Perhaps typical of the Nigerian factor, we keep crying we don’t have good leadership, which we foist on ourselves. PMB’s health issues and age notwithstanding, can leopard change its spot? Good intention is not enough, statistics of achievements to the man in the street is measured on the dining table. The average Nigerian’s wish is to relocate and it doesn’t speak well of the leadership we have.
–Tony Enyinta, Isuikwuato, Abia State
Abdulfatah, why will you sympathise with a man who, while seeking the office of the president of this country promised heaven and earth but is now spreading sorrow all over the place? What you referred to about negative perceptions about this government are not perceptions but realities. Have you ever seen any government in the history of this country that is brazenly nepotistic as this one? Each time the government takes one bad step and the people groan and complain, then the government will take another step worse than the last one.
–2348079922***
Abdulfatah, berating Obasanjo over his call on Buhari to take a rest from politics is a challenge on his human right. OBJ is known for expressing facts as they are no matter whose ox is gored. There is no disputing the fact that as a former head of government, Obasanjo could not be cleared of contributing to present problems Nigerians are facing. But making a comparative analysis of his term and Buhari’s present government, his term was not visited by ethnic sentiment and inept management in many areas of leadership as blatantly displayed by the current administration. However, Buhari reserves the unquestionable right to reject Obasanjo’s advice a point reported as clearly stated in Obasanjo’s letter. If an ordinary Nigerian had sent such an advice to PMB, the hype given to OBJ’s would not have arisen. On your sympathy for Buhari, you need more sympathy than he does for his failure to appreciate your efforts at telling him the truth by highlighting his failings in governance and, side by side, providing potent solutions for such identified problems, but he failing to adopt your suggestions on all the issues. What else could one have expected Lai Mohammed to list out than government’s achievements, which you aptly rubbished on their failure to impact on Nigerians’ lives? While foreign reserves are increasing at N24.7billion monthly, S1billion dollars is being withdrawn from Excess Crude Account to prosecute Boko Haram war; which government had earlier claimed as won. For people in your class in the media, who have chosen to tell Buhari the truth on failures of his government and offering him advice on what to do to rectify faults in his governance, please keep doing so. Who knows, there might be a change of mind by Buhari to see reasons in your efforts. May God save Nigeria, Amen.
–Lai Ashadele.
Reading through your article in “Open Secret” I’m 100+% in agreement with you. Further you need to tell this government and her spokespersons that so many Nigerians whose opinions they consider irrelevant are actually more informed and educated than them. They should, therefore, listen more and forget about their propaganda and defence mechanism.
–Rev. Justin Okoroji, Ph.D
Well, OBJ’s open letter to PMB not to seek for 2nd term over hardship in Nigeria is a wake up call for this government to sit up for good governance rather than blaming the past government for their wastefulness. We, not OBJ will decide PMB’s fate on his 2nd term, after all OBJ had 2nd term and wanted to go for 3rd term, if not that the masses said no. OBJ doesn’t have the moral right to say that PMB should not contest again when the law allows it. What is antecedent of OBJ? In his eight-year rule he could not fix the Lagos-lbadan Expressway, power sector and other projects. Instead he introduced corruption in National Assembly, according to our lawmakers. What are we talking about? Is pot not calling the kettle black?
–Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia.
Sympathise with who? Buhari abi? Sir, you were saying as if you don’t know the law of God that if you are righteous all the days of your life and you sin a day to your death, all your righteousness in the past is gone. So OBJ saw evil in PMB. Thank God Buhari was given this chance.
If not, many sycophants would still have believed he is a messiah. Look at their tricks on restructuring. PMB has no integrity as far as I’m concerned. Somebody who told us that he belongs to nobody and as well he belongs to all, how can he now turn to belong to one ethnic group?
–Longinus O. lhedinihu
Abdulfatah, your piece in which you expressed some sympathy for President Buhari was very interesting. And indeed one must concede that it is your right so to do and also as it is very natural for human beings to be sympathetic with fellow humans when things seem not to be going as expected with them in their businesses or any other venture they may be engaged in. To that extent, you are obliged. However, my opinion is that the real victims who should attract the sympathy of whoever cares to look their way, are the Nigerians especially the poor majority who live from hand to mouth from day to day. This set of people has been callously deceived by our ravenous politicians in every election year with the promises that all will be well once they are voted into power. These Nigerians only matter when electioneering campaigns are on and elections are approaching. But as soon as elections are over and the horse riders at different levels have mounted on their horses, they no longer matter. For me and the Nigerians that I know, Buhari and APC should be giving account of their stewardship over the affairs of the nation committed into their care in the last two years and eight months. They should lay before the hungry and traumatized Nigerians in verifiable terms, how the life the average citizen has improved from what it was on the 29th of May, 2015 when the current riders mounted the horse given the good will they were able to garner to themselves through propaganda while campaigns for the 2015 elections lasted. Promises were made in the areas of: economy, security, rule of law, jobs, true federalism, fight against corruption, infrastructure, power and so on. But my take based on where the nation and her citizens are now, is that most, if not all of these promises have before our very eyes, become empty promises. Promises made just to win elections and nothing more. For majority of Nigerians, any Nigerian can be president of this country no matter his or her ethnicity, religion or region but to mount the seat of power through deceit and then continue to sustain your stay there by propaganda, preference for certain sections of the country in the distribution of appointments and amenities to the detriment of others and excuses is not acceptable. Every successive administration must be an improvement on the previous one: if it is not so, then, it is not worth it. The people of Benue are weeping now due to the greed and wickedness of a group of people who are so confident that they challenged and continue to challenge the authority of properly constituted state governments to make laws for the good governance of their respective states. If a man wins an election into a particular office at the fourth attempt consecutively and almost three years into his tenure the citizens have only a litany of woes to recount in nearly all aspects their national life, he does not deserve any sympathy but should be held accountable based on the promises he made during the electioneering campaign.
As for former president Obasanjo, if he knew as he said in his letter, that a candidate did not have the required ability to manage the economy and that the same candidate has the tendency for religious fundamentalism in a country so diverse in language, religion and culture and still went ahead to project him as the better of two options available, then something is certainly wrong with his judgment. As things stand now in Nigeria, in 2015, Nigeria had not gotten to the point of anybody but Jonathan. The common man and those feeling the pinch can now boldly testify. That does not mean that one is holding brief for Jonathan. Thanks.
-–Emma Okoukwu.