Sanusi Lamido Sanusi: Jonathan’s Explanations For Prevaricating On FRC Report

Writing on this blog yesterday in a piece entitled, “Sanusi Lamido Sanusi: When A President Prevaricates Too Much”, I drew attention to the fact that there was too much time lag between the time the Financial Reporting Council(FRC) reported the alleged infractions by the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in April 2013 and  February 2014 when the governor was eventually axed or suspended. I had argued in the aforementioned piece that if the president had acted earlier, he would not have been outsmarted by Sanusi who despite the report of FRC is now perceived by many Nigerians as the hero while the president turned out the villain. I also noted that since the presidency over the years and long before President Goodluck Jonathan ever imagined that he would be an occupant of the Aso Rock Villa, has a notoriety for corruption and profligacy, the CBN governor pointing accusing fingers on this institution(presidency) is going to resonate as the truth among Nigerians and the international community who are well aware that the presidency is cesspool of corruption. Followers of Transparency International(TI) Report on corruption in Nigeria right from 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo became the first civilian president of this dispensation are aware that the presidency has been identified as the most corrupt institution in the country this was despite the pontification of Obasanjo to the contrary in his eight years of running Africa’s most populous country. So Jonathan sitting atop a corrupt institution already has a credibility problem when the CBN governor started pointing accusing fingers to NNPC(reads presidency) which is the cash cow of the nation. As far as many Nigerians are concerned the presidency is guilty until proven innocent. However the president could take solace in the statement accredited to the embattled CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in his interview with AFP that the president is an honest man doing his best for the country, but surrendered by fraudulent advisers and aides. That said, I was among millions of Nigerians who eagerly awaited the Centennial Media Chat by the president. I wanted to know particularly why it took him too long to act on the indictment of Sanusi by FRC. Fortunately it was one of the questions he was asked by the interview panel. He said that he delayed for so long because it was such a sensitive matter. He needed to consult widely to ensure that he does not take rash decision that may affect the market adversely. In fact the president said that he would have waited much longer but for the need to dispense with the problem so that the CBN audit report for 2013 which ought to have been submitted to him by this February could be prepared. He also insisted that Sanusi remains the CBN governor until the investigations are over. I found the president’s explanations satisfactory but I did not lose sight of the fact that assessing Nigeria’s president at any time has become like the Indian folk tale of the blind men and the elephant. In various versions of the tale a group of blind men touch elephant to learn what it is like. Each one feel a different part , but only one part, such as the side or the tusk. They then compared notes and learnt that they are in total disagreement.  Assessment of Jonathan’s performance last night and his presidency in general has a lot of similarity with the blind men and the elephant. Shortly after the programme I headed to Sahara Reporters to gauge the assessment of the media chat by Nigerians. Good enough Sahara Reporters had already asked for the assessment of the chat from viewers. I was not disappointed. Many did not find any reason whatsoever to commend the president’s performance while many others were so happy with the president’s performance that in the end it depends on the part of the elephant that the blind men touched. After critically assessing Jonathan’s performance based on comments posted on Sahara Reporters, it is obvious that Jonathan is loved with passion by some Nigerians and hated with passion by some others. To many he can do no wrong while to many others he can never do anything right. How all these love and hate would play out remain to be seen in the months ahead especially in 2015 presidential election.