Four Things To Learn From The Rise And Fall Of Jonathan

Four things to learn from the rise and fall of the outgoing president.

1. Surround yourself with the right people.

One of the surest ways to fail at something in life is to work with the wrong people, and that’s exactly what Jonathan did.

Presidents don’t have to make every decision for themselves. That’s why they have aides and advisers who should help guide their thinking so that their policies are in order. These people should not only be expertly, but they should have the interest of the president and not just want to do the job for the money.

Jonathan’s policies showed that he either had terrible advisers or he had good advisers and just didn’t listen to them. But the first thing is clearly the case. There were times where we had some of Jonathan’s men say inappropriate things in the name of the president, attacking people on behalf of the president and saying all kinds of things that simply antagonised the people more toward the president. The president should have fired those people. They obviously ruined him.

So the point of the story is that people who want to succeed at something have to work with the right people. They have to surround themselves with people who really care about them and are able to guide them right and represent them correctly, not just yes men who are more interested in their pockets.

2. It’s not enough to be doing something. You must be seen to be doing something.

Jonathan wasn’t the failure. His PR was the failure and he himself admitted this before the election.

He said, “We failed to invest in the media. We failed to invest in the public relations aspect of government, so now we’re receiving the reward of poor investment in public relations.”

The president’s media team let the opposition control the narrative for most of his tenure. It didn’t look like they had a clear plan as to how they intended to preserve the president’s good image and ensure they kept getting the right messages out there to let the people know what the president was doing well.

When the Chibok kidnap happened for instance, the handling of information about the whereabouts of the girls and what the government was doing was disappointing. The president’s guys failed to reassure the public that the government was working on it. It incensed the people and they hated the government for it.

The president won the election by virtue of his popularity, but he blew that advantage by his woeful PR. The government failed to let the people know what the president is doing, why he’s doing it and how it will benefit the country and the people.

It’s not enough to be doing something. You must be seen to be doing something.

3. Reputation is everything.

When the opposition first began their run against the president, one of the first things they did was to disrepute him using the media, and by the time the election campaign properly began, they had effectively tarnished his reputation.

Imagine Goodluck’s reputation when he first became president. Everything was great. He was known to be a quiet, humble person who wasn’t your everyday politician. He was different. He struck people as a man who had morals, a man who cared for Nigeria and the Nigerian people and wanted to genuinely serve them.

People saw him as an upright man who rose to the top honourably. He was a fresh breath indeed, and the people loved him. He was so reputable that many people who had kids around the time he became president named their son Goodluck. They looked at him with respect and admiration.

But that’s since changed for most people. The lesson here is that reputation is everything. It matters less what you’re capable of doing or what good intentions you have. When you lose your good reputation, people stop getting behind you and start to see you less favourably.

4. Luck’s not enough for the long run.

Good luck!

Jonathan could have won the 2011 election simply by the perception of him as a man of luck. He barely even needed to campaign. It was like he was destined to be president and his luck was enough to see him through. People liked Goodluck because, well, he seemed to have good luck. It’s no surprise he won the election cheaply. Buhari was no match for him.

But of course the president began his tenure, got off on the wrong foot with his fuel subsidy policy and then his luck began to fall apart. In fact that year the people nearly overthrew him. He had grown so unpopular. From then on it looked like he had run out of luck. The economy wasn’t working for most people. Schools went on strike. People were dying almost everyday in the hands of terrorists in the north. It looked like things just weren’t going well under President Goodluck.

Then of course when it was time for the people to choose between Goodluck and Buhari this year, they choose Buhari. Luck wasn’t enough for the president.

Luck may open great doors and get us up there, but it won’t be enough to keep us at the top level in the long run. We’ve got to do our part. We’ve got to stay on top of our game and make sure we don’t slack, or soon we’ll run out of luck and then it will be time to go home.