“Turning and turning in
this widening gyre;
The falcon cannot hear
the falconer
Things fall apart, the
centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the land.
The blood doomed tide
is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned.
The best lack all
conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity”-
W.B. YEATS
Dear Sir, I’ve
at many times nursed the ambition to pen you this missive. Of particular
mention, was during the twilight of last year when open letters littered all
sections of the media, both print and electronic. But it appeared that any time
I pick up my ink to write, somewhere out of the blue, a voice from within tells
me to give you another benefit of doubt, that everything will soon be fine and
so I have all these while taken a chill to see if common sense will drown the
lust of power which many have attributed to your continuous grip or hold onto
the seat of power. Let me categorically say that I share in their single story
of you, irrespective of how incomplete they may be.
your Excellency,at different foras, I’ve had the
difficult task to speak to the people in my immediate environment of how well
you mean for this country, I have times without number engaged my friends in
the uncensored social media, my room mates, my colleagues in the so-called
prestigious faculty of Law, University of Maiduguri and indeed all my other
acquaintances of how well your government through the Transformation Agenda
mean for this country, but it appears that I’m left with little or no shield,
it appears I’m boxed up in a corner whenever they confront me with the
question- “What manner of president is that who superintends over the killing
of the same people who gave him the mandate to rule over them?”
Sir, I must tell you
that whenever such questions is put to me, I lack every word to reply them at
least in a manner that will not be adverse to the sensibilities of the families
of the bereaved since I am not oblivious of the sanctity of the human life.
Many people that I have engaged in these streets, have told me that you, yes
you are the one either directly or
indirectly pulling the strings of this wave of terrorism that every other day
puts a knife in the artificial lattice that we are binded and driving the ship
of state closer to the colossal ice-berg. Some have said that it is an
organized crusade to reduce the Arewa population for your parochial interests;
some too have come up to tell me that it is in a bid to electorally
disenfranchise the peoples of the Northeast for political gains, members of the
Borno State Elders Forum have at different times told stories of how military
helicopters were seen, supplying arms to the insurgents in their camps and
hideouts, I may go on and on to rehash such hypothetical statements here as
they are endless.
Now, I know that some,
if not all of the foregoing may appear
rather base and banal on the surface, what you like to refer to as “beer parlor
gossips” but when looked at with a number of circumstantial acts, a prudent man
will act on the supposition that something is really fishy, that something
doesn’t add up, that there is more to this all than meets the eye. Some of
those circumstantial acts include; the withdrawal of troops at Buni Yadi, Yobe
State shortly before the fundamentalists came ransacking the benign educational
facility, the several hours sacking of villages only for the JTF to appear
after the milk has been spilt, the withdrawal of troops at the Bama Barracks
before the insurgents came calling carting away the arms and ammunitions in the
armory and so many of such occurrences which page constraints won’t allow me
state here. Sir, let me unequivocally say that it is happenings of such that
exude a conspiracy of silence in their wake, that has left me bewildered so
much that I cannot hold briefs for you again nor act as your McKenzie friend
anymore, as their offences far surpasses my defenses.
The foregoing
notwithstanding, I know that you are a good man and indeed you will agree with
me that Nigerians know that you were/are a good man at least not until
recently. Testimonies that you are a good man needs not be overestimated
considering how much we stood behind you at the dawn of the 2011 Presidential
elections and gave you all the needed votes to return you to Aso Rock just for
one reason: we are a people whom from time immemorial have been robbed of Fresh
Air and you were the first and indeed only man coming into the picture with assurances
or promises of the metaphorical Fresh Air- it was all that was needed to cart
away our votes thanks to the ingenuity of your campaign team.
And as though drunk by
opium, we came rushing at your back. Some of us who were at then already
fatigued by the PDP ship, had to shelve our grievances with the party
since some said that you were God-sent
and with God in the picture we mended fences with the rudderless umbrella of
the PDP and gave you that chance. I remember that the phrase, “I’m voting for
Goodluck and not PDP” became a very popular one in this clime and I’m quite
sure you do remember too.
Oh! How we wish we knew
what we were going in for? How we wish we knew that the bride we trooped en
masse to bring back home will one day “kill” the offspring borne off her and
leave her in-laws embarrassed. How we wish we knew that with our own hands, we
were signing our potential death warrants. Indeed like my people will say “Echi
d’ime” which loosely translates as Tomorrow is Pregnant, who knows what it will
bore? We never knew the soup will soon go sour.
Dear sir, with no
offence intended, that is exactly what we got with you. The “Goodluck” in your
name is the greatest irony ever told and the “Patience” in your wife’s name
compounds our woes. How much more patient can we be? Should we continue to be
patient until we bury all our loved ones? Or should we continue to be patient
until this polarization of regions under your watch sends us on the way to
Kigali? No, we cannot and like the Biblical Jonah, you must leave this ship of
state else we throw you into the belle of the Boko Haram whale.
Like I said before, I
understand how well you mean for this union. I’ve travelled the length and
breadth of this country since the dawn of this administration, and I have at different times confirmed some of
the strides of your Transformation Agenda especially on the roads on which I
travelled. I am not oblivious of your strides in the areas of Transportation,
Agriculture, Aviation, Power et cetera. I watched with glee the making of
history and the fulfillment of promise in the flag off of the 2nd Niger Bridge. I am also
aware of the many jobs your government has created to ameliorate the hardship
of our youth population through programs like YouWIN and the SURE-P
intervention programme inter alia.
The educational sector under your watch is not left unattended to, even though
ASUP strike continues to drag on. I share in your elation that Nigeria under
your guide has become the best Economy in Africa through the recent rebasing of
our GDP. Sir, I can go on and on and on, but the sad truth is that all of
these, is all too soon forgotten when security is in tatters.
I cannot travel on good
roads only to be slaughtered before reaching my destination by people whom the
media has christened “Unknown Gunmen” nor can I relish the joy of a vibrant economy that has only favored the
elites among us in this ‘Dangotetrized’ economy made possible under your watch ,or
of what need is a sound economy when our lives have been reduced to those of
ravens? What am I trying to say? However well you mean for this country,
without Nigerians sleeping with two eyes closed, they will all amount to
nothing. It is better that we do not feed well than for us to feed well and be
slaughtered like rams on Sallah Day or chickens on the eve or dawn of
Christmas- Sir, that all these is happening under your watch, is your greatest
undoing and the only thing I deem reasonable and rational for you to do is to
bow out as from all indications, you cannot stand the heat of this kitchen.
The drafters of our
constitution were no fools when they said in section 14(2) b that the “Security
and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of any government” and
under your watch that portion of our grundnorm has suffered a natural death
from lack of enforcement. While I know it may
not be your express desire that the people you swore under oath to protect have continued to be savaged by
people I prefer to call “uncircumcised philistines” but how do you expect the
parents of those students at Buni Yadi or the loved ones of all those students
at College of Agriculture, Mamudo and those of the 210 Jambites whose only sin
was their quest for education in a clime where ignorance continues to prove
more than costly, or how do you expect the friends and families of all those
who died at the Nyanya Bomb blast this morning as I write this piece to be
appeased by your monotonous condolences? You see, that is where the problem
lies. Their only opinion of you is that you are a blood sucker, no more, no
less. Not even your crocodile tears will stop them from ever thinking so, nor
the largesse that I’m sure will be handed to them.
Sir, the bulk stops
right at your table and the least you can do is to disclaim complicity and if
you do, be sure you’ll be talking for the birds. It is either we are safe and
the safety of our properties guaranteed under your watch or you vacate the seat
of power as the only logical explanation of this wave of terrorism that has
brought us to this quicksand is that you
are not the best man for the plum job-how you do it, is not, and cannot be our
problem as ordinary Nigerians denied of the least peace.
Sir, I can go on and
on, but I must draw the curtain for this particular piece here but not without
handing out an advise which I’m certain the sycophants called aides and
advisers will never give to you as they want to keep their jobs and it is one
which I do not seek for any remuneration in return as I consider it one of my
civic duty as a patriotic citizen-it is written all over your face and from your
‘Body Language’ that you are going to throw your fedora hat into the ring of
the 2015 elections---please, do not. As
a matter of necessity, issue a press conference and make it clear that you will
not be on your marks with the other contenders who have profited from this
atmosphere of rancor. I know it may be cowardly and all that, but as it stands,
it will be your greatest service to this country if truly you love her.
You are a good man, and
what I know you don’t want, judging from your demeanor is to see this nation
you profess much love to, fall off the edge of the precipice which it has clung
onto lately and the only way to do that, is to make that decisive decision and
walk it. While you can live with the former-bowing out of the 2015 race, you
cannot live with the latter and the only way to avoid the potential trauma is
to make hay while your sun still shines or risk eating yourself up when the
proverbial head is cut off.
I cannot say further at
least for now, but only seek that you be guided by the best of counsels in your
decisions. It is not every time that he who runs lives to fight another day.
Sometimes, cowardice is another form of bravery when juxtaposed with the reason
behind the decision. In your case, you’ve got but two options to wit: wither to
take a heroic bow and see that the people you so much acclaim to love live
forever in peace, or hold on to power as though drunk by its wine, and watch
the lives of the citizenry so nasty, brutish and short. Any day, I’ll go for
the former option and indeed any right thinking person would do so. It is not
cowardice as they may say; it is borne out of love for Motherland and posterity
will never forget in her books anyone who exercises the former option given the
same circumstance. As it stands right now, the ball is in your court, and the eyes
of the world are watching, how you play is a whole different thing entirely. But believe me; we have had enough of this
‘Fresh Air’ as it has blown us more bad than the good it has blown us.
Accept my warmest
regards in this toughest moment of our National Voyage.
Yours Faithfully,
Raymond
We can only but pray and ask for mercy. I weep for Nigeria.
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