Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is the President of Nigeria. In addition to the big title of President, he is also the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Undoubtedly a very big position, Jonathan is the supreme commander and boss of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force as well as the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Security and Intelligence Services, and of such forces not listed on paper. With the awesome powers at the disposal of Mr President, Jonathan is armed to the teeth to do and undo with the fate of Nigerians.

And this exactly was what he chose to do after meeting with the respected members of the highest advisory council in the land: the country’s Council of State. After allowing the grey-haired former Heads of State and governments of Nigeria to warm their seats at the hallowed chambers of the Presidential Villa, and gracefully allowing them to air their views on the much anticipated national elections slated for February 14 and 28, 2015, Jonathan went to his armoury and calculatedly announced the bloodless take-over of the nation’s sovereignty and vested it on himself.

Nigeria had battled insurgency, albeit half-heartedly for nine years. And under Commander-in-Chief Jonathan’s lacklustre watch the insurgency grew in bounds and leaps. The ravaging insurgents even captured over 300 school girls from their hostel and to date the fate of the unfortunate girls is unknown. On top of that the insurgents had successfully captured and occupied a number of territories in the North-East of Nigeria and declared the captured lands their own.

Nigeria’s Commander-in-Chief appeared totally powerless and at the height of his frustration announced to the whole world that some members of his cabinet were members of the terrorising Boko Haram sect. And at another time when bombs went up at the Eagle Square Commander-in-Chief Jonathan declared that the perpetrators were ‘my brothers’ – meaning the terror groups from the creeks of the Delta region where Jonathan hails from.

Commander-in-Chief took a good look at his very unimpressive performance as the President of Nigeria and he was worried stiff that any elections in Nigeria would sweep him off his exalted feet. Billions of dollars had been declared stolen under his watch and many horrible things that were hitherto unknown in Nigeria were parading themselves under his presidency: unceasing armed robbery, kidnapping, assassinations, unprecedented level of insecurity and arrant impunity and unaccountability in government. All these anomalies weighted heavily against the country’s march to development and modernity.

It became very clear that Jonathan, the President lacked the ability and capability to run the affairs of Nigeria. It was even clear that he lacked the wherewithal to run the affairs of a bakery!

Elections to national office were usually, as defined by the Nigerian Constitution which Jonathan swore to uphold and protect, held three months to handing over power to the successors. That period had been fixed for February of every election year. President Jonathan the Commander-in-Chief was/is very well aware of this constitutional provision and he, in fact, had been canvassing for votes in readiness for the elections.

The electoral body which is constitutionally bound to be independent had also for the past four years been preparing for the elections. On numerous occasions, the boss of that body, a most respected intellectual by the name Attahiru Jega, had announced their readiness and preparedness to hold a fair and free election.

While the whole world was eagerly looking forward to the elections slated for February 14, the Commander-in-Chief through remote control sent his National Security Adviser, his own appointee, to test the waters by suggesting that elections could not hold as scheduled.

A number of megaphones took the queue from the National Security Adviser and they too started mouthing the desirability of postponing the elections. And a most respected elders’ council suspected to have been heavily bribed at the Jonathan stage-managed National Confab also came up, inaudibly though due to the advanced stage of their ages, that it might be a good idea if the elections were suspended in the last hour.

While this entire shenanigan was going on, the usually very articulate civil societies in Nigeria saw through it all and knew that the Commander-in-Chief had something up his sleeves.

They started asking questions: ‘What on earth could have led to the Presidency and the president’s jolly fellows to begin to chicken out in the face of an imminent election? Why should they be falling down one by one when death was yet to knock on their doors?

Finally, the Commander-in-Chief struck! The elections would have to be postponed because the Commander-in-Chief had now just gathered his strength to lead an onslaught on Boko Haram now that Chad, Cameroon and Niger had shown what leadership was all about.

The Commander-in-Chief announcing the coup through his service chiefs says that his forces will be commencing offensive against insurgents the very day the whole of Nigeria and the international community had concluded to hold a most popularised election.

By this coup Jonathan has exposed the underbelly of the Nigerian nation to a most unpardonable ridicule. Never in the over 100-year history of the country have elections been postponed. And it is an irony that Nigeria that used to be the toast of the world in international peace-keeping operations and had in fact rescued Liberia, Congo and Sierra Leone from destruction is now the same country being rescued by land-locked Chad. A greater irony is that the same security agents that could not muster forces to quell insurgency in the North-East are now battle-ready to squash Nigeria’s hopes and aspirations. They cannot fight the insurgents but they can terrorise law-abiding Nigerian citizens and prevent them from their basic civic duty of electing their leaders.

This coup masterminded by the Commander-in-Chief is billed to throw Nigeria back for 20 years. And it may just be the beginning scenario for more coups to unfold from the armpit of the Commander-in-Chief. The Commander-in-Chief has already deployed his armoured tanks to strategic places in the country. This ferocious step is a confirmation of the fears and suspicions which the Nigerian populace had nursed all along; that the Jonathan government being seriously afraid of its own shadows will truncate the planned elections to ensure the unpopular government remains in power for as long as the Commander-in-Chief is in control of all forces of intimidation, coercion and terror and also to ensure for its beneficiaries an undisturbed flow of illicit money to their bank accounts.

The coup of February 7, 2015 will forever be a date to remember!

All hail Jonathan, our very smart Commander-in-chief!

•Chief Tola Adeniyi (shown in photo) is a former Managing Director of Daily Times of Nigeria. He can be reached via chiefadetolaadeniyi@yahoo.ca

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