JUNE 27,2015
By Dele Momodu
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.
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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