Nigeria: Jonathan and the 2015 Game

24 February 2013

What I feared the most is unfolding before our very eyes - a full-blown discussion on the 2015 presidential election at this point in time. Nigerian politics, unfortunately, has become a vicious cycle. It is like this: campaign, election, inauguration, campaign, election, inauguration, campaign, election, inauguration - and you can repeat that again and again and again. For reasons I am not intelligent enough to understand, our politics is all about elections. It is tiring. It is annoying. In a country where over 100 million of its citizens are either poor or very poor, it seems our politicians have only been programmed to think, believe and act as if the purpose of politics is campaign, election, inauguration, campaign, election, inauguration, campaign, election, inauguration...

In recent times, the biggest item on the agenda has been whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan should seek re-election in 2015. While his supporters and several "groups" are already endorsing him for the race, Jonathan himself has said he would not make his intention known until election time because whatever position he takes now would be a distraction. According to him, if he says he will run, governance will come to a halt. If he says he won't run, governance will come to a halt. But for whatever reason, I believe Jonathan will run. I am not basing my prediction on any privileged piece of information or some spiritual authority. I am just thinking - in 2011, when he was not sitting pretty, he ran. Now that he is sitting a bit pretty, why would he not run?

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