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Promises are
dangerous; what if one is unable to fulfil them? Worse still are those
made in the heat of a moment, when one hopes that a final promise will
swing the decision in one’s way! Those were my thoughts after that
promise by Mr. President in far-away Turkey. What was all that about?
Wrong move or what?

A right that is
guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be contrived away by any means
especially if a beneficiary of that right insists on seeking to
exercise it. And therein lies the problem with this promise to not seek
a second term, come 2015. Don’t forget, President Goodluck Jonathan’s
supporters have always justified his contesting on grounds that being
the running mate of the last president, the late Umaru Yar’Adua he is
therefore entitled to utilise the second term that would have been
their due.

So, one could view
this promise from that angle: that being supposedly the second term of
a terminated joint ticket, the 2011 tenure, when it ends in 2015, will
exhaust the Constitutional limit the duo would have been entitled to,
thereby ruling out another term of four years for the good doctor.

But is it? Can you
seriously say that Jonathan 2011-2015 is a second term, of any other
administration, or indeed the first term of his? Stretching logic
further, how can this promise be enforced if he changes his mind by
2015?

We live in a
curious political environment, not completely removed from our
idiosyncrasies’; add to that a dash of that sense of ‘it’s-my-portion’:
our strong belief in the power of miracles especially when we have done
nothing really to earn the miracle; a conviction that we deserve this
unsolicited benefit, because someone up there has just decided to bless
us.

Can you imagine,
anyone, anyone at all, around any president in Nigeria, a president
whose Constitution easily grants two terms, of which he has only served
one, accepting his refusal to go for the second term? God forbid! Every
In-law, spouse-friends-committee, cousin, sister, brother,
friends-in-law, political aides and any living being remotely connected
to the man, will reject his rejection of their own dividend and good
fortune with such vehemence. People will wonder if they are not ‘doing’
the man from back home.

Then ‘the’ groups
would materialise from nowhere and start the laborious process of
convincing the man to ‘use’ his right ‘because God gave it’. Any person
who feels and says anything contrary, such as reminding all concerned
about the promise, will be cursed and bound over to Satan and
recommended for deliverance at a frenzied overnight vigil. Enemies of
progress: if it was their brother, cousin, uncle, nephew, father, son,
Grandfather, friend or any other remotely connected relative nko?

Could this be a
ruse as some say, to sway zones that hope to take the throne in 2015,
so as to garner their votes? Maybe, maybe not! It depends on what value
you are placing on the will-not-run-come-2015-promise, and how you
think you can hold the maker to it. Whether you accept the promise or
not, or believe it or not, know this:

If President
Jonathan wins this April election, he will be entitled to a second
term. See Section 137(1) (b) of the 1999 Constitution on
Disqualification: A person shall not be qualified for election to the
office of President if he has been elected to such office at any two
previous elections. Seeing as April 2011 will be the first election
where he will actually stand for office, if he wins, no promise can
wipe that S137 away! So, please keep this at the back of your mind. I
am telling you now, today, because I don’t want to hear any complaints
when 2015 comes and one man decides to seek his legitimate due.

This Constitution has come out on top every time, even on zoning.
The Constitution will prevail again, and again, and again. It is not
called the Grund Norm for nothing. It supersedes every law, every rule
and regulation contrived to chip at its supremacy. If it can supersede
laws, it will shred promises, trust me!