Ex President Goodluck Jonathan indirectly took a swipe at the current administration in response to her plans to clamp down on inflammatory

It is no longer news that ex President Goodluck Jonathan indirectly took a swipe at the current administration in response to her plans to clamp down on inflammatory and hate speeches that seem to have become the norm on our social media space. His comments suggested that during his regime Nigerians enjoyed freedoms only comparable to those obtainable in the most advanced countries, especially in the West.

Especially, his fans and supporters had a field day doing what they do best, trying to turn history in its head, just like Jonathan himself, in total disregard for truth and recorded history! 

Their conduct was appalling and shocking to say the least. 

For some of us, there can be nothing more scandalous than this for we know and will not, in the blink of an eye, forget how oppressive and repressive that regime was. The only credit those of us old and shrewd enough to recollect the past can give to Jonathan as regards respect for democratic freedoms and principles is his concession of defeat in a contest in which he was beaten roundly and squarely.

Let no one be deceived, his acceptance of defeat was as much a favour to Nigeria as it was to himself. He sure knew what might have been had he done otherwise.

Now, let us take a trip down memory lane and peel some skin off "FREEROM ICON" Jonathan, and see just how deserving of the title and accolades he truly is:

Come with me:

1. Governors Forum Crises (2013): A lot of political pundits insist this marked the beginning of Jonathan downfall, forget his crass incompetence.

In a simple election involving 35 participants and two contestants, Jonathan's interference saw to it that this more or less political pressure group was fractured beyond redemption resulting in the formation of the PDP Governors Forum chaired by his stooge Godswill Akpabio and another faction of the forum chaired by his preferred candidate who lost in the contest, Jonah Jang. 

The election whose video went rival at that time due to its outcome saw Amaechi pulling 19 votes while Jonah Jang pulled 16. Democrat Jonathan insisted Jang won the election and recognised him as the Chairman of the forum giving rise to the much publicised PDP arithmetics where 16 is greater than 19.

This set the precedence for the scenarios that played out in Rivers and Ekiti Houses of Assembly while our "Hero" stood idly by, giving a tacit nod to the obvious anomalies as state police were used to suppress the opposition.

www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-endorses-gov-jangs-faction/

2. APC National Leader Harassed by the Military: During the heat of the campaigns, keeping faith with their doctrine of hounding and intimidating opposition figures, Bola Tinubu had his house placed under surveillance by the military when he wasn't indicted for any federal offence. The national leader responded to this in a manner that set social media on fire, placing a banner in front of his house that seemingly pointed the military where they should be looking- Sambisa. 

leadership.ng/news/411334/military-places-tinubu-surveillance

3. Journalists Harassed and Newspapers Confiscated: This was one of the greatest assaults on freedom of speech we witnessed under Jonathan. It was a crackdown reminiscent of the dark days of the Khaki Boys.

Hundreds of papers with publications critical of the government's handling of national issues were confiscated and destroyed. Same guys who supported the actions of the government then screamed blue murder when reports circulated the press that Buhari had barred AIT from covering his activities.

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/162255-nigerian-military-goes-berserk-blocks-newspapers-distribution-abuja-lagos.html

dailypost.ng/2014/06/06/soldiers-seize-thousands-leadership-nation-vanguard-newspapers-friday-edition/

www.punchng.com/news/military-sss-seize-destroy-major-nigerian-newspapers/

4. APC Office Raided: This was another very dark
day in our democratic experience and marked an upsurge in the use of state security agents to harass and gag the opposition. Under the guise of carrying out an investigation, offices of the opposition were raided with computers and other instruments confiscated and destroyed. It was one of the lowest points of the DSS and somewhat signalled its complete evolution into an arm of the PDP. 

The DSS at a press conference displayed items "discovered" at the office during the raid and they were computers, hard drives and other electronic accessories- hell it was a data centre!! Were they expecting to find chopsticks and stoves

www.naij.com/329843-lagos-apc-office-stormed-by-dss-soldiers-data-confiscated.html

dailyindependentnig.com/2014/11/apc-office-raid-dss-releases-list-recovered-items/

5. Buhari's Plane Barred from Landing: Another shameful incident where a plane conveying opposition bigwigs (then), including her flag bearer, on a campaign trail was refused landing rights in Makurdi and they had to return to Abuja. My question is, what if there wasn't sufficient fuel to take them back to Abuja as they made the u-turn mid-air?? Your guess is as good as mine.

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/buharis-aircraft-barred-landing-makurdi-airport/

saharareporters.com/2014/11/26/buharis-jet-barred-landing-makurdi

6. Protesters and Senator Shot in Rivers: Another gut wrenching incident that demonstrated the partisan nature of our security apparatus under ex president Jonathan. In a continuation of the government's crackdown on the opposition, citizens who were on a peaceful protest in Rivers state were shot at with live and rubber bullets and a Senator was hit twice in the chest. Thankfully, he 
survived and a serious crises was averted.

www.vanguardngr.com/2014/01/rivers-crisis-senator-abe-shot-flown-london/

7. APC Women Protesters Teargassed: This was another horrid incident that demonstrated the ex president's disdain for opposition and civil liberties.

www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/police-fire-tear-gas-at-apc-women-protesters-in-rivers/

8. Jonathan Orders Withdrawal of Speaker's Security Detail: Arguably the most vicious assault on our democracy by the ex president. This much publicised incident that needs no introduction earned the ex president (and deservedly so) local and international disrepute and condemnation. People had started to see him as the worst civilian dictator in the country's history. If you ask me, this incident drove the last nail into the coffin of Jonathan's 2015 ambition.

leadership.ng/news/388651/jonathan-orders-withdrawal-tambuwals-security-details

www.channelstv.com/2014/10/30/tambuwals-security-details-withdrawn/

www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/170346-jonathan-orders-withdrawal-of-tambuwals-security-details.html

9. Soldiers shoot to disperse protesters in Ojota, Lagos as secret police raids CNN's office: Here's another account of Jonathan's "tollerance" for freedom and human rights. We can all remember that administration's response to Occupy Nigeria protests except of course we want to be deliberately forgetful. 

http://saharareporters.com/2012/01/16/soldiers-shoot-disperse-occupy-protesters-lagos-nigerian-secret-police-raids-cnns-office


These are but a few events the Mr Freedom subjected Nigerians to. Indeed it would be a herculean task convincing people of sound minds as to the propriety of referring to Mr Jonathan as a protector and promoter of freedoms in this country.

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