The Speech Jonathan Shouldn’t Have Made

Guardian

29 May 2011

The Speech Jonathan Shouldn’t Have Made

REUBEN ABATI Opinion - Columnists

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan almost ruined his inauguration day address by speaking too much at the May 26 pre-inauguration lecture on the theme: “A Transformational Agenda for Accelerated National Development.” The elections are over, on inauguration day, the President assumes office, a new administration begins and the entire country naturally looks forward to a new beginning. On inauguration day, the people hang on to every word that the President utters, they pay attention to every sentence, they watch out for those quotable quotes that will give clear indications of the direction of the new government. That is how it is done in the United States whose democracy and traditions we are copying and where inaugural speeches are made by elected Presidents on the January 20 after the election. The beauty of inauguration lies in its symbolism and grandeur. Americans use it to show case their nation, to celebrate their best traditions; a poem is read, a

song is rendered, two years later, the world still remembers Obama’s inauguration, not for its grandeur, but its sheer historicity.

Jonathan’s inauguration should be a grand, historic occasion, and if properly organized, a vehicle for sending clear messages about today’s emergent reality which is this: that every Nigerian, regardless of ethnic extraction, or circumstances of birth, can occupy the highest office in the land