Jonathan’s Shameful Pardons

By Chidozie Egbuna

 Why has President Jonathan continued to sleep with the devil and agents who want to obliterate Nigeria for his political aspiration? The recent withdrawal of the case against Mohammed Abacha, a man who is being prosecuted for allegedly pilfering N446.3 billion from the nation is iniquitous.  Nigeria cannot survive as a nation at the rate that these calamitous men are being aided and abetted while the country is on the verge of total annihilation thanks to Boko Haram and other maleficent politicians. Where are all the men of veracity? Where are the angels of justice? Has Nigeria come to a place where it must be completely destroyed to be rebuilt again for her very survival? Where are the Moses that will rise up and demand that decency and integrity return to the torment called Nigeria? We are destroying the future generation by this senseless criminality and pardons. The young people are watching and learning how their country treats those who try to destroy Nigeria and her economy.

The irony of this unpropitious pardon is that Mohammed Abacha will some day run for governorship with his stolen resources and then Nigerian citizens will gather and address him as “Your Excellency.”  What is excellent about a man who stole N446.3 billion from his country? There is no integrity in Nigeria anymore. Where is the outrage from the Nigerian media who has become partners with the politicians in their baneful way of living?

Where is justice for the common man who is trying to work hard and support his family? In this nightmare called Nigeria, the Boko Haram often goes to market places, planting bombs on poor market women who are selling yams to feed their families while men who embezzle billions are unmolested and living in sumptuousness. We observe these events with great regret because we want Jonathan to succeed particularly as a southerner, this writer want his success so bad. The policies and actions of this administration make it nearly impossible to find anything good to write about.

Why would this president put his own political aspiration over the very survival of his country? President Jonathan is making it difficult for political observers in the Diaspora to be endeared to him. Most of us want this man to succeed in the interest of a fledgling country. We all want Jonathan to succeed because we want it to be said that a southerner came into power and made things better for the common man. Jonathan in a flagitious alliance with the evil minded Hausas Fulani oligarch, who have been pillaging and destroying the country since independence, has made a deal with the devil that will later consume this administration. Who are the reckless advisors and political parasites who are advising this president to pardon a man who stole N446.3 billion at a time when Nigeria is trying to contain Boko Haram? If Jonathan succeeds, Nigeria will succeed. However, the president continues to make misinformed decisions that clearly show that he is abetting and encouraging corruption in Nigeria. This pardon is a public relation political disaster and could not have come at a worst time. Jonathan is a likable man but is embedded with evil men around him who are giving him the wrong advice for their own political advantage.

A president who is fighting the war on terror, should concentrate on this hostilities not pardoning criminals who have stolen billions from the country.  The Attorney General of the Federation , Mr. Mohammed Adoke recently withdrew the N446.3 billion theft charges against the son of General Sani Abacha, Mohammed Abacha. The Hausa Fulani want Jonathan to self-destruct and his advisers are helping them achieve that goal. Jonathan should not fall into their dangerous trap in the need to gain political advantage in the 2015 election. The president should continue to walk with integrity because quite frankly we southerners in Diaspora want this man to succeed. This writer has commented in several articles that Jonathan has many enemies of which the majority is the Hausa Fulani elite who loathe him for being in power and being a Christian. Jonathan’s efforts to appease these pernicious men of the north are truly an exercise in futility.

Many are asking, what is going on in Nigeria? Is Nigeria on some type of self destructive or suicidal bent? Why would this president allow for this gross miscarriage of justice, decency, and fairness to take place in the middle of a war with the Boko Haram? How would the soldiers who are fighting in Maiduguri against the dreaded terrorist group feel motivated to fight with zeal when they find out that their commander in chief has pardoned a man who stole 446.3 billion naira from the country?  While the soldiers do not have adequate equipment to fight the Boko Haram they hear with disgust that their commander has pardoned agents of corruption. Does Jonathan want to encourage a revolution where this nation would be burned down to ashes with blood letting on the streets of Nigeria? While Nigeria may not tolerate a military intervention at this time, a group of brave soldiers who rise in a killing spree demanding justice may be hailed as heroes?  If Nigeria is to remain one nation, a revolution must take place now to avert the evil hands of injustice and repugnant corruption. The nation should no longer exist with this level of ineptitude.. Nigeria is in a dangerous bondage her survival is at stake.

This author notes with dismay how this same president pardoned the former Bayelsa state Governor Diepreye Alameyeseigha. Mr. Alameyeseigha, who dressed as a woman to flee from the United Kingdom to evade the hands of justice was also pardoned for the crimes he committed against his state and the Nigeria. This man had the dubious notoriety of being the first governor to be tried and convicted in Nigeria for corruption. How did Mr. Jonathan respond to his former boss, he again put politics before country. Mr. Jonathan granted Mr. Alamieyeseigha a pardon.  Where is the conscience of these politicians? In any western country a criminal who stole billions from the country would be in prison for life. In Nigeria, those in leadership have an insatiable taste for money, power and would sleep with the devil himself to consolidate their power base. Thus the damnable and ill conceived presidential pardon continues unabated to Nigeria’s great impairment and later demise.

Nigeria is the only place where a president would pardon his former boss who was arrested in London and charged with laundering 1.8 million pounds. Mr. Alamieyeseigha was caught then with cash and bank accounts. When this man was granted bail, he jumped bail evading the hands of justice using forged documents and dressed like a woman he ran rather than be a man and face his cowardly actions. With forged documents, he went to Waterloo station in London, took a train and took Air France to Doula, Cameroon from there; he took a boat to Amassoma his hometown. Despite the series of felonies that this man committed, he was granted a presidential pardon. Our leaders are without shame and honor.

The hands of the presidential evil pardons also fail on Alhaji Shettima Bulama the former managing director of the defunct Bank of the North. Many Nigerians especially those in the Diaspora criticized these evil pardons of men who have caused great harm to the nation.  These gang of criminal pardons included men like Maj. Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Lt. Gen. Oladipo Diya, former Minister of Works, Late Gen. Abdulkareem Adisa, Major Bello Magaji, and Alhaji Mohammed Lima Biyu just to name a few. Why does a nation that is supposed to promote peace, justice, and prosperity continue to grant unpropitious presidential pardons to agents of Nigeria’s demise? What purpose does it serve except to encourage more men to continue to embezzle public funds and cause the nation not to progress or prosper? The message to the young is that criminality pays in Nigeria.

The Nigerian politician is without redemption. While in office, they get rich overnight and their conscience is sealed as they parade themselves and drive about in convoys of cars with armed policemen giving them undeserved security. The irony of this is that one day, these men and women who have abused their office and their country men and women would leave office. What type of legacy do these men want for posterity? They would be known as common criminals who when given the opportunity to make a difference, choose rather to serve the devil and his agents. In Nigeria, the government has not been able to provide the people with consistent electric supply, water, decent employment opportunities, security, medical services, education, good and safe roads and an economy befitting a country that makes billions of dollars in oil revenue.

Nigerians, stop calling these criminal governors and corrupt people “Your Excellency.” You denigrate that word which is reserved for those who serve their nation with honor, honesty, integrity, decency, and delight; it is not for thieves and criminals in office. There is nothing excellent about these enemies of progress. Cult members from poverty, wickedness, and all manner of evils who see leadership as an opportunity to steal and embezzle public funds should not be addressed as “Your Excellency” They steal with impunity while their country is on the verge of total disintegration.

Finally Mr. President, stop pardoning criminals who have harmed the state of Nigeria. Show me your friends and I will show you what type of person you are. Also, stop helping your enemies the Hausa Fulani by your pardons. Remember they want you defeated and out of office. They will not rest until they bring down your presidency. Do not appease them but do the right thing.