjo, although he is believed not to have worked for Obasanjo’s third term bid.
With two key decisions on personnel taken by Jonathan, it is just a matter of time before he wields the big stick, dissolves the cabinet and sets the ball rolling for the administration in the absence of Yar’Adua.
