By EMMANUEL AZIKEN

So Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Vice-President had a quarrel with his then boss, President Umaru Yar‘Adua? Well, so it now seems. Even though not your typical fight, but it was still a fight or a squabble on principles.

In his media chat last Sunday, Dr. Jonathan revealed the disagreement between him and Yar‘Adua on the public declaration of assets. That media chat by the way, was for me about the best media outing for the President. Expectations that the President would be agitated following widespread mutterings on his handling of the insecurity condition in the country and the presence of one of his foremost critics, Modibo Kawu on the panel, were largely misplaced. Or is it that our President thrives best under crisis?

His articulation and response to the issues, even thouhgh not the best, was a great improvement from his past media engagements, even those that were pre-recorded. In the live chat, the President gave a fierce rebuttal to some of the issues that have negatively affected his standing in the eyes of the right thinking members of the society.

His defence of his trip to Brazil despite the carnage in Kaduna and Yobe States convinced some who had until then questioned the rationale for the trip. He asserted forcefully that he could not in anyway give the advantage to the insurgents by allowing them to cripple the affairs of government.

Almost convincing, but I wasn’t. Even if the administration does not want to give the impression that Boko Haram is stifling the affairs of government, the reality is that since penultimate Sunday, Kaduna has been on a practical shutdown.
The media chat also revealed the deep differences between the incumbent and his predecessor on the public declaration of assets.

President Yar‘Adua had few months after his inauguration in 2007 made public his assets. His unusual action in making public his assets, was received with public approval and was seen as a demonstration of the then President’s determination to live up to public scrutiny.

Even though the actions of the then President in kowtowing to one or two corrupt former governors caused discomfort, the image of the former President as living above board was not seriously disputed. Not even the well known shenanigans of members of the Yar‘Adua kitchen cabinet could damage the President’s standing.

After President Yar‘adua publicly declared his assets the pressure from civil society and public opinion forced his deputy, Dr. Jonathan to do the same. Given the delayed response of the then Vice-President, there was really little dispute as to the fact that the then Vice-President released his assets under compulsion as he disclosed last Sunday.

“I declared under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua because he did it, but it is not proper. You don’t need to publicly declare your assets and it is a matter of principle. It is not the President declaring assets that will change the country. We should go after issues that will develop the country.”

His explanation that he made his assets public as Vice-President simply because Yar‘adua did so may have been the low side of the chat. It simply portrayed the President as not a man of principle. It is a big gaffe that the opposition should ordinarily have made capital of. But pitiably, most of the major political parties cannot do so, maybe with the exception of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC.

It is not surprising given that the CPC’s leader, Muhammadu Buhari is famously known for his austere dispositions.
The major opposition parties apparently have kept mute on the President’s gaffe on the fact that they may not have been able to prevail on their own leaders to publicly declare their assets. After all, there is a parable that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.