President Jonathan and National Transformation or Orientation?
President Goodluck Jonathan has already declared a transformational agenda even if many of us that are in that same ship hardly know the meaning and requirements for transformation as a political process. With the plethora and depth of challenges facing the President and his team, an orientation agenda will truly be meaningless. It is therefore apt that he has committed to stopping this cosmetic and whitewashing waste of time called rebranding or orientation. Rather, he has opted for transformation.
Transformation means to reform, refocus, redesign, regenerate, reorganize and reposition institutions, attitudes, structures, processes, policies and programs in the larger and longer-term interest of the majority in society. Transformation requires courage, strength, focus and commitment. While not ignoring national sensitivities, transformation requires using the best hands, ideas, and perspectives that would shape the process of lasting change. In sum, transformation is not a half-stop or ad hoc process, but a truly holistic one that involves all in society with the ultimate goal of building a truly inclusive, participatory, democratic society where social justice, transparency and accountability inform the acquisition and deployment of power.
If President Jonathan would leave lasting legacies and write his name in the sands of time, then he must take his transformation agenda very seriously, depoliticise it in terms of using the best hands available, and monitor its implementation very rigorously.