Brewing crisis between Jonathan and Buhari transition teams - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/brewing-crisis-between-jonathan-and-buhari-transition-teams/#sthash.Vu2dhCWt.dpuf

By Ola Mummy
WHILE addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, Alhaji Abubakar Suleiman, the Minister of National Planning, accused General Muhammadu Buhari’s transition team of making impossible demands, acting like a parallel government and trying to stampede and intimidate the Jonathan administration out of office.

According to Suleiman, who did not specify the exact items and issues that had caused offence, Executive Council Members “take exception to some of their utterances and terms of reference…[and] frowned at most of the statements.”

Suleiman, having reminded his audience that Jonathan is still the President of Nigeria, went on to say that Jonathan’s government “remains resolute and committed to the various programmes and projects it is pursuing and the government will continue to do that until the morning of May 29. “

Olive branch

Then he rounded off his complaint by saying that: “The magnanimity of Mr. President should not be taken to be cowardice and that is why Mr. President and indeed Council Members enjoined Nigerian people to see the olive branch extended…as a way of keeping this country intact, as a way of ensuring peace in Nigeria…whatever the outcome of the election. What is important is Nigeria’s national interest…The transition process is on course in terms of hand over notes and briefs; we have covered almost 80 per cent of our assignments.”

I have warmly – and sincerely saluted Jonathan on this page for graciously accepting defeat last month. And I commend Suleiman and his colleagues for getting on with the handover process in what appears to be a civilised manner.

But I must confess to being intensely irritated whenever Jonathan’s supporters and subordinates carry on as if he has made a Mandela-esque sacrifice that is so epic that it entitles him to canonisation or an invitation to head the United Nations!

Yes, it’s nice that Jonathan shrugged philosophically, smiled rather than sulked (publicly at least) and started to plan his exit as soon as Buhari won.

But he was doing his duty, NOT doing Nigerians a massive favour!

He was only doing what any sane person would have done if they’d been in his shoes! It is not as if he could have easily gotten away with ignoring reality like a madman and clinging to his throne and dragging us into a civil war!

My view, on reflection, is that Jonathan didn’t have much choice and that stubbornly refusing to climb down and move on would, under the circumstances that prevailed at the time, have been stupid, psychotic and self-destructive.

And, frankly, I don’t buy Suleiman’s whinges. I am a peripheral member of the APC’s transition team (via its media/publicity sub-committee), so I guess I’m biased. But I personally think that APC folks have been very restrained and that Buhari himself has been very respectful towards the man he is about to replace.

If I’d been in Buhari’s shoes, I would be making a huge fuss about Jonathan’s decision to merrily dish out new appointments at the eleventh hour!

In the past few days, Jonathan has hired a new MD of NPA, new IG of Police and a new SEC CEO and Chairman.

Isn’t it in bad taste to behave like this four weeks before your impending departure? Should such jobs not be left for your incoming successor?

Should journalists be overtly partisan?

This weekly Vanguard column is not the only space in which I express support for the APC. I also regularly express my pro-APC views on Facebook, the online social media site. And most of the people who respond to my Vanguard and Facebook comments don’t have a problem with the idea of a journalist openly supporting a particular political party. They (quite rightly, if you ask me!) regard me as a Nigerian citizen who is as entitled as they are to voice my preferences.

However, a significant number of respondents feel that journalists should always be “totally objective”, in public fora at least. Some even accuse me of having been bribed handsomely to support the APC; and I want to explain my position to folks who believe that I am violating the ethics of my profession.

There are different types of journalist. And if I were a news-reporting type of journalist, I would hide behind a mask of impartiality and report on current affairs in a purely factual manner, without adding any opinions to my articles.

News reporter

If I were a news reporter, I would tell you, in a completely unemotional way, that X or Y happened and leave it at that. And I’d quote APC and PDP spokespersons without letting you know whether I agree or disagree with them.

But I am not a reporter. I am a columnist, which means that I am allowed to be highly opinionated and tell you – without mincing words – how I feel about the things that politicians say and do…and the things they don’t say or don’t do.

I am allowed to say that Jonathan has disappointed me to the point where I desperately want someone else to be given a chance to run this ailing nation.

Some columnists are cool customers who calmly sit on the fence and offend nobody. And there is nothing wrong with such uncontroversial blandness.

But it is also fine to be a feisty character who makes robust remarks about famous folks and burning issues. When I’m in the UK, I support the Conservative Party. When I am in Nigeria, I will openly support anyone I think can do the best possible job. And, for now at least, I am not ready to be “totally objective” because I feel that Buhari is more likely to cleanse and galvanize our society.

And, by the way, I am motivated by principles rather than money and nobody can bribe me to praise someone I don’t believe in or to abandon someone I believe in.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/05/brewing-crisis-between-jonathan-and-buhari-transition-teams/#sthash.Vu2dhCWt.dpuf