Jonathan did well by conceding defeat. He could have done a Gbagbo or followed in the footsteps of Remi Fani Kayode of the old Western Region. He could have brought upon us another civil war by acting in sync with Orubebe, whose name is now a synonym for brainless and childish interruptions of a serious and important event or process. GEJ was bold for once not to do these. No matter what, he has smuggled his name into the records as the first incumbent in our history as a nation to hand over to an opposition candidate.
Nevertheless, he should not try to insult our intelligence or memory by claiming he created an enabling environment for Buhari’s victory to be possible. He did not! In fact, he and his party henchmen did all they could to derail the process and deny Buhari victory.
They started with hate videos and adverts which brought death wish adverts into our country’s political toolbox, they arrested opposition people and used the military to rig elections in Osun. Jonathan recognised the man who won 16 votes instead of the one who won 19 votes. In Ekiti, his man, Fayose attacked a sitting High court judge and recognised the impeachment of the speaker by less than a third of the House of Assembly without apologies. He also hounded the remaining 19 lawmakers out of town.
Jonathan’s people in the Niger Delta like Asari Dokubo threatened to make Nigeria history if Jonathan is not re-elected. Those words are treasonable offences but since he endorsed them and they were made in his favour, he did not act or even refute them.
The IG wanted to remove Tambuwal because he defected to APC…the list is very long. These were acts calculated to subvert the process of choosing leaders in an atmosphere of peace and mutual respect. His foul mouthed wife also helped worsen things without a rebuke or refutation from him.
This was the same president who sponsored ethnic militias to carry weapons and violently demand the removal of Jega from office. The same president whose spokesman and party vehemently opposed the rigging reducing Card Readers; who postponed elections to buy time when it was clear he would lose. A man who bribed all the bribables to hold on to power but was removed by God Himself.
As one of my brothers expressed it, the performing masquerade slipped and fell but he said it was just another part of the performance. Jonathan lost the election not because he did not use all the power he had to win, it was in spite of all the power he used to win.
There was nothing free or fair about the last elections; there was bloodshed and there was harassment and intimidation. We cannot forget or wish the memory away. Jonathan should stop saying he kept his promise of a free and fair election. He should not ask PDP to celebrate some sort of success they were supposed have had because Buhari won against there every machinations and calculations. He should thank Nigerians for being so magnanimous with him and his party of marauders and for crediting him with conceding to Buhari but he should stop this new attempt to rewrite history by claiming Buhari won because he created an enabling environment. Maybe, just maybe history will be kind to his memory one day.
Ibrahim Balogun's Blog 