The Ovation publisher and a great supporter of pres Buhari, Dele Momodu,
yesterday wrote a desperate open letter to the president where he expressed a
little disappointment over the government of APC in the last four weeks.
(I
think there are more desperate and ruthless politicians in this new
government, it's definitely a Change from what we had previously).
Read Momodu's memo 1st published on Thisday. After The Cut......
Your Excellency, I write to you today with a heavy heart.
The reason should be obvious. I was one of those latter day converts to
Buharism, a political philosophy that believes in the reincarnation of former
leaders in the days of tribulation. You were never the first man to resurrect
from retirement and near political oblivion. General Olusegun Obasanjo bounced
back from prison to Aso Rock Villa. In nearby Benin Republic, former military
dictator and strongman, Mathieu Kerekou who had served as maximum ruler for
about 17 incredible years, came back to defeat incumbent President, Nicephore
Soglo in a 1990 election. He led his
country for another ten years and almost got another five-year term but for the
age barrier that disqualified him.
It is normal for Africans to run towards the wise elders of
the village when trouble comes knocking. That is one of the major reasons
Nigerians in their millions voted with their feet and thumbs to elect you
President.
Many of those who supported
you did so for several other reasons and you must understand that they were
mainly not members of your political party, APC. So, apart from your age, they
backed you because they believed in your impeccable pedigree as an
incorruptible and honourable man, a strict disciplinarian, a Scrooge who would
not fritter away our meagre resources, a scourge of rogues and prodigal sons, a
metamorphosed tyrant now a born-again democrat, and so on and so forth.
Nigerians ardently placed their hopes in you and fervently prayed you won’t disappoint
them.
This is the principal reason I have decided to send you this
desperate memo today before some despicable politicians tarnish your
hard-earned reputation and truncate this beautiful chance again.
Sir, let me say right away that the goodwill garnered during
your campaigns and the jubilation that heralded your recent victory are fast
fading and you need to, as a matter of urgency, convince the people of Nigeria
that you’re now ready to hit the ground running. They are not going to listen
to excuses since you had 30 years after quitting the high office to onerously
prepare for the job again.
For them it is immaterial that you met an empty
treasury or that you are mostly surrounded by selfish, corruptive influences
and impostors. As I mentioned in my earlier epistles to you, Nigerians have
become totally impatient and what they expect of you is tantamount to
performing the miracle of turning water into wine or raising Lazarus from the
dead. You cannot afford to waste any second before displaying the sterner stuff
you’re reputed to be made of.
I had encouraged you
not to be afraid of taking charge of the Party that brought you to power or
tackling the politicians that claimed to have helped you in the process. I had
imagined that you know the ways of our politicians by now and thought you knew
how to handle them. I had told you matter-of-factly that you may have to step
on some powerful toes in order to achieve anything tangible.
The worst that may
likely happen is for people to say and accuse you of dictatorial proclivity
which won’t be new in your lexicon or to be threatened with impeachment and
all-what-not. But trust me, no evil shall befall you for as long as you carry
the people along in your crusade and do not pander to the whims and caprices of
members of the privilegentsia.
There is no doubt
that the present imbroglio in your Party is as a result of your lukewarm
attitude to Party issues thinking you could merely concentrate on
nation-building while others deal with political intrigues. However, it is not
always as simple as that. As you can now see, you don’t seem to be on the same
page with your Party.
While you were busy agonising over the myriad of problems
besetting Nigeria, many of your presumed disciples were busy fighting over positions
and control of power the way babies squabble over lollipops. They have
studiously forgotten the change mantra and the huge expectations that made the
electorate to troop out in droves and cast their votes for you and the Party.
The moment you became
the President-elect, you should have readied your manacles for all would-be
trouble makers. You should have sent out a powerful message to those
politicians who may wish to act above the law. But the moment you appeared
ready to abdicate some of your leadership responsibilities to them, the obvious
lacuna gave them the needed impetus to take charge and cut you adrift. Your
political advisers, if any, should have prepared you for the offensive.
There
is no way you are going to fight and survive the battle ahead if the political
class see you as a man they can easily bully. You cannot sit on the fence. Whilst your decision not to interfere in the
affairs of another arm of Government, the legislature, is commendable and
indeed your constitutional duty, you must make it clear to your Party that the
same non-interference must apply to them.
Our people may have voted for your Party but they also voted
for the individuals that the Party entrusted its mandate to including you. Just as there is a limit to how the Party can
control you in the exercise of your executive functions and those you choose to
assist you in the fulfilment of those functions, so also must you tell the
Party chieftains that there is a limit as to how much the leadership structure
and duties of the legislative arm can be controlled.
If you are ambiguous about this, then you are
inviting your Party leadership to write a letter to you categorically stating
not only those you must appoint as your Ministers and Special Advisers but also
those that you must not work with under any guise. I am sure you would not
tolerate that. In the same vein you must not tolerate Party interference in the
legislature. Change has come, please
imbibe it!
In essence it is
incumbent on you to deal with the issues arising from tensions created by party
supremacy, parliamentary democracy and above all constitutionality. There is a delicate balance to be struck
between these competing interests though constitutionality must eventually
prevail. However, even constitutionality
is subordinated to national interest, because that is the most important
interest of all.
Your Party has a lot to learn from the tragedy which was
invited upon itself by advertence of the former ruling Party, PDP. As a mark of
respect to your status and office, your Party should have adopted your instinct
and temperament immediately you conceded that the elections of principal
officers at the National Assembly were “somewhat constitutional.” Even if
internally aggrieved, like mortals may invariably be, your Party hierarchy
should not have washed their dirty linen in public knowing the full
implications of the backlash that might splash and smear your collective image.
APC should have done what PDP failed to do when Governor Rotimi Amaechi won the
Chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by instantly recognising the
leadership of the National Assembly while seeking ways to ameliorate the
unfortunate saga. No reasonable parent would voluntarily kill a recalcitrant
child. There is always another opportunity for penitence and atonement.
I expected the crisis
to escalate once the warring factions stuck arrogantly to their positions and
neither was ready to bulge. Had APC accepted its fate with equanimity, I’m
certain this peculiar mess would have been exterminated. Had Saraki and Dogara
shown magnanimity in victory some of the truculent malice expressed by certain
leaders may have also been mellowed.
Say what you will, the PDP had its fair dose of political
migraine and rambunctiousness but it accepted certain realities and moved on.
The ones they failed to accept led to their cataclysmic fall. The mutually
destructive suspicion in APC should have been nipped in the bud for your sake.
The burden you currently carry is heavier than an elephant
and I don’t think you need or deserve this kind of nuisance distraction. The
leadership of the National Assembly should also calm down by reaching out to
their angry Party chieftains. There is nothing to gain in fighting a perennial
war. Once upon a time, they were all friends and members of the same family. It
is never too late to embrace peace and reunite. Now that we know what the bone
of contention is, no one should be victimised for belonging to whatever
factions that exist.
I have read endless arguments for and against the pugilists
in APC and my candid advice is that you need to appoint your cabinet and aides
now. The sooner you assemble and send forth your foot-soldiers the better for
our polity to begin the healing process. Right now our nation appears to be
rudderless and floundering and this should not be the case.
What is left for you to do is to quickly bring all the
gladiators together and see how you can apply some balm on frayed nerves. The
Federal Government has humongous largesse to disburse so it should not be too
difficult to appease the juggernauts. When that is sorted, you should draw your
own plans and let your people know your roadmap. Your job would be much easier
if you surround yourself with people who can look at you straight in the eye
and say the truth no matter how bitter. Most of our leaders failed because they
fell victims of sweet-talking scammers.
It is very essential
that your Party sees and embrace you as their father and not the other way
round. Whether you like it or not, and whether others in your Party want to
accept it or not, you are the de facto national leader of your Party. You are
the President and Commander in Chief of our country. Yes, you ARE the capo di
tutti capi. You therefore cannot be subservient to any other person.
You must immediately take upon this role and assume that
mantle. Please feel free to lay down the law and if occasion demands, enforce
our law. That is what leaders do.
Ambivalence or hesitancy will simply not do! You have the next four years minus
one month and time is ticking away dutifully.
Equally important is the fact that you are more of a social
crusader than a politician and your Party ought to note this fact and
understand that it can’t be business as usual. Your Party leveraged on your
uncommon reputation to gain POWER. Sir, you can’t afford to evaporate such
stupendous equity just like that. You have demonstrated enough tolerance but
the time has come to repudiate our propensity for rascality.
The task ahead is so gargantuan and it would require all
hands to be on deck. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I reiterate
that the first priority, apart from national security, should be how to reduce
the atrocious costs of running government in Nigeria. Until you achieve that
sir, the Muhammed Alis of Nigeria will never stop their boxing tournaments in
parliaments and elsewhere. The fight is for cash and not for any selfless
services.
Many won’t bother to contest if they think it is not
lucrative. I don’t know how you plan to do this but it has to be done somehow
and thankfully there are many methods that you can deploy. I’m glad you hope to
retrieve some of the stolen billions. You need some serious cash, Sir. The
challenges ahead would dissipate if you can raise the finances needed to tackle
them.
I trust that God has deliberately raised you up at this time
as a veritable example to mankind that being honest is not a crime and we have
a lot to learn and cheer from your miraculous victory. May God help you to carry
this cross successfully.
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