By SKC Ogbonnia<\/p>\n
October 1, 2021<\/p>\n
It was not surprising that the Nigerian Diaspora community would gather
\nin New York City at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly to
\nprotest the reign of terror under President Muhammadu Buhari. What is
\ndeeply surprising is that the agents of the Nigerian government from the
\nhomeland would attempt to counter the truth by storming the same venue
\nto launder millions of dollars on foreign imposters who were recruited
\nto create the false impression that all is well with the African
\ncountry. This shameless approach by the emissaries of Nigerian
\ngovernment only goes to show that President Muhammadu Buhari is an
\nirredeemable zombie.<\/p>\n
Agreed, sense is no more common these days, but recent events ought to
\nhave been able to alert the president that his government no longer has
\ncredibility at the international scene. Even a dumbo could have reasoned
\nthat the backhand banning of Buhari by Twitter has a ring to it. One
\nmust also not be a genius to discern the timing of the recent outright
\nrefusal by the U.S. government to sell arms to Nigeria. Follow these
\nfacts with the freefall of naira against major world currencies. Even a
\nbuffoon could recognize there and then that Buhari\u2019s ongoing war
\nagainst the Nigerian people is not being decided at the Aso Rock.<\/p>\n
The gist, if it is not already palpable, is that while the Buhari
\nBribery train is designed to massage his montage of propaganda in
\nNigeria, it would always crash abroad. The days are gone when the
\nNigerian government can preach justice abroad, while promoting injustice
\nat home. The days are gone when a clique could assume power in Nigeria,
\ndictate as it pleases, and assume the world would follow. The days are
\nfar gone when the world relied solely on the official mouthpiece of the
\nNigerian government or the false testimonies of its corrupt agents.
\nWhile fronting Nigeria\u2019s foreign delegations with deep cocktail of
\nIgbo and Yoruba colors can be superficially strategic, these government
\ntoadies can only talk and go back home.<\/p>\n
The inconvenient truth is that Nigeria now boasts of millions of
\nindependent and trustworthy Nigerians in the Diaspora who function as a
\nShadow Government. The members are strategically entrenched in all the
\nnooks and crannies of the world, and who are bound to tell it as it is.
\nThe members are formidable and have earned the trust of foreign
\ngovernments. They are profoundly influential at every seat of world
\npower and every seat of state and city governments. Ironically, most of
\nthem are the direct victims of the injustice in the homeland. They
\nbelong to the community of highly qualified Nigerian citizens who are
\ndeemed unworthy at home but have found grace in the foreign land. They
\nhave become the Nigerian Biblical Josephs.<\/p>\n
Today, these Nigerian Josephs have come to dictate the content and
\ncharacter of the nation\u2019s foreign exchange, foreign trade, foreign
\ninvestment, the media, as well as other socio-economic relationships.
\nCommon sense dictates that the same Josephs are the leading block
\ncontributors to the yearly amount of foreign money remitted to Nigeria,
\nwhich is interestingly more than the national budget. Common sense
\ndictates that as they go, so goes the national image and much more.<\/p>\n
Nothing highlights the impact of these Nigerian Josephs more than their
\nrole in the current wave of Nigerian secessionist movements on the
\ninternational scene. Recall that rather than exploring dialogue, as
\nBuhari has always advocated in the case of similar situation in
\nPalestine, his regime chooses brute force on the Biafran and Yoruba
\nNation activists. The regime even goes further to launder millions of
\ndollars worldwide in a futile attempt to brand the Biafran activists as
\nterrorists. But the Nigerian Josephs know better. And the world knows to
\nfollow.<\/p>\n
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Nigerian group, besides Boko
\nHaram, that came to be recognised worldwide as terrorists are the
\n\u201cforeign\u201d Fulani herdsmen, the very group that President Buhari
\ncurdles. What is more? There were more flags belonging to the Yoruba
\nNation agitators and the Biafran \u201cterrorists\u201d than the national
\nflags of Nigeria at the just concluded 76th session of the UN General
\nAssembly. Thus, if propaganda and draconian threats\u2014like his 2021
\nindependence speech\u2014must remain the solution to the Nigerian
\nleadership crisis, someone ought to tell General Buhari that he is
\nfighting a losing battle.<\/p>\n
The true solution is common sense. Nigeria must not remain a fool at
\n61! There are open wounds that must be addressed and dressed. As the
\nSultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, stated at the earlier
\nstage of the secessionist crisis, \u201cA lot of things were done in the
\npast by some people with impunity and nothing was done.\u201d The Sultan
\nappealed that statesmen across Nigeria \u201cshould help the country by
\nchampioning the dialogue.\u201d This goes without saying that Muhammadu
\nBuhari should lead by example. He needs to embody what he has always
\npreaches at the United Nations in case of the people of Palestine. This
\n\u201cis the question of justice, fairness, and equity in respect of the\u201d
\nNigerian people. Anything else is being busy doing something close to
\nnothing.<\/p>\n
Dr. SKC Ogbonnia, a 2019 APC Presidential Aspirant, writes from
\nHouston, Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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