The Peoples Democratic Party stirred up
yet another controversy online after it said President Goodluck Jonathan
could be regarded as the “Mandela of Nigeria”.
Although the party initially declared the
first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as the “Mandela of
Nigeria,” it went on to say that Jonathan follows the late nationalist
‘closely’ in order of ranking.
A close observation shows that Jonathan
topped the list of living past and present Nigerian leaders, which is
posted on the PDP Facebook page.
The ruling party said its judgement was
based on the result of online votes by its loyal Facebook followers
numbering about 26, 500.
In a message posted on its Facebook page,
the PDP noted that the outcome of the voting process, which lasted 24
hours, was “decidedly” transparent.
“Great fans, after 24 hours of voting,
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe is decidedly – by the strength of your vote – the
‘Mandela of Nigeria’. He is followed closely by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,”
the message reads.
The party ranked the first Premier of the
Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello; the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo;
former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Head of State, Yakubu Gowon,
in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively, on the
same list.
The late President Umar Yar’Adua; the
late Prof. Chinua Achebe; former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida
and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, came next in the seventh, eighth, ninth and
tenth positions, respectively.
However, many Nigerians practically invaded the party’s Facebook page to register their displeasure with the PDP over the list.
While many of the protesters noted that
the country lacked real leaders that can be compared with Nelson
Mandela, others said Jonathan could not have emerged as the runner-up in
any transparent ranking. They accused the PDP of manipulating the
voting process as against the opinion of a truly representative
proportion of the populace.
A cross section of those angered by the
ranking also accused the party of using the death of Mandela as a tool
for self-promotion.
A visitor to the PDP Facebook page, Imoh
Okon, urged the party not to soil the image of the departed South
African leader with its deceitful ‘Mandela of Nigeria’ project.
“Mandela fought to restore human
integrity. In your (PDP) case, what is your goal? Is it tribalism or
regional relevance or party supremacy? The least honour you could give
Madiba is to keep his name away from this deceit. The PDP can surely do
better than this by getting right thinking minds to maintain this page
with some sensible packaging,” he wrote.
Another respondent, Bello Kolawole, described the list in its current form as the “joke of the century”.
Kolawole said it was unfortunate that
eminent Nigerians like the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani
Fawehinmi and the late environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa, could be
pushed aside in preference for the President.
“This must be the joke of the century.
Nobody made Mandela a hero. His goodwill and struggle for the
emancipation of his people wrote his name in world’s history books. We
do not have his likes in Nigeria,” he said.
Obviously irritated, Ibrahim Abdullah
wrote, “The online poll must have been rigged as a tradition of the PDP.
I stand to remain the last Nigerian to believe Goodluck Jonathan is
Nigeria’s Nelson Mandela. This is impersonation, nothing more!”
Summing up the opinion of dozens of other
people who lambasted the PDP for the ranking, Eghweree Ovie said, “None
of the so-called leaders have made sacrifices for Nigeria, compared to
what they have benefited from Nigeria.
“The PDP should please stop this nonsense analysis or comparison.
Nigeria does not have Mandela or his like. What we have are the name
that you just listed. Imagine you adding Goodluck Jonathan to the list.
Even the Ijaw won’t consider him as their Mandela. The Mandela of
Nigeria are the citizens who forgive those embezzling the public funds.”
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