By Ochereome Nnanna
WHERE is President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC)? I am forced to ask this question because of the noticeable drop in the quality of presidential carriage and actions, especially since GEJ declared his intention to contest for president next year.

Let me mention just a few of them and then tie back to the early days after his elevation and the difference will be clear.

Jonathan has committed three expensive gaffes within three weeks. The first faux pas showed in the apparent lack of homework in the choice of a National Security Adviser (NSA) when General Aliyu Gusau resigned to join the presidential race. He picked former Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), retired Col Kayode Are. About two weeks later, Are was replaced by retired Lt General Owoye Azazi.

While some people had claimed that Are was former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s nominee, others countered that he was more of a Gusau man.

One would have thought that when Gusau left, Jonathan would make straight for his “own man”, such as Azazi, an Ijaw who, in our peculiar ethnocentric circumstances, could be more dependable to protect the President and the nation into the next dispensation. Col Are had five clear days of advance warning by the terrorists and yet was unable to prevent the bombings.

Jonathan’s second blunder happened when he went to the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and commented on the zoning principle of his party. Zoning, he said, does not affect the presidential seat or other positions beyond the control of the PDP.

This, to me, was a self-serving interpretation of zoning by somebody who obviously knows little about the philosophical origins of zoning. Jonathan’s opinion was a mere refrain of Obasanjo’s earlier unscrupulous assertion that there was nothing like zoning in the PDP books! GEJ twisted the argument to suit his own political interests.

Zoning is specifically about the presidency. In 1999, the presidency was zoned to Yorubaland. In 2007, it was re-zoned to the North.

After both elections, all other positions were allocated to the various geo-political zones to complete the power sharing process, which is what zoning is all about. If Jonathan had said he was contesting to complete the eight-year tenure of the Yar’ Adua/Jonathan ticket, it would have been a better explanation for his ambition.

The third one was the post-bomb blast exoneration of the phantom Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). MEND had claimed responsibility, but Jonathan came out in person to disclaim their statement, blaming it on his political opponents, while investigations by the security agencies were yet to be concluded.

He then invited the ex-MEND “commanders” and “generals” for a royal handshake in Abuja. Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, couldn’t have performed better if he were the one handling this incident as president of Nigeria.

We appear to be seeing a GEJ who, since he declared for the presidency, has withdrawn from the PAC, choosing instead to embrace the well-known scripts of OBJ and EKC. In the process, just like the politics of OBJ and EKC, Jonathan has caused more alienation in the system than bridge-building. As we brace up for the general elections, he has increasingly come into the picture as part of the problems rather than the one with the solutions.

This is a departure from the earlier GEJ who, as soon as he was elevated to the position of Acting President in February 2010, proceeded on March 1, 2010 to set up the PAC led by retired Lt General TY Danjuma.

The PAC was to assist in raising the quality of decision-making and governance generally. The nimble steps the President took subsequently showed he was working closely with the PAC, which is largely made up of independent-minded eminent Nigerians.

The reconstitution of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the appointment of popularly acclaimed Prof Attahiru Jega as its Chairman went down very well. His decision not to disclose his presidential ambition early in the game in order not to distract governance was also very patriotic, especially in the light of the blunders that have shadowed his entry into the political fray. His handling of the power resuscitation agenda has been the most effective since 1999.

The signing of the Petroleum Industry (PIB) and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) bills into law were far-reaching reformatory steps. Also, his decision to offer a ministerial job to a son of the Yar’ Adua family showed he was well advised.

Perhaps, Jonathan is one of those public figures who are good administrators but bad politicians. At 50, Nigeria is standing at history’s crossroads. Jonathan must reassess his political strategies. Let him get closer to the PAC. He should give OBJ and EKC a wide berth or they will lead him – and the nation – to a catastrophic end.