President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday explained that his comment on the people of the South-West, during his presidential campaign in Ibadan, was “grossly misunderstood.”
Jonathan, on his facebook page posting at 7.23am, which he titled, “I am grossly misunderstood” said that his comment was “twisted beyond the intended meaning,” adding that he did not disparage the zone.
He explained that during the campaign on Tuesday last week, he spoke about the level of education and sophistication of the region.
The President said, “In my opinion - and in the opinion of many informed Nigerians - the South-West is of critical significance to the economic and political advancement of the country. The progress of the zone is the progress of Nigeria. It makes perfect sense that such a critical segment of Nigeria is governed by those who have what it takes!”
In Ibadan, the president had said, “The entire South-West is too important, too sophisticated and too educated to be in the hands of rascals.”
But, he explained in his facebook posting that what he meant was that “unreliable or mischievous behaviour or notions ought not to be acceptable in any part of our body politics especially not in the South-West, where the population has had the privilege of a head start in education compared to other parts of the country.
“It is unhelpful to public discourse if we constantly twist words beyond intended meaning. Surely, even the most zealous detractor of the interest of the South-West would not desire that anyone would wish upon such a sophisticated part of our country, the activity of unreliable or mischievous intentions.”
The President said that his message was clear: “Abhorrence for such behaviour should be our proclivity, especially considering the disposition of the people of the Western States to governance standards.”
“But by laying so much emphasis on the latter part of the sentence we dither profoundly on nuances, and this typifies the general tendency to dwell on the negative which we must, as a country, refrain from.
“My qualification of the West as highly educated and sophisticated was easily dispensed with, while the fact that we should not expose such civilised and educated populace to rascality was played more upon, with emphasis on the rascality.”
“But we easily forget, perhaps because we have neglected for far too long the important role that our educational institutions play in development, that the foundations of our independence movement burgeoned its fruits from the discussions which emanated from the sophisticated ‘Ibadan School of thought’ as the liberal Arts faculties of the then University College Ibadan was then known.”
The President said that he had a high regard for the South-West, which he said was unique in its “unequivocal stand for justice.”
Jonathan stated, “As true leadership requires, I take responsibility for any misunderstanding of the context in which my statement was made. In a time of active politicking, when scoring political points have taken precedence over our overarching goal of nation building, we must not allow those strong bonds which tie us together as a nation...to be dispensed with by the mere nuance which we attach to words.”
The President said that he and Vice-President Namadi Sambo would continue to respect and pay tribute to the hard work and patience of all Nigerians.
Jonathan added, “I made a commitment to Nigerians that our campaign will be about issues and livelihood advancement. I am determined to remain true to this commitment.
“In this regard, we made the promise and will zealously deliver on, amongst other things, a stable, constant supply of electricity which will revolutionise the way business is done in our country.
“We will pay special attention to the security of lives and property. We will focus on access to good quality health and education for all Nigerians and job creation for our youths, for this is the only way we can defeat poverty.”
According to him, his administration will focus on agricultural and infrastructural development, the expansion of the economy and the complete transformation of the nation’s national security.
Jonathan had last Tuesday in Ibadan during the commencement of his campaign in the South-West, said that his party must take over all the states in the region.
According to him, “We (PDP) must take over all the states in the South-West. The zone is too important to be left in the hands of rascals.”
Specifically, the President noted that Lagos State, being the commercial and industrial hub of the country, must be governed by the PDP.
Three of the four states mentioned by the President are governed by governors elected on the platform of the ACN. They are Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Alhaji Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) while Labour Party’s Olusegun Mimiko calls the shots in Ondo.
In their separate reactions, the Chairman of LP, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, wondered when Jonathan had started talking in an uncouth language.
He said he was sure that the President had been contaminated as a result of the people he associated himself with.
Also, the Presidential candidate of the ACN, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, agreed with Nwanyanwu.
He added that the President resorted into foul language because he had nothing to showcase as his achievements. He also described the President’s comment as “unbecoming of a President” and “one that smacks of desperation.”
The ACN itself also condemned Jonathan for his statement, saying it was unbefitting of a President. The party said it believed that Jonathan was “giddy with excitement on the soap box,” and consequently jog his memory that he remained the President of all Nigerians and not that of the PDP and its supporters.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that if its governors were ‘rascals’, then Nigeria needed more ‘rascals’ in government in order to enjoy the dividends of democracy being delivered in the states mentioned by Jonathan, including Edo State which is not in the South-West but being ruled by an ACN elected governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole.
In his reaction, Fashola said the office of the President of the Federal Republic was a very high office, adding that the kind of language coming from a PDP presidential candidate was un-presidential.
He said, “I have asked myself if the President is more concerned about who is the Governor of Lagos State or becoming the President. I think if the PDP is ready to swap candidates for the Governorship of Lagos, I will be ready to face him because his candidate is not talking about what he wants to do in Lagos.”
In his futile attempt to defend his boss, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ima Niboro, who reacted to the misgivings, said the President did not name any of the governors of the concerned states when he made the comment. He said, “Please note that the President didn’t call any names when he said the South-West was too important to be left in the hands of rascals. “So anyone who wants to appropriate the name to himself is welcome to do so.”
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