OPPORTUNITY as the popular saying goes comes only but once. In today’s Nigeria, we are living witnesses to the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Nigeria’s 14th President and Commander in Chief. It will be correct to attribute his ascension to power to providence.

Since he joined politics in 1998, after resigning his appointment as assistant director (Ecology) at then OMPADEC (now NDDC), fortune has always smiled on him. Acknowledged by all and sundry as a good man, with quiet mien, Dr. Jonathan is eminently qualified to contest for President in 2011.

This position may not be palatable to some political elements in the polity, but if the Nigerian constitution is anything to go by, then Dr. Jonathan can run. Of recent, one could read divergent views from different quarters as to whether he should run or not, but I believe that even the PDP “agreement” that power should remain in the North for another four years after this Yar’dua/Jonathan tenure is neither sacrosanct or binding on all.

Come to think of it, where is the proof that such agreement actually exists, in view of the fact that even the chairman of PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo recently debunked that any such agreement existed?

Therefore, it is futile for some persons or groups to begin to issue threats or intimidate the entire nation that hell will let loose, if Goodluck Jonathan exercises his fundamental human  right to seek re-election in 2011. In my view, such threats should be discountenanced as they can not hold water.

If  however some persons decide to breach the law by destabilising the country, then the law enforcement agencies should be compelled to apply maximum force towards enforcing the law. Nigerians want  a fresh breather in the system, and nobody can sit down in his house and dictate to them who should govern  them.

Enough of this political brigandage and intimidation by elements who on their own cannot face the electorate, rather they hide under the canopy of zoning.

In reality, these crops of  politicians are not sincere and they have nothing to offer the nation. They are self seeking, and their modus operandi is self aggrandizement. The problems confronting the nation today are legion that Nigerians should be allowed to choose who govern them, and not a bunch of party heavy weights. In any case, the prime reason for the so-called  zoning agreement by the PDP has been overtaken by events.

Even the political re-alignments of today tend to have discarded the arrangement, or how else can one explain that North holds the following key positions: Vice President, Senate President, Chief Justice, Secretary to the Government of the federation, Chief of Army Staff, NNPC CEO until lately, to mention but a few.

Going by the above listed positions, the South East is the ultimate loser with only the infinitesimal position of Deputy Senate President. Therefore, the North as it were has the least reason to complain; after all, they have been in the vanguard of  political manipulations over the last four decades of Nigeria’s history as an independent nation.

Much as most Nigerians grieve over the sudden death of former President Yar’dua, they are also consoled by the emergence of another good man in the person of President Goodluck Jonathan. He deserves support from all sections of the country to enable him serve us better.

If truth must be told, we as a country need a break from the inglorious past where our so called leaders treated us with levity and disregard.

To face the issue squarely, if President Jonathan keeps faith with the PDP zoning arrangement by not contesting in 2011, how are we sure that the next president of Northern extraction will keep faith by vacating the seat after four years. A typical historical example was the maradonic way former Head of State, General Babangida kept shifting the goal post whenever it was his appointed time to step down.

Nigerians were forced to put up with this rigmarole for eight solid years. Yet on his departure, he promised us that he was only stepping aside. That is how far people in power can go to elongate their tenure.

In the case of Jonathan, he is at liberty to just exercise his legal right to aspire to any office in the land. By the way, even if the zoning arrangement was agreed to by the founding fathers of PDP, one can at this juncture ask if that was a condition precedent for any member wishing to join the party. The answer is obviously NO.

This was an agreement by a few persons that is not enforceable going by the PDP constitution or the Nigerian constitution. So where is the basis for all the warnings and threats against Jonathan joining the presidential race?
Obviously, any discerning mind should not heed such tantrums, for they are meant to rattle the weak and uninitiated.

From all indications, most Nigerians support President Jonathan to run. In the short span of his administration, we can see that we are now enjoying longer hours of electricity supply; the international community is once more paying serious attention to Nigeria.

In the last few weeks and months, we have seen important regional and world leaders visiting Mr. President on solidarity visits. Even the United Nation’s Secretary General also came visiting. These are signs of a country that is on the right track, and we should not be afraid to fritter this opportunity away, simply because some disgruntled elements want to scare all of us.

We must not succumb to fear, rather we as a nation must take the bull by the horn and steer the ship of state to safety and peace. Nigeria is at crossroads and the seriousness of our situation does not necessitate the manner of intrigues some persons have embarked upon. We need stability and progress, and for crying out loud  if President Jonathan, as the one on the saddle can deliver it, why not give him a chance?

Throughout history, we have seen countries where their Presidents has remained in power almost perpetually just to sustain the progress and survival of their countries. Such countries include Libya, Cuba, Egypt, Russia and many more. Granted that as a democratic nation, Nigeria cannot snowball into a banana republic, yet even within our laws, Jonathan has a right to contest.

Indeed, I will be surprised if Jonathan capitulates by not contesting. This is not a battle for the lily livered, and Jonathan has everything in his favour, the most important being the backing of ordinary Nigerians. He should capitalise on the people’s support and contest, and disregard the empty threats of a few who feel threatened by the alteration of the status-quo. If the boat of a great nation like Nigeria should not be rocked, then it behoves all of us to abide by the principles of rule of law.

It is however not impossible that there will be pockets of dissension and protests against his candidature, but this is expected, and they can be contained, given that this is the antics of a few.

Democracy is all about upholding the views of the majority and luckily in this scenario they are with Mr. President. The question is: What do most Nigerians desire? And the answer is not far fetched- GOOD GOVERNANCE. Indeed, if Jonathan has provided good life for the majority, why should he abdicate his responsibility to them, by not contesting?

By Chukwudi Enekwechi, a  journalist, writes from Abuja.