Date Published: 12/02/09

Saka my Friend, the truth is Bitter but we have to say it as it is. By Ndiameeh Babrik

Let me say right from the outset that General Mohammadu Buhari is my candidate for the 2011 presidential election. He is the only Nigerian for now that has that courage, honesty, patriotism and zeal to wipe out the major problem which Nigeria as a nation has for now. I equally want to assure my good friend Saka Raji Audu that his job as the unofficial spokesman of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau is still safe because I am gainfully employed and even an employer of labour myself. Some of us took to writing on National issues so that Nigeria can be an egalitarian society where every Nigerian can have a sense of belonging wherever he or she finds himself or herself tribe or religion notwithstanding. I am equally proud to say that amongst other news media just yesterday being the 25 th and today being the 26 th of November 2009 my articles were published in the Thisday newspapers. That tells you my friend that virtually all the news media have acknowledged my contribution to the national development of our great country Nigeria. Some of us criticize our leaders constructively by challenging them on their anti-societal behaviours. Least I forget my article carried by Thisday newspaper of today Thursday ( 26/11/2009) is titled “Why Buhari can always glow with Dignity”. I am certain you would have read the on-line versions on Huhuonline, Pointblanknews on line, ModernGhana.com on line, Nigerian news diary on line, Worldnews.com on line and many other media houses time and space will not all me mention them here. If you have the time please check on the Internet under the heading 'Why Major General Mohammadu Buhari can always glow with pride.'

I have been the disciple of General Buhari for a long time especially since he chased out the Chadian gendarmes from Nigeria in 1982.

He consolidated his pride of place in my heart with his great speech,

“THIS GENERATION AND INDEED FUTURE GENERATION OF NIGERIANS HAVE NO OTHER COUNTRY BUT NIGERIA\" ( GEN. BUHARI, 1984.

If you ask me honestly this is the greatest speech that has ever come out of Nigeria. Despite the respect and honor I have for General Buhari I have always criticized him constructively on the pages of the newspaper. I can tell you that he is my role model of a patriotic and honest leader. Please go into the archives of the Daily Trust, Leadership newspapers and Gamji.com to read my articles of as to when I criticized General Buhari despite his being my role model. The essence of constructive criticism is not hatred of persons as Saka Raji Audu would want us to believe. But is to challenge them to change their policies. By the way my friend, in politics and diplomacy there is no permanent enemy but permanent friends and interest. An old English adage says “the end justifies the means” I am happy to still say that Ibrahim Shekarau took the challenge I threw to him in my numerous articles on the persecution of Christians in Kano state via his bah police and have not only attended a crusade organized by Christians but Pentecostal Christians for that matter which Saka Raji Audu wanted to wishfully deny their existence in Nigeria. In the first place. That is why I will still rejoice that about a million of them in Kano attended that crusade and Mallam Shekarau became an emergency 'Reverend' and preached for 50 minutes.

That is good tidings my friend, I expect other Muslim governors to follow suit and vice versa. But is it not true that sharia has fizzled out in all the so called sharia states apart from Kano that was being high handed with its own?

When I raised the issue of the Pentecostal Christians in my first article didn't you deny their existence in the first place Mallam Saka? If you have no records of your articles well I may you refer to the Pointblanknews.com of August 18, 2009. You equally made mention of all the other news media that carried that article in that piece. I am happy you saw the vibrant and firebrand Pentecostal Christians in Kano live if you were at Sabon Gari with the governor.

I have written on all and sundry in Nigeria and not just Ibrahim Shekarau. But on thing I am still happy about is that he has taken the challenge in my articles seriously and is taking correction. That is why we write in the first place. But for our write up on the sharia police and the persecution of Christians in Kano, it would have been better imagined than real for the Pentecostal Fellowship to conduct a crusade in Kano talk less of a Sharia governor to attend. You know and even Shekarau knows and we all know that the out come of our write is now justified. We do not write to hate my friend. We write to correct out leaders. I entreat you to go to the archives of Gamji.com or Daily Trust newspapers again, I have written about the governors of Plateau, Adamawa, Zamfara, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Lagos, Rivers and of course Kano. I am personally proud of the performance of Governors Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Jonah Jang of Plateau and Tunde Fashola of Lagos.

Whoever has done anything worth praising will surely be praised. That is why I still said in one of my article that OBJ should be given credit for not going overseas for medical check in his eight years in Aso Rock.

Therefore I will glow with pride that despite denial by Saka Raji Audu of the existent of 50 million Pentecostal Christians, about one million of them converged in Kano his base and was preached to by the Sharia governor of Kano Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. Please see Thisday newspapers of Monday 16 th November 2009.

Saka my friend, the truth is bitter but a time comes when we have to swallow our pride and embrace the truth. The question now is that, are there Christians in Kano state or not? Secondly did your principal a Sharia governor attend a Pentecostal Christians crusade in Sabon Gari Kano or not? Therefore all my articles have achieved their aims. Now it is on record that there are about a million Pentecostal Christians in Kano state Nigeria.

As for 2011, General Buhari is my choice no more no less. Buhari for 2011 any support?

Ndiameeh Babrik writes from London UK.

ndiame_2005@yahoo.co.uk