THOSE of us who declared the National Dialogue soon to be convened by President Goodluck Jonathan as a jamboree might be justified after all. The Monday, December 9, 2013 issue of Vanguard gave an insight into what we are to expect in the coming few weeks.

It was an opportunity and they grabbed it with both hands.
The aggrieved governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, (G-7) wanted a reason to dump their party and they were handed one by no other person than President Goodluck Jonathan himself.
And although some of the seven governors explained that they all knew that Jonathan was not prepared to meet with them and resolve the issues that gave rise to the crisis, given his body language and the sustained acts of impunity arising from the party leadership, they waited for the appropriate time.

CHAIRMAN of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, yesterday, alleged that over 400 northerners may have betrayed the region after collecting money to back President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term. Aliyu threatened that the list of the traitors will soon be published for all to see.

AND just like that, President Goodluck Jonathan took the wind out of his own sails! With his Independence Day announcement, and subsequent empanelling of a National Conference Advisory Committee, his floundering presidential ship of state seemed set to sail out of troubled waters. I was, and remain, cautiously optimistic about his decision to convene a national conference.

In the order of importance, housing comes third after food and air. Most governments in the modern times have been evaluated by their scorecards in these sectors.

This conspicuous outrage at Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged weakness and or ineffectuality calls to mind Shakespeare’s line “methinks thou dost protest too much”.

President Goodluck Jonathan will begin a two-day official visit to Addis Ababa on Friday to participate in an Extraordinary Session of the African Union’s Assembly of Heads of State and Government.

The Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday said that President Goodluck Jonathan had approved funds for a large contingent of Nigerian fans to attend the qualifying match against Ethiopia.

While President Goodluck Jonathan was calling for a stronger global consensus and determination to end the scourge of terrorism in faraway New York an unfortunate event had just occurred in Apo area of Abuja, over an alleged exchange of gun shots between security officers and Boko Haram members.

President Goodluck Jonathan has reiterated the commitment of his administration to hold credible, free and fair elections in the country by 2015.

There is a lot of irritating noise coming especially from the North-West concerning the need for the presidency to return to the North in 2015. This should be discarded as sound and fury signifying nothing.

President Goodluck Jonathan Monday in New York called for a stronger global consensus and determination to end the scourge of terrorism as quickly as possible.

Last month, this column dealt exhaustively on the case of the screening of primary school teachers in Edo State. At the peak of an encounter between one of the teachers and the State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the latter asked: “Who is now the teacher?” The former responded: “You are the one, sir”.

DR. Jonathan Silas Zwingina represented Adamawa South Constituency in the Senate between 1999 and 2007 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).  In this interview, he said that the face-off between the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the rebelling governors within the party, was borne out of the urge by Tukur to fight the culture of impunity practised by some state governors. He also said that President Goodluck Jonathan had no agreement with the North over 2015, adding that the North has never formed a common front in any election. Excerpts:

In the midst of the ensuing battle for the soul of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , is the unfolding rancour in the North over the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan for another term in office.