okay, i'm listening to a lot of music right now as i write this so if some of it doesn't make sense...well, thank you lala.com
for the sake of y'all who live outside nigeria, or under a rock in mars, the president went to the USA for the nuclear summit. it was his most high profile and globally publicized visit outside nigeria, and like everyone else, i sorta slightly hoped he would "represent" us correctly. well, the truth is that when two president's meet, its really hard to know if they are both happy to see each other as the smiles are plastic and stuck on firmly throughout the day, so watching him and obama act all friendly wasn't an indication.
so it was with every joy that i caught glimpses of an interview that he gave Christianne Amanpour. as you can tell by now, i am in love with miss amanpour, and were it not for the great gap in personal and career achievements, i would have proposed to her to marry me. but i deviate...
as usual, she kept the relevant questions coming, asking him questions that any nigerian would have asked (or wouldn't because they'd want a contract after the interview) and he surprised me. for the first time since i was old enough to know who was president of my country, i was greatly impressed. jonathan was mature enough to answer all the questions honestly, and knew when to dodge a question without completely going "no comment" on her. it was worth the time i spent watching it. my favourite part was when she asked him if he would fire maurice iwu. he first talked about how INEC can function well with the same people, as he had recently experimented and concluded.
then she pressed him on the matter and asked if he would fire iwu as requested by the USA (i don't even know where the USA earned the right to tell another sovereign country who to fire and who to retain, buts thats a subject for my future post on bullying). he said that all the top national officers of INEC will have their tenures due for renewal in June 2010 and it is then that each official would be evaluated on their merit and "if we think they have performed well, we will renew their tenure". and being THE Christianne Amanpour that i love, she goes in for the kill by asking the President: "DO YOU THINK HE HAS PERFORMED WELL?". At this point the whole world holds its breath because either answer would land jonathan in credibility hot water. He takes a long laugh, talks about how this question has been raised all the time (good tactics to buy time and think of a good response) and then re-iterates what he said before about how the issue is not iwu as a person but INEC as an institution that should be primed to execute credible elections in 2011. I almost stood on my chair and clapped.
For me, he has won me over already. There was the question of how he would run (if he so decided) in view of the informal rotational arrangement in the PDP. i can't remember the answer he gave but here's my summary of the options:
1. As Atiku and IBB (two northern favourites) are strong members of the PDP who have clearly interested, in one case openly expressed, in the race for President in the next elections and in view of the PDP informal arrangement which works in their favour, Jonathan may dump the PDP for a coalition of strong parties like ANPP, AC and APGA fielding a joint candidate (i.e. him).
2. Considering what Adamu Ciroma said in the papers this morning, "nothing can stop Jonathan from contesting". in direct response to the informal arrangement, he said: "if jonathan runs and wins, then it will be clear that the PDP has changed its mind on the issue". I love it that politicians lack integrity and openly accept that they do. basically, if jonathan gets too popular, and we have an INEC that no one can bend, the PDP will be begging him to stay in their party if they want a chance to remain in power.
So anyways, i will watch the events unfold like everyone else, and for some reason i feel that we are entering a very important part of our political life as a nation. the next election portends an interesting time indeed and i am too excited for words.
Sorry this post was so long, but please whatever you do, please please go and register to vote this time. so that you can earn the moral right to criticize the next government. we can make it happen! Jonathan for President, Fashola for Vice President.
later peeps!
for the sake of y'all who live outside nigeria, or under a rock in mars, the president went to the USA for the nuclear summit. it was his most high profile and globally publicized visit outside nigeria, and like everyone else, i sorta slightly hoped he would "represent" us correctly. well, the truth is that when two president's meet, its really hard to know if they are both happy to see each other as the smiles are plastic and stuck on firmly throughout the day, so watching him and obama act all friendly wasn't an indication.
so it was with every joy that i caught glimpses of an interview that he gave Christianne Amanpour. as you can tell by now, i am in love with miss amanpour, and were it not for the great gap in personal and career achievements, i would have proposed to her to marry me. but i deviate...
as usual, she kept the relevant questions coming, asking him questions that any nigerian would have asked (or wouldn't because they'd want a contract after the interview) and he surprised me. for the first time since i was old enough to know who was president of my country, i was greatly impressed. jonathan was mature enough to answer all the questions honestly, and knew when to dodge a question without completely going "no comment" on her. it was worth the time i spent watching it. my favourite part was when she asked him if he would fire maurice iwu. he first talked about how INEC can function well with the same people, as he had recently experimented and concluded.
then she pressed him on the matter and asked if he would fire iwu as requested by the USA (i don't even know where the USA earned the right to tell another sovereign country who to fire and who to retain, buts thats a subject for my future post on bullying). he said that all the top national officers of INEC will have their tenures due for renewal in June 2010 and it is then that each official would be evaluated on their merit and "if we think they have performed well, we will renew their tenure". and being THE Christianne Amanpour that i love, she goes in for the kill by asking the President: "DO YOU THINK HE HAS PERFORMED WELL?". At this point the whole world holds its breath because either answer would land jonathan in credibility hot water. He takes a long laugh, talks about how this question has been raised all the time (good tactics to buy time and think of a good response) and then re-iterates what he said before about how the issue is not iwu as a person but INEC as an institution that should be primed to execute credible elections in 2011. I almost stood on my chair and clapped.
For me, he has won me over already. There was the question of how he would run (if he so decided) in view of the informal rotational arrangement in the PDP. i can't remember the answer he gave but here's my summary of the options:
1. As Atiku and IBB (two northern favourites) are strong members of the PDP who have clearly interested, in one case openly expressed, in the race for President in the next elections and in view of the PDP informal arrangement which works in their favour, Jonathan may dump the PDP for a coalition of strong parties like ANPP, AC and APGA fielding a joint candidate (i.e. him).
2. Considering what Adamu Ciroma said in the papers this morning, "nothing can stop Jonathan from contesting". in direct response to the informal arrangement, he said: "if jonathan runs and wins, then it will be clear that the PDP has changed its mind on the issue". I love it that politicians lack integrity and openly accept that they do. basically, if jonathan gets too popular, and we have an INEC that no one can bend, the PDP will be begging him to stay in their party if they want a chance to remain in power.
So anyways, i will watch the events unfold like everyone else, and for some reason i feel that we are entering a very important part of our political life as a nation. the next election portends an interesting time indeed and i am too excited for words.
Sorry this post was so long, but please whatever you do, please please go and register to vote this time. so that you can earn the moral right to criticize the next government. we can make it happen! Jonathan for President, Fashola for Vice President.
later peeps!
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