PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan is a modest man. This reflected in his 2010 achievements. He, however, went off the mark when he awarded his administration pass marks on these results.

He gave himself high marks that fuel was available throughout the year. “Note that this did not happen by accident but is a deliberate effort by this administration to ease the pains of Nigerians at this time of the year,” he said.

He made no mention of the fact that refineries are still not working and Nigeria imports fuel at costs that weigh down the economy.

The President’s achievements included four airlines with direct flights to the United States of America. Only one of the airlines is Nigerian, creating three new sources of capital flight. He boasted about Nigeria’s five functional international airports.

The latest one in Enugu made it possible, the President said, for Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu_Ojukwu to be flown abroad from Enugu for medical attention.

Jonathan admitted in that line that health facilities in Nigeria have continued their descent. Nigerians, who can afford it, go abroad to fix the slightest ache.

Remarkably, health, roads, food security, and electricity were not in the list of the President’s achievements.

Equally interesting is that this report was made on Facebook, the President’s choice medium for saying important things. How serious does the President expect the world to take these pedestal results? The same question arises over his electioneering campaign that airs images of Nigeria’s decay on international television with promises that his election will change things.

Most of his claimed achievements confirm confusion in government policies. “Nigerians can celebrate the reopening of three textile mills in Kaduna that had previously been closed which has reopened as a result of accessing funds from the N200 billion textile industry bail out funds leading to the re engagement of 2000 workers,” the President wrote to his friends.

He forgot his administration lifted ban on importation of textiles, a major threat to those jobs. Without electricity, the mills may not exceed the life span of their new generators.

With Nigeria thrown open to imported textiles, at the instance of the President, the jobs will not last.

The President spreads the same befuddlement in celebrating commencement of work in six new federal universities. The proposed allocation of N933 billion to education in the 2011 budget is other achievement.

The figures do not address access to education, low funding of existing institutions and the quality of education.

In foreign affairs, Jonathan rated handling of the arms seizure from Iran and containing the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire “recent successes in diplomacy”. None of the matters is as settled as it appears to the President.

Nigeria no longer has political exiles since Nuhu Ribadu and Nasir el-Rufai returned. According to the President, “there are no Nigerian political exiles outside Nigeria ”. Are Nigerians then “political exiles” in their country?

Security remains trying. Nigerians have good reasons to wonder if anyone cares about them. The President’s achievements say how much the people matter in the calculations.