DELE MOMODU'S OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUHARI
In a thought-provoking article released
today, 27 June 2015, Publisher of Ovation
Magazine, Dele Momodu shares his thoughts
about the one month old government of
President Buhari.
His article reads below.
Sir, let me say right away that the goodwill
garnered during your campaigns and the
jubilation that heralded your recent victory
are fast fading and you need to, as a matter
of urgency, convince the people of Nigeria
that you’re now ready to hit the ground
running.
Your Excellency, I write to you today with a
heavy heart. The reason should be obvious. I
was one of those latter day converts to
Buharism, a political philosophy that believes
in the reincarnation of former leaders in the
days of tribulation. You were never the first
man to resurrect from retirement and near
political oblivion. General Olusegun Obasanjo
bounced back from prison to Aso Rock Villa.
In nearby Benin Republic, former military
dictator and strongman, Mathieu Kerekou
who had served as maximum ruler for about
17 incredible years, came back to defeat
incumbent President , Nicephore Soglo in a
1990 election. He led his country for another
ten years and almost got another five-year
term but for the age barrier that disqualified
him.
It is normal for Africans to run towards the
wise elders of the village when trouble
comes knocking. That is one of the major
reasons Nigerians in their millions voted with
their feet and thumbs to elect you President.
Many of those who supported you did so for
several other reasons and you must
understand that they were mainly not
members of your political party, APC. So,
apart from your age, they backed you
because they believed in your impeccable
pedigree as an incorruptible and honourable
man, a strict disciplinarian, a Scrooge who
would not fritter away our meagre resources,
a scourge of rogues and prodigal sons, a
metamorphosed tyrant now a born-again
democrat, and so on and so forth. Nigerians
ardently placed their hopes in you and
fervently prayed you won’t disappoint
them. This is the principal reason I have
decided to send you this desperate memo
today before some despicable politicians
tarnish your hard-earned reputation and
truncate this beautiful chance again.
Sir, let me say right away that the goodwill
garnered during your campaigns and the
jubilation that heralded your recent victory
are fast fading and you need to, as a matter
of urgency, convince the people of Nigeria
that you’re now ready to hit the ground
running. They are not going to listen to
excuses since you had 30 years after
quitting the high office to onerously prepare
for the job again. For them it is immaterial
that you met an empty treasury or that you
are mostly surrounded by selfish, corruptive
influences and impostors. As I mentioned in
my earlier epistles to you, Nigerians have
become totally impatient and what they
expect of you is tantamount to performing
the miracle of turning water into wine or
raising Lazarus from the dead. You cannot
afford to waste any second before displaying
the sterner stuff you’re reputed to be
made of.
I had encouraged you not to be afraid of
taking charge of the Party that brought you
to power or tackling the politicians that
claimed to have helped you in the process. I
had imagined that you know the ways of our
politicians by now and thought you knew
how to handle them. I had told you matter-
of-factly that you may have to step on some
powerful toes in order to achieve anything
tangible. The worst that may likely happen is
for people to say and accuse you of
dictatorial proclivity which won’t be new
in your lexicon or to be threatened with
impeachment and all-what-not. But trust me,
no evil shall befall you for as long as you
carry the people along in your crusade and
do not pander to the whims and caprices of
members of the privilegentsia.
There is no doubt that the present imbroglio
in your Party is as a result of your lukewarm
attitude to Party issues thinking you could
merely concentrate on nation-building while
others deal with political intrigues. However,
it is not always as simple as that. As you
can now see, you don’t seem to be on
the same page with your Party. While you
were busy agonising over the myriad of
problems besetting Nigeria, many of your
presumed disciples were busy fighting over
positions and control of power the way
babies squabble over lollipops. They have
studiously forgotten the change mantra and
the huge expectations that made the
electorate to troop out in droves and cast
their votes for you and the Party.
The moment you became the President-
elect, you should have readied your
manacles for all would-be trouble makers.
You should have sent out a powerful
message to those politicians who may wish
to act above the law. But the moment you
appeared ready to abdicate some of your
leadership responsibilities to them, the
obvious lacuna gave them the needed
impetus to take charge and cut you adrift.
Your political advisers, if any, should have
prepared you for the offensive. There is no
way you are going to fight and survive the
battle ahead if the political class see you as
a man they can easily bully. You cannot sit
on the fence. Whilst your decision not to
interfere in the affairs of another arm of
Government, the legislature, is commendable
and indeed your constitutional duty, you
must make it clear to your Party that the
same non-interference must apply to them.
Our people may have voted for your Party
but they also voted for the individuals that
the Party entrusted its mandate to including
you. Just as there is a limit to how the Party
can control you in the exercise of your
executive functions and those you choose to
assist you in the fulfilment of those
functions, so also must you tell the Party
chieftains that there is a limit as to how
much the leadership structure and duties of
the legislative arm can be controlled. If you
are ambiguous about this, then you are
inviting your Party leadership to write a
letter to you categorically stating not only
those you must appoint as your Ministers
and Special Advisers but also those that you
must not work with under any guise. I am
sure you would not tolerate that. In the
same vein you must not tolerate Party
interference in the legislature. Change has
come, please imbibe it!
In essence it is incumbent on you to deal
with the issues arising from tensions created
by party supremacy, parliamentary
democracy and above all constitutionality.
There is a delicate balance to be struck
between these competing interests though
constitutionality must eventually prevail.
However, even constitutionality is
subordinated to national interest, because
that is the most important interest of all.
Your Party has a lot to learn from the
tragedy which was invited upon itself by
advertence of the former ruling Party, PDP.
As a mark of respect to your status and
office, your Party should have adopted your
instinct and temperament immediately you
conceded that the elections of principal
officers at the National Assembly were â
€œsomewhat constitutional.†Even if
internally aggrieved, like mortals may
invariably be, your Party hierarchy should not
have washed their dirty linen in public
knowing the full implications of the backlash
that might splash and smear your collective
image. APC should have done what PDP
failed to do when Governor Rotimi Amaechi
won the Chairmanship of the Nigeria
Governors’ Forum by instantly
recognising the leadership of the National
Assembly while seeking ways to ameliorate
the unfortunate saga. No reasonable parent
would voluntarily kill a recalcitrant child.
There is always another opportunity for
penitence and atonement.
I expected the crisis to escalate once the
warring factions stuck arrogantly to their
positions and neither was ready to bulge.
Had APC accepted its fate with equanimity,
I’m certain this peculiar mess would have
been exterminated. Had Saraki and Dogara
shown magnanimity in victory some of the
truculent malice expressed by certain
leaders may have also been mellowed.
Say what you will, the PDP had its fair dose
of political migraine and rambunctiousness
but it accepted certain realities and moved
on. The ones they failed to accept led to
their cataclysmic fall. The mutually
destructive suspicion in APC should have
been nipped in the bud for your sake. The
burden you currently carry is heavier than an
elephant and I don’t think you need or
deserve this kind of nuisance distraction.
The leadership of the National Assembly
should also calm down by reaching out to
their angry Party chieftains. There is nothing
to gain in fighting a perennial war. Once
upon a time, they were all friends and
members of the same family. It is never too
late to embrace peace and reunite. Now that
we know what the bone of contention is, no
one should be victimised for belonging to
whatever factions that exist.
I have read endless arguments for and
against the pugilists in APC and my candid
advice is that you need to appoint your
cabinet and aides now. The sooner you
assemble and send forth your foot-soldiers
the better for our polity to begin the healing
process. Right now our nation appears to be
rudderless and floundering and this should
not be the case. What is left for you to do is
to quickly bring all the gladiators together
and see how you can apply some balm on
frayed nerves. The Federal Government has
humongous largesse to disburse so it should
not be too difficult to appease the
juggernauts. When that is sorted, you should
draw your own plans and let your people
know your roadmap. Your job would be much
easier if you surround yourself with people
who can look at you straight in the eye and
say the truth no matter how bitter. Most of
our leaders failed because they fell victims
of sweet-talking scammers.
It is very essential that your Party sees and
embrace you as their father and not the
other way round. Whether you like it or not,
and whether others in your Party want to
accept it or not, you are the de facto
national leader of your Party. You are the
President and Commander in Chief of our
country. Yes, you ARE the capo di tutti capi.
You therefore cannot be subservient to any
other person. You must immediately take
upon this role and assume that mantle.
Please feel free to lay down the law and if
occasion demands, enforce our law. That is
what leaders do. Ambivalence or hesitancy
will simply not do! You have the next four
years minus one month and time is ticking
away dutifully.
Equally important is the fact that you are
more of a social crusader than a politician
and your Party ought to note this fact and
understand that it can’t be business as
usual. Your Party leveraged on your
uncommon reputation to gain POWER. Sir,
you can’t afford to evaporate such
stupendous equity just like that. You have
demonstrated enough tolerance but the time
has come to repudiate our propensity for
rascality.
The task ahead is so gargantuan and it
would require all hands to be on deck. At
the risk of sounding like a broken record, I
reiterate that the first priority, apart from
national security, should be how to reduce
the atrocious costs of running government in
Nigeria. Until you achieve that sir, the
Muhammed Alis of Nigeria will never stop
their boxing tournaments in parliaments and
elsewhere. The fight is for cash and not for
any selfless services. Many won’t bother
to contest if they think it is not lucrative. I
don’t know how you plan to do this but it
has to be done somehow and thankfully
there are many methods that you can
deploy. Iâm glad you hope to retrieve
some of the stolen billions. You need some
serious cash, Sir. The challenges ahead
would dissipate if you can raise the finances
needed to tackle them.
I trust that God has deliberately raised you
up at this time as a veritable example to
mankind that being honest is not a crime
and we have a lot to learn and cheer from
your miraculous victory. May God help you
to carry this cross successfully.

No source?

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Nice letter; it harbours the current feelings of Nigerians. However, it is time consuming.

If I am too busy to read this letter, how do Momodu think the President will have the time to read this text book