Reality bites Goodluck Jonathan as friends, political associates desert him on his birthday

The glare of false smiles betrayed Goodluck Jonathan to believe that he had friends. Now that he is no longer President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Goodluck Jonathan understands that friends you make in high office leave you in the lurch no sooner than you are rid of power. The former president of Nigeria is particularly saddened over his desertion by men and women whose self-confessed loyalty gave him comfort back when he was the country’s Head of State. As he celebrated his birthday two days ago, a humbled Jonathan rued the absence of advertisements and well wishes in the nation’s newspapers. The situation was remarkably different throughout his tenure as president, as his aides, bank chiefs, oil barons, political associates and lobbyists went to great lengths to display their goodwill and loyalty to him by placing expensive advertisements in the country’s print and electronic media in celebration of the man who they continually identified as the best thing to happen to Nigeria. Now that Jonathan is without power, nobody deemed it fit to place at least a quarter page of congratulatory advert for his sake; power is indeed ephemeral and loyalty is transient.