I am constrained to make this an open letter to you for a number of reasons.

One, the current situation and consequent possible outcome dictate that I should, before the door closes on reason and promotion of national interest, alert you to the danger that may be lurking in the corner.

Two, none of the four or more letters
that I have written to you in the past two years or so has elicited an acknowledgment or any response.

Three, people close to you, if not yourself, have been asking, what does Obasanjo want?

Four, I could sense a semblance between the situation that we are gradually getting into and the situation we fell into as a nation during the Abacha era.

Five, everything must be done to guard, protect and defend our fledgling democracy, nourish it and prevent bloodshed.

Six, we must move away from advertently or inadvertently dividing the country along weak seams of North-South and Christian-Moslem.

Seven, nothing should be done to allow the country to degenerate into economic dormancy, stagnation or retrogression.

Eight, some of our international friends and
development partners are genuinely worried
about signs and signals that are coming out of
Nigeria.

Nine, Nigeria should be in a position to take advantage of the present favourable
international interest to invest in Africa - an
opportunity that will not be open for too long.

Ten, I am concerned about your legacy and your
climb-down which you alone can best be the
manager of, whenever you so decide.

Mr. President, you have on a number of occasions acknowledged the role God enabled me to play in your ascension to power. You put me third after God and your parents among those that have impacted most on your life. I have always retorted that God only put you where
you are and those that could be regarded as
having played a role were only instruments of
God to achieve God’s purpose in your life.

For me, I believe that politically, it was in the best interest of Nigeria that you, a Nigerian from
minority group in the South, could rise to the
highest pinnacle of political leadership. If
Obasanjo could get there, Yar’Adua could get
there and Jonathan can get there, any Nigerian can.
It is now not a matter of the turn of any section
or geographical area but the best interest of
Nigeria and all Nigerians.

It has been proved that no group – ethnic, linguistic, religious or geographical location – has monopoly of
materials for leadership of our country. And no
group solely by itself can crown any of its members the Nigerian CEO. It is good for Nigeria.

I have also always told you that God has
graciously been kind, generous, merciful and
compassionate to me and He has done more
than I could have ever hoped for. I want
nothing from you personally except that you
should run the affairs of Nigeria not only to make
Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for
which I have always pleaded with you and I will
always do so. And it is yet to be done for most
Nigerians to see.

2. For five capacities in which you find yourself, you
must hold yourself most significantly responsible
for what happens or fails to happen in Nigeria and in any case, most others will hold you responsible and God who put you there will surely hold you responsible and accountable. I have had opportunity, in recent times, to interact closely with you and I have come to the conclusion painfully or happily that if you can shun yourself to a great extent of personal and political interests and dwell more on the national interest and also draw the line between advice from selfish and self-centered aides and advice from those who in the interest of the nation may not tell you what you will want to hear, it will be well. The five positions which you share with nobody except with God and which place great and grave responsibility on you are leadership of the ruling party, headship of the Federal
Government or national government,
Commander-in-Chief of the Military, Chief
Security Officer of the nation, and the political
leader of the country. Those positions go with
being the President of our country and while
depending on your disposition, you can delegate
or devolve responsibility, but the buck must
stop on your table whether you like it or not.

continued...

.....Let me start with the leadership of the ruling
party. Many of us were puzzled over what was
going on in the party. Most party members
blamed the National Chairman.

I understand that some in the presidency tried to create the impression that some of us were to blame. The situation became clear only when the National Chairman spoke out that he never did anything or acted in any way without the approval or concurrence of the Party Leader and that where the Party Leader disapproved, he made correction or amendment, that we realised most actions were those of the Chairman but the motivation and direction were those of the
Leader.

It would be unfair to continue to level full
blames on the Chairman for all that goes wrong
with the Party. The Chairman is playing the tune
dictated by the Paymaster. But the Paymaster
is acting for a definitive purpose for which
deceit and deception seem to be the major
ingredients.

Up till two months ago, Mr. President, you told me that you have not told anybody that
you would contest in 2015. I quickly pointed out
to you that the signs and the measures on the
ground do not tally with your statement. You said
the same to one other person who shared his
observation with me. And only a fool would
believe that statement you made to me
judging by what is going on. I must say that it
is not ingenious. You may wish to pursue a more
credible and more honourable path. Although you
have not formally informed me one way or the
other, it will be necessary to refresh your
memory of what transpired in 2011. I had
gone to Benue State for the marriage of one of my staff, Vitalis Ortese, in the State. Governor Suswam was my hospitable host. He told me that you had accepted a one-term presidency to allow for ease of getting support across the board in the North. I decided to cross-check with
you. You did not hesitate to confirm to me that
you are a strong believer in a one-term of six years
for the President and that by the time you
have used the unexpired time of your
predecessor and the four years of your first
term, you would have almost used up to six years
and you would not need any more term or time.
Later, I heard from other sources including
sources close to you that you made the same
commitment elsewhere, hence, my inclusion of
it in my address at the finale of your campaign in
2011 as follows:

“…PDP should be praised for being the only
party that enshrines federal character, zoning
and rotation in its Constitution and practises it.
PDP has brought stability and substantial
predictability to the polity and to the system.

I do
not know who will be President of Nigeria after Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan. That is in the hand of God.
But with PDP policy and practice, I can reasonably
guess from where, in term of section of the
country, the successor to President Jonathan will
come. And no internal democracy or competition
will thereby be destroyed. The recent resort to
sentiments and emotions of religion and
regionalism is self-serving, unpatriotic and
mischievous, to say the least. It is also preying
on dangerous emotive issues that can ignite
uncontrollable passion and can distabilise if not
destroy our country. This is being oblivious to
the sacrifices others have made in the past for
unity, stability and democracy in Nigeria in
giving up their lives, shedding their blood, and
in going to prison.

I personally have done two out
of those three sacrifices and I am ready to do the
third if it will serve the best interest of Nigerian
dream. Let me appeal to those who have
embarked on this dangerous road to reflect and
desist from taking us on a perishable journey.
With common identity as Nigerians, there is more
that binds us than separates us. I am a
Nigerian, born a Yoruba man, and I am proud
of both identities as they are for me
complementary. Our duties, responsibilities and
obligations to our country as citizens and, indeed,
as leaders must go side by side with our rights
and demands. There must be certain values and
virtues that must go concomitantly with our
dream. Thomas Paine said “my country is the
world”; for me, my country I hold dear.

Continued...

Complete the story at the source
www.punchng.com/news/a-letter-to-president-goodluck-jonathan/