By Ayo Sotunbo
Some have opined that the greatest opium is religion because of the way it runs through the veins of the fanatics, but I will like to state that nothing seems more intoxicating than the Nigerian Presidency, those who occupy it worship it and are ready to sacrifice life for it, and those who follow the president idolize him. Every time we have a change of government we breathe the air of hope, thinking like we know the new occupant very well and that he is not interested in sitting on power for too long, but soon we get suffocated by bags of disappointment because the new occupant will turn out to be sit tight and resident guest.
Like a circle of parody, once a fearful dictator, repented democrat turned desperate president, Obasanjo embarked on a journey of which he could not perceive the end, he ventured into sacred arena and imperceptibly went forward too far to return, like a ship that has lost its anchor, this is a man who entered the elective position in 1999 with fanfare, he was celebrated a man of perceived integrity and one with a record of not exceeding his term judging by his 1979 history, sad he has turned mischievous, despotic, disappointing and stupid, his is a tale of a dog revisiting its vomitus.
Some of his sycophants are quick to argue that Nigeria will loose too much if this “Moses” fail to take us to the promised land, and they claim that those clamouring for his exit are doing so because they want to loot the treasury, this is a lame argument bereft of all logic, if Obasanjo stays beyond 2007 is he going to squander the money he had saved or is he going to save more for the perceived looters, either argument makes no sense and people like Wole Soyinka and Gani Fawehinmi are not potential looters.
he other argument is that in Nigeria today he is the only man we can trust; for those who follow the signs of fantasy and eagerly pursue the figments of imagination, those who expect age to replace wisdom and those who trust expectation to give birth to reality, welcome to the palace of Nigerian presidents fan club, there were people who thought the demonic Abacha was the best thing Nigeria could have – Ebenezer Babatope will prove that theory right, even the king of corruption himself – Babangida, the grand master of kickbacks and bribery had people like Alex Akinyele, Nzeribe and Co. who will think he is the best all their life.
We remember when IBB set in a process of evil mechanism to extend the tenure of his government beyond conception after too many promises of failed transition, he banned almost all politicians in the country then and left those he thought could not win elections, but to his chagrin Nigerians chose Abiola rather than have him continue, we were tired of all the lies, deceptions, evil genius and government grand styled killings of good officers, journalists and activists, while the Lobosin of Ondo land (Alex Akinyele) may love to prostrate for him, Nigerians refused to bow for a man of low integrity, shady character and vicious ruler.
Let us approach this with frankness and courtesy, Babangida needs to lay aside his delusion and wishful thinking, he needs not follow those who thought they will have another chance of looting our treasury nor follow those who think he could be sold to Nigerians with the hope that money can buy anything in our country, time had changed our people, most of us had been outside of the country and we have seen how governments cherish all their citizens and take good care of them, we have not seen a journalist assassinated with a letter bomb and no one held responsible nor an Attorney General murdered cold blood with no trace, we have not seen senior military officer killed in a hurry over a phony coup, nor human rights activists jailed and threatened, we have not seen a first lady parading expensive outfits and jewelry while the subjects are dying of hunger and poverty, Babangida needs to limit his talents to his household.
Nigeria gained independence with classic human resources, intelligent and educated leaders of thought, the likes of Dr. Zik, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, who could have thought that almost fifty years after, the country would be governed by uncivilised military mediocre, mere opportunist, not the distinguished educated and intelligent career military officers like Ukiwe or Chief Ojukwu but the coup plotters among them, those who never thought anything great could come their ways and when they suddenly found themselves in the corridor of power abused it beyond repair, this is the school of the Obasanjos, Babangidas and Abachas.
Nigeria found itself in a moment where human nature has degraded and debased, where lower faculties predominate over the higher; in a position where fancy the mother of passion usurps the dominion of the mind nothing ensues but the natural effect of unlawful government, perturbation and confusion. What is so annoying is that Obasanjo had elevated people like Babangida, Atiku and Marwa to relevance, the third term debate had made them look like true democrats and someone to be reckoned with in Nigerian politics of today, let there be a sound warning that Babangida will not rule Nigeria again even if he rigged himself back into power, what we are paying for today was caused by June 12 1993 annulment and we are not in a hurry to forget it, the pain is too deep and the sorrow is too much, he can rule Minna but not Nigeria in its current form and he should shut up, if all will criticize Obasanjo, IBB lacks the integrity, we don’t need his voice.
The lesson Obasanjo failed to learn is that great leaders are immovable by pain or pleasure, they neither succumb to those who urge them to relinquish power before the time limit of the law nor fall for those mounting pressure on them to remain in power beyond the term of the law, they take the law serious and rather than dying for power will die to protect the letters of the law of their countries even when the provisions do not serve their self interests. Our country deserves progression not regression, we deserve to improve on qualities of leadership after 45 years of independence not less, we need people who are greater in qualities than our founding fathers not people who would not even qualify as their personal assistants, just because someone was trained with Nigerian money to carry gun and he turned the gun on Nigerians to gain power does not make him a great man, he is just a sell out, doing the worse that the colonial predators did to us years back, enough is enough.
By
Ayo Sotunbo, Esq.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Universal Human Rights Networks, Washington D.C.
www.unirights.net
Some of his sycophants are quick to argue that Nigeria will loose too much if this “Moses” fail to take us to the promised land, and they claim that those clamouring for his exit are doing so because they want to loot the treasury, this is a lame argument bereft of all logic, if Obasanjo stays beyond 2007 is he going to squander the money he had saved or is he going to save more for the perceived looters, either argument makes no sense and people like Wole Soyinka and Gani Fawehinmi are not potential looters.
he other argument is that in Nigeria today he is the only man we can trust; for those who follow the signs of fantasy and eagerly pursue the figments of imagination, those who expect age to replace wisdom and those who trust expectation to give birth to reality, welcome to the palace of Nigerian presidents fan club, there were people who thought the demonic Abacha was the best thing Nigeria could have – Ebenezer Babatope will prove that theory right, even the king of corruption himself – Babangida, the grand master of kickbacks and bribery had people like Alex Akinyele, Nzeribe and Co. who will think he is the best all their life.
We remember when IBB set in a process of evil mechanism to extend the tenure of his government beyond conception after too many promises of failed transition, he banned almost all politicians in the country then and left those he thought could not win elections, but to his chagrin Nigerians chose Abiola rather than have him continue, we were tired of all the lies, deceptions, evil genius and government grand styled killings of good officers, journalists and activists, while the Lobosin of Ondo land (Alex Akinyele) may love to prostrate for him, Nigerians refused to bow for a man of low integrity, shady character and vicious ruler.
Let us approach this with frankness and courtesy, Babangida needs to lay aside his delusion and wishful thinking, he needs not follow those who thought they will have another chance of looting our treasury nor follow those who think he could be sold to Nigerians with the hope that money can buy anything in our country, time had changed our people, most of us had been outside of the country and we have seen how governments cherish all their citizens and take good care of them, we have not seen a journalist assassinated with a letter bomb and no one held responsible nor an Attorney General murdered cold blood with no trace, we have not seen senior military officer killed in a hurry over a phony coup, nor human rights activists jailed and threatened, we have not seen a first lady parading expensive outfits and jewelry while the subjects are dying of hunger and poverty, Babangida needs to limit his talents to his household.
Nigeria gained independence with classic human resources, intelligent and educated leaders of thought, the likes of Dr. Zik, Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello, who could have thought that almost fifty years after, the country would be governed by uncivilised military mediocre, mere opportunist, not the distinguished educated and intelligent career military officers like Ukiwe or Chief Ojukwu but the coup plotters among them, those who never thought anything great could come their ways and when they suddenly found themselves in the corridor of power abused it beyond repair, this is the school of the Obasanjos, Babangidas and Abachas.
Nigeria found itself in a moment where human nature has degraded and debased, where lower faculties predominate over the higher; in a position where fancy the mother of passion usurps the dominion of the mind nothing ensues but the natural effect of unlawful government, perturbation and confusion. What is so annoying is that Obasanjo had elevated people like Babangida, Atiku and Marwa to relevance, the third term debate had made them look like true democrats and someone to be reckoned with in Nigerian politics of today, let there be a sound warning that Babangida will not rule Nigeria again even if he rigged himself back into power, what we are paying for today was caused by June 12 1993 annulment and we are not in a hurry to forget it, the pain is too deep and the sorrow is too much, he can rule Minna but not Nigeria in its current form and he should shut up, if all will criticize Obasanjo, IBB lacks the integrity, we don’t need his voice.
The lesson Obasanjo failed to learn is that great leaders are immovable by pain or pleasure, they neither succumb to those who urge them to relinquish power before the time limit of the law nor fall for those mounting pressure on them to remain in power beyond the term of the law, they take the law serious and rather than dying for power will die to protect the letters of the law of their countries even when the provisions do not serve their self interests. Our country deserves progression not regression, we deserve to improve on qualities of leadership after 45 years of independence not less, we need people who are greater in qualities than our founding fathers not people who would not even qualify as their personal assistants, just because someone was trained with Nigerian money to carry gun and he turned the gun on Nigerians to gain power does not make him a great man, he is just a sell out, doing the worse that the colonial predators did to us years back, enough is enough.
By
Ayo Sotunbo, Esq.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Universal Human Rights Networks, Washington D.C.
www.unirights.net
