BY Ochereome Nnanna
When President Goodluck Jonathan made his latest sweeping changes at the top of the security system, one of my club members chirped: “This man is very brilliant”.

I told him: “If you are the president of Nigeria, you will be brilliant, unless you choose not to”. The seat is so powerful and glamorous that the occupant is begged to contest for power. Before he even says yes, the ruling party lines up the odds in his favour to give him the ticket.

If a terminally sick man, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, could win by a landslide both at the polls and at the election tribunal, it speaks volumes for the power of the Nigerian presidency.

Goodluck Jonathan is a massive improvement on Yar’ Adua in terms of apparent good health. In addition, he obviously has his finger on the pulse of the nation and allows it to help him shape the direction of his governance.

Unlike Olusegun Obasanjo, he reads Nigerian newspapers and even interacts daily with the people on his Facebook account. Some of the actions he has taken show that he listens to his Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) and takes into account the concerns of the various stakeholders in the system. To this end, he cannot but take “brilliant” decisions.

The timing and execution of the change of the Service Chiefs was flawless. When he was sworn-in as president, questions were raised as to why Jonathan spared the Service Chiefs, especially the erstwhile Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Abdulrahman Danbazzau, who was unabashed in his open demonstration of sectional bias.

This man led a presidential team to Jos after one of the murderous riots. They only went to commiserate with the Muslim victims and shunned the usual courtesy visit on Governor Jonah Jang and the paramount ruler of Jos.

Danbazzau was at the centre of the threat of military intervention when Yar’Adua was smuggled back from Saudi Arabia.

Jonathan only chose to do away with the services of retired Lt. General Sarki Mukhtar, the National Security Adviser but kept Danbazzau to avoid sending the wrong signals to the Muslim North. But it was clear from then on that

Danbazzau was risky, especially now we are about to enter the red meat of campaigns and elections. In replacing Danbazzau with Major General Azubike Ihejirika, Jonathan has scored two goals with one shot.

The threat of a sectionally-motivated military intervention has been reduced. As the first Igbo army officer to clinch that post, 40 years after the Nigerian civil war, Ihejirika has no choice but to focus fiercely on the professional use of the army and to defend our democracy.

This appointment, just like the nomination of Ogbonnaya Onovo by Yar’Adua as the Inspector General of Police last year, is historic. Gradually, the ugly chapter of the civil war and the exclusion of one of the nation’s most dynamic ethnic majorities, the Igbo, from critical areas of power and control, is being closed.

What remain now are the elevation of the number of states in the South East zone to six, the creation of more local governments and federal electoral constituencies, and the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction. The process is on course.

The removal of Onovo and the Director General of the State Security Services, Mr Afakriya Gadzama is also a welcome development. These gentlemen failed to address the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria, especially violent robberies, kidnapping and religious fanaticism. Jailbreaks took place at will.

Onovo helped ensure peaceful polls in Anambra and Edo states . He bowed out as the only IGP in recent years who was never accused of stealing. But he did not leave the Force better or worse than he met it. He made little impact. Let us hope that his replacement, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim, will do a better job.

With these new men on the block, we hope we can now embrace the campaigns and elections with a sigh of relief and peace of mind.

Threatening Dokpesi

I HAVE watched with bemusement the campaign of calumny some interests have mounted against the Chairman of the Daar Communication Plc, Chief Raymond Dokpesi since he accepted to be the Director General of General Ibrahim Babangida’s campaign organisation.

Many of the consumers of the electronic media giant’s products are worried that his involvement with Babangida might affect the credibility of AIT and Raypower networks.

The journalists there have assured, time and again, that this will not happen. So far, it has not happened.

The anti-Dokpesi campaign has taken on a more dangerous dimension as an ex-militant platform, the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC), has declared him a “persona non grata” in the South-South, calling him a “black sheep”.

They also threatened to “disown” anyone from Niger Delta who patronises the Daar Group. One elders forum also said they had suspended Dokpesi, even though Dokpesi says he never was their member.

No one has the right to threaten anyone for asserting his freedom of association guaranteed under our Constitution. Nigerians must learn that democracy is a game of choice.

Political interests are not the same even among the elites of homogenous groups in Igboland, Arewa and Yorubaland. It is an irony that these groups would welcome the Jerry Ganas, Solomon Lars, Bayero Nafadas and Abba Ajis of the North into the pro-Jonathan fold but would not tolerate people from a highly heterogeneous South-South who would support a Northern candidate.
Dokpesi should ignore them and play politics exactly as he wishes to.

The threat on the AIT and Raypower will fail. The race for the presidency will not be won by through intimidation by faceless groups using terror tactics to force everyone to do their will.