REMARKS BY GOV. KASHIM SHETTIMA AT THE LAUNCH OF “ON A PLATTER OF GOLD" скачать в хорошем качестве

REMARKS BY GOV. KASHIM SHETTIMA AT THE LAUNCH OF “ON A PLATTER OF GOLD"

REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. KASHIM SHETTIMA, EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF BORNO STATE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE OCCASION DURING THE LAUNCH OF “ON A PLATTER OF GOLD: HOW JONATHAN WON AND LOST POWER”, ON THURSDAY, 29TH NOVEMBER, 2017 AT SHEHU MUSA YAR'ADUA CENTRE, ABUJA Protocol  Let me start by expressing my profound appreciation and gratitude to the Honourable Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the man of the moment, celebrated columnist, prolific writer, devoted public servant, astute politician and author of the latest and, without any doubt, one of the richest, detailed and most authoritative accounts yet, of the events that took place in arguably the most turbulent period in Nigeria's political history, for not only inviting me to this book launch, but doing me the honour of making me the Chairman of the occasion. The book we are gathered here today to witness its launch, “On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria”, from my reading comes across as an excellent, fascinating and broadly credible narrative about the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the man who held sway as the  leader of Africa’s most populous country continuously from 9th February, 2010 to 29th May, 2015 either as Acting President, a substantive President who completed the term of his principal, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, or as duly elected President. The book chronicles the astonishing story of a man who rose from virtual obscurity to power and fame, if not fortune, literary within the twinkle of an eye and who then lost them as fast.  As the person saddled with the main and simple task of setting the tone for this event, it is not my intention to pre-empt the reviewer of this book, but suffice it to say that “On a Platter of Gold” is an insider’s compelling rendition of how former President Jonathan overcame the considerable obstacles of being an ethnic minority with a poor, peasant pedigree with little or no political background or structure, got catapulted to the dizzying heights of the highly coveted Nigerian presidency in a record time, and, who through the interplay of ethnic, religious, political and economic forces, and, l dare to say, sheer display of bad judgement, lack of political sagacity and will power squandered the enormous goodwill he commanded and subsequently got humiliated out office. Within a short time after his ascendancy, to paraphrase the author the book, he went from the the man who could do no wrong; the faultless to the “clueless”, from the most followed President in the world on Facebook to the most “cursed” President.   Dr. Jonathan’s political stock did rise in a short time and in a spectacular manner, but his administration’s poor handling/response to the most important issues affecting Nigerians at the time such as the fuel subsidy saga, the Boko Haram insurgency and the general crisis of insecurity, particularly the abduction of the Chibok girls, the crisis in the then ruling party, the PDP, to mention some, left much to be desired and led to a rapid and alarming erosion in the then President’s popularity, and created the perception, real or imagined, among Nigerians and beyond our shores, that he was insensitive to the plight and sufferings of his people. Thus, his fairy tale rise to power and his honeymoon with Nigerian people were quickly forgotten and culminated in the unprecedented defeat of a  sitting President by an opposition candidate in Nigeria. Although his manner of conceding defeat earned him a lot of praise and a hero’s status, the fact is even the most ardent supporters of Dr. Jonathan know he should have ended under much better circumstances. It goes without saying that the stewardship of President Jonathan at such a turbulent period of our national life has, and will continue to shape, for good or bad, the fortunes of our country. The lesson for us members of the political class therefore, is that we must at all times place the national interest above all other considerations and must assiduously work at building national consensus.  Not everyone will, of course, agree with Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi’s  recollection of the events of that very interesting epoch of our political history, or even with the style of his presentation. Nevertheless, he deserves the commendation of all and sundry for this very bold effort at documenting the events of a particular time of our nation’s contemporary history. I not only strongly recommend it to all scholars and students of history and politics, but to politicians, policy makers, activists and journalists, among others, and hope that this book will inspire others to also give an account of their experiences, perspectives and opinions of this and other periods of our nation’s still unfolding political history. Thank you for listening