Normally, ordinary citizens like me don’t have an opportunity to address mini-gods like you. However, with the invention of the Internet it is possible for me to put up this little epistle for your Excellency. Often, this time of the year is a time of reflection for nations across the world especially the heads of these political entities. Believing indeed, that you my president will be doing the same I have made it an objective to always introduce this epistle yearly to your space. Please don’t even bother to send the EFCC after me; unlike your friends I have no skeleton in my cupboard and unlike the two minions from Adamawa I have no immediate presidential ambitions.
Without burdening your Excellency, last year the theme of my open letter to you was an impending revolution in the land. This year, that prediction is a reality. If I may indulge your patience for a second, I wish to console you on the death of Aunty Stella. More than ever, her death and the death of many innocent Nigerians last year reminded us of the transience of life and the mortality of all human beings. It is for this very reason I am so perplexed that even after you have been through the ups and downs of our national politics it appears you and your fellow elites have learnt nothing. How I wish Aunty Stella will sit by your side and be reading this letter (like I am sure she did last year) after getting the best treatment from our centers of medical excellence.
This year already, your administration is entering the annals of national history in matters relating to handling national security. Two cases of kidnapping within four weeks will remain a record – added to these are religious riots across the land. Even though you create an illusion of unity in your minds (at least it exists amongst the thieves in Abuja that wine and dine with you), Nigeria is in a state of emergency at best. The situation is so dire now; that people sleep with their eyes wide opened in their beds daily fearing who is going to be kidnapped next or whose head is going to be chopped at the altar of political violence, religious intolerance or ethnic genocide. After organizing a wuru-wuru national conference, what we got was a proposal that seeks to legitimize your third term ambition.
Talking about third term, I always think you are a blessed man; the only man to have eleven years to rule my dear country. But when I look back, you know what I see? I see monumental waste of opportunities. You have had enormous opportunity to unite, yet you have chosen to divide. You had great opportunities to develop and build yet you have chosen to undermine those who strive to do so. You have had great avenues to restore the rule of law, yet you have chosen to pitch your tent with charlatans, law breakers, riggers and waste products of the political system. This last year, you have taken the hand of the clock of progress one step forward and a million steps backwards afterwards. Opportunities to restructure our nation have been turned into an opportunity to satisfy your selfish ambition – what a shame!
You see Mr. President, I am not one of those beer drinking Nigerians that say your administration is the worst in the history of our nation. Far from it – you have done some things right, but you have gotten more things very wrong. In our hogwash educational system, twenty five percent equals utter failure (at least if you don’t grease the palms of the examiner or end up in his bed)– and it is my belief that most Nigerians will score your administration much lower than that. I commend your war on corruption and I don’t care if you are hunting enemies or not. I commend the debt payback; I commend your prudent financial reform programs that have allowed us save excess crude oil funds instead of spending them. I commend those things that have gone right in our country but you can do better. A General is not known to settle for mediocrity, but I must admit your administration have been mediocre at best and totally a failure at worst.
We know you claim to have visions for Nigeria for the past seven years, but you have failed as a leader to communicate these visions effectively. As a leader, communication is your greatest tool- but instead of communicating you chose to appoint a dog and a sheep. Your favorite sheep is Madam Oyo- a woman with sufficient street cred in the activist community and your Alsatian dog is my man- Fani Kayode. Please tell Mr. Kayode or whatever he is called that he need not reply to this letter because courtesy demands that when letters are written to people it is meant for their eyes and minds only and need not be replied by others. Even though by all barometer of civilization, Fani bom-bom lacks every decorum and respect for public opinion, he might as well take time to wash off his dirty mouth on an ordinary Nigerian like me- but I will not excuse his indulgence because I have enough times on my hands to reply him and I happen to worship God.
But recently, I have heard from sources (sources that your new attack machine called Nigerian Police and SSS can never identify) that your model is the South Korean, Singapore or Malaysian model; basically, the model of the emerging Asian Tigers. However, I will try to briefly educate you on what an adoption of this model entails. While it is convenient for you to chose perpetual leadership (that saw Singapore having a Minister Emeritus for Life to guide the nation) as the only commendable ingredient of this model that happens to be one of the lie of your cabal. The Asian economies are built an economy based on rule of law (which you happen to detest), vibrant freedom of press and right to protest (which you cannot come in terms with even after the court ruled to that effect) and a free market economy (which you have translated to mean economy in the hands of your best friends and largest campaign contributors).
It surprises me that after I warned you of the impending revolution, the best you could do all these days was to deploy your ineffective military force to the Niger Delta region. You have learnt nothing about past rebellion in other African countries and ours. Indeed, it appears you are more blinded by your arrogance and your own myopic ideas than real situation on ground. No military occupation will do the magic. I also put it to you that we don’t need another national conference. We need just two things from you 1. Respect for True federalism that was the vision of our founding fathers (not day light armed robbers like your
military gang banger friends) while you last and 2. Your retirement. Old ideas hold no solution to new problems- you are tired and you need a deserved rest with your chickens.
Talking about chicken – May I use this opportunity to give your third term proponents another reason why you should not retire. In recent times, I see they (like Ojo Maduekwe) lack a coherent argument for your continued stay in Aso Rock, so I have decided to help them out in justifying the huge paycheck they get from our national coffers all in the name of service to your vampire elitist circle. My simple reason is connected to the recent bird flu that has thrown your friends to a state of rolling new cash into bank accounts a la compensation for their dead birds! You see, you can just say you don’t want to infect your beloved chicken in Otta, and you just decided to stay back in the Villa– since your chicken pepper soup eating entourage is a working carrier-to-be of this deadly HN15 virus. Haba!
It is my hope that you will read this letter completely and take my warnings to heart. Once beaten, twice shy. Our fathers once said “if Eneke the bird have learnt to fly without perching we should learn to shoot without missing”. The bird of change flies closest to our country in the next one year, and I hope Nigeria will not miss shooting this time around. As for your statement that you are ready to die for Nigeria, please be careful what you wish for. You do well, I will be writing you same time next year hoping you will be preparing your luggage for an eventful journey back to Otta- where you can have your peace and have no mean men like me intrude on your imperial opulence! Nigeria we hail thee!
Yours Truly,
An Ever Abiding Loyal Citizen and Anti-Third Term Campaigner
Last Line:
“To complain of lack of leadership is, in the field of political affairs, the characteristic attitude of all harbingers of dictatorship.”
– Ludwig von Mises
7 comments
Haba! Michael! "Old ideas hold no solution to new problems- you are tired and you need a deserved rest with your chickens."
This is the best quote I've read in a long time, and, in all reality will be OBJ's future! Let's hope he stays with his chickens this time, and,choke on a plate of chicken pepper soup on his way out of this world too.
Commentator #1 I think you are suffering from the daily Nigeria illness of trying to sound clever but nothing underneath. The likes of you always bang on about Soludo and others econmonics achievements but can this achievenment be translated into cups of Garri, Beans or Amala to an average housewife in the market? That is what good economy is all about, the cost of everyday living. How much does this items cost today as it were seven years ago, cheaper or more expensive? In a successful economy, if the chancellor or the finance minister claim that his govt is doing well, people will look at the cost of food on the shelf, cost of mortgage and loan repayment and other borrowing. How many ordinary people today in a wonderful economy of Soludo and co can can afford to build a small bungalow or even a twenty year old Tokunbo car? Some said Obasanjo need more years but they forgot that Blairs govt is only 1.5 years old than OBJ's but Blair govt has brought the lowest unemployment rate ever in the history of UK, continous low interest rate, low cost of living etc.
The funniest part is equating Frank Nweke with greatness, what actually is his job? When what he seems to do is to repeat Fani Loud Mouth and Remi Oyo vice visar and they are paid for it monthly.
Idiots will always be kings and king makers in the land of the zombies and that is what Nigeria and Obasanjo is. If Obasanjo can be equate with achievement and greatness after nearly eight years of wasted opportunity with a barrel of oil at it's highest price ever, God help doomed Nigeria.
If you know what you are talking about, you should have known that is was OBJ who formunated the evil land use decree and that is the genesis of Niger Delta problems today.
Imagine all the billion spent on ABUJA and the infamous land grab especially by IBB/ABACHA HOODLUMS. LONG LIVE MOSSOP!!!
It is great to hear fearless Nigerians expressing their views and saying the true as it is, but they just a few and this few alone can not get the impact they need. It is time for Nigerians to stand up for their nation and see that it is no longer robbered. There is no win without a fight, no victory without sacrifice. Some of Our fore fathers had to die to see that we became free and to have a better life we all have to do it together and remove fear and take back what is rightful ours. Or be afraid to stand for what is right and suffer. Any way we look at it we suffer, so why not suffer to achieve a better future, if not for us then for our children cause they are worth the last drop of our blood.
As for Niger-Delta, it is OBJ's problem, because if he didn't suck-up to the every call of Amercia, uk and other super powers, the problems in Niger-Delta wouldn't have escalated. Why does he believe outsiders more than his people, they do not have our best interest at heart, they only want to enrich their pockects and improve their own economy. Is it unrealistic for the unemployed youths in Nigeria to ask employment to which they are qualified? Tell me what sense or what justification would you give for employing labour from outside our borders, when we have better or equally qualified people in Nigeria? It makes no sense, when we say or our President says he is trying to find ways of improving the standard of living and the economy along with our forgien reserves when at the other hand he is evrything done indicates that it is the opposite happening i.e money is leaving the country, standard of living is getting worse by the day and the economy is – there are no words to discribe it. I just pray that we see what is really happening and stand up for what is right, if not for our sake, then for the sake of our future generation.
May God bless Nigeria.
Commentator #1,
I find it 'clever' your dumping of Onyema Ugochukwu, and Frank Nweke into the roll call of honorable men and women.
Obasanjo and his politician friends or should I say rogues, may be the only ones who do not appreciate the problem in Niger Delta. I sincerely think we're on the road to low intensity civil war there, at best.
There is nothing any of us, including Busanga can do, other than let your god, Obasanjo know this fact. He has the resources of the state at his whims and caprices. Please remind him that they are badly needed for addressing the Niger Delta issue.
Busanga did the right thing by choosing the internet. Who wants to send a memo to Aso Rock? They will send it to the trash or doctor it like they did with the budget in Anyim's time, like Mantu is doing with the constitution reform thing now, etc. For your information, it's in the news and has been proven that the representation of ASUU representative at the North Central Zone of constitution review meeting was dubiously changed to a YES Vote for third term. Who wants to waste his time sending memos……………I need to stress this once more.
The article is an expose to Mr. President. The time to act is now.
"Nigeria is in a state of emergency at best. The situation is so dire now; that people sleep with their eyes wide opened in their beds daily fearing who is going to be kidnapped next or whose head is going to be chopped at the altar of political violence, religious intolerance or ethnic genocide."
This is false. Those currently kidnapped are foreigners!
The write up condemns the President for Niger Delta violence but profers no solution. Those of you who think Niger Delta is Obasanjo's problem would soon be educated that it is a National Problem. We must ALL join hands to profer solution. Obasanjo is not a magician. In the past 45 years no administration has pumped money into Niger Delta as his has done. If you have no better idea to sell keep quiet. You should (out of personal hatred for Obasanjo) rubbish the good job thatSoludo, Okonjo-Iweala, Dora Akunyili, Okereke-Onyiuke, Ezekwesili, Iene Nkechi Chigbue, Nasir El Rufai, Nuhu Ribadu, Osita Ogbu, George Obiozor, Onyema Ugochukwu, Frank Nweke, Joy Ogbu tec are doing for which our country has received international commendation. You have heard the word "REFORM" and are educated enough to know that they don't yield fruits overnight.
This write up is a waste of precious internet space. There are enough muckraker sites that specialise in abusing the person of the President without profering any solutions to our national problems. This person has joined no party, did not submit any Memo to the National Assembly Constitutional Amendment Committee, has never organised a rally, (for or against anything), supports or suggests no successor but christens himself "anti-third term campainer". The problem of Nigeria has more to do with this type of iconoclastic followership than anything else. Busanga would do well with some counselling. He qualifies to be entered in the Prayer list – those whom Nigerians are praying to be delivered from the spirit of negativisn. But since he claims to worship God, I commend to him DILIBE ONYEAMA'S article on Third Term and the Word of God and it is hoped he would read it completely and spritually digest.