By Gainaako
It’s about one year to election time. President Jonathan is about to start spewing fresh electoral promises. If like me you are wondering what became of the many promises he dished out in 2010/2011, then this post is for you.
It’s a compilation of 24 promises made by President Jonathan in the buildup to the 2011 polls. It was compiled by one Egghead Odewale and posted on his Facebook page about 3 years ago. What I like best about this compilation is the fact that for every promise, he provides a link as proof of when and where the promise was made. The problem is, three years is a very long time in Nigeria and many of the links are now broken partly because 234Next, the online magazine that the article relied on heavily, is now rested. I therefore edited out all the broken links and left only the ones that are still active.
With this you can appraise Dr. Jonathan’s performance as far as his promises are concerned (fulfilling electoral promises however, is not his only duty). From my cursory appraisal, there are some of his promises that he tried to keep like the building of Almajiri schools and the establishment of new universities. But like I said, my appraisal is cursory and my acquaintance with these projects doesn’t go beyond announcements made by the regime in the media. Of course there are many other promises that at best can only be said to have been ignored by the Jonathan administration and there is also this one promise that he flatly denies – the promise to serve for only one term.
Read it for yourself and make your objective appraisal…
1. You promised to rule for only one term (reference http://ow.ly/4KScO)
2. You promised a constitutional role for Traditional Rulers!!! I am short of words but Nigerians are waiting
3. On March 17th 2011, in Dutse the Jigawa state capital, you promised: “If I win the election, within my four years in office, I will establish domestic airports in all the states without airports,”.
4. In Nasarawa, at the flag-off of your campaign you promised at least a university in every state including building specialist almajiri schools to shore up education in the North so as to eradicate illiteracy.
5. On February 8th in Ibadan, the day you called some people “rascals”, you promised to create jobs and improve the power sector. The Oyo people and indeed all Nigerians are waiting!!!
6. On Feb 9th, you were in Bauchi and you promised to intensify oil and gas exploration in the North-East as part of efforts to harness resources for economic development. Also you pledged to boost agriculture, power and water supply for wealth creation and revenue generation. Then you assured that projects such as the Mambilla hydro-electricity, Jada irrigation project and Kafin Zaki dam in Taraba, Adamawa and Bauchi would be pursued to boost agriculture and industrial development (http://ow.ly/4KSnF). Then you promised that your administration would establish two universities in the region. The NORTH EAST PEOPLE ARE WAITING.
7. You landed in Port Harcourt on Feb 12 where you made a lot of promises, maybe to woo your Niger Delta people. Be that as it may, you announced that the NNPC, in partnership with the private sector, would establish a petrochemical plant in the Niger Delta (you didnt state where exactly). You promised the plant will create job opportunities for the Niger Delta youths. Then you went ahead to promise the implementation of Local Content Law and Petroleum Industry Bill (http://ow.ly/4KSpu). In case you cant remember when you made all these, cast your mind back to the stampede that claimed some lives (where your wife called them martyrs).
8. In Kaduna, you promised massive transformation of the agricultural sector through construction of large dams and distribution of one million metric tonnes of fertilizers for the 2011 farming season.
9. In Benue, you promised to revolutionize agriculture and establish industries in the country through a five-year plan (We need that Plan now so we can keep track, the five years have started counting already). You also promised to complete the irrigation project in Otukpo. Then you promised that the second Niger Bridge and the Benue Bridge projects will be worked on in the next four years (http://ow.ly/4KStl). I think its better to start now so by April 2015, we trust you would have completed it.
10. February 17th, you were in Plateau where you shocked the entire country with amazing promises. First of all, you pledged to refocus on the solid mineral development of the state and make it one of the key revenue sources in Nigeria. The Plateau people are banking on you. Mr President, You promised to build more dams and complete ongoing ones, so as to boost agricultural growth. In addition you promised to complete the Vom-Manchok-Jos road to boost economic links between Plateau and Kaduna states. You left the state and the Plateau people have been happy ever since and now that you have won, they are waiting.
11. Mr President on Feb 21, you were in Kogi. You promised among other things that the dredging of the River Niger and Lokoja-Abuja road dualisation would be completed very soon. THE KOGI PEOPLE AND INDEED NIGERIANS ARE HOPING AND WAITING
12. In Kwara State on February 22, you pledged that the irrigation project in Shonga would be completed soon to boost the commercial farming activities of the New Nigeria Farmers in the area. Mr president, remember you also said the Jebba-Mokwa road and Jebba bridge would be given adequate attention to ease transportation in the area. Kwarans are waiting!
13. On February 24, Mr. President, you pledged to rehabilitate all ailing industries in Aba (http://ow.ly/4KSxd). I believe all Abians are hoping on you to provide the enabling environment to do their businesses, you must keep your promises.
14. Mr. President, on Feb 25th in Anamabra you said there is a plan to build a power station in the state, assuring that within the next four years your administration would construct and rehabilitate ALL federal roads leading to Anambra as well as the South East. You equally promised to provide potable water to the densely populated Onitsha and Nnewi cities (http://ow.ly/4KSyf) and tackle erosion in the South-East. To tell you the truth, Mr. President, Anambrians are banking on you!
15. In Ebonyi state, you promised to dualize the Enugu-Abakaliki federal highway in addition (http://ow.ly/4KSza) to establishing a secretariat for ALL Federal government’s agencies and parastatals in Ebonyi. Mr. president, The people of Ebonyi have never had it so good since the creation of their state. Now, you have promised them the good life. Please keeep to your words!
16. In Niger state, you promised the more power generation. Perhaps the most important aspect of your promises is that your government would map out a five-year strategic plan for road projects.
17. On Feb 27, you were in Asaba, the Delta state. On that fateful Sunday, you revealed that “The NNPC is developing a new programme that will absorb about 5,000 youths,” (http://ow.ly/4KSAO) Mr. President, Deltans are delighted at this REVELATIONS. While that number is a far cry from the number of unemployed youths in the state, at all at all na winch (as we say in Warri), so Deltans are waiting.
18. On March 2nd, you were in Ondo where you promised that roads and other basic infrastructure across the states will be developed in four years. In addition you also promised the exploitation of the vast bitumen deposits in the state for national economic development and employment generation (http://ow.ly/4KSFj). The Ondo people are waiting. Your Four years have started already. You must start now.
19. On the same day, March 2nd, your campaign train was in Ekiti state. While there, you promised that more than N50 billion federal intervention projects were ongoing in the state (http://ow.ly/4KSGb). You can be rest assured that the Fayemi and indeed the entire Ekiti kete are waiting for you.
20. On March 9th, in Sokoto, you promised to rehabilitate the abandoned Shagari irrigation project as well as reviving the nation’s rail system and fight the menace of desertification in the country.
21. The date was March 12th 2011 and you were in Ogun state, my home state. Remember, the day you rode to Abeokuta through rail? Yes, that was the day you promised an improved power supply before the end of the year through the Integrated Power Project (IPP) initiative. You also pledged to build more refineries, encourage downstream activities, resuscitate rail transportation and create jobs. In case you have forgotten, that was the day that Gbenga Daniel your South West campaign coordinator was booed by the Ogun people.
22. On March 14th, your campaign trained moved to Kebbi where you promised to establish a federal university next year (2012). You also promised to create jobs through science and technology, tackle environmental challenges and boost health care delivery. (http://ow.ly/4KSIX)
23. Katsina, was your port of call on March 15 where you promised to enhance the living standard of Nigerians through implementation of people-oriented programmes that would provide citizens the necessary opportunities to realize their potentials.In my opinion, this was just mere rhetorics as you did not make any concrete promises. Or did you have the premonition, you will lose in Katsina? I might just be right.
24. In Kano, you pledged to resuscitate the nation’s power sector and encourage the development of small and medium scale enterprises in the country while ensuring justice, equity and fair play in the polity.
Mr. President, space will not allow me to list the deluge of promises in Lagos, Osun, Borno, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Imo, Taraba, Jigawa, Edo, Bayelsa and Zamfara states, and Abuja. If you can accomplish all your promises in the next four years, then you will go down memory lane as the best President ever.
Thanks to Yahoo, Gmail and Facebook, we can all save this message in our Inbox/Wall for the next four years and check out how much you achieve on your promises.
Your fellow Nigerian,
Egghead odewale