Whether one likes the person who is at the center of the presidency or not, at this time of crisis, in regard to our current problems with our oil and money, all good Nigerians should rally around the President. Wishing President Jonathan gloom as we have seen lately does not bode well for the nation.
Yes, we know the political season is here and there is an offensive war of politics from left to right, upwards and downwards. But for Nigerians, wishing the person who is the current President ill is, at best, unpatriotic, and a form of traitor mentality which should be condemned across the board. In recent times we have seen some Nigerians, many of whom are clerics, stating that through their God they have come to deliver some bad luck to the people through the President.
These deliverers of bad luck to the President tell us misfortune lies in his wake but what does the nation gain with these directed ills at the President? Of course, people can disagree with the President in terms of his performances to date but why can’t people show respect for his person? The public nature of disrespect towards President Jonathan in front of the Nigerian people makes one wonder if these acts will perhaps not end up in some form of psychological backfire effect, whereby the victim, in the face of all the contradictory messages and bad wishes, could actually get stronger.
As one who has criticized the president from the view point of social, political and policy weakness in a nonpartisan manner, there is something dangerous about calling for his personal fall, attacking his wife or family, which is nothing short of incivility. We should remember that the Jonathan presidency is just another one of Nigeria’s presidencies where issues will always remain. With President Jonathan in a position of power over the people at this time, those abusing him for whatever reason could face backlash from the larger society for their personal criticism of Jonathan, with the effect of returning him to power by any means possible.
Proudly showing public disrespect towards President Jonathan could be a winning strategy in some political circles for now, but could result in a complete loss for them and their supporters at the end of the political season—the 2015 elections. So let’s focus on the public political person, and not on the individual person. Such hostility leaves all the Nigerian people more in a state of despair, knowing that they are under a president who is continuously being wished personal failure, which could have the collective effect of causing more failures for all of us, at least at this time.