Your Excellency,
I’m compelled to write you again today since I don’t have any other form of access to deliver this to you. I’m also not sure you read the other open letters I have written to you, especially ‘My Kobo Advise to Mr President’. If you did I hope that you digested the content and pondered on them as I expected you would. My doubts are due to your continued actions.
You must be wondering why I have chosen the present title. The reason
is not far-fetched. Since my Kobo advice seems not to have resonated
with you and your aides, and our budgets are now quoted in trillions,
this title is ostensibly symbolic and truly emblematic of our latest
craze and propensity for mentioning figures that most calculators won’t
be able to evaluate.
The decision to write this latest epistle was reached after watching
the bizarre movie that was acted by your fellow party men and produced
by very senior directors of your seemingly formidable political
organisation. Let me confess that no scriptwriter would have visualised
such melodrama on any regular day. If anyone had ever suggested that
such a humiliating scenario would occur we would have dismissed it as a
product of a cruel imagination or lunacy. But we saw this one before our
very eyes and became stupefied to say the least.
Let me assure you, Sir that it is in the nature of politics and
politicians for such brickbats to occur. We must thank God for little
mercies because we are lucky in these parts that citizens don’t pelt
their leaders with rotten eggs and juicy tomatoes. You would remember
that someone once threw shoes, javelin-like, at President George Bush
during a Press conference and his face could have been badly bruised and
readily bloodied but for the fact that his reflexes were superbly
efficient and automatically responsive.
It is for this reason that I wish you can put the matter behind you as
quickly as possible and forgive even if you cannot forget. It is sad
that you apparently did not envisage the tragedy that was going to
befall your party and tear your members asunder. Those of us on the
side-lines knew it was a matter of time before the implosion would
ignite and ricochet across the land like an Iraqi bomb. The collapse of a
party that had held Nigeria by the jugular for the past 14 years was
destined to carry some collateral damage with it.
If you and your aides were politically savvy, you probably would have
managed the situation better. And if the truth must be told, most of
strategists you parade are nothing but tyros who know little or nothing
about the complexities that make up Nigeria. They sit in their gilded
cage of Aso Rock and forget you are inhabitants of the place today
through the sheer trickery of providence and convoluted collaboration of
godfathers.
If your kitchen cabinet understood the rudiments of politics, they
would have hopefully averted this monumental disaster by avoiding a war
they were bound to lose before it even started. They allowed you to be
messed up and tossed around due to their gross incompetence and
pomposity. Your rabid supporters are behaving like the peacock or to be
more precise like the soldiers of fortune that most political jobbers
are often are in Nigeria. Pity is they still can see the handwriting on
the wall nor decipher the code of grand conspiracy that is so palpable.
They are gloating all over the place and deluding themselves about the
power of life and death which you wield as the Nigerian President.
But a
power misused is a power wasted. Reality is not all wars are won
through the use of force or violence.
I will now go ahead to highlight some of the terminal mistakes made by
your embattled camp and juxtapose with what I consider to be the
practical solutions to these humongous problems. Whether we like former
President Olusegun Obasanjo or not he’s a man who truly believes in the
unity of Nigeria. I cannot but be very charitable to him on this
occasion. As a man who played a crucial role during the Nigerian civil
war, I believe this has made him permanently paranoid and terminally
neurotic about the likelihood of Nigeria ever breaking up in his
lifetime or even thereafter. Obasanjo was therefore the one man God used
to make it possible for an Ijawman to ultimately become the President
and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
It is no longer relevant or important to us if Obasanjo did what he did
genuinely out of love for the so-called minorities to have a chance or
for very personal and selfish reasons. Even if his decision to install
as President and Vice President a sickly Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and a
taciturn Dr Goodluck Jonathan is turning dangerously pyrrhic, credit
must still go to Baba Iyabo that he fulfilled all righteousness by
handing power to you through the backdoor, thus empowering you to grab
the chicken that lays the golden eggs that we all savour today. The
essence of this unusual but objective hagiography on Obasanjo today is
that you should have done everything humanly possible to tolerate and
accommodate his human foibles and overt idiosyncrasies.
The costliest mistake you ever made was to have allowed your
relationship with a veteran of many wars to degenerate to the level
fisticuffs or what the Yoruba call ‘roforofo’. It is a battle you can’t
afford to fight because you have no chance of winning it at the end of
the day. Please try and tell those illusionists who typically swarm
around the corridors of power like locusts that if they have forgotten
how God brought you to the pinnacle of the temple, your memory and
gratitude are intact. And that you will never encourage Lucifer to send
you on a kamikaze dive.
The second mistake was the manner your acolytes exposed your second
term bid prematurely. It was totally unnecessary. As an African, you
must be aware of the adage that a wise man always keeps the name of his
impending baby to himself until after his wife delivers. The manner
they’ve been threatening hellfire and brimstone if you don’t secure a
second term has been very rude, crude and outlandishly provocative. No
Jupiter can stop you from running if you so desire and eventually decide
to try your luck again. It is true that you promised to serve only one
term but it is still entirely your privilege and prerogative to change
your mind. That can’t be a crime because we all do it most of the time.
It is also your Constitutional right and you should not have been lured
into dissipating some badly-needed energy on useless rigmarole and
semantics.
Sir, if I were you I would have concentrated rigidly and passionately
on delivering the dividends of democracy by making life better for the
generality of Nigerians. Your greatest armour against real and imagined
enemies is performance. If you can make conscious effort to curb the
wasteful ostentation and the obsession for pomp and pageantry ascribed
to your office I’m certain even your vociferous critics would become
your assiduous fanatics. What you have advertently done by abandoning
governance on the altar of pecuniary politics is to allow your common
enemies to gang-up and have enough time to mobilise their war-chest,
assemble their arsenal and fire their long-range missiles.
The third mistake is the commonest in all wars known to mankind. You
opened up your flanks by fighting too many people on too many fronts.
Only a poor General does that. In the haste to crush the rebellion of
some of your former foot-soldiers as well as your implacable enemies,
you got sucked in because you were stupendously engaged in too many
directions. This was bound to take its toll on you and your combatants.
Coupled with that was the obvious fact that you underrated your
opponents. That is usually a regrettable strategy in guerrilla warfare.
It should have been clear to you that you had to employ a new, even if
temporary, modus operandi once the Governors loyal to you were soundly
and roundly beaten by the Amaechi supporters. If I were you Sir, I would
have made a tactical withdrawal by sticking to the lie that I knew
nothing about the Nigeria Governors Forum crisis and maintain my
straight poker face. I would have reassessed the efficacy of those who
sold the dummy that all was well but could not deliver the goods after
fallen jejunely for the scam of collecting some fake signatures. What I
expected you to do was to accept the temporary defeat with equanimity
and invite Rotimi Amaechi into a room and embrace him warts and all.
You seemed to have done this at Port Harcourt Airport and expected you
build on that window of opportunity. I was one of those who saluted your
statesmanship on that occasion but was sorely disappointed when you
allowed the opportunists to send you back to the trenches.
I still don’t know who subsequently persuaded you to fall for the
self-immolating decision to continue to recognise the Jang faction when
it was obvious the man lost the election fair and square. That was the
moment you lost all moral authority and rights by allowing some
political adventurers to drag you down the depths of their abject
pettiness. You should have borrowed a leaf from Obasanjo’s experience
with the once powerful Atiku Abubakar who controlled the Governors and
practically brought the former President on his knees begging for
support. As a veteran soldier, Obasanjo was sufficiently trained in the
art and science of tactical retreat. The crafty General knows that he
who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.
The example of Obasanjo’s strategic cowardice was very instructive and
opulently didactic. As he told everyone who cared to listen: what Atiku
did was tantamount to pulling out a loaded gun and pointing it at his
head. He knew it was no use arguing with a man who could pull the
trigger in a mere matter of seconds. The only option left was to use the
power of native intelligence and foxiness by persuading the man not to
commit premeditated murder. Once Atiku made the error of pitying his
supposed prey and showing mercy, he became a dead man walking himself.
Same goes for James Ibori who walked into a similar trap.
Sir, though your case is slightly different it still bears some
resemblance to that of Obasanjo. Your infantry men wasted all your
bullets without catching an antelope not to talk of capturing elephants,
the king of the forests. You should have wooed Amaechi to your side at
all cost because he was apparently equal to all your own combined
forces. A hunter should always be proud of a brave son. You can do with a
few guys like that in the days of tribulation. It is noteworthy that
Governors control their states. How do you hope to secure your second
term ambition if you control less than half of the states in the
country? What is more, Amaechi is capable of delivering one of the
largest votes to you from Rivers State or conversely waste most of it if
he decides to be vengeful.
Finally, I wish to assure you Sir that it is not an act of timidity to
seek peace and tranquillity in a country where everything seems to be
going haywire. Whosoever tells you to unleash terror and mayhem on your
enemies is not a true friend. Elections are won as a game of figures.
The candidate who is able to attract the largest number of voters
becomes electable. Rigging may never work like it used to due to several
developments in the world. The New Media, otherwise known as Social
Media, is breaking down walls of intimidation and oppression. Telephony
and the internet combined have become more lethal than most conventional
weapons. At the touch of buttons, many wonders can instantly unfold and
make it possible to monitor occurrences in distant places. There is
also the human factor, like the case of that Kwara man who rejected the
fake election that awarded him victory when he knew in his heart that he
lost. Mass education is beginning to change how we do many things even
if slowly.
Your best bet is to stay on the path of honour, peace, equity, justice
and unimpeachable truth. God has been too kind to you. Even if you
return to your village today, you have enjoyed what no one has ever
attained before which is being permanently in power and high positions
since coming into relevance and prominence from relative obscurity.
There is nothing more to add. If you work harder on a few of the content
of your Transformation Agenda, you may easily end up as a hero. Getting
a second term if you stay lucky will then be icing on your national
cake. You don’t need all this stress and blackmail in the name of
seeking what is not necessarily glorious. I read somewhere that a man is
powerful when he controls power and powerless when power controls him.
The choice is yours.
Sir, permit me to conclude with a powerful Yoruba proverb: when we are
praying not to be put to shame but the prayer is not instantly answered
we should start praying that God should at least keep us alive.
This is my story. This is my song.
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You have said it all i which he will have access to this few points of yours
ReplyDeleteIs All talk,Talk and Talk more,,, If you Momodu is there you would have done even worst.... GEJ is humble and that is why many thinks they can take advantage of him...
ReplyDeleteHOW DID OBJ,,IBB,,ABUBAKAR,,,BECAME PRESIDENT.????????????????? To me is by GOD'S doing,, So don't make it sound like OBJ is now the god that brought GEJ to the sit of power... IF OBJ WILL TAKE FIRST,SECOND, AND WAS EVEN STRUGGLING FOR THIRD,,,, I DON'T SEE WHY POLITICIAN FROM THE NORTH WITH THE SUPPORT OF SOME SOUTH-WEST POLITICIANS WILL REBEL AGAINST GEJ.
Is All talk,Talk and Talk more,,, If you Momodu is there you would have done even worst.... GEJ is humble and that is why many thinks they can take advantage of him...
ReplyDeleteHOW DID OBJ,,IBB,,ABUBAKAR,,,BECAME PRESIDENT.????????????????? To me is by GOD'S doing,, So don't make it sound like OBJ is now the god that brought GEJ to the sit of power... IF OBJ WILL TAKE FIRST,SECOND, AND WAS EVEN STRUGGLING FOR THIRD,,,, I DON'T SEE WHY POLITICIAN FROM THE NORTH WITH THE SUPPORT OF SOME SOUTH-WEST POLITICIANS WILL REBEL AGAINST GEJ.
EMEX or whatever. You like to be addressed as. Whether igbo hausa or yoruba. It is high time we accept the facts when we see them and stop arguing blindly. We need to move forward and that president does not represent forward.
DeleteMr. Anonymous, or what ever you call your self,,, With all their Blackmail (Boko,press,and people like you))just to discredit GEJ,it will not work,,, WHO IS THAT POLITICIAN THAT WILL BE BETTER THAN GEJ,TELL US ?????????????????????????????
DeleteBaba EMEX you lack wisdom. Go get a life
DeleteWhich humility? D man dt sacked 9 ministers in 1 general cabinet meeting? Using 1.3B naira to eat? Ordering gold plated iphones? Gave nija a gift of petroleum price increase on a new year day? Wanted to spend 4b to renovate already existing building? Using police to seal office of opposition of same party? Paly dt humility stuff can't work again joo. Tel us another tin
Deletehmmmm.....oro isiti.. (words of wisdom)
ReplyDeleteGood talk!
ReplyDeleteWhat Yar' Adua (MHSRIP) achieved In two yrs !!! Jonathan pls do in the next two yrs.
Jonathan and cohorts have confirmed that power does not belong to us. But slowly but surely we will get it and hold them accountable.
BabaPupa!!!!
Momodu and other attention seekers should do us a favour of not adding fuel to fire. Lets face it, what has Obasanjo done to cement Nigeria's unity? Even as President the only game he played was the oldest trick in Nigeria's bag of tricks.Which is play one region against another! Obasanjo is the worst character anyone could try to whitewash as a patriotic Nigerian. We know better!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Pres. GEJ has a right to seek re-election. He has transformed Nigeria most than any previous president in Nigeria's unfortunate history. Besides, the unpalatable security consequences of the gang up against his candidature orchestrated by none other than Obasanjo himself,Nigerians admire our President's peaceful way of going about things. Had GEJ being anything like the gangster called Obasanjo,Nigeria will burn and no force could ever hold it together.
And just how has he transform nigeria?by giving fictious licence to his boys to import emty vessel and claim subsidy money? Or tell naija wat has changed since he came in?
DeleteI did not see what all this peple call million to the progress of this nation all they know is to talk on newspaper without any solution most of them if they contest they we not see any single vote with the money they possess...pls find solution not gossip
ReplyDeleteDele Momodu is sending our President a coded message that a house divided against itself cannot stand. PDP divided against itself cannot stand up to APC in 2015.
ReplyDeleteMy advise for GEJ is to change his style, Dele has said it all...
ReplyDeleteSo Mr Momodu how much do u want for your heartfelt advice? All this from a glorified "pay as you go" image consultant?
ReplyDeleteI seem don't understand why nigerians think this way Bob Dee has spoken right,GEJ should have allowed his performance speak for him,millions of nigerians don't partake in active politics but can stick their neck out for a performing government especially for someone like GEJ who wasn't seen as one of them from inception of his tenure,it'll be very difficult for him to seek re-election,we need a true visionary to lead this country come 2015.
ReplyDeleteI think your excellency mr. Dele has spoken well, its too early for those asking the president to run for second term we still have time, now the polity is overheated, nothing is going on in the country at the moment, the fed govt and states are at stand still and you know one thing, the masses are sofering everywhere in this nation only few people in govt are enjoy business are not moving. I doubt if this nation will remain intact the way things are going. God help nigeria and nigerians. Amin
ReplyDeleteEmex and all the people writing in like manner shd face the issue and not the person. Dele gave an advice that not only Jonathan can learn from. Your reactions are sentimental, petty and irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteWe dnt hav to be tribalistic abt ds,nigeria has suffered most under GEJ(lower power supply,failed education system,violation of d rule of law and so many others).Gej has d right to contest bt shld be told dt his achievements during his 1st tenure wl be his best judge.Nigerians,pls wise up
ReplyDeleteEmex and his kind shd face the issue not the person. Your reactions are sentimental, petty and irrelevant. Dele gave advice that not only Jonathan can learn from. He is objective and, yes giving free consult.
ReplyDeleteI can’t understand perhaps, person like EMEX or what he calls himself reasons at all.
ReplyDeleteYou and I including the ones at the womb know that GEJ is unfit to lead. The issue of where he comes for is not the issue after all, Bob Dee also is a Niger Dentist so what else.
Millions of charismatic, charming and appealing people are from Niger Delta they should lead us I am not against that if that will solve the problem.
GEJ has no excuse to tell Nigerians why things are still zigzags in this country forget Okonjo Iweala story regards to the increase in artificial GDP while per capital income in this country is less than a dollar. A reasonable percentage of Nigerians can’t afford the sum ONE HUNDRED NAIRA daily belief me.
Nigerians understand that things were unscrupulous before he GEJ came on board and he expected to have fixed them by now. Nigerians need someone that can hill the wounds of this country but not the person that is incompetent and jam-packed with hocus-pocus.
We are tired of leaders that can’t differentiate 5 and 27 nor 16 and 19; Nigerians are fed up with oppressors as it is in Rivers Sate as I write; Nigerians are tired of oppression as it is presently ongoing with Baraje led PDP faction; Nigerians are tired of what we are seeing in Offa now.
The whole world is watching us and our leaders are not representing us well.
We do not want to end up awry therefore; they must listen to Dele Momodu before it’s too late.
Our leaders should learn from great Africans leaders such as: Kwame Nkrumah, Samuel Nyerere, Nelson Mandela etc.
We must say no to any forms of oppressions, we must say no any forms of intimidation; we must yes to Justice and ensure the Africans emancipation.
Africa must be free and clueless leaders must be showed their way out.
FOR THOSE CONDEMIN MY VIEW,,,, WE ALL NEED A CHANGE,,,,BUT WHO WILL BRING THAT CHANGE ??????? IS DEFINATELY NOT THOSE WHO THREATEN THAT THE NATION WILL BE UNGOVERNABLE...
ReplyDelete((Since then we continue to spend billions ment for developing Nigeria on fighting BOKO-HARAM,, Same people have been going around reporting GEJ to former Criminals,,
Using Rotimi to create more problem in Rivers))) There Only aim Is that They believe they should be there not GEJ,
(and that has cost us over 6,000 life's, using Boko,H))) WHY CAN'T WE NIGERIANS SEE BEYOND OUR NOSE ?????
WHY ARE WE SO QUICK TO CONDEMN ???? THIS MEN HOLDING MEETING ARE NOT DOING IT FOR THE INTEREST OF NIGERIANS, LET SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT,, THERE IS NO ANGEL IN POLITICS,,,, AM NOT A TRIBALIST AND GOD WILL NOT LET ME BE,,, MY YORUBA BROTHER'S. LET DROP THIS SENTIMENT.
FOR THOSE CONDEMIN MY VIEW,,,, WE ALL NEED A CHANGE,,,,BUT WHO WILL BRING THAT CHANGE ??????? IS DEFINATELY NOT THOSE WHO THREATEN THAT THE NATION WILL BE UNGOVERNABLE...
ReplyDelete((Since then we continue to spend billions ment for developing Nigeria on fighting BOKO-HARAM,, Same people have been going around reporting GEJ to former Criminals,,
Using Rotimi to create more problem in Rivers))) There Only aim Is that They believe they should be there not GEJ,
(and that has cost us over 6,000 life's, using Boko,H))) WHY CAN'T WE NIGERIANS SEE BEYOND OUR NOSE ?????
WHY ARE WE SO QUICK TO CONDEMN ???? THIS MEN HOLDING MEETING ARE NOT DOING IT FOR THE INTEREST OF NIGERIANS, LET SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT,, THERE IS NO ANGEL IN POLITICS,,,, AM NOT A TRIBALIST AND GOD WILL NOT LET ME BE,,, MY YORUBA BROTHER'S. LET DROP THIS SENTIMENT.
FOR THOSE CONDEMIN MY VIEW,,,, WE ALL NEED A CHANGE,,,,BUT WHO WILL BRING THAT CHANGE ??????? IS DEFINATELY NOT THOSE WHO THREATEN THAT THE NATION WILL BE UNGOVERNABLE...
ReplyDelete((Since then we continue to spend billions ment for developing Nigeria on fighting BOKO-HARAM,, Same people have been going around reporting GEJ to former Criminals,,
Using Rotimi to create more problem in Rivers))) There Only aim Is that They believe they should be there not GEJ,
(and that has cost us over 6,000 life's, using Boko,H))) WHY CAN'T WE NIGERIANS SEE BEYOND OUR NOSE ?????
WHY ARE WE SO QUICK TO CONDEMN ???? THIS MEN HOLDING MEETING ARE NOT DOING IT FOR THE INTEREST OF NIGERIANS, LET SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT,, THERE IS NO ANGEL IN POLITICS,,,, AM NOT A TRIBALIST AND GOD WILL NOT LET ME BE,,, MY YORUBA BROTHER'S. LET DROP THIS SENTIMENT.
EMEX...why is it that u cant just shut up?....must u write somthing for d sake of writting?...In ur heart u kn GEJ is not fit to rule this.cOuntry but u jst want to talk..Dele jst said d truth let us learn frm it.
DeleteDele Momodu pls go and sit down. take ur advice to ur party, after all u contested the last time and Nigerians showed u that talk is CHEAP.Nonsense
ReplyDelete@ EMEX, many thanks for your views however, please note that someone is making Rivers State ungovernable for ROTIMI AMECHI or you didn't ask yourself the crux of the matter?
ReplyDeleteDrop your hatreds and weapons on God chosen AMECHI then you feel the peace.
He who killed by sword dies with sword.
D PROBLEM IS;GEJ ISN'T CHAOVINISTIC IN HS FAMILY SO MADAM TOOK THE MANTLE.FR WHAT WOMEN AR,SH STIRED THE STIL WATER N PUT HS HUSBAND IN TROUBL.GOD HIMSELF ISN'T HAPPY WT HIM THE WAY HE ALOWED HMSELF USED IN YARADUA,SYLVA,AMECHI,ALAMS ND MANY OTHERS HE KNOWS.HE'LL SEE ALL THSWHEN HE LEAVS POWER
ReplyDeleteEmex has pus in his head. It is obvious that GEJ is foolish. Imagine how he looks, talks, reasons and govern in this century
ReplyDeleteMy NORTHERN brothers shld know now that it was OBJ that killed YAR'ADUA so that GEJ cld become PRESIDENT according to another YORUBA spokes man. I wonder how people want JEG to perform when some GREEDY persons are PULLING him down for not "sharing the money" for them. JONA can not be everywhere, some persons he had delegated some responsibilities end up BETRAYING him bcos, they are either LOYALIST to these criminals or sympathisers. As for DELE he shld concentrate in selling his magazine in GHANA and leave NIGERIA's politics to our politicians.
ReplyDeleteFinally, he shld stop exposing OBJ to dangers, bcos we NORTHERNERs do not allow our ENEMIES go unpunished.
We all have right to our opinions, but let throw away sentiment, ethnicism, tribalism. We must always be patriotic and doing that our words and actions will be straight and objective. No president in the history of our great country Nigeria have ever done what Jonathan done for the growth of Nigeria.Some u ur opinion is cloud by ethnicism. Let allow president GEJ to digest what Dele hav said even if is gud or bad.
ReplyDelete