OPEN LETTER TO DR. GOODLUCK JONATHAN, THE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.

Dear Mr. President,

TRUTH IS A FUNCTION OF TIME: IN THE DEFENCE OF MY STATE

Sir, I finally made up my mind to write your esteemed office on the subject matter after I have carefully watched things degenerate over a period of time in my state, Ogun state.
My dissatisfaction with this spate of event especially as they affect the coming elections would have had nothing to do with you but the selfish ranks of leaders we have back home if at the time leadership was lacking and your input were needed, you did the needful.
In my humble opinion, it would sound far from reasonable to hold a man from Bayelsa responsible for the crisis in Ogun state; but your position, and to a large extent the dire situation in the country that you are in charge of makes it impossible to overlook your roles, actions and inactions.

Sadly, it is possible to limit this crisis to PDP and one may have to answer questions has to why the lingering PDP crisis should be made to represent the Ogun people. The answer is simple; your position in PDP puts so much on your shoulder that you can’t afford to dodge. Besides, how you are able to deal with your immediate challenges as a party leader determines to a large extent how well you would deal with the Nigeria leadership problems.

Also, as our President, we must at every point in time be able to tell where you stand on issues bothering on integrity, rule of law and respect for the democratic institution.
Sir, does it bother you as the number one citizen that the Ogun state house of assembly hasn’t sat for about six months? Have you ever asked how the allocation of the state is being spent over these months? How come your silence isn’t golden but deafening?

Mr. President, did you bother to ask why two parallel primaries were held in Ogun state with men of the Nigeria Police and other security agents and also INEC officials in attendance? Can we safely assume both primaries were legitimate? That sounds like a no to me because you already did your internal permutations and presented the flag to Chief Tunji Olurin as the legitimate candidate of your party. There was no panel to investigate what went wrong, where is the place of fair play and equity?

Sir, the committee you sent afterwards to meet with the two factions; what was it supposed to achieve after you have stamped the candidacy of your master’s choice? That we as a people would mistake that for a move to encourage peace is a mistake; we didn’t buy it. Your committee was configured from the inception to fail and it did. One thing your committee was obviously set not to achieve is pronouncing another gubernatorial candidate; that would obviously pitch you against your boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. I bet you don’t have the luxury to confront his venom at a time when you seeking to get re-elected.

Ogun state is contending with a leadership crisis that portends so much danger in times to come and openly you have denied us true leadership and direction. However, we shall sail through this troubled waters and place your ‘men’ where they belong. We are peaceful people being held hostage by blood thirsty gladiators.

Mr. President, long before now, I have had my doubts in your ability to manage this country and you have proved this to be true several times. For all you care, it is now more obvious than ever that what matters to you above salient issues is getting back to office whether or not before that time there would be people left to govern.

I have gone into the archives to evaluate the Jos crisis, the number of casualties recorded over these period of neglect, how our brothers and sisters have had to live with watching their people massacred right before them; I limited my research to Jos to save myself tears. It all boils down to lack of representative and qualitative leadership. In a sane situation, there should have been no need gracing posters with your pictures, men of conscience would not only have resigned, they probably would have committed suicide.

Despite the killings, destruction of property and insecurity, Mr. President, we can’t really point to one thing that you have done to bring the perpetrators to justice. Are we to wait until another militant group is formed to take revenge for their own people? What has happened to all your promises to end the crisis? Is that supposed to be a second term project?

Sir, I, like every other Nigerian, would have expected you show some level of commitment not only in words but action to secure lives of people rather than running around to gather votes. Of what particular benefit would your second term be to a common man? Sleeping and waking up in Nigeria is a very expensive privilege and not a right. Stealing and administrative recklessness is the order of the day. Communities are set against communities killing one another for no particular reasons and when your stooges and ‘boys’ are out to campaign, the fly the banner of unity.

What exactly does unity have to do with you exonerating an organisation from a bomb attack? Could Henry Okah be saying the truth when he alleged your men called him to ask his MEND comrades to disclaim the attack so that you can rope some northern leaders as the ones behind the October 1 attack? The confession facts are there all over the internet. How does unity work when your campaign highlight promotes more of ethnic bias than what your programmes would be in office? What does unity have to do with people losing their jobs by the day? What does unity have to do with decaying infrastructures? What does unity have to do with lack of direction? What does unity have to do with religious intolerance?

Mr. President, I write today not to have you come back to Ogun State to do the right thing; that is asking for too much. Unfortunately, your boss and lieutenant in my state are as vicious, directionless, nasty and arrogant. Go back to Plateau State, where you have gone to campaign without addressing the real issues and do the right thing. Go to Maiduguri and do the right thing, address the Nigerian populace and tell us the truth. We can’t get it any worse.

Mr. President, today, we would have to go through the elections with the fear of things getting worse; with my people sitting on a keg of gun powder while in the corners of your room, you seek to win Ogun State. If our votes at this time would count, you won’t win! You really do not deserve to win because you have not shown leadership where it was most required. You have turned your back against the people of Ogun State to secure your selfish aim. You have at different times taken a position that pitches you against that of the masses but represent your personal gains only. You have continuously massaged the egos of individuals who ideally should be behind bars because they are crucial to your victory at the polls. The situation has not totally degenerated into what we have in other states not because your leadership has made any sense of the situation but because we are a people who despite our differences remain civil.

I am not sure if during your visit to the Redeemed Christian Church of God camp ground, the General Overseer told you power on this world is ephemeral. If he did, there is no sign you are yielding to that warning and if he did not, let it be known to you today, that the most brutal of rulers are now only read about on the pages of history books. Yours won’t be any different.
Your agenda to extend the four year tenure you currently seek to a 7-year single term is not unknown to many Nigerians. Take this fragile situation for liberty and graciously write your name in the books of history in the colour you so wish; the day of accountability is just around the corner.

As an Ogun indene and a Nigerian, I have learnt not to expect too much from any government, yours would not be an exception but I, like many others, owe it to history, to make this known to you, it is a mere transition but engaging enough to distract men of little knowledge and no conscience. Look back at your own history, wait not to be told; where were you pre-1999? I am not sure you could have predicted your current position today. If the divine blackmail that graces your elevation is anything to go by,, then you should be the most sober and people loving leader, is that who you are?

When favour smiles on men, they hastily forget the past and dine away the remaining part of their lives as if there was never a yesterday. This is a moral you have successfully taught.
Mr. President, the good people of Ogun state, who by providence, have been kept under the leadership of mindless individuals like every other Nigerian would one day be free; we shall overcome and deep in my heart, deep in our hearts, we believe this to be true and we are sure change is coming. We are also sure; you are not the change we talk about.
While you continue to propagate your empty promises across the land, there are some questions you should ask yourself.

How would you feel if by the time you return to office, if you ever do, there is no more a Plateau state on the Nigerian map? That Muslims and Christians can no longer leave together in Bornu or that there are more prostitutes than teachers in our country?

Mr. President, take out some time to think about this. Ponder on it like you have never done before, seek the opinions of aides who would tell you the truth as is and risk losing their jobs and not the jokers you carry around. You are likely to get just one answer.
Whether or not you would be fair enough to deal with the answer and take the right step is yet another seminar discourse.

Finally Mr. President, may I advice that it is never too late to take actions and save the state and the entire country another round of embarrassment. We have no problems that you have erred, our problem is that it is almost becoming your trademark and you have no history of being apologetic even when your goofs stare at you in the eyes.

Thank you.

God bless Nigeria.

ABUJA BOMBING: THE PRESIDENTIAL DEFENSE

This is likely to be a very short message and the essence is to point your minds to the carelessness of our leaders when anything happens and their rush to cover up same when people are referring to history.

Events like these says one thing above many others, we have a leadership system that is managed by blood thirsty individuals who if closely watched, don't seem to have any regards for our lives not to talk of our yearnings as a people.

Many of my articles puts me in a position that paints an anti-Jonathan picture and this I am not sorry about. Where my facts are found wanting, I would retract it and render an apology to that effect. Sadly, Mr. President has so many goofs that makes making erroneous allegation look almost like making a prediction. Even if he hasn't done it now, you would have him do it sooner before you are attacked as spreading a false story.

I have after the Abuja bombing accused Mr. President of defending MEND, a group that kept warning they would wreck havoc on the independence day celebration. Such defense could only have presupposed Mr. President knows who did the bombing. The manner of defense was so confident and post bombing discussions also showed that Mr. President seem to have so much interest than meets the eyes.

The whole idea behind this particular article is to put individuals who have continuously defended the utterances of the President. I didn't make this up; the good side of information technology, you would agree with me. You can't have your cake and eat it!

If you want to be part of this, there is a major requirement, a very fast internet connection. If you don't have that, let me share a little tip with you.

Open the link and once the video is about to start, pause it and go on with other things. It would take sometime to buffer; come back to it after sometime and then you can watch.

Pay attention to the words of Mr. President and that of Henry Okah and Asari Dokubo.

Someone obviously is lying, and someone is also very careless while someone is both careless and also a blatant liar.

WHO BOMBED ABUJA-PART 1

WHO BOMBED ABUJA-PART 2


If you have to speak for Mr. President, you have a first responsibility of telling him to mind what he says and where he says it.

This is it, this is what we get from people we call leaders. This is what we get from people who come to our towns and street asking to be voted for.

This is what we stand to get from Dr. Jonathan Ebele Goodluck.

Vote for trust, vote wisely.

SPEAK, GEJ, SPEAK!

It is almost becoming a norm around developed and developing countries especially those that have a relatively stable democracy to have contestants appear on TV programmes to articulate their manifestos and also convince the electorate on the need to vote in a particular direction.
I am not so versed with democracies around the world; I may begin to consider taking a second degree in International Relations and History to balance that aspect of my life; I am however comfortable with my knowledge of the Nigerian brand of democracy and have a fair idea of its slips. A particular trend I have observed in our own kind of democracy is that political parties don’t necessarily make people; individuals stand out to prove whether or not to they are fit to hold any given office save rigging and other induced electoral anomalies.

Let me in passing cite the gubernatorial debate held at the Muson centre yesterday March 2nd, 2011 as an instance, beyond the respective party each individual represented, most comment and reactions that have trailed the debate have mentioned more of individual names that parties. It is therefore not enough to be a member of PDP, ACN, ANPP, CPC or whatever it is the party is called but being a clearheaded person. The ability to demonstrate administrative acumen, leadership skills and the understanding of the servant leader concept of governance would to a large extent speak more volume than the colours of your party.
Even at the level of students’ union elections in Nigerian universities, that of OAU, I am so sure of, debates are specially held for contestants well before the elections. The essence of this is to allow for the electorate to have a first hand idea of how grounded their aspiring leaders are. You, as an aspirant, would not be expected to know everything you are asked; that confirms the human aspect of you, but certain questions should be considered a piece of cake for any man who under whatever guise is being slated for elective posts.
I would not expect to see a contestant dumbfounded when asked how he intends to combat poverty or job creation; it has nothing to do with the number of books one has read but so much more with how aligned is has been with issues bothering on people’s welfare. That way, a man can represent his own ideas and opinions, merge same with the overall party agenda if any truly exists and then put forth a pragmatic road map we can fairly call manifesto.
As usual, so many organisations would come up with time table for debates at different level but trust Nigerians; we know which of these different debates to watch out for. By chance, NN24 seem to have won the heart of many Nigerians and we can’t but wait to see our four major presidential candidates slug it out on issues of national and international interest.
May I quickly add that, the outcome of the debates may not necessarily determine the eventual winner of the elections but it guides people’s decisions. This in my own idea of a people oriented democracy.
What then could be so mischievous in the eyes of the Jonathan-Sambo campaign organisation that they are threatening not to participate in the debates slated for March 8 and 18? Such stance would only further confirm the mediocrity that pervades the camp.
The representative of PDP, Dr. Doyin Okupe, made two very interesting demands; that the advance copy of questions be made available to candidates. It also requested an outright stoppage of the studio audience from posing questions to the candidates.
Do I have to say anything more on these? Really I should not and I want to guess you understand why.

Whatever the suspicion is, one thing that comes to my mind is that the hardest question to field is that to which its answer is obvious.
There is nothing democratic about demanding that people are not allowed to talk or ask questions. Where is the place of accessibility and accountability?
To demand an advance copy of the questions is in itself a reflection of how shallow our leaders are. Within the context of grammar, I have always asked if it would be right to refer to our own David Mark or Iyiola Omisore as a Senator if the like of John McCain is also referred to as a Senator in the United States. The gap is wide and almost irredeemable.
We have built our leadership structure of sheer show of masculinity and material strength way ahead of intelligence, selflessness, ideology clear-headedness, nobility, and local content. The person who in my opinion stands the greatest chance to hold the floor and spend so much time talking is President Jonathan being the incumbent; sadly, their fears are far from academic but performance related.
The whats, whys and hows that would trail the very many inflated and bogus contracts, judicial recklessness, abuse of office, insecurity, unemployment and wasteful spending is what stands between Mr. President and attending the debate without a fore knowledge of the questions.
Mr. President would rather hide behind his still profile picture on facebook than meet with us and debate with other contestants.
I am not so very disappointed; I have known this long before now what problems we have with our current President. My shame lies solely in the fact that while we are battling the menace of examination malpractice and favouritism in job interviews, our own Jonathan-Sambo camp are openly aligning with this decay. The same way they celebrated Bode George.
In conclusion, this is my verdict, it is better to keep silent and let people guess whether you are a fool or not than speak and clear their doubts. Mr. President and his boys are taking a clinically deft decision to conceal something that would in the final analysis embarrass the country and the good people therein.
On page 1 of the Tribune of June 14, 1958, the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo said, ‘Democracy demands that the truth be told always. Charlatans and Saints should be called by the proper names.
God Bless Nigeria...

A CLEAR TOMORROW

A short while after the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt plus the ripple effects across the Arab world, so many people have mouthed the possibility of same happening in Nigeria. Some I have heard and ignored, some I have debated the possibilities.

I have previously mentioned that there are lessons to learn from these events; one of such lessons which may appear irrelevant is that there is a proof that such movement can be built. A fact that people can actually rise against their leaders and make demands way beyond the imaginations of the leaders has been proven.

This particular piece is informed by a quick succession of events in the last one week and I just have this feeling that some reference be made to them for the benefit of history. I actually have written about one but its relevance has made it yet another issue to be mentioned.

Bode George’s return from prison above all things confirms his status as an ex-convict who in my humble opinion should still be held in close doors to help him properly reintegrate into the system he left two years ago.

His return and the fiesta that greeted it would not have bothered me if I were to consider only the old men and women who were mobilised to dance around with an ex-convict. They, the old folks, are a clear representation of how they spent their youthful days; hence, the provider of the red oil and salt that has been sustaining them sure deserves a welcome. I am less concerned about the rented thugs, that is about what they are alive doing.

If for any reason, I would have to think about revolution, these set of people would not even cross my mind as comrades. I have never mistaken joining issues with them; it would end up leaving a bitter taste in one’s mouth and amount to sheer waste of time and human resources.
My pain is informed by the set of people who have a semblance of what could be readily transformed into future leaders also joining this shameful dance in public glare.

One major prerequisite of revolution is a people bound by a collective aspiration whose energy is fuelled by the government’s irresponsibility and goal is guided by the belief they share. A people not bothered by colour, accent or ethnical divide. A people singing the same chorus even at the point of death, yet marching ahead. Sadly, that is not what we are. As a matter of fact, we are all that is anti-revolution. So, thinking of Egypt, Tunisia or Libya and at the same time thinking Nigeria is scoring low the ideologies and resolution of these great people of history.
I have seen young men of sane mind defend the celebration of Bode George’s return and that to me tilts our future to the rotten end of the lever. Every man has his right to opinions but certain things would just not need extra explanation before it is hastily wrapped and dumped into the trash can of history. This is another challenge for those who have long abandoned participation and allowed shenanigans to take the stage and call the shots.

President Jonathan Goodluck for the record time has shown afterall that he doesn’t stand for anything in particular. This is a man who would argue he wants to combat corruption celebrating corruption. Bode George in his words has attended the University of Life, referring to his experience behind bars and it is only reasonable to expect he gets a certificate from the President in form of a state pardon so that he might again be put in an office.

This cycle is almost as sure as tomorrow’s sunrise, what manner of future then are we looking at, why do we have to fold our arms and make these individuals take us for a ride?
What sensible leader would choose to hold a rally on a working day like Tuesday? Of course, a leader that knows he has enough unemployed youths to mobilise. Both the ACN who held some form of rally at the following centres; Teslim Balogun Stadium, Volkswagen, Gbagada and Agege Stadium and PDP, who chose Tafawa Balewa Square, are culpable. It is a reflection of insensitivity.

They wouldn’t have expected lawyers who had one or two matters in court or doctors who should be checking on patients or even artisans whose workshop are busy to grace those rallies. They had a clear understanding of the character of people attending.

Traffic diversion was enforced and a major part of the road cordoned because Mr. President was going to drive through those roads. While I have great regards for security protocols, I feel they should be observed when appropriate and not when GEJ is coming to celebrate Bode George. I am not sure Mr. President has an idea of how much man hours he wasted today in Lagos as a result of traffic and its attendant implication on the country’s GDP, I can bet he doesn’t.
We have to make a decision as to what kind of future we intend to set for our children. It is quite clear that the gains of doing the right thing may not necessarily be enjoyed by this generation but our names shall be written in the gold ink as people who stood by and for the truth.

We cannot pretend all is well when it’s obviously not. Mr. President should have spent time to visit hospitals to see his people dying as a result of poor facilities. He should have gone to schools to access the rot in the system. That is however not meant to be. All these have nothing to do with good luck but a strict sense of servant leadership and administration.
We also should not close our eyes to the fact that the current elitist civil rule would only pitch common men against one another doing the bids of the warlords. Let’s not be misled into the lies that one party is better off; individuals have to an appreciable extent been able to stand out and not parties.

Until elections and office holding in established based on merit and not material possessions, we can only talk and talk, change won’t come.
On the final note, I hope to once again emphasise that what would solve the Nigeria problem of unemployment, insecurity, lack of infrastructures, lack of qualitative delivery health care services and all others has nothing to do with good luck but pragmatic programs that represent truly the thinking process of our leaders and not the over plagiarised booklet they call manifestoes.

With these crop of people warming up to continue ruling, we should by now have a clear picture of what out tomorrow would be.

For me and those who care to listen, it is NO WAY TO FRAUD AND POWER ABUSE.

God bless Nigeria.

STOP PRESS:

I saw a poster along CMS/Apogbon tagging Bode George the Joseph of our time. Are we now not sure how much trouble we are in?