Allison-Madueke defends Jonathan, says he is not a weak leader

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, has defended President Goodluck Jonathan against the charge of being a weak and ineffectual leader .

In a book edited by the minister titled, 'Goodluck Ebele Jonathan: Champion of Women,' the minister said Jonathan was neither a weak nor indecisive president.

The book was presented on Wednesday at a mid-term presidential dinner held as part of activities marking the second anniversary of Jonathan's administration.

According to Mrs. Allison-Madueke, external factors and local impediments tried to scuttle President Goodluck Jonathan's ambition of repositioning the country in the first two years of his administration.

She said that Nigerians who held that view are victims of fixations arising from long years of military rule that made them believe that leaders must be aggressive.

In her view, with his consuming passion for the progress of the country, there was no doubt that the President was leading Nigeria to a good place.

The book  listed the activities of members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, in the North and kidnappers in the South as some of the local impediments to Jonathan's transformation agenda..

It added that it was impossible for the Federal Government to separate the external factors from local impediments.

According to the book, technological advancements including the use of mobile phones contributed to the problems.

It statd that the first two years of Jonathan in the saddle of affairs were full of threatening challenges capable of making the President lose focus.

The book said however, the challenges made the President more inspired to steer the ship of the nation to a safe haven.

The book read, 'The first two years of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's administration were met with tough, even threatening challenges.

'The Boko Haram insurgence in the North and the spate of callous kidnappings in the South could quite easily have shifted all focus away from the President's clearly outlined transformation agenda.

'Ironically, however, the President seems even more inspired to steer the ship of the state to a safe point where the dignity of every Nigerian is preserved; a point where our right to contribute to productive decision-making is assured, where our balance of payment is no longer in deficit, where we do not consume more than we produce, where every Nigerian can boast a healthy standard of living, where our women take centre stage in the whole process of social and economic transformation.

'While the local impediments to the President's ambitions are unrelenting, external factors have compounded the matter further, making it impossible to separate one from the other.

'We now live in a world where a click of your mobile phone takes you to the global marketplace. This may seem adventurous and exciting to some, but the impact on the local market is incalculable.'

The book stated that Jonathan was determined to fulfil all his electoral promises in the lifespan of his administration.

It described the President as an honourable man who had always been reluctant to say in public what he did not plan to put into practice.