An Open Letter to the Abia State Elders'Forum

Ibiam Aru

ibiamaru@aol.com

3/22/09.

Dear Elders:

Top of the day to you all . I am writing this letter to you in my capacity as one of your sons and as a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria .This letter has been informed by the recent apology you tendered to vice president Atiku Abubakar over the bitter words he recently exchanged with Gov. Orji Uzor Kalu. To me the said apology is as unnecessary as it is uncalled for. After going through it, it left a very bitter taste in my mouth. Reducing yourselves from your Olympian height to atone for Gov. Kalu ‘s remrks lends credence to the inconvenient truth that we, Ndi Igbo are the architects of our continued manipulation and consequent marginalization in the Nigerian political chess board . Why did you have to apologize to Aljahi Atiku over the seemingly personal fight he had with our ex- governor ? Atiku has no bones to pick with Abia state.Or the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo. How many times did the elders from the North apologize to Obasanjo at the height of his imbroglio with Atiku in 2007?. Or how many elders from the South,South have apologized to president Ya’radua over the nasty tirade that have been emanating from their sons against President Ya’radua? Whatever remark Orji Uzor made against Alhaji Abubakar was not made on behalf of Ndi Igbo .Or on behalf of the great people of A bia state. Governor Kalu made the said remarks on his own behalf. Governor Kalu and Vice President Abubakar are highly capable of settling their differences. They do not need any umpire. They do not need any arbiter .They do not need you. They are highly capable of settling their differences as politicians.

Vice president Atiku and Governor Kalu are just two sides of the same political coin .They are politicians ----that infamous group that has held us hostage in our Nigerian fatherland for a long time now. They are politicians---that notorious group that has for many years now kept the word of promises to our ears and has frequently broken them to our hope. They are politicians ---that infamous group that employs everything at their disposal including the instruments of the state to settle scores with whoever disagrees with them. They are politicians--- that hard hearted group that has reduced you and I to mere spectators vis-à-vis the affairs of our beloved Nigeria denying us the opportunities of becoming participants, active participants in the government of our country Nigeria. Yes, they are politicians ---that group that promises you and I bread only to avail us stones when the chips are down. They are politicians --- the group that religiously flies to the West to recoup their failing health because they have absolutely no confidence in the demonic health care system over which they preside. They are politicians ---that group that treats the bedrock of every society [grassroots and civil servants] with levity .T hey are politicians ---the group whose members sleep every night with their two eyes closed in the face of our broken roads and security and expect you and I to do the same when they know, fully well that we cannot afford that luxury .They are politicians--- the group that imposes themselves and indeed anybody on us even when we are saying “no thank you”. They are politicians---that hard-hearted group that watches your relatives and loved ones drop dead while waiting for their pensions and gratuities and still does nothing .Yes, my dear Elders they are politicians .They are mean .They do not care about you . They do not need you to pour oil on their troubled waters. I expect you to know this without being told .If President Obasanjo could at the end of the day mend fences with Vice President Atiku after washing their foul stinking under wears in the public , perhaps, someday Atiku and Kalu will lock themselves in warm embrace and forget whatever bitter words that might have been said. The amoeboid Nigerian political climate may even force them to run for the presidency on the same ticket in the future. So let the beats go on. Let the fight continue. We have nothing, absolutely nothing to lose but our chains. At least from the scriptures we learn that a house that is divided against itself cannot and will never stand .The more these greedy folks fight amongst themselves the better off we are or rather the better off we shall be. Remember that save for the fight between Obasanjo and Atiku, Ya’radua could not have been the President today. Ya’radua will make a better president than Atiku and Kalu put together any time any day.

My dear Elders, this is not the time to allow these people to split us. It is a time for action, noticeable action. It is an auspicious time for us to stay united , lift up our voices and ask for explanations , demand action , positive action from Government . And we expect you to show exemplary and courageous leadership in this respect. Posterity demands nothing but fatherly guidance from you all. Now is the time to ask those that pegged the tenure of the elected local Government Council officials in Abia state at two years what they expect these Chairmen and, their councilors to accomplish at the expiry of their tenure considering the fact that Governor Orji governed Abia for eight years and did nothing .Why was the Nkporo water project and indeed other public utility projects abandoned by the Orji Uzor administration? Why is Abia state now ranked first from the rear. When will Theodore Oji fix our broken roads? Why are Abians so disillusioned now? When will the Abia government go online? What does the Abia state government do with the huge deductions it makes from the salaries of teacher and the other public servants .Now is the time to tell these politicians enough. Enough of the lies. Enough of the impositions .Enough of these misleading propagandas .This is the time to tell Mr. President that his much publicized political reforms are loud sounding nothing .This is the time to tell the President that only the introduction of the open ballot system can restore the confidence of “we, the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” in our electoral system. This is the time for “we the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria “to take our government back from the custodians of the status quo. This is the time to remind Atiku, Orji, Obasanjo, and et al that the rotation of power among the six geo political units in the country is still in effect. This is the time to tell them that the Presidency is scheduled to return to the South on May 29 th 2015 after President Ya’radua’s zone shall have served out its maximum consecutive two terms [eight years] . This is the time to say in very clear terms that the continued corporate existence of Nigeria cannot and must not be destroyed on the altar of the selfish presidential ambitions of these buccaneers. In short, this is the time to say once more that the inauguration of an Igboman as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May, 29 th 2015 will mark the formal end of the civil war and the beginning of true national integration and unity in Nigeria. Let us say it mean it , and, begin the necessary consultations and follow ups . It will not come on a platter of gold. We have to demonstrate an effective demand for it.

As we prepare for this great fight let us remember at the back of our minds that nothing good comes easy. Let us remember that history is kinder to winners than to losers. Let us remember that the road ahead will not be smooth and easy, that we are bound to encounter occasional bumps and some nay sayers . We should not allow anybody or group to sway us with money. We should avoid a situation that will make us to speak in tongues like Dr. Jim Nwobodo did at PDP convention in Jos in 1998 when in order just to spoil Dr. Ekwueme’s chances of winning the presidential nomination of the PDP he, [Nwobodo] , addressed the convention in Hausa tracing his genealogy to the Hausa/Fulani oligarchy. As we start asking these questions and issuing the reminders, let us not worry about what the outcome of this struggle will be or about who the long awaited President of Igbo extraction must be. Let us hope, pray and commit this great enterprise into the mighty and majestic hands of God because He knows best and will always provide for His used and abused children.

Thank you so much for your attention.

Your son,

Ibiam Aru.