In managing the defeat of the old political order under ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the losers were not expected to accept their loss without attempts to romanticise their gone era. But even idealisation of the past should have limits and the voices of historical revision should also know their limits even if they don’t recognise their limitations.
Some former ministers in the Jonathan administration who jointly issued a statement on August 30 made revisional claims that fly in the face of the record. They said: “The improvements that have been noticed today in the power sector, in national security, and in social services and other sectors did not occur overnight. They are products of solid foundations laid by the same Jonathan administration.” If the failed administration demonstrably laid such “solid foundations”, does it suggest that Jonathan’s electoral ouster was misguided and undeserved?
The statement continued: “Contrary to what the APC and its agents would rather have the public believe, the Jonathan administration did not encourage corruption; rather it fought corruption vigorously, within the context of the rule of law.” Were the ex-ministers talking about the same administration known to have encouraged corruption premised on Jonathan’s famous defensive remark that “Stealing is not corruption”?
They added: “It was also the Jonathan administration that mobilised and secured the support of our neighbouring countries to ensure a robust multinational response to the menace of terrorism and insurgency, resulting in notable advancements in the fight against terror.” The “notable advancements” referred to must include the tragedy of over 200 schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram terrorists over a year ago and who are still missing.
The former ministers blamed “the Muhammadu Buhari administration and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC)” for what they described as “an orchestrated and vicious trial by media…that discredits our honest contributions to the growth and development of our beloved nation.” Did they honestly mean “growth and development”?
In an implied admission of a degree of rottenness that can be associated with the Jonathan administration, they said: “In addition, the Buhari administration should be fair enough to acknowledge the good work of the Jonathan administration. No administration can be either completely bad or completely good. President Jonathan’s achievements in moving this country to greater heights deserve to be duly acknowledged.” It is the height of illusion to claim that the discredited government took the country to “greater heights.” Clearly, the electorate graded the Jonathan administration as more bad than good.
In conclusion, Jonathan’s dubious defenders said: “We are constrained to speak up in defence of the legacy of the Jonathan administration, and shall do so again, for as long as those who are determined to rubbish that legacy are unrelenting in their usual deployment of blackmail, persecution and similar tactics.” One question: Is it possible to rubbish a “legacy” that is rubbish?
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