Responding to his critics, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said the utterances of some elder statesmen cast them out as “ordinary motor-park touts and politicians.”
The president said this while speaking at an audience with a delegation of the Northern Elders Council (NEC), led by Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, which visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday. He stressed that mere occupation of a big office in the past did not confer statesmanship on any body. He said that politicians making provocative utterances to cause disaffection and bring the country down are not worthy to be called statesmen.
Although the President did not name any politician, there has been no love lost between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo who had in recent past criticised his administration over alleged non-performance.
Obasanjo on Monday also accused Jonathan of squandering about $55 billion savings in the excess crude account and the nation's foreign reserve.
The president said, “Some people call themselves statesmen, but they’re not statesmen, they’re just ordinary politicians.”
“Are you building this country? Or are you a part of people who tell lies to destroy this country, to create enmity and make people who ordinarily would have been living together to fight themselves? Are you planning to set the country ablaze because you did not get that particular thing you want?”
“Some people are hiding under some clogs; some big names and creating a lot of problems ... making provocative statements ... that will set this country ablaze and you tell me you’re a senior citizen.”
“You are not a senior citizen, you can never be, you’re ordinary motor park tout, because if you’re a senior citizen, you’ll act like one”.
The president commended and encouraged the NEC to continue to work for peace and unity of the country. He said that countries that are great are those who have been able to overcome religious and ethnic divide.
He said he felt sad the younger ones “are beginning to see a Nigeria as if we’re so divided. A Nigeria that a Muslim and a Christian cannot sit down together.”
“I was told that even the driver of Tafawa Balewa was a Christian. Our people lived together in those days, why not now that we’ve even modern ways of life? Our children leave us and go abroad; they stay together and do a lot of things together.”
“But when we come back home, we begin to build walls, this is a southerner, this is a northerner, this is a Muslim, this is a Christians, this is a Yoruba man, this is an Hausa man, this is an Ijaw man, this is a Nupe man. Is that the way we’re going to develop our country?”
"If today I'm sick, if the best doctor that can treat me is from Zamfara or Enugu or Ekiti, they will bring that doctor to treat me. They will not ask if that doctor is an Ijaw man, Ogbia or any other tribe.”
"And until we get to that level where we begin to use people based on their competences, yes there must be spread in political appointment and so on, but until we get to that level where we don't discriminate based on primordial privileges that, of course, will be the beginning of our development. And that is what we stand for.”
“America is great today because America is made up of various cultural groups, everybody makes America because ethnic lines have been so weakened that people think about America. And that is why America is great today. Any country that begins to see themselves through their tiny tribal enclaves make cannot go anywhere.”
On his perceived hatred for the North, the President denied allegations that he hates the north saying that most of his aides were northerners; while he had also provided educational infrastructure in the region
He said, “Some people say Jonathan hates the North, I have heard that statement and I use to ask Namadi Sambo, they say I hate the North, but you are here. I asked the National Security Adviser (Col. Dasuki Sambo) and my Principal Secretary (Hassan Tukur) the same thing. In fact, my Principal Secretary has been my friend since I was deputy governor, I never knew I was going to come here as Vice President not to talk of President. But I have known him since I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa State. My Chief Detail, Yusuf from Borno State, has been with me since I was a deputy governor in Yenagoa and I see him as a good person and I have carried him along with me. So, I had to ask how can somebody wake up and say I hate the North?”
“When I came on board, I said even though as a country, we’ve the policy on paper, every state must get a federal government university. Out of the 12 federal universities created, nine were in the north; while three were in southern Nigeria. The only three states that had no federal university were Bayelsa, Ebonyi and Ekiti. Those who were in charge of the university establishment were not fair.”
“For us to liberate ourselves, we must go to school. If I hate the north would I have done that? We talk about Almajiris education, we felt we must change. Luckily, we initiated it, but now state governments are keying into it because I know that it was education that liberated me.”
The president also reacted to a report published by Daily Trust newspaper last week about geographical spread of development projects. He said that the report showed that some mischievous Nigerians merely wanted to play politics and paint him black.
In his words, "Today I saw a publication in the Daily Trust showing projects that have been awarded by the Federal Government, the ones for the north-east very small, south-south very many. I had to make photocopies and distributed to all the ministers and I asked if it is true that this government skews projects? Because I am a president from the south, I have taken all the projects to the south?
"And I said all the ministers must come up and tell me how the projects are being distributed across the country and if it is skewed you must tell me why it is so.”
"One of the ministers incidentally is from the north, she is in charge of water resources. She said the publication cannot be true because Kashimbila Dam alone, the value is more than the amount quoted in that paper.”
"This is to show you how mischievous Nigerians are because you want to paint Jonathan bad. All of lies that have been told about this government, I promise you that I am working with your son and I will not cheat any part of this country.”
"For the people who want to paint us in all kinds of colour, we will explain to Nigerians. They are a lot of documentations we will show Nigerians."
The NEC Chairman, Tanko Yakasai, noted that Nigeria is passing through a critical time and that the country was created such that one region cannot do without the other. He said Nigerians must continue to respect the principle to sustain democracy, adding that insulting, blackmailing and castigating others will not take the country anywhere.
“Mr. President, Nigeria is passing through political transformation and it is important to all Nigerians and indeed northerners to appreciate the fact that this country was crafted in such a manner that no one section can rule the country without support of the other. It was indeed the North, in its characteristics culture of fairness and equity that endorsed the principle of power shift, which brought about the Presidency of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and your humble self. It behoves on us as northerners and indeed all Nigerians to continue to respect the principles and sustainers of democracy in Nigeria.”
“Northern Elders Council believes in peaceful co-existence and extension of hands of fellowship to brothers and sisters from the other side of the nation. It is unpatriotic for anybody to instigate people against any person or people because of a temporary gain. Politics of insult, blackmail and castigation of individuals shall not take this country anywhere. We therefore, believe in peaceful co-existence among Nigerians and by working together shall we move the country forward,” Yakassai said.
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