President Goodluck Jonathan.
President Goodluck Jonathan.

Last week, Nigerians witnessed  the signing of a peace accord, an electoral  non-violent accord by leading political gladiators for  the upcoming general elections. Leading contenders in the turf majorly President Goodluck Jonathan and Presidential candidate of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  put their signatures to paper to prove their readiness for a peaceful contest. All parties agreed to refrain from using profane languages and character assassination during the electioneering period. Parties did not only append their signatures to the document, they also agreed to restrain their agents and privies from resorting to these negative electoral vices throughout the electioneering period and beyond.
But these vices roundly condemned bNigerians and friends of Nigeria seem to be the only campaign tools and weapons of the PDP. Nothing seems to have changed since the signing of the accord document. Nothing is being spared in their penchant to denigrate the All Progressives Congress and its Presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari. Very sadly, the PDP and its agents have through the conventional and social media used religion as a tool of the trade. Buhari has been painted as a Boko Haram candidate and the APC as a non-Christian party, all of which are deliberate falsehood orchestrated to tarnish the soaring image of General Buhari and the All Progressives Congress.
Besides, one expects Pesident Goodluck Jonathan who signed the peace accord to caution his supporters against their resort to inciting religious campaigns aimed at smearing the image and person of General Buhari but he prefers to remain silent and enjoying the psychosis of his subjects and patrons. These campaign of calumny by the PDP, their agents and privies  is sure to fail, wherever they take them to because Nigerians are sick and tired of the PDP as a political party.
Let me underscore the fact that this piece is not an attempt to judge President Goodluck Jonathan as he carries on with his Presidential campaign, but a simple analogy from the claims of his unrestrained supporters currently unleashed into the polity and social media. The first poser is: Is President Goodluck Jonathan, in the true sense of the word, a Christian? Does Jonathan portray Jesus Christ in his office as President of Nigeria?
I hear and read about a section of the Christian community parading Jonathan as a Christian, particularly the opportunistic class of the Christian community.  I see some of them falling over themselves as a result of the spoils from the presidency. Some were even fingered for money laundering and arms deal in South Africa.  Does President Jonathan espouse the characteristics of a Christian? A Christian as the Bible puts it will be accompanied by signs and wonders. A Christian must free from sin. A Christian must flee from corruption, idolatry, and primitive accumulation of capital.
A Christian in a position of authority  such as the Presidency must reflect the virtues of  Jesus Christ in ALL his undertakings. Such a Christian must love his neighbour as himself, must feed the poor, must heal the land, must forgive those who sin against him, must be a servant-leader. A Christian in power must be fair, upright, humble and ensure justice and equity in the administration of justice. Can we say these of President Goodluck Jonathan? A Christian is not just someone who enters the church(es) and leaves after putting his offering,  or someone who goes to Jerusalem on “Holy Pilgrimage” but someone who follows the footsteps of Jesus Christ in all ramifications. One who obeys the ten commandments of God. Can President Jonathan and those of them in the PDP say of a truth that President Jonathan is a Christian? His conduct in office and those of his followers have not convinced Nigerians that he is a Christian because you cannot claim to be a Christian when  you reward corruption a la Alamieyeseigha, Borde George et al. You cannot be a christian and  run a police that shield murderers like the former Inspector General of Police who shielded those who killed Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde. Jonathan kept silent all through their madness as policemen. But we had an Obasanjo who handcuffed an Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun for corrupt practices. Can Jonathan do that? Is he then a Christian? Obasanjo built the Ecuminical Centre in Abuja when all hopes were almost lost of the possibility of Christians building that centre, what has Jonathan done to show he is indeed a true Christian? Hobnobbing with leadership of  Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) who he would have helped to get to such positions. Does that make him a Christian? Creation of a coalition of people who use their positions to fritter money into a political gang called Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) does not make you a Christian either.
When we even place Jonathan alongside the issue of insurgency, who should end Boko Haram in Nigeria ordinarily, is it not the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces who is a supposed Christian? Boko Haram started as a small problem in Nigeria, Jonathan allowed it to grow into a monster consuming the Christian community initially and later turned to the Muslim community. Churches were being burnt on a daily basis and as at the last count over 400 churches in 30 Local Government areas of the Boko Haram controlled territory have been burnt. Jonathan paid lip service to the issues and did not take it seriously. This perhaps explains why for over 260 days of Chibok Girls abduction, President Jonathan refused to go to Borno to see for himself what transpired. Even to meet with the parents of the girls, it took the visiting Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Laureate  to convince President Goodluck Jonathan to meet with parents of the Chibok Girls. This is a shame! But the agonising aspect is that majority of the Chibok Girls are Christians. If Jonathan is a Christian, will he just keep silent for several months before considering even meeting with parents of Chibok girls despite several appeals from well meaning Nigerians for him to do so?  Sadly, it took a small  Asian girl, Malala to fly into Nigeria to convince him to meet with the girls’ parents. Were his biological daughters to be among the kidnapped girls will Jonathan not have done something about the Chibok Girls? After all, some gun men kidnapped his uncle in Utuoke within the same period and in three weeks, he rescued his uncle. Now that elections are around the corners, he has taken his campaign to the same Borno State. If he loses, PDP will say it was Buhari or APC that was responsible for their misfortune and not the decisions of Jonathan.
But if it were Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President of Nigeria, Boko Harma would not have gained the ground they gained under Jonathan’s administration. Obasanjo would have long flushed them out. Jonathan  would have nipped Boko Haram in the bud if he had the capacity, but he chose to underrate them. That is what Nigerians are saying Jonathan failed to do, only to turn round to blame Buhari, who is also a victim of Boko Haram insurgency. Nigerians would not be fooled with the religious campaigns of PDP against General Buhari. Placed side by side, morality wise, religion wise Buhari outshines Jonathan.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Reverend Justin Welby, while condemning activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria noted that “religion is a power force that could easily be manipulated by politicians for the perpetration of evil.” That is exactly what President Jonathan and the PDP are doing against Buhari and the APC.  Whereas Boko Haram is being condemned for towing an evil line, Jonathan and the PDP are even manipulating the electorates with their campaign of calumny against Buhari, a campaign which is bound to fail.
Nigerians are also almost united in the opinion that Boko Haram is an evil that has come to destroy  Islam and Christianity as they kill both Islamic and Christian clerics in the hundreds in North East. They have bombed markets, schools, mosques where muslims are in majority in both the North East and North West. So, Boko haram is simply an evil against Nigeria and not a creation of Buhari or the APC. This message must be sent home and Nigerians should discountenance all the messages being circulated by the PDP and their agents to the contrary.
General Buhari is a man all Nigerians believe would fight corruption to a standstill and would end Boko Haram in a short while as he has the military capability to do so. He has promised Nigerians that he would end the twin evil of corruption and insurgency. Jonathan has had six years opportunity to end Boko Haram but has demonstrated a lack of capacity to do so.  Most Nigerians do not believe President Jonathan can fight corruption. His later comments in Enugu and Abbia PDP campaigns on corruption show that he is not even willing to fight corruption and money laundering which  many   believe are the major problems facing Nigeria today. These are the reasons Nigerians want a change come February 14. It is a day that President Goodluck Jonathan would be voted out, let us vote in someone we trust can deal with this problem. Buhari also has a deputy, Professor Osinbajo who has a strong Christian background of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) faith.   His combination with General Buhari is a valentine gift the APC has for Nigerians. It is a genuine show of love for our beloved country, Nigeria.
Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State.

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