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American civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson has defended his recent statements declaring President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration as unparalleled in transparency and good governance. Mr. Jackson, who visited Nigeria to participate in the country’s “Democracy Day” celebrations made the gushing endorsement while speaking to the Nigerian press.
In an interview with SaharaTV, the civil rights icon explained the basis of his assessment of the Nigerian government under Mr. Jonathan. According to him, the Nigerian president’s “cabinet members presented what their departments were doing and their budgets and showed where the money was: Transportation Department, Economic Development Department.” He added that officials of the Jonathan administration laid out their work in road construction, oil revenues and other areas, noting that “it was exciting to see that level of transparency. I had not seen that before.”
Pressed by SaharaTV, Mr. Jackson admitted that a lot still remained to be done. Even so, he maintained that Nigeria today has more roads, hospitals and better infrastructure, contending that this was proof that transparency was on the increase. He declared that transparency revealed both strengths and weaknesses, adding that the negative stories coming out of Nigeria should not be misconstrued to mean anything other than that transparency was at work.
Mr. Jackson regretted that Moshood Abiola was not allowed to assume the presidency after the June 12, 1993 elections which he believes the late politician and businessman won. “Many of us believe he won that election, and it was unfortunate what happened – that they did not allow the count to stand.” The reverend was quick to add that Nigeria was beyond the issue now and had a renewed commitment to democracy.
Speaking on the Boko Haram menace, Mr. Jackson restated his support for President Jonathan's decision to release some detained women in a bid to ease up the pressure with the militant group. He said a commitment to rebuild the northern part of Nigeria and wage a fight against extreme poverty might hold the key to addressing the deteriorating situation.
Mr. Jackson also spoke about Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe, drawing attention to the fact that the American ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, had recently publicly commended the Zimbabwean president “for having an open climate for voting.”
The civil rights leader said he was impressed that most African countries were laying strong foundations for democracy and human rights. He expressed confidence that “Africa is on the rise.” Noting that most African countries had fewer than 56 years of Independence, Mr. Jackson compared them to the United States at the same stage of its democratic experience. He concluded that, at 56 years of Independence, US human rights was a mirage and the country’s democracy was still in the teething stage.
Mr. Jackson criticized the portrayal of Africa in the western media. “While the western media is criticizing, China is investing,” he said, adding “Africans are on a rhythm of growth and development, and the opinion of outsiders will not determine Africa's fate.”
Mr. Jackson criticized the killing of Libyan strongman Muamar Gaddafi by the militia that brought down his 25 year government with the support of the West. “It was unnecessary to kill Gaddafi,” he said. He added that the wars in countries like Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan may be over in the western media, but continue unabated on the ground where people continue to die.