Goodluck Jonathan:Changing The Old Order(Part 2)

The Power Sector suffered neglet under the old order.Successive governments paid little or no attention to it while huge resources went down the drain.Former President Olusegun Obasanjo blew 16 billion dollars in 8 years under the guise of generating power but ironically the country ended up in more darkness.Jonathan came in and unbundled the Power Sector.His administration carried out a very successful privatization of the Power Sector and its fruits are evident.The number of ours in which Nigerians enjoy light have increased as a result of this,and the sector can only get better.In addition,the Jonathan’s administration has built 10 power plants in 3 years,this on its own is a record.The Zungeru power plant had been planed since the days of Tafawa Balewa,no administration before the present one deemed it fit to bring the project to reality,but Goodluck Jonathan is building it.Instead of the President receiving credit for all his good works,he is being criticized.
In the area of Education ,gone are the days when these selfish and attention seeking elites stalled the educational development of the Nigerian child.President Jonathan knowing the importance of education established 10 more Federal universities in the North including a Nigerian Law school campus in Adamawa state.As a man who has the interest of the common people at heart,he has also built 125 Almajiri schools,increased the budget for Education and also met the demands of ASUU.However,inspite of the projects already completed in the North and those still ongoing,some elites from this area remain blind to all these.
Listen to what the Minister for Information Mr Labaran Maku had to say to those insisting that the President is against the North,he said"let me take you to huge railway project that we are constructing between here and kaduna,standard gauge not narrow gauge,we are building it from Abuja to Kaduna not between Yenagoa to Port Hacourt".He also spoke about the dredging of the Niger,"the dredging of the Niger had been in the works since 1950s,nobody did it.Under the Yar adua/Jonathan Presidency,we we have finished dreging the Niger.The North is having access for the first time to warri by sea to take goods up North.Still on railway system,Lagos to Kano by rail is back alive,and soon that of Port-Hacourt to Maiduguri will be commissioned"

In Jonathan's administration,45,000 ghost workers have been uncovered in his bid to eliminate waste in the federal government's expenditure.The ghost workers were uncovered in 215 Ministeries,Departments and Agencies and as a result the federal government has  saved about 100 billion naira in form of Salary Bill.These are monies used in the past in servicing the engines of the old order.

While the old order lasted,electoral malpractices were the order of the day.Election results were written even before elections took place, with godfathers runing the show.You remember how a serving governor in one of the South- Eastern State was kidnaped by hoodlums?Yes that was how badly the menace of godfatherism had eaten into the foundations of our political system."Do or die"politics was propounded and practiced during this period.Individuals with highly questionable credentials were fielded as candidates during elections which were rigged for them to emerge victories.Not to mention the cracking down on opposition.As usual,the Otuoke born President Jonathan reversed this urgly trend.INEC is now truly independent as opposed to previous years.The opposition in the country has swelled because President Jonathan believes that a strong and healthy opposition strengthens democracy.Did the old order tolerate opposition of any sort?We all know the answer to this poser.

On the country’s economy,Nigeria has not had a better economy in over 20 years than what we are experiencing at the moment.Nigeria under Jonathan recently emerged the largest economy in Africa,higher than the economies of Egypt and South Africa.Inspite of the the insecurity in some parts of the country and our fight against terrorism,Nigeria receives the highest Foreign Direct Investment in Africa.As a direct consequence of the growth of the Nigerian economy,for the first time in Nigerian history,the country will be hosting this year's World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja between May 7^th to 9^th.Today,Nigerians live 10% longer than they did in 2007 and also earn 65% more than they did in the same period.
I therefore beats me hollow hearing the criticisms against the President including some asking for the sack of the Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala.Speaking to journalist Dr Junaid Mohammed once said"the second minister who must go is the Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala;she has not in any way managed our finance and she is simply being hyped by a section of the media".A wowan who through hardwork,dedication and discipline rose through the ranks at the World Bank to become its Vice President "is simply being hyped by a section of the media"?Pathetic.

As Nigerians,we need to take off the scales of ethnic,political and personal interests from our eyes,so that we can look at and judge things from the perspective of national interest.