The Jonathans’ Pilgrimage to Aso Rock, By Onwuka Nzeshi
POLITICS DIGEST – Like all seats of power around the globe, the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja is an exclusive abode of the first family in Nigeria. The route leading to it is clearly a “no thoroughfare,” which means that it is not open to the public.
Apart from the President, Vice President, members of their families and workers in the Presidency, no other Nigerian can access the expansive “First Estate” except on special invitation.
Even when a president has served out his tenure of office and packed out alongside his family members, their visit to the Presidential Villa must be on the invitation of the incumbent for them to be granted access to a haven they once occupied and cherished.
In recent times, former President Goodluck Jonathan has become a regular visitor at Aso Rock. In the last three months, the immediate past president has visited the Presidential Villa and held meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari, his successor.
October 10, 2019
The first visit came on October 10, 2019, more than four years after Jonathan lost his re-election bid and handed over the reins of power to Buhari. The long period of keeping-off was understandable given the circumstances in which he left office and the body language of his successor.
On this first visit, Jonathan arrived at the State House around 2.58 pm and met the President behind closed doors in his office. He left after the brief meeting with Buhari that lasted about ten minutes.
Curiously, the Presidency did not give any official explanation for the visit neither did the former President speak with State House correspondents, who were on hand to engage him in a chat to know his mission.
However, because the visit came a few weeks to the governorship election in Bayelsa State (Jonathan’s home state) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost that election to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), political pundits concluded that it is was the visit that fixed the election.
Jonathan is of the PDP, while Buhari is of the APC and the conjecture in the media space was that the former president sold out to the opposition in exchange for his freedom over alleged indictment in the Malabu Oil scandal.
Although both the Presidency and Jonathan have since denied this postulation, some Nigerians still believe the more popular narrative of a trade-off or Qui pro Quo.
January 30, 2020
On Thursday, January 30, the former president was back at Aso Rock to once again, commune with his successor over some undisclosed issues.
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Jonathan was sighted being ushered into the President’s office at about 1.45pm and was again sighted leaving, exactly 15 minutes later. As in his first pilgrimage, there were no ceremonies and no briefings. This loud silence again left the media and Nigerians to their imaginations.
February 11
Now, the biggest surprise is the visit of former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to Aso Rock.
Incumbent First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari, took to her Twitter handle yesterday to reveal that he and her predecessor, Patience Jonathan met on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja and shared experiences on issues relating to the development of women in Nigeria.
According to Mrs. Buhari, their discussion centred on issues affecting the growth and development of the womenfolk, including girl-child education and women’s participation in politics.
“Yesterday, I received my predecessor, Her Excellency Dame Patience Jonathan at the State House.
“We discussed my efforts with regards to greater involvement of women in politics and participation of women at lower level of governance.
“We also discussed girl-child education and her pet project “Women for Change,” she tweeted.
Mrs. Buhari further said there was the need for spouses of Nigeria’s former leaders to always keep-in-touch and share experiences for the betterment of women and children in the society.
“I got to hear her experience during her tenure and listened to her perspectives on issues affecting women and children in the society,” she said.
This historic meeting between Mrs. Buhari and her predecessor came with all the pictorials just to convince any doubting Thomas that it was not fake news.
But many Nigerians are still wondering what the two families are up to lately. What could be behind this new camaraderie? Who brokered this peace between the two families that were literally torn apart by a bitter tussle for the soul of Nigeria?
In the build up to the 2015 general election, the Jonathans and Buharis were at each other’s throat because of clash of political interests. At some point, the electioneering campaigns became so bitter and personal that Patience Jonathan told PDP supporters at one of the rallies that those voting for Buhari were voting to go to jail.
In one of her hysterical moments on the campaign train in 2014, she said: “I want to warn you not to listen to the All Progressives Congress. The APC does not have materials to match what the PDP has on (the) ground. Their candidate was there in governance initially. What did he do? They only sent your fathers to prison. They are planning to even send me to prison. Holy Ghost fire! Holy Ghost fire! Holy Ghost fire! They have nothing to offer. They only say I will, I will.”
Although, Aisha Buhari did not reply in a like manner, her husband threatened to deal ruthlessly with the Jonathans and those threats were largely actualised soon after power changed hands.
It is against this backdrop that some are of the view that the new found love is therefore a positive development though it is a still a puzzle to many Nigerians.
