Olusegun Obasanjo, a former
President of Nigeria has again written an open letter to President Muhammadu
Buhari about the current state of the nation.
Obasanjo urged Buhari’s
government to come to terms to the level of insecurity, herdsmen crisis in the
county and take decisive decision before it’s too late.
The former President cited four
calamities waiting to happen if Buhari’s government failed to act immediately.
These include letting Nigeria
fall into the hands of suspected criminals, reprisal attacks on Fulanis,
attacks on other ethnic groups, as well as series of uprisings in sections of
the country.
He lamented that Boko Haram has
continued to plague the country for over a decade, six years of which Buhari
has been in power, adding that it was wrong to assume the war against
insurgency was being won.
The former President noted that
if urgent decision is not taken, what happened during the Rwandan genocide may
play out in Nigeria.
Obasanjo disclosed that the main
issue in Nigerian is which of not handled properly will lead to rain of
destruction, violence, disaster and disunity.
Full letter to President Buhari
Dear President and General
Buhari,
I am constrained to write to you
this open letter. I decided to make it an open letter because the issue is very
weighty and must be greatly worrisome to all concerned Nigerians and that means
all right-thinking Nigerians and those resident in Nigeria. Since the issue is
of momentous concern to all well-meaning and all right-thinking Nigerians, it
must be of great concern to you, and collective thinking and dialoguing is the
best way of finding an appropriate and adequate solution to the problem. The
contents of this letter, therefore, should be available to all those who can
help in proffering effective solutions for the problem of insecurity in the
land.
One of the spinoffs and
accelerants is the misinformation and disinformation through the use of fake news.
A number of articles, in recent days, have been attributed to me by some people
who I believe may be seeking added credence and an attentive audience for their
opinions and view-points. As you know very well, I will always boldly own what
I say and disown what is put into my mouth. But the issue I am addressing here
is very serious; it is the issue of life and death for all of us and for our
dear country, Nigeria. This issue can no longer be ignored, treated with
nonchalance, swept under the carpet or treated with cuddling glove. The issue
is hitting at the foundation of our existence as Nigerians and fast eroding the
root of our Nigerian community. I am very much worried and afraid that we are
on the precipice and dangerously reaching a tipping point where it may no
longer be possible to hold danger at bay. Without being immodest, as a Nigerian
who still bears the scar of the Nigerian civil war on my body and with a son
who bears the scar of fighting Boko Haram on his body, you can understand, I
hope, why I am so concerned. When people are desperate and feel that they
cannot have confidence in the ability of government to provide security for
their lives and properties, they will take recourse to anything and everything
that can guarantee their security individually and collectively.
For over ten years, for four of
which you have been the captain of the ship, Boko Haram has menacingly ravaged
the land and in spite of government’s claim of victory over Boko Haram, the
potency and the activities of Boko Haram, where they are active, remain
undiminished, putting lie to government’s claim. The recent explanation of the
Chief of Army Staff for non-victory due to lack of commitment and lack of
motivation on the part of troops bordering on sabotage speaks for itself. Say
what you will, Boko Haram is still a daily issue of insecurity for those who
are victimised, killed, maimed, kidnapped, raped, sold into slavery and forced
into marriage and for children forcibly recruited into carrying bombs on them
to detonate among crowds of people to cause maximum destructions and damage.
And Boko Haram will not go away on the basis of sticks alone, carrots must
overweigh sticks. How else do you deal with issues such as only about 50%
literacy in North-East with over 70% unemployment?
Herdsmen/farmers crises and
menace started with government treating the issue with cuddling glove instead
of hammer. It has festered and spread. Today, it has developed into banditry,
kidnapping, armed robbery and killings all over the country. The unfortunate
situation is that the criminality is being perceived as a ‘Fulani’ menace
unleashed by Fulani elite in the different parts of the country for a number of
reasons but even more unfortunately, many Nigerians and non-Nigerians who are
friends of Nigeria attach vicarious responsibility to you as a Fulani elite and
the current captain of the Nigeria ship. Perception may be as potent as reality
at times. Whatever may be the grievances of Fulanis, if any, they need to be
put out in the open and their grievances, if legitimate, be addressed; and if
other ethnic groups have grievances, let them also be brought out in the open
and addressed through debate and dialogue.
The main issue, if I may dare
say, is poor management or mismanagement of diversity which, on the other hand,
is one of our greatest and most important assets. As a result, very onerous
cloud is gathering. And rain of destruction, violence, disaster and disunity
can only be the outcome. Nothing should be taken for granted, the clock is ticking
with the cacophony of dissatisfaction and disaffection everywhere in and
outside the country. The Presidency and the Congress in the US have signalled
to us to put our house in order. The House of Lords in the UK had debated the
Nigerian security situation. We must understand and appreciate the
significance, implication and likely consequences of such concerns and
deliberations.
No one can stop hate speech,
violent agitation and smouldering violent agitation if he fans the embers of
hatred, disaffection and violence. It will continue to snowball until it is out
of control. A stitch in time saves nine, goes the old wise saying. With the
death of Funke, Chief Fasoranti’s daughter, some sympathetic Nigerian groups
are saying “enough is enough”. Prof. Anya, a distinguished Nigerian merit
Laureate, has this to say “We can no longer say with certainty that we have a
nation”. Niger-Delta leaders, South-Eastern leaders, Middle-Belt leaders and
Northern Elders Forum have not remained quiet. Different ordinary Nigerians at
home and abroad are calling for different measures to address or ameliorate the
situation. All the calls and cries can only continue to be ignored at the
expense of Nigerian unity, if not its continued existence.
To be explicit and without equivocation,
Mr. President and General, I am deeply worried about four avoidable calamities:
1. abandoning Nigeria into the
hands of criminals who are all being suspected, rightly or wrongly, as Fulanis
and terrorists of Boko Haram type.
2. spontaneous or planned
reprisal attacks against Fulanis which may inadvertently or advertently
mushroom into pogrom or Rwanda-type genocide that we did not believe could
happen and yet it happened.
3. similar attacks against any
other tribe or ethnic group anywhere in the country initiated by rumours,
fears, intimidation and revenge capable of leading to pogrom.
4. violent uprising beginning
from one section of the country and spreading quickly to other areas and
leading to dismemberment of the country.
It happened to Yugoslavia not too
long ago. If we do not act now, one or all of these scenarios may happen. We
must pray and take effective actions at the same time. The initiative is in the
hands of the President of the nation, but he cannot do it alone. In my part of
the world, if you are sharpening your cutlass and a mad man comes from behind
to take the cutlass from you, you need other people’s assistance to have your
cutlass back without being harmed. The mad men with serious criminal intent and
terrorism as core value have taken cutlass of security. The need for assistance
to regain control is obviously compelling and must be embraced now.
A couple of weeks ago at a public
lecture, I had said, among other things, that:
“In all these issues of
mobilisation for national unity, stability, security, cooperation, development,
growth and progress, there is no consensus. Like in the issue of security,
government should open up discussion, debate and dialogue as part of
consultation at different levels and the outcome of such deliberations should
be collated to form inputs into a national conference to come up with the
solution that will effectively deal with the issues and lead to rapid
development, growth and progress which will give us a wholesome society and
enhanced living standard and livelihood in an inclusive and shared society. It
will be a national programme. We need unity of purpose and a nationally
accepted strategic roadmap that will not change with the whims and caprices of
any government. It must be owned by the citizens, people’s policy and strategy
implemented by the government no matter it’s color and leaning.
Some of the groups that I will
suggest being contacted are traditional rulers, past heads of service (no
matter how competent or incompetent they have been and how much they have
contributed to the mess we are in), past heads of paramilitary organizations,
private sector, civil society, community leaders particularly in the most
affected areas, present and past governors, present and past local government
leaders, religious leaders, past Heads of State, past intelligence chiefs, past
Heads of Civil Service and relevant current and retired diplomats, members of
the opposition and any groups that may be deemed relevant.”
The President must be seen to be
addressing this issue with utmost seriousness and with maximum dispatch and
getting all hands on deck to help. If there is a failure, the principal
responsibility will be that of the President and no one else. We need cohesion
and concentration of effort and maximum force – political, economic, social,
psychological, and military – to deal successfully with the menace of
criminality and terrorism separately and together. Blame game among own forces
must be avoided. It is debilitating and only helpful to our adversary. We
cannot dither anymore. It is time to confront this threat headlong and in a
manner that is holistic, inclusive, and purposeful.
For the sake of Nigeria and
Nigerians, I pray that God may grant you, as our President, the wisdom, the
understanding, the political will, and the courage to do what is right when it
is right and without fear or favor. May God save, secure, protect and bless
Nigeria. May He open to us a window of opportunity that we can still use to prevent
the worst from happening. As we say in my village, “May God forbid bad thing”.
Signed
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO
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