Yesterday, Ex-President Obasanjo wrote and published an 18 page indictment of President Jonathan and warned him of the dire dangers of staying in Office beyond 2015.
Yesterday, Ex-President Obasanjo wrote and published an 18 page indictment of President Jonathan and warned him of the dire dangers of staying in Office beyond 2015.
Obasanjo's letter really amounted to a call for a public uprising against Jonathan. It is a putschist act that is unbecoming of an 80 year old. Many contemporary Nigerians would swear that Obasanjo is a corrupt as they come. The argument can also be made that Jonathan is worse than Obasanjo. That may also be true but Obasanjo's letter gives all of us an inkling into the type of democracy we have or should one say, do not have. It is anything but a democracy. We have a cult of kingmakers led by Obasanjo who believes that regime change by a king making clique is in the best interest of Nigeria. Obasanjo pays very little heed to the will of the masses. From a guy who wanted to run for an unconstitutional third term in Office, his letter shows utter disdain for institutionalized democracy as our system of Government.
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In case Baba has not noticed, the best way to sustain Nigeria's democracy is to protect the rights of Nigerians to decide who their leader should be. Obasanjo should respect that. If Baba and his army friends did not put immunity clause in our constitution, Jonathan has done enough, in our books, to be a hauled to Court for economic crimes.
Baba can do his best Nelson Mandela imitation by simply checking himself to the nearest maximum security prison for all the economic crimes committed under his watch. It would be an inspirational statement that could shape Nigerian's nascent democracy and shine the light for other corruption ridden democracies in Africa. All Nigerians need to believe in themselves and their system of government is to have one of our teeming morally challenged politicians subjected to the dictates of our laws. If Baba truly believes in all that he has written, then he really should exert the moral authority to save us the legal costs and go straight to jail and inspire us by his seriousness to clean the system.
Do that and we can assure Baba that Nigerians will not give Jonathan a chance in 2015. Many believe that Jonathan should also go straight to jail but with our system of government - fat chance. Come 2019, he could even ask EFCC to punish and harass anybody who opposes his third term ambition. The most Nigerians can hope for is a Jonathan that would learn to inspire Nigerians by fighting corruption and being serious about enthroning the rule of law. If Baba is insisting that Nigeria will go to hell in 2015 should Jonathan run for Office again, let Baba tell us why he gave us Jonathan in the first place.
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All Baba ment to say in his 18 page diatribe was, "My adopted political son has become a prodigal son." For Nigerians, that sounds pretty much like a family problem and we encourage Baba to sort it out in the family while we worry about where to find kerosene to cook and petrol to keep our generators humming and poisoning the air we breathe. Just like father, his political son has not managed to light one extra light bulb since his political father left office. More of us have fallen below the poverty line. All the money that was supposed to be saved from removal of petrol subsidy to improve the lives of poor Nigerians have grown wings under Jonathan's watch. The economic hardship continues to grind the average Nigerian while politicians entertain themselves with stories about who carted away more money than the other and whose armored car costs is more luxurious.
Baba may have Arab Spring on his mind, no doubt, but this is like Mubarak calling out Egyptians for Arab spring. Baba lacks the moral authority. What is on the mind of Nigerians right now is where to find their next meal. Can Baba excuse us, please, if we do not buy his own version of Arab spring. No disrespect meant. We can however assure Baba that if Jonathan keeps under performing, there will be Nigerian spring because the country is on the brink. We know that. But from Umaru YaraAdua to Jonathan, we got here as a result of Baba's king making prowess. Based on his track record, Baba is the only one who believes that his third try at picking our next King would be a charm. We respectfully disagree.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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