USING APPROPRIATE PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY TO EXPLAIN BEHAVIOUR OF THE GRAND COMMANDER OF ARMED FORCES OF REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA IN SOME INSTANCES FROM MAY 29^TH 2011 TILL DATE.

INTRODUCTION

EARLY LIFE AND PRESIDENCY

Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR, BNER, GCON (born 20 November 1957) is the 14th Head of State and current President of Nigeria. Prior to his role as President, he served as Governor of Bayelsa State and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Jonathan was born in what is now Bayelsa State to a family of canoe makers. Jonathan holds a B.S. degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours. He holds a M.Sc. degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries biology, and a Ph.D. degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. He worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer. He entered politics in 1998.  Jonathan and his wife Patience have two children. He is a Christian. He comes from the Ijaw.

On 15 September 2010, the president announced on Facebook that he had decided to run for reelection. This made him the first Nigerian president to declare his re-election bid via social media. It was a northern Muslim candidate's turn to run for the presidency.

He won with 77.7% of valid votes cast.On 18 April, Jonathan was declared the winner of the election and was sworn in on May 29^th 2011. His victory was, however, followed by violence in the north over claims of vote rigging.

DECISIONS IN CONTROVERSIAL SCENARIOS AND POPULACE REACTIONS

1.      Ministerial nominations and appointments

In 2011, the Nigerian President failed to nominate and appoint at least 36 indigenes (one for each of the 36 states). This is in breach of article 147 subsection (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999: "...the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State".

2.      Removal of fuel subsidy

On 13 December 2011, the 2012 fiscal year's budget removed any provisions for fuel subsidy. The issue of fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria has always been a controversial topic. According to a poll carried out by the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE- Nigeria), 80% of Nigerians opposed the plan to remove fuel subsidy.

On 1 January 2012, the Jonathan administration announced the start of a controversial plan to end fuel subsidies. Many prominent Nigerians have spoken out against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration. Former Petroleum Minister Professor Tam David-West has spoken out and expressed concern that the planned removal of fuel subsidy will squeeze the economy, increase inflation, and hurt both businesses and the public.

A former military Head of State and a former Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources, General Buhari, urged President Jonathan not to remove fuel subsidy and to tackle corruption.

General Yakubu Gowon, another former military Head of State, has warned the government that the country's infrastructure should be revived before fuel subsidy removal steps are taken.

Former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, joined millions of Nigerians protesting against the removal of fuel subsidy by the Jonathan administration, saying that the action is ill-timed.

Following the The Nigeria Labour Congress' warning that the country faces many strikes, the country unions followed up with strikes that were matched with civil protests from 9–13 January 2012. Protesters and groups called for President Jonathan to resign over the removal of fuel subsidies. After five days of national protests and strikes, on 16 January, Jonathan announced that the pump price of petroleum would be 97 naira per liter.

3.      1st October 2010 Independence Day Bomb Blast

During his South African magistrate court trial on 2 May 2012, MEND's (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) former leader Henry Okah came out and insisted that President Jonathan masterminded bomb attacks. He told the court that President Jonathan and his aides organised the October 1, 2010 independence day bomb attacks in Abuja in a desperate political strategy to demonize political opponents, including the former military President General Ibrahim Babangida, and to win popular sympathy ahead of the 2011 elections.

The Nigerian Presidency has denied the allegations of terrorism levelled against President Jonathan. A media statement was issued on 2 May 2012, acknowledging the accusations from Okah. The statement went on to say that: “The Presidency categorically affirms that these allegations are false in their entirety and without any factual foundation." The Presidency also expressed no interest in commenting further for the time being, but plans to "make a full representation on the matter to the court when the trial opens."

4.      Renaming of the University of Lagos

In May 2012, President Jonathan changed the name of the University of Lagos, renaming it the Moshood Abiola University in honour of the late MKO Abiola. The action drew attention from critics -- among them were pro-Abiola advocates and parties involved with the university. Some critics cited that the President did not submit an appropriate bill to the legislature for the change; that the University's brand name should not be tampered with. The UNILAG Alumni Association commented that although they do not have prejudice against MKO Abiola, they were concerned "that neither the Governing Council nor the University Senate nor any other stakeholder was consulted before the change was announced." Bola Tinubu congratulated Jonathan for taking action, but urged him to "do it right", adding that "we must be careful not to localise or sectionalise MKO". The President has attempted to regularize the renaming of the school by submitting a bill for an amendment of the University's establishing law to the legislature.

THEORIES TO EXPLAIN THE PRESIDENT DECISION IN ABOVE NAMED CONTROVERY SCENARIOS

1.      PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT THEORY

This theory is mostly associated with organizational context. Is simply the relationship between an employer and the employee, in which speaks about the mutual expectations of inputs and outcomes between both parties involved.

Is also seen as the stand-point/feeling of employees which is attributed to the following:

·         How the employee is being treated by the employer.

·         What the employee puts into the job.

This theory is mostly used also with change management, which can be translated into the governmental world of Nigeria as a whole. The GCFR is seen as the employer while the populace is the employees. The way decisions are taken is contingent on the feelings of the population. The manner of executing his decisions at such crucial controversial scenarios has graving effects on the population making the population to take to the streets as a means to protest such ill-treatment by the GCFR.

            Comprehensively, the theory explains why people holding the reins of power must take caution when making decision which affects the lives of the masses. Proper consideration must be taken into account amidst other “tread slow strategies” when making such decisions and reactions to such event/happenings/incidents.

Hence, his reaction (GCFR) was uncalled for, not that it is not good but because it fails in the following points:

·         No proper consideration of the effects on the lives of the masses

·         It was ill-timed and so on.

2.      PSYCHOLOGICAL –COERCIVE THEORY

This theory was jointly propounded by G.Patterson and M. Sidman. The idea behind this theory is twin in nature. That most people or individuals get overwhelm with power when they gets it and seems to influence their subordinates the way they like without proper consideration of how they feel. The other end is that they (leader) make use of coercive means to obtain compliance/obedience from their subordinates.

Coercion- is the practice of forcing another party to act in an involuntary manner (whether through action/inaction), might involve use of threats/intimidation or other forms of pressure to get obedience.

Psychological-coercive theory tries to explain why people engage in a negative behaviour to seek adherence of a social outcome and which other individual responds in an equally negative fashion- all these exchange results to increase in intensity until some of them gives up.