That Tenure Elongation - By Oritsejemite Olanrewaju.

We woke up to the news of a proposed tenure elongation by Dr Good luck Jonathan sometime this week. At least that was when I saw it.   At last the rumors we heard via the grape vine became e a reality. What is disturbing is that while Nigeria is in the throes of multi-dimensional crisis, the only thing the president could think of was a Constitutional amendment for tenure elongation. He is barely one year old as an elected president, he has yet to achieve anything tangible or worthwhile, but he has managed to think of extending his stay in office.   

President Jonathan's bill on single term of 6 years is self-serving, evil, reckless and downright irresponsible. It is unfortunate that the first Bill he will send to the National Assembly is all about himself. It is a reflection of an apparent national indifference with disastrous consequences for the country.   It is a sign of a man bereft of rational calculation     

It is doubtful if this man has advisers. It is doubtful if he is conscious of the consequences of his actions. Just as we were recovering from this tasteless and utterly self-serving proposal. He dropped another bomb shell. He denied being the author of that recklessness. I hate to spell it out for the president. But he is the owner of the problem. If he signed on to such a plan even if it was a party decision which will not surprise a majority of Nigerians, then it is his show and him alone. When Obasanjo and a few of his cronies thought of that hare brained idea of Third term , it was only OBJ who was left holding the can when he was roundly and soundly defeated and disgraced   in the National Assembly.  

I wonder why President Jonathan feels we ought to endure more years of the incompetence of his administration and the PDP in general. It is obvious our president is not a student of history. He learnt nothing from the debacle of the Obasanjo disgrace following his attempt to become a full blown dictator via the third term drama. No one is impressed by his attempt to hoodwink us by ruling himself out of the game after the first 6 years. The point is he will not get this evil bill to pass. It is selfish, self-serving, reckless and irresponsible.   Totally tasteless.  

Besides, why should we believe this man?   He is not known to keep agreements. Much as a majority of Nigerians were against the miserable quota calculation redundant leaders wanted to exploit pre 2011 elections, it is obvious that this man, Dr Jonathan is a repeat offender when it comes to reneging on agreements. Therefore, we will not allow him to hoodwink us again. If he could dream up an excuse to extend his tenure while failing to address urgent matters of state, then he can dream up other reasons to renege on his promise not to seek office after his proposed first 6 years of office. His promise reminds me of the fable of the Scorpion and the frog.  

The fable had placed the scorpion and the frog at the river bank. The scorpion which obviously is the PDP and the toad represent the rest of us. The scorpion had requested the frog to give him a ride on his back across the river. The frog being wary of the evil sting of the scorpion was reluctant to give the scorpion a ride on his back without a promise not to sting him to death. The scorpion gave his word, after all 'I will equally sink if I sting you while crossing the river'. Needless to say that half way through the journey, the scorpion delivered a stinging bite to the toad. It was a fatal sting. While in the throes of death and sinking, the toad had asked the scorpion why he reneged on his word. The scorpion's answer was arch typical 'BECAUSE IT IS MY NATURE TO LIE AND KILL'.    The PDP and Dr Goodluck Jonathan have obviously boxed itself into a political corner by this act of recklessness. This act of indiscretion like the scorpion is the nature of the PDP. A party known to act without any thought of national interest. We will resist this indiscretion.