Jonathan Goodluck, the Moral Foundation of Good Governance
and the Impossibility of Change
Writers Articles And Opinions
25 May 2010
By
Adebiyi Jelili Abudugana
Destiny, the factor behind the death of the late
president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is that which also acted
itself out in Jonathan’s emergence as the substantive
president and the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. Can this be regarded as divine
blessing or punishment? Without exercising caution to
reflect on the nature of what destiny has foisted on
us, people with different shades of interests rolled
out their drums and started celebrating as the
seemingly politically impossible has been made
possible by destiny. Among others, opinion experts,
political commentators and public analysts and civil
societies also spiced up the celebration by adding
their voices to what should be done by Jonathan to get
the country going in the right direction. Without
paying due attention to the connection between change
and the personality of the leader rocking the boat of
change, everybody seems to be overtaken by the
pathetic drama which trailed Jonathan’s emergence and
the urgency to fix our troubled nation. The imperative
of this missing link in orchestrating a progressive
and desirable change and what the celebration of
Jonathan’s emergence meant in its wider context
impregnate this article’s conceptual basis and
thematic outline.
Recounting a memorable childhood experience which I
find relevant to the ideas being articulated in this
write up seems a logical means of fleshing my
narration. It was one which I had when I went visiting
my grandma to spend one of my primary school long
vacations with her. The old woman who is now 115 years
was used to telling us real life stories and sometimes
tales. These were stories aimed at imparting and
deepening our moral instinct and sense of obligation.
On one of those eventful evenings, she narrated the
story of a man, Ekundayo, whose father went through
hard times to raise him.
Ekundayo was born following an unfortunate incident
which saw his parents lose their belongings and three
children to a fire which gutted their house while they
were away for a family event in Ondo. As fate will
have it, after many attempts, his parents never
succeeded to have any issue after him. With nothing to
live on, the parents entered into pawnship, iwofa,
to be able to foot the primary educational expenses of
Ekundayo and settle some outstanding debts.
For the purposes of clarity, there is the need to
explain iwofa/pawning. This was a form of
lending practice in Yoruba land which required placing
human being in the household of a wealthy
creditor/lender in a dual capacity as a loan
collateral, surety and as someone who services the
interest that accrues on the loan obtained. The person
that is pawned may be a relative, biological son or
daughter, adult or a child, female or male. The pawn,
iwofa, is required to work in the household of
the lender until the loan is paid by the debtor. This
work which neither has a defined form, nor scope is
the means through which the interest that accrues on
the loan is serviced and paid and the payment of the
loan secured. After the loan is paid, the pawn can
regain his/her freedom. A family may pawn one of its
relative just as parents who can also pawn themselves
could pawn their children.
While working as a pawn alongside her husband,
Ekundayo’s mother died. The lender who witnessed the
pains which the poor woman went through before her
death was kind enough to let go, Ekundayo’s father,
without the payment of the loan which they secured.
The burden of how to foot the post primary school of
Ekundayo no longer arose as he secured scholarship
awards for his secondary and university education. On
the day of his graduation from the university, he was
able to secure a good job.
As a responsible child, grandma narrated, Ekundayo was
up and doing in attending to his father and extended
family needs. Some months into his job, Ekundayo drove
into his village in a brand new Volkswagen car, a gift
which was to be presented to his aged father. With
pride and sense of fulfillment, he presented his
father with the key and the car’s document. Expectant
of the father to be filled with joy and applause for
making him a car owner in a village where nobody owns
one, Ekundayo was horror struck to hear his father ask
the question, “where did you get the money to buy this
car?” With a smiling face, “sir,” explained Ekundayo,
“from my monthly earnings.” He went further, “daddy,
no,…you deserved more than this,…”
Without any reason to doubt his only surviving son who
had never being involved in any untoward acts,
surprisingly, Pa Ekundayo was not satisfied with his
son’s explanation. The father approached the head of
the community to help persuade Ekundayo to tell the
truth. It was at this instance that a meeting of the
community leaders was called, the sole objective of
which was to probe where Ekundayo got the money that
was used in buying the car. Ekundayo labored in vain
to convince these elders that it was through a hard
earned income that he got the car. The issue was
brought to a temporary halt when it was unanimously
agreed that a two-man delegation be sent with Ekundayo
to Lagos to investigate the genuineness of his claim.
Upon the completion of their task, the committee which
reported its findings in the community’s fortnight
meeting absolved Ekundayo of any wrongdoing. It was
after this that the community held a big celebration
in honour of Ekundayo and the car’s key which,
throughout the investigation period was in the
community leader’s custody was released to Pa Ekundayo.
What a story, a real life one that shows what values
once was as a non-negotiable parameter that poverty
cannot displace when our society was in order. It is
that which speaks volume about what were once the
factors that assumed the status of communal sacrosanct
heritage which neither poverty nor vicissitudes of
time can displace. This was simply an era when moral
values was our community’s common immunity.
A well deserved celebration which Pa Ekundayo and his
value-driven community suspended based on the
prioritization of what they held in high esteem seems
to have been a forgotten thing in today’s Nigerian
communities. Following the death of Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua, the Ijaws and South-South community in
Nigeria in particular and other vested groups,
individuals, Associations and religious bodies have
been celebrating the dawn of their time. Jonathan has
since been viewed with the prism of the illustrious
son of the soil and his wife, Patience, as the Queen
who should be offered all the respect that is
befitting of a first lady. Churches and mosques have
also joined in offering and soliciting support for the
mirror image of Nigerians who is now presiding over
our affairs. Human right groups, militants,
self-acclaimed activists, public spokespersons,
opposition parties, trade unions, peasants amongst
others are not left out of the show. Nobody neither
seem to be asking the type of question which Pa
Ekundayo and his community raised, nor driven by the
same mentality to ask who are the couples that are now
being referred to as the Nigerian first family? We
seem not to be interested in the personalities of
these individuals or probably, have decided to close
our eyes since we are same of the same.
As a student of history, I was prompted to increase my
knowledge base about the Nigerian first family. So,
with a paid interest on his days as the Governor of
Bayelsa State who succeeded the disgraced Dipreye
Alamieyeseigha, I set out to use the goggle search
engine to surf for the profile of Dr. Jonathan
Goodluck. His ascension as the governor strikes a
similar parallel with that of the presidential seat he
now occupies. What else? Patience Faka Jonathan with
whom Oga ran the Bayelsa state affairs as the first
family is on the EFCC list of money launderers? The
Nigerian first lady, Madam Patience was as I come to
know caught on September 11, 2006 with a stolen $13.5
million dollars (US), a staggering amount traced to
have been siphoned from the covers of Bayelsa state.
In other words, she was acting as Oga Jonathan’s money
transfer agent. As I got agitated, my breathing almost
stopped pulsating coming to know that earlier in
August 2006, the Nigerian first family was involved in
another mouth watering amount of N104 million that was
stolen from the public treasury. Were they absolved of
any wrongdoing or offered a state pardon? I surfed the
World Wide Web in vain. So, the Nigeria’s first family
is light fingered, yet the Ijaws are quick to
pronounce them as the illustrious son and daughter of
the Ijaw nation. Also, it came to nothing, my search
for any editorial comment or storyline by any of the
mainstream dailies or Nigerian focused online media on
the implication of having a first family with a
worldwide known record of public robbery
In the attempt to get to the root of the matter, a
friend who interrupted my contemplation raised a funny
question that is somehow related to the problem that
was troubling my mind. He said, shouldn’t Jonathan be
grateful to Dipreye Alamieyeseigha? I said, how? He
offered a succinct response by alluding that, Jonathan
should, because, if Alamieyeseigha had not stolen from
office, and got kicked out as a result, Jonathan would
not have become the Governor of Bayelsa State. He
furthered, it was this development that made him to be
considered and offered Yar’Adua’s running mate slot.
What a logic, I replied.
As if my friend, Kunle, was a clairvoyant,
Alamieyeseigha, the Governor General of the Ijaw
nation, an ex-convict soon paid President Jonathan a
congratulatory visit some days later. The
Governor-General who spoke the mind of the Ijaw
people, said,
“I am fulfilled. Somebody must be a fore-runner. He
was divinely prepared; I was only used as an
instrument to bring him. I am glad the choice was
perfected by God’s grace. He is an embodiment of
leadership qualities. He is unassuming but I tell you
he combines intellect with wisdom. So, this country
has made a good choice, I am glad to be part of it ...”
On a explicit note, he was simply thanking God for
making him steal and for preparing a thief to rule
over a country whose leadership is a mirror image of
its populace. Could it be that the community/region
which these ‘illustrious’ personalities represent
sanctions or indulge stealing?, I begun to wonder. In
the process of interrogating this question, then, I
realized that it was the same community which, after
Alamieyeseigha served his jail term lavished on him
the honorific title, Governor-General of Ijaw nation.
This title, which can be translated as the President
of Ijaw nation, suggests that the Ijaw community have
seen nothing wrong in stealing. So, why should they be
bothered about Jonathan whose value of looted money is
no where comparable to that of the Governor-General?
Why should they be also worried since his predecessors
were involved in fraud and various acts of corruption?
What a contrast with Pa Ekundayo’s community, a story
which mirrors the place which values once occupied in
Nigeria. Being represented by someone who is a thief
or criminal is part of the norm that represents our
modern Nigerian communities!
If the Ijaw and the South-South people are not
bothered that a family with criminal record is
representing them and Nigerians as a whole, shouldn’t
others be bothered? Surprisingly,
opinion experts, political commentators and public
analysts, civil societies, religious bodies amongst
others have decided to overlook this issue. Could this
be deliberate or symptomatic of an endemic disease
which has infected our community? Attempts at
answering this question have kept me wondering and
repeatedly contemplating that, can it be by accident
that all our serving and past governors were and are
criminals and thieves? Whe! may be they were not voted
for in the true sense. Again, why is it that no
serving or past local government chairperson can
survive not being categorized as criminals or thieves?
Again, they were also not voted for, we may think!
What of the counselors who are birds of a feather as
it is with other elected political office holders?
“These are all politicians,” again, this protective
response, we may muster.
Bearing the above line of analysis in mind, my
interrogation will for a while shift base to the
interior of the public sector. Why is it that those in
our ministries,
parastatals,
government hospitals, and other public establishments
are either involved or aid and abet one form of
criminal activity or the other? What percentage of
those in this sector can come out with their hands
free of any blemish? Like the bosses, the members of
staff are awesomely involved in pillaging and
subverting the system. Is this debatable?
In beaming my searching gaze through our places of
learning, I was heartbroken to observe the same trend.
Places that are supposed to be brain industries where
we groom our human resources have sadly become
breeding ground for criminals and thieves. Our primary
and secondary schools, like our tertiary institutions
are managed by those who cannot account for the
financial resources under their control. Dominantly,
the teachers, lecturers and the students are involved
in cutting corners and indulge in one form of criminal
act or the other. If this is taken as a true picture
of our educational setting, then, we may begin to see
reason why the public sector is populated by criminals
and thieves.
What was observed in the public sector was equally
observed in our private sectors. Whaoh! To get
contracts, particularly the type that can keep things
going in our country, private establishments are known
to use corporately garbed criminal package as the
bait. Corporate criminality, which is being packaged
in different forms and given different cooperate
nomenclatures, a trendy culture within the private
establishment is now the true face of the sector. The
peasants, artisans but to mention a few are no
exception to this scourge. We are quick to look down
on those who repair our cars, those who helps in
erecting our houses but to mention a few, as criminals
who should not be trusted without knowing that they
are imaging us with the same look. Things have gone
terribly bad that few are having their hands not
soiled.
But, it is often said that Nigerians are the most
religious people. We are devouted church and mosque
goers but in the actual sense, we are mere hypocrites,
I suppose. In fact, our synagogues, cathedrals and
mosques and other religious temples are places where
criminality is spiritualized and religiousized. These
places of worship are replicates of what the
Lutheranian reformists fought against, thus, laying
down the foundation of the change that was to
precipitate the rise of western civilization. The
choice of where to worship is strongly influenced by
the caliber of public and private persons, criminals
and thieves in our congregations. Since everybody
seems to be oozing and speaking the language of
corruption, once jobs are provided for the members of
the congregation, religious activities are supported
with stolen cash, and contracts are awarded to
religious heads through proxies, then, it is the
congregation members’ religious responsibility to seek
Divine protection for these criminals. In other words,
the Lord has opened His ways for the congregation to
benefit. Religious grounds are now places where
corruption and criminals are annointed.
It is high time we took a look at the family structure
may be it may be experienced, departure from the
pervasive culture of corruption. As my observation and
findings reveal, a lot has gone wrong with this
smallest unit of the society to the extent that it
could be said to be a failed institution. Owing to a
number of factors, parents could no longer exert their
influence on modeling their wards to taste. These
factors include both imposed and self-induced ones,
which in my forthcoming article will be extensively
explored. Most parents cannot feed themselves let
alone carter for the needs of their children. As a
result, and coupled with other reasons, it has become
difficult for parents to provide desirable guidance
for their wards. How many parents bother to query the
source of the property in their children’s custody?
Few, indeed! Our parents are quick to join us in
condemning a family member who, on moral ground,
refuses to confer on us a solicited favour based on
his/her aversion to nepotism. If a count is taken of
the percentage of the Nigerian contemporary family
members that have once contemplated whether, the
favour that had once been received from a family
member is obtained through a legitimate means, less
than one percent may earn pass mark.
When a family member is appointed into a privileged
position, members of the family are quick to celebrate
the dawn of their era to milk the nation. Everybody
will forward his need in one form or the other without
minding to ask if, the person whose favour is
solicited has the capacity to meet up with those
needs. Nobody cares to know if that is within his
lawful earnings or not. Everybody will count on such
person to fix them in strategic places even when it
requires scarifying merit. As it was with the Ijaw
example that was earlier cited, is, with the Yorubas,
Hausas, Ibos and other minority tribes that make up
the Nigerian family system. Corruption and other
social ills now live and wake up with us in our
various families.
Since those between the age of 0-14% make up
41.5% of our population,
and given the condition that they will be groomed into
adults by people and environment that have personified
and personalized corruption, impunity and disregarded
ethical norms as a way of life, then, all things being
equal, less than one percent of them may grow up to be
upright. This is the golden rule of life as what
shapes our person will be determined by the ambience
that prevails in our society. It is for this reason
that change is only guaranteed when people show the
sincere readiness to accept change and get themselves
committed to doing this. Relying on God without
walking the talk is a wishful thinking, and a
deliberate abuse of divine norms. Doing this is an
elegant way of unveiling our ignorance. In view of the
fact that walking the talk is a divine requirement of
change, and more so, an indubitable golden rule of
life that underlie the process of bringing about
change, by compromising, ignoring, circumventing, or
abusing this rule, the consequences will alienate all
and sundry.
How can a society which is pleased in drawing negative
comparison between two evils and uses one as a
benchmark to adjudge the other, claim that it is only
the leaders are corrupt. Both the leaders and the
followers are corrupt, criminal minder, hypocrites,
and it is for this reason that we have been having the
type of leaders who are mismanaging our affairs. We
have lost our sense of values, although we are
hesitant to accept this reality. We have a society
which fits into that popular saying, “we are all
thieves, but it is only those who are caught in the
act that are so tagged.” We must square up with the
reality that 99% of Nigerians are criminals, thieves,
potential criminals, and hypocrites. 99% of us are
involved in different capacities in the acts that have
pauperized our economy, destroyed our parental
institution, rendered our educational centres sterile,
decimated our humanity and eroded the values which
once sustained and parachuted our country to enviable
heights.
We need to understand that criminals cannot positively
change any society. This is against the rule of life.
The moral foundation of change requires change agent
to walk the talk. We must begin with ourselves as it
is people that build institution and the society
before both can play their roles in the life of the
people. The way that a structure that is placed on a
shaky foundation will go down with time, is the way
that a society that intends to bring about change by
entrusting their life to criminals and thieves will
end up in ignominy. Countries which had followed this
path are living examples that every other group of
people that follows such path will be engulfed by war
and crisis with devastating consequence. We may begin
to reflect on Liberia, although a high level of wisdom
may be required to explain how this fits into our
context. This will be explained in my special article
on the 11 years of our democratic experience. By
experimenting with criminals and relying on them to
bring about change, our woes will only be deepened and
evils days postponed.
The change we are yearning for can only be achieved by
changing our lives as a people whose community is
exorcised with criminal spirit. The rule requires
walking the talk; therefore it is on this premise that
I proclaim that Jonathan Goodluck who has violated the
golden rule should submit all his stolen wealth,
allows his wife to be prosecuted before he should be
held in high esteem. This is the most critical step
which everyone must apply on himself before genuine
change can actually takes place in Nigeria.
The writer, Mr. Adebiyi Jelili Abudugana, a former
UNILAG student union leader can be reached through
abudugana2000@yahoo.com
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