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Vice President Jonathan’s “Modest” Fortune By
Ogaga Ifowodo
I am shocked by
the outpouring of commendations for the vice president, Mr Goodluck Jonathan,
on finally publishing his assets declaration. So universal is the praise that
even the usually exacting Joe Okei-Odumakin of the Campaign for Democracy had
no other quibble than that Jonathan failed to also declare his wife’s assets. Suddenly
it seems that the intense pressure on Jonathan to publish his assets
declaration was solely for the mere form of the act with scant regard for the
substance. Had the vice president voluntarily published his assets, or been the
first to do so, this effusion of praise might be understandable. As we know,
however, Jonathan had to be implored, cajoled and literally harassed into
letting the people he will serve know his worth in money and property. So
implacably opposed to a public declaration was he that he made it quite clear he
would sooner resign his office than do what the public wanted; swearing all the
while that he had nothing to hide.
In my piece, “As
Jonathan Pushes His Good Luck to the Brink,” published in The Guardian the same day the publication of his assets declaration
was reported, I said that I believed the vice president had a lot to hide. On
the evidence of what he has declared, I stand by that view until the questions
I pose below have been satisfactorily answered. Quite remarkably, the vice
president seemed to have been inclined towards a secret declaration more out of
a palpable fear for the safety of his real estate holdings than the principle
of probity and transparency. I am bothered by the near total reluctance to
subject Jonathan’s declaration to scrutiny.
According to the
vice president, his total worth in assets is N295.3
million. Of this, he claims that his four “private buildings” in Bayelsa and Abuja are worth N67.9 million. Jonathan also owns a total
of seven undeveloped plots of land, including two in Abuja, worth N60.5 million. If these were all the vice
president could boast, they would put him not only among the handful of
Bayelsan multi-millionaires but also among the tiny minority of the well-to-do
in a country overwhelmed by crippling poverty. Yet that isn’t all. The vice
president also owns vehicles and household items worth N41.8 million, including a N15
million BMW car which he declared to be a gift, as well as some other
unspecified items — among them four sixteen-seater
passenger boats. Furthermore, Jonathan lists about N62 million as accruing from investments in sixteen blue-chip
companies and total cash in Nigerian banks of N58.9
million.
These assets, it needs emphasizing, do not include
those of his wife. Yet it is public knowledge that the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission had cause just last year to be interested in the financial
dealings of Mrs Patience Jonathan. The news that the EFCC “seized US$13.5
million” from her and that the commission was “investigating the funds’ origin”
made national and international headlines. For instance, on 11 September 2006, the International Herald Tribune reported the sleaze to the world thus,
“Nigerian anti-graft commission seizes US$13.5 million from governor’s wife.”
If the source was found to be legitimate, as either Mrs Jonathan’s
income-yielding stocks in blue-chip companies or an inheritance, the Nigerian
public was not told.
This then is the
assets declaration that has drawn such effusive praise. Satisfied that the VP
condescended to publish his assets, we seem now unwilling to ask a few simple
questions: how did the ex-university teacher, living a fairy tale life since
1999 when he became deputy to a convicted looter-in-chief of the Bayelsa State
treasury, become a multi-millionaire in less than a decade? Had he saved every
kobo of his salaries as deputy governor and chief executive, would he still be
worth that much? How much has he paid in income tax since 1999? Who gave him
the gift of a BMW car, in what circumstances, and why did he accept it? Nor have
we asked the obvious corollary question: as deputy governor, could Jonathan have
lived safely behind a cordon sanitaire,
safe from temptation and corruption, as his boss, Dipreye Alamieyeseigha,
ceaselessly raided the till? And are we
to believe that on becoming governor, he kept his hands Pontius Pilate-clean while
his wife dirtied hers to the point of attracting the attention of the EFCC?
Of the many reactions
in praise of Jonathan, I found that attributed to Mr Lanre Odogiyan, SAN, most
worrisome. In the report, “AC, human
rights groups, others commend Vice President Jonathan over assets publication”
in The Guardian of Friday, 10 August,
Odogiyan was quoted as having said thus: “The nearly N300 million assets
declared by the Vice President is modest and shows that he lives a modest
lifestyle. Though I am surprised, I am also impressed, I will not hesitate to
commend this modest lifestyle to our leaders.” In two quick sentences, Odogiyan
used the word “modest” three times to describe Jonathan’s wealth and person! One
wonders then why he was surprised at all.
But that is not
the only reason why I consider Odogiyan’s reaction worrisome. I sense a
reflection of the utter perversion of values that has crippled Nigeria in
the view that N300 million is a modest personal worth. To me, and to the
majority of Nigerians, that is a fortune. At the prevailing exchange rate, that
amount is about US$2.5 million. No serving or retired government functionary in
the United States would be praised for acquiring such a “modest” fortune in the
course of public service. And the vice president had the US in mind when, speaking
through his media assistant in specific defence of the exact state of the
treasury he left behind in Bayelsa State, he wondered: “Did any one ever hear
Bill Clinton declare how much cash he left in the treasury for George W. Bush?
Don’t they also practise the presidential system?” Yes, they do practise the
presidential system, but does Jonathan recall that Clinton left the
White House broke after two terms — not to mention his eight years as governor of
Arkansas? That it was not until he was commanding handsome speaking fees and
had written a best-selling autobiography that he could pay off the debts he owed the lawyers who fought his many legal battles? Closer home to us,
does Jonathan remember that Julius Nyerere, after twenty-four years of being
prime minister of Tanzania, resigned from office with only one house built with a loan?
But we have long
succumbed to the myth of Nigerian exceptionalism, also known as the Nigerian
factor. Still we might ask, How many houses does Jonathan need to meet his need
for shelter? As deputy governor and then governor, he clearly did not need a
house in Abuja. If the State’s governor’s lodge would not serve his dignity (which
would be partly his fault) whenever he should be the federal capital for
official business, then any of the sumptuous hotels would do well enough. As
vice president, Jonathan would need to have served his term and decided to
relocate to Abuja before any necessity for him to own a personal house there, let
alone two undeveloped plots of land, would arise. But since he owns four
houses, again we might ask: How much mortgage, Sir, are you still paying? Unless
a money tree sprang up overnight in your backyard, how did you amass the considerable
sums well beyond your official income to become such a well-heeled man of means
so quickly? For in the absence of a disclosure of any inheritance or a lucky
day playing the lottery, your “modest” fortune remains beclouded by suspicion.
It seems we must
now insist on the publication of two assets declarations: the very first on
assuming high public office, and the last. This way, we would better be able to
detect what was acquired at the expense of the people. Before we mistake the
trees for the forest, we must quickly return to the urgent need for
accountability and probity in governance that led to the pressure on Jonathan
to publish his assets declaration. We might wish to start by asking a few hard
questions and insisting on clear answers.
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Posted by Robot| 15.08.2007 03:00