Dear Mr. President,
State of the Nation: Available Options and Honourable Path
Your Excellency, with respect and humility, I greet you in the name of the
Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth, the merciful Lord who
granted you the opportunity to be the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria at the fourth attempt and who has made it possible for us to see a
new year – 2017. It is my candid prayer that the plan of God for Nigeria
shall be fulfilled. Amen.
I wish to use this open letter to urgently draw your attention to the
import of a recent statement you made on the Christmas day when you
received, in the Villa, some senior citizens residing in the Federal
Capital Territory, who had come to greet you. I also think it is crucial
for Nigerians to fully understand the consequences of such comments, so
that we could all work collectively to help you.
But let me first congratulate you and your precious wife on the success of
your daughter’s wedding to the son of oil magnate and billionaire, Alhaji
Ndimi. Obviously, the classical organization of the ceremony, the
resources expended in millions of dollars and the array of capitalists and
personalities that graced the event in your honour, will remain very dear
to your heart.
Mr President, I am compelled to put in clear perspectives, the national
burden of your well-publicised statement that you are still in a shock
since May 29, 2015, because there was no saving made from oil boom by
previous governments for you to use to run your own government. It is the
degree of hopelessness in that comment, after 18 months in the saddle as
the President, that I intend to interrogate.
I do not intend to argue with you on the state of finance you met, simply
because you are the one who defaulted and failed to match words with
action after promising to publish the accounts of the federation, during
your early meeting with Aso Rock media correspondents last year. Since you
never did, it has become increasingly difficult for some of us to buy into
your lamentations, not until you are able to present empirical evidences
by keeping to your pledge.
Sir, the major implication of your “in-the-shock” statement on the
workings and understanding of corporate governance and political
leadership is that, up till the time you made that painful remarks, you
have spent about 40 per cent of your term of 4 years without having any
idea on what to do about governance and how to address the numerous
challenges facing our endangered nation.
If after 18 months, you are yet to grapple with the reality of governance
and you have no clue on what to do about the worsening economy, it is
regrettably risky to continue to entrust the fate of our nation in your
hand or to continue to remain patient as you have severally admonished.
This is because there is no hope or guarantee that you can ever come out
of this shock.
With due respect sir, I concede to you that you have been overwhelmed by
the enormous burden of leadership and responsibilities since May 29, 2015
when you took over the reign of leadership, and it will be difficult for
you to cope any further, considering the facts that these challenges are
not decreasing. This is in addition to the obvious factor of old age and
the sophistication of handling democratic governance, which is different
from your known military style that is not in tune with current global
trends.
Mr. President, you do not have a luxury of time. Therefore, you cannot
continue to waste the precious time of Nigerians by regurgitating on the
same over-flogged and untenable excuses of being in a shock. It is in the
collective interest of our nation and your own dignity that you may
consider the following plausible options to save our nation and protect
your integrity.
– Option One: Due to the biting economic recession and the sheer
hopelessness in the land, I sincerely urge you to consider a mid-term
presidential election for new hands to take over. Although there is no
direct provision for a mid-term poll in the constitution, yet it is
indirectly guaranteed. What is required is for you to prevail on your
vice president, so that you jointly resign and handover to the senate
president who, will in turn, conduct a fresh presidential election within
three months. It is a noble path to personal redemption.
– Option Two: Since option one could be a difficult process to follow,
considering the interest of supporters and the pressure from aides, it
will be apposite for you to urgently announce your decision to quit in
2019 and quickly ask the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to commence an early preparation for 2019 – so as to put in place a
transition programme that will usher in capable hands.
– Mr. President, you should never fall for the antics of those asking you
to seek a second term. The legacy of allowing an open and transparent
process for new hands to emerge is fitting enough. However, if you are to
consider option two, I will still expect you to re-jig your cabinet, get
better hands to manage some strategic sectors and introduce far-reaching
policies that can take Nigeria out of the unfortunate and self-inflicting
economic recession. This is because things are fast falling apart for the
masses and there is chronic hunger in the land. Yet, there are capable
Nigerians who can help you out.
I believe that either of the two options, if taken in the first quarter of
2017, will automatically bail you out of this unabated shock that is
holding you hostage. This will guarantee you a veritable space to enjoy
old age with peace of mind and be self-assured with joy that you have
given the nation an opportunity to decide its own future, one more time.
I urge you to deeply reflect on my Open Letter in good faith and see it as
a genuine expression of my concern irrespective of my standing as an
ordinary Nigerian who daily yearns for a better nation. Governance is at
the lowest ebb in my country and we have to adopt the principle of
collective sacrifices, no matter the personal cost and pains to
individuals in leadership positions.
All I seek is a courageous, God-fearing, competent, knowledgeable and wise
leadership who can assemble the best of the North and the best of the
South to solve our problems. It does not matter to me if he is a Christian
or a Muslim, North or South. A merit based-system that will search out raw
hidden talents and bring back our human resources scattered abroad back
home, to work together for the development and prosperity of Nigeria. This
is all that I seek.
Permit me to raise a few other concerns, Sir. I think you need to address
the desperation of “The Buhari Boys” who have made power grabbing a
political conquest that must be achieved by all means. You will recall how
former President Goodluck Jonathan called to congratulate you and concede
defeat without challenging your victory at the tribunal. It was not your
making but out of his fear of God and genuine concern for democracy and
peace.
There is also a new and recent one. The import of the combined display of
sportsmanship by Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and the candidate
of the PDP, Eyitayo Jegede, as well as that of Alliance for Democracy,
Olusola Oke, must not be lost on you. They have congratulated Rotimi
Akeredolu of your party, who emerged the winner of the Ondo State
governorship poll. In essence, there will be no court cases.
There are lessons for you to learn from all these and everyone is watching
to see if you will still allow democratic justice in the political process
going forward because our democracy is in coma. The desperation of your
party to win everything in the country is sickening. You may need to call
“The Buhari Boys” to order.
Also, INEC now appears compromised by your party, while our security
agencies are being influenced to do its bidding in every election. Mr.
President, following the role some security personnel played in the Rivers
State rerun election, there is no longer justification for the sanctioning
of some military officers over the 2014 Ekiti State election. For the sake
of justice and posterity, you may need to recall them to active service
with full benefits.
Your Excellency Sir, Southern Kaduna is the emerging Aleppo of Nigeria.
Hundreds of persons have been killed in that zone, under your leadership
as the President of this nation. It is quite unfortunate that you have not
considered it necessary to urgently intervene and rescue these oppressed
people. They are as important as the people of Bauchi State that you found
time to address via a recorded message for failing to pay them a visit.
I urge you to remember how you once visited Oyo State in 2001 to speak for
some Fulani herdsmen who had clashed with farmers, leading to deaths. You
need to speak for all Nigerians and act in a sincere way to protect them
as a father and a grandfather. The Governor of Kaduna State has failed
the voiceless people of Southern Kaduna. He imposed a curfew which
created more loopholes for the enemies to unleash terror on them.
Posterity will judge him and all of us. I know that God will come to the
rescue of Southern Kaduna people and other oppressed Nigerians very soon,
while some of us must continue to stand for them.
I also want you to review your stand on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria
(IMN – the Shiites) and the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB). Only
justice can heal the wounds that have been inflicted on them and their
members by security forces. If you have once shown willingness to dialogue
with Boko Haram to free our Chibok Girls and you still have a place in
your heart for the herdsmen irrespective of the atrocities some of them
are committing, it is equally important that you dialogue with IPOB and
the Shiites. “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by
understanding.” – Albert Einstein. There will be justice for all one day.
Let me quickly mention the issue of corruption. Dear Mr. President, a
friend once described the type of corruption going on under your watch as
“Garrison Stealing” and this is not far from the truth based on the
emerging revelations about some of your kitchen appointees that took you
record five months to search. Stealing from Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) is a crime against God and humanity and this is going on under your
watch with reckless abandon. It is quite unfortunate that you are
foot-dragging in addressing this issue. This has lowered your rating,
frittered away your humongous goodwill and reduced your anti-corruption
fight to a mere persecution of opposition since it is obvious that the
process lacks justice.
Your anti-corruption crusade has lost its sincerity of purpose. Going by
your much flaunted pre-election anti-corruption credential, nobody thought
anyone will last 24 hours as your appointee after the kind of damning
revelations against the secretary to the government of the federation. But
under your watch, two persons standing corruption trials emerged the
candidates of your party for governorship elections. Your supporters on
social media have now reduced this argument to “our corruption is at least
better than your corruption.” Shameful!
Sir, the only reason your aides are fighting to undo one another is
because of corruption. Your house is not in order and the infighting has
badly affected the outlook of your government, locally and
internationally. There is so much wisdom in what your wife told the whole
world not too long ago. Kindly let her be your main adviser and she is in
a good stead to help you to unravel the ongoing mess. She loves you and
wants you to succeed. Also a major political strategist that could have
helped your government, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has been displaced by
the hawks that now control Aso Rock.
I have so much to write on, but I will leave the rest for another day. Mr.
President, there is no reason for you to go on a personal vendetta against
anyone. At 74, the Almighty God has been very kind to you, and all you
need to do is to ensure social justice for all Nigerians, irrespective of
tribes and religions. I do not want you to follow the path of notorious
tyrants who have brought shame to humanity. Mahatma Gandhi once said:
“There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem
invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, always.” Mr.
President, there is a Mandela to emulate: he refused to pursue vendetta
against the Whites despite all the inhuman treatment he was subjected to,
and his people. Think about this dear President Muhammadu Buhari and
allow God be the judge of all.
Thank you Mr. President. If there is any reason to write to you in
private or in a similar fashion in future, I will not hesitate to do so.
But lest I forget, I want to plead with you to drop the idea of the 30
billion U.S. dollars loan, which is capable of mortgaging our future. I
assure you that we can get out of the current economic mess without such a
loan. Yes, it is possible with the right leadership and team: it is a no
brainer at all. I also hope you will forward the name of the acting Chief
Justice of Nigeria, Justice Nkanu Onnoghen to the Senate for screening and
confirmation. The world is watching.
May God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
My name is Ariyo-Dare Atoye. I am a member of several civil society
groups but I will like to be seen as a concerned citizen of Nigeria
writing a letter to his President. You can reach me at
aristotle001us@yahoo.com