Lately a lot of messages and call to actions is been circulated on various social media platforms by agents of the biggest political rivals of this era, APC/PDP. Both sides in trying to outdo each other are reeling out very little facts and so much misinformation. A lot of these broadcasts are not just preposterous but absurd or just load of BS. I will have to say here that the worse culprits in this regard are the agents of GEJ/PDP. They have suddenly gone berserk, thrown caution to the wind and all they spread is just hatred and disunity. Initially I ignore these messages and delete them immediately but recently I got so irritated I start to vigorously engage anybody that shared such thought with me. It is so sad that most of these people are enlightened and are expected to be above board in their thought process. More disturbing is that these people, I have discovered in the course of my discussion with them, know very little about the issue at hand but are just been driven by sentiments and little or lack of sense of history. This is why I felt the need to publicly air my view here and to let everyone know where I stand so that these people should please delete my contact from the group when sending the next broadcast that has hateful and divisive content. I am allergic to absurdity. While I grant you the right to campaign for your principal on my space I do not condone when you start spreading religious or tribal sentiment on my page. Lose my contact if your campaign is not issue based. You should know too well that I abhor extremism in any coloration.
I would have pasted the lengthy broadcast I received on WhatsApp here but I believe it is needless because at the rate at which this broadcast goes viral you will soon get it if you don’t have it already. However, I will forward it to anyone that is interested so that you will understand my frustration. The point is the more these agents try to paint GMB black the more vulnerable and lame they make their principal look. The only tool they can use is religion and twisted history to get to the mind of the people knowing fully well that many of us are too lazy to verify the veracity of the claims in these broadcasts. Well some of us cannot be fooled. I was not fooled by the “shoeless story” or the “Adeboye’s endorsement” in 2011 I cannot be fooled now that the facts are everywhere that GEJ has failed. I am one of the people that are not disappointed at GEJ’s dismal performance. We saw it coming because just as it is happening now his 2011 campaign was based on sentiments and tissue of lies.
The particular broadcast that got me really upset is the one that is addressed to Christians on the dangers of voting for GMB. I guess a lot of us know it? My belly turned as I read through the message and by the time I finished reading I felt giddy headed and wanted to puke. It is hogwash. There is a lot of things we need to come to terms with about this coming election and I think the most critical is that it is not about GEJ/GMB. The cause is bigger than these pair, they are just a medium to make or mar this agitation. This is about the great people of this country that has been brainwashed and enslaved by the political class that are ironically elected to serve us. It is about taking back the unalienable right of the people to elect and re-elect their leaders based on track record of performance not some primordial sentiments. This is about sending an unequivocal message to the political class that they will have to earn the right to be re-elected into office. Re-election is no longer a right of any politician performance or not.
The issues in the message that I will want to address are as follows;
1. Boko Haram has killed more Christians in the North than Muslims – This frame of mind always get me gob smacked especially when it is pushed forward by people that should know better. This is because as widely publicized as this assertion is nobody has come out with a concrete statistical data to support it. It is just a flow from a jaundiced mind. I hate to play statistics with human life. Bottom line is innocent human life are lost, it doesn’t matter which religion they belong to. These are Nigerian just like you and I. However, is it logical to think that a war of this magnitude is going on in a predominantly Muslim north and more Christians are killed? I find this very difficult to believe. Also, a lot of mosques have been either burnt down or attacked by insurgents, the most recent is the attack on the Kano central mosque. Can we say Boko Haram is looking for Christians in the mosque during Juma’at prayers? As long as we do not have a statistics to support this assertion it is only hypothesis and cannot be depended upon to form a decision. I guess this is elementary enough for all to see. I will not want to push my research on your faces therefore I will implore us to do a research on this and see how far it is from the truth.

2. Christianity is in mortal danger of extinction – This is also laughable and shows that many of us do not understand how a country works under a democracy. In the message countries like Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Algeria and Turkey that were purported to be once flourishing Christian countries are now Muslim countries because the Christian surrendered to the lure of liberalism. This particular one has the handwriting of Femi Fani Kayode all over it. However, space cannot allow us to go into the history of these countries but please before you spread this message take a look at it and you will realize how twisted this assertion is. This will allow you to compare the circumstance under which these countries metamorphosed into Islamic nations if it is true anyway and if this is applicable to the Nigeria situation. It is a known fact nations evolve over generation but most of the times this are usually for administrative purposes by colonial rulers or expansionists. African has their own religion before the advent of the Abrahamic religions which was introduced for the purpose of dissuading the minds of the slaves of that era from carrying out uprising. Forgiveness and love were the focal points of the early missioners. Another point that we should know of a fact is that you don’t need a Muslim president to change the faith of a country in a presidential system of government. All that is needed is an act of parliament to amend the constitution and it would be done even under a Christian president. My question is how can this been done in a heterogeneous society without putting a gun to our heads during referendum to vote for the change? My people perish because they lack knowledge.

On the flip side, has the propagation of the gospel of Christ taken a boost under GEJ? What is ‘Christlike’ in the manner in which GEJ is running this country? If it is actually true that majority of the people been killed in the north are Christians shouldn’t that be enough motivation for our ‘Christian’ president to pursue the fight with vigor? How come they just realized no mention of Christ or Christianity was made in the 1999 constitution while Sharia and Islam was mentioned more than 100 times? It took 6 long years of GEJ’s administration and 15 years of PDP misrule to discover this misnomer and more so it took a wind of change to wake them up from the 15 years slumber? I am not impressed.

3. Islamization or criminality? – The picture been painted by this message is that the Boko Haram is a political plot to Islamize Nigeria. We can argue back and forth on this one but let us look at it this way, assuming this is political to whose advantage is it? If Buhari is actually behind Boko Haram will this be an advantage for him? With benefit of common sense why will he wage a war against his own people? The wanton destruction taking place in the north is affecting if not shut down the economy of the region that was struggling before now. Buhari is general’s general, a veteran of many wars, well-schooled in the rules of engagement and the last thing he will do is to fight a war that has no basis. Still on politics, will it favour Buhari if election cannot be carried out or inconclusive in about 4 states in his strong hold?
The first place the war on terror in Nigeria would be won is in our minds. We need to see Boko Haram not as Islamist Insurgents but a bunch of crazy serial murderers using Islam to masquerade their nefarious activities. Terrorism is the crime of the 21st century and it is spreading like wild fire all over the world. Like cyber-crimes, armed robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping and cultism, terrorism is the cool of the 21st century and we need to see it as such. Nigeria government got it wrong from the get go by attaching political undertone to the war on terror and rather than uniting the country against terror like it is currently been done in France and many European countries they use it to push the unity of the country to the brink.

This has shown that the ruling party is not only desperate but they are jittery to death because the handwriting is boldly on the wall that change is coming. Sadly, there are no track record of excellent performance to brag about so like a drowning man they are laying hold on anything and anybody to stay afloat. Fortunately, apart from wondering how Buhari can be painted as a saint in the company of Tinubu and Amaechi , they have not been successful in branding GMB as corrupt. The last time I checked neither of Tinubu nor Amaechi is contesting besides this is a better company when compared to the president’s group. What will you call this team? Abba Moro, the Uba brothers, Tompolo, Ateke Tom, Asari Dokubo, Stella Oduah, Diezeani Madueke, Ayo Fayose, Alamesigha, Iyiola Omisore, Femi Fani Kayode, Buruji Kashamu, Bode George. I can go on and on.

For those that see this as an attempt to subvert the right of the people of the South-South, I really pity you if GEJ is the best you can produce from this region. It is really sad that this son really messed up the chance that region has to positively reverse the long period of neglect you have been subjected to. He didn’t represent you well because the Niger Delta is still neglected and nothing has changed in the 6 years that your son has been president. Like Seun Kuti said it is a shame that Buhari ( a military dictator at a time) is been seen as a better option to GEJ who 4 years ago enjoyed so much goodwill from all over the country not minding his tribe or religion. Recently, one of the sons of the people GMB is accused of executing for drug trafficking said that despite GMB executing his father after so much pleas he will support and vote him in the next election. What else do you want to say about the character of a man? What an irony

My questions to all you GEJites are as follows;

1. What happened to the goodwill GEJ enjoyed in 2011?
2. How come the Yorubas that gave him massive support in 2011 are set to swing the tide against him?
3. Buhari could not campaign in most of the South East and South South in 2011 but he has not only run a successful campaign in these regions but GEJ is finding it tough to campaign in the North?
4. Can you say the South- South has indeed seen the dividend of GEJ’s presidency?
5. Will you still support a second term for GEJ if he was an Hausa man?
6. Do you think 6 years is not enough opportunity for GEJ to prove his mettle?
7. You say Buhari is semi-literate but is GEJ running the country like a PhD holder?
8. You say GMB is too old, has the youthfulness of GEJ rub off on his leadership style? Ronald Reagan became president of USA at 72 and ruled for 8 years, just in case you don’t know.
9. Is Nigeria better now than 6 years ago when GEJ became president?
I agree with a lot of people that feels GMB is not the messiah we need in Nigeria. As a matter of fact it is a shame he is the best option to what we have now not because I doubt his capabilities or honesty but I believe it is a sign of failure on the part of the youth of this country because if not for religious and tribal sentiments we should be able to present a more charismatic, upwardly mobile, savvy, intelligent and youthful president. This is an issue that going forward need to be addressed. We can only grow as a nation if we pull down all the wall of tribal and religious sentiments keeping us from harnessing the strength in our diversity. That been said, corruption remain the bane of the development in Nigeria and it will be a daunting task for any one man to fight it but all we need is a leader that doesn’t tolerate corruption and everybody will be acting right. NAFDAC is a case study in this; it took the determination of just one woman to damn the consequences to fight the war against counterfeiting of drugs despite that her tribe men and women are the most culprits, to bring sanity to that sector.
The sin of GEJ is that he allowed unbridled corruption under his administration. Corrupt officers are not tried but shielded, charges were dropped on those on trial, and he granted state pardons for those in jail. It was just business as usual under his tenure. Though no corrupt charges have been pinned on him directly yet he is culpable in the entire malfeasance going on in his government.
I will not totally blame GEJ for the rise in terror activities or the inability to nip the scourge in the bud. Like I said terrorism is a global scourge and it requires global collaborations to wage the war on terror successfully. However, the failure to achieve this goal can be traced to overwhelming corruption in the government. The war would be perfectly prosecuted only if corruption is out of the way. GMB is expected to stop this ugly trend of executive aiding and abetting of corruption. This is all he needs to do and all other thing will fall into place.
Conclusively, never in recent history of Nigeria, has there been a need for a change than now. We need to send a strong message to the political class that they will only rise to office on the crest of excellent performance. The sad trend of second term with or without performance is over. It must be earned. God bless Nigeria. #onchangewestand #wethepeople #powerbacktothepeople