USA Africa Dialogue Series - On the Matter on My Short Takes on Buhari, Ribadu, Atiku, Jonathan, IBB and Gusau {Re: An open letter to Prof. Isa Odidi

 

Abba Gumel:

 

 

You asked of me:

 

 

QUOTE

 

It is true that IBB has tons of people supporting him (don't ask me why).  I think Atiku too....but Buhari and IBB command larger following (popularity) within the North than any other.  The Northern elites are largely pro IBB (they are deadly scared of Buhari for reasons that are obvious).  I may be wrong in my assessment, but I do feel it is going to be a battle between Buhari and IBB...and, who knows, a ``dark horse" (Ribadu?) may emerge as a ``consensus candidate"....I am merely speculating here........What is your take on all of these?  If you aren't too gung-ho on Buhari, who else are you excited about (with reasons)? 

 

UNQUOTE

 

 

Well, in recent response to certain individuals in Cyberspace, I have pontificated on my views on some of the announced candidates, having in view always tha CORRUPTION is the main bane of Nigeria's present existence, and CHANGE & DEVELOPMENTAL VISION are the major demands in the air presently. .

I have now summarized all of them below, stripping them of some extraneous commentaries from previous times:

 

BUHARI
 

All-in-all, having studied the man closely,  I am of the firm conviction that Buhari, despite all the myths:
 
1.  is virtually incorruptible, and the kind of Nigeria needs to combat that hydra-headed monster;
2.  is NOT an Islamist or Fulani supremacist;
3.  is not blood-thirsty, and certainly not as a civilian politician.  His (in)famous military harshness was a reaction to the times.
 
However, part of Buhari's political problems are that:
 
1.  he has allowed accusations of him (as a blood-thirsty dictator and a fundamental Islamist/supremacist) to fester too long without countering them, particularly in the South that is deeply suspicious of him.  Again, despite its salutary effect, the Buhari/Idiagbon was the only clearly North/North, Muslim/Muslim pairing so far atop the leadership helm of the country.  This is probably because he did not conceive of himself as an electable politician for a long time, and hence did not at some point care what people thought or said about him.   [Abiola had similar problems.]  There was a time (for example) when he was completely withdrawn to himself, between 1983 (when he was toppled by IBB) and 1994/1995 (when he emerged as Abacha's PTF Chairman).
 
2.  he has not developed a broad base of identifiably-close advisors around him, leading to him make  a number of policy mistakes in the main political party that he has been in (eg in making Ume Ezeoke both Chairman and VP candidate in the ANPP, who ended up messing him up; his very naive endorsement of Maurice Iwu on the eve of the 2007 election, only to be messed up royally in the worst election ever held, etc.)  This may have been attempts to soften his public image as a stern fellow.  His emergence as ANPP presidential candidate, particularly in 2007, was not necessarily exemplars in democracy (see for example, the recent interview given by Chief Harry Akande).

 

3.  As a general and Head of State from 1983-1985 - more than 25 years ago - he is just rightly considered part of the Old Guard - albeit a more respectable part of that guard -  but still in the same genre of Obasanjo and IBB.  It is very difficult to argue with a straight face against Obasanjo and IBB coming back, and not maintain the same with Buhari.
 
I reflected these in my 2003 essay, and those views about Buhari have not changed:

QUOTE

 

In the other corner, we have former General Muhammadu Buhari, 60 years of age,  a Fulani and former military tyrant of December 1983 - August 1985.  He arose as presidential candidate from a rather dramatic primary in which all the Southern ANPP candidates, despite paying N10 million each to contest,  were shoved aside to make way for the "consensus" candidate .  With late General Tunde Idiagbon as side-kick, Buhari was an equal-opportunity rigid enforcer, jailing in 1984 some then-recently couped civilian governors for  sometimes ridiculous number of years for allegations of corruption.  In fact, the late Alhaji Barkin Zuwo, who had been elected governor of old Kano State could not help laughing out loud after one of Buhari/Idiagbon's tribunals sentenced him to 250 years in jail.   His regime put then Vice-President Ekwueme in prison detention while leaving the former President Shehu Shagari in confinement to his home.  It successfully  arranged to crate UK-fled Umaru Dikko but unsuccessfully attempted to transport him back to Nigeria to face allegations of corruption. 

 
The tenor of Buhari's tenure as PTF Chairman (under Abacha and Abdusalami Abubakar, 1994 - 1999) remains debatable -- personally, I think that he did his best --  and he is currently battling allegations of an alleged public statement (quite incredulously to this writer) that Muslims should only vote for Muslims.  Most arrogantly, Buhari refused (back in November 2001) to appear before the Oputa panel set up by Obasanjo to answer simple questions about human right abuses during his (Buhari's) reign, thereby disrespecting the Nigerian people who really wanted and had a right to know.  And now he would be president over them.

 

Buhari to many Nigerians even in his Northern region is a "homo non tolerabilis" - a man not to be tolerated.  Yet he is the most disciplined of the lot - Nigeria truly needs discipline - and the least corruptible,  to my mind.

UNQUOTE

 

 

RIBADU
 
Personally, I LOVE the prospects of a Nuhu Ribadu over Buhari as President, with Muhammadu Buhari as his anti-corruption czar. 
 
1.  Ribadu is much younger and more vibrant and connected to the modern world.
2.  Ribadu has never been accused of Islamism or sectionalism.
3.  Yes, Ribadu  may be more PLIABLE (in terms of corruptibility and stern-ness; more pragmatic, let us say) but he has demonstrated a clear anti-corruption zeal as EFCC chairman, and would have a more willing ear to listen to advisors than the much older Buhari with a long-standing military background.  Ribadu, as a former policeman, also has some para-military disciplinary background, but did not progress from a "wetin-you-dey-carry" status like policemen like Anenih, Tafa Balogun, etc.  
 

For those who consider Ribadu Obasanjo's hatchet-man during the period of Ribadu's tenure as EFCC chairman, that notion is quite understandable.  Throughout Ribadu's tenure at the EFCC, I maintained contact with him, once going to his office in Abuja to advise him to cool it with all his political statements (his Chief of Staff then is a friend, a pro-dem of long-standing, Dapo Olorunyomi; his NFIU director AB Okauru another acquaintance.)  I found Ribadu humble and accomodating, and truly caught between the rock of thieves abounding in that larger society and the hard place of thieves in Obasanjo's enclave, and both trying to make sure he was out of a job that he was passionate about.  Maybe I could not stand Ribadu's boss; but I came away impressed with a young man trying to do the best job tha he could.

 

PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN

 

My major point about Goodluck Jonathan is that as incumbent President effectively since November 2009, and substantively President since May 2010 until May 2011, the  refrain that the South-South has not been president in Nigeria - and hence GEJ must be elected president come 2011 simply because he is a SSner - does not hold water.  So he must be looked at on his
merit as a worthy candidate - which to me has not been impressive so far -  and not simply as a South-Southerner. In any case, if that is the case, there are more worthy SS candiates out there - Utomi, Dele Momodu, etc.

 

Now when we then look at the North-South zoning controversy within the PDP surrounding JOnathan's re-nomination within the party, then a 2011-2015 president GEJ in the grips of a PDP administration may turn out to be terrible, especially because of all the developing pre-election turf wars that are yet unfolding.  If he eventually wins the Presidency - and that is a big IF, because who knows whether he will still be a candidate sef? - then
 
1.  corruption and incompetence might go on un-abated; they are sytemic and endemic in the PDP world;

2.  GEJ will have a weak presidency not only as he tries to assuage wounded post-election minds within his party and the Northern constituency, and:

3.  he would be LAME-DUCK from Day One (since he says that he would be going only for one term), and a battle for succession, either from the North (who would want it back, since a Southerner would have been president for 6 years effectively) or from the South-East (since GEJ says that he would be merely completing a Northern term),  would ensue because of the uncertainty that his presidential candidacy is currently generating.
 

 

ATIKU

 

In my personal interactions with Atiku leading up to his failed 2007 presidential bid,  I found Atiku personally to be a very decent individual; a victim of the mentality in Nigeria that all stinkingly rich Nigerians are probably corrupt - aided by the vicious attack on him by a vindictive Obasanjo, who used the EFCC (under Ribadu) and others go after him.   He survived them all, and showed his mettle as a democrat by using his enormous wealth to fight for himself in court, which I admired, but   I have been disappointed that he is prepared to use his enormous wealth to fight MORE for his own democratic rights than those of others that have suffered from the same 2007 elections, particularly within the AC.  

 

But unfortunately, it appears that he is now too overly ambitious to be president of Nigeria that he is making a monumental mistake returning to his vomit of the PDP. With Obasanjo still as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Nyako as Governor of Adamawa, Atiku has to keep his eyes wide open.  Nigeria is a graveyard for overly ambitious persons who want to be president.  I fear that his time may have come and gone - but I may be wrong, because I think that he would still make a good president, primarily because he knows his own limitations (unlike OBJ);  knows how to recognize talent, and knows how to make the best  use of them.

 

I suspect that he will make a good president.

 

Atiku's current spat with US law enforcement - which makes him look like a fugitive from the law and taints him -  does not stop me from considering him to be a decent man.  Not  all fugitives from US law are indecent;  not all non-fugitives are decent.  The man may simply not want the hassles of an American trial, when this is not his country of citizenship. He can use his American lawyers remotely to make his case, and show up on American soil when all plea bargains have been agreed.  That does not mean that he is guilty now, which he is not until proven so.  If perchance he is President of Nigeria, I am certain that he will be able to come to the US under sovereign immunity, but he need never come the US again for the rest of his life if he does not wish to.  That will be he and 6 billion other people minus 300 million.

After all, Obasanjo was accused of having been bribed by Halliburton the other day;  yet as we write he is somewhere in Atlanta, enjoying the Sullivan meeting or something.

 

Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida IBB

 

It is rather annoying to have to comment on his candidacy again, after what we as Nigerians have been through in his hands.  My views about his candidacy have not moved an inch since my essay of 2006:

 

QUOTE

 

http://www.kwenu.com/publications/aluko/2003/militicians_civilians.htm
SUNDAY MUSINGS: The 2003 Presidential Elections -  The Militicians vs the Civilians [Sunday, January 19, 2003]

 

One of course cannot talk about military presidency past (1985 – 1993) or future in Nigeria without calling upon the name of Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, ever-smiling gap-toothed general, ever-ready dispenser of largesse to the loyal and faithful, whose image hovers around all corridors of power in Nigeria.  Despite his pledge not to run against his friend (or "friend") Obasanjo, he still has until February 10 to change his mind (as he did with his friend or "friend" MKO Abiola) and be adopted either by one of the 22 parties that have not announced their candidates, or he might even shove aside one that has.

 

Personally, I do not believe that he will or should run, in 2003,  2007 - or for ever.  It would be a tragedy for the nation - and a personal tragedy for him too - to do so. After an eight-year (1985 - 1993) run which ended in his disastrous annulment of the June 12 election of President Abiola, he studiously refuses to apologize.  He invites too much passion that would destabilize Nigeria and set the country on severe economic hold in the international community.  Like Buhari, he too refused to appear before the Oputa Tribunal to answer for his alleged past human rights abuses.  IBB should simply continue his lucrative power brokerage business from Minna,  in order to ensure that his past is not visited upon him in a surprising manner by any powers-that-be in Aso Rock.

 

UNQUOTE

 

 

GUSAU

It appears that perrenial NSA advisor General Aliyu Gusau will finally emerge as the consensus candidate of the North - after IBB, Atiku, Gusau and Saraki have tested their collective quarternary strength in PDP primaries against the incumbency power of Goodluck Jonathan - in the event that Jonathan wins that primary outright, or does not win it at first ballot.  Of all four, he has the least political baggage to contend with, but there is no evidence of visionary fire in his belly.

The strange thing is that I CANNOT identify Gusau in a line of pictures, because every picture of him looks different.  In fact, he is a shadowy figure to me.  So I have no favorable or disfavorable disposition to him whatsoever - and that may be his genius to be  an under-the-radar fellow. 

 

 

EPILOGUE

 

Again let me repeat:  CORRUPTION is the main bane of Nigeria's present existence, and CHANGE & DEVELOPMENTAL VISION are the major demands in the air presently.  Any candidate above tainted with corruption should therefore be knocked out, and that includes IBB and some would argue includes Atiku as well.  In any case, IBB has been "president" before and Atiku "Vice-President".

Since Buhari has been anti-corruption "president" of Nigeria before, and Ribadu has been an anti-corruption czar before, and Jonathan  is currently President, would it not be true for REAL CHANGE to have, come 2011:

 

- Ribadu for President;
- Buhari for anti-corruption Czar;
- Jonathan for ex-President?

 

By the way, in case someone asks,  my endorsement of Ribadu here has nothing to do with his putative candidacy under my declared party the ACN noting that:

*in 1999; my candidate of choice was AD/ANPP's Falae over PDP Obasanjo; I was not a member of AD then.

 

*in 2003; my candidate was ANPP's Buhari over PDP's Obasanjo;  I was NOT a member of ANPP.

 

*in 2007; when my candidate of choice was Atiku over PDP's Yar'Adua; it was only by then I had become a card-carrying member of AC.  In that election, Buhari lost some shine for me over his choice of Ume-Ezeoke, the way the other candidates were shoved aside in order for him to attain ANPP's candidacy,  and his unwise statement about Iwu on the eve of the election. 

 

Finally, Abba, please be assured that I would not change my Nigerian citizenship if any of the above - even IBB -  became/remain President in 2011.   None of it would harm to continued access to pounded yam.   There is nothing coming from the  sky that the ground of the Earth cannot hold up.

 

If we have free, fair and credible elections in 2011, an accountable set of political leaders in Nigeria will emerge, and Nigeria may take off from its perennial latency.  If not, we will be back to business as usual.
 
Those are the facts, as different from fantasy - and so there you have it.
 
Your own views are welcome.

 

 
Bolaji Aluko
Still reading the tea leaves.....

 

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 11:22 AM, Abba <abba2007@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Bolaji,

 

Yes, both Isa and Ola are our good friends (and since I am, by omission or commission, the baby of the trio, I shall go one step further and tag all una as my ``egbon"...forgive my Latin this time).

Obviously, Isa has the right to choose who he advocates for...and we cannot question him until he has made his position public (or known to us).  

 

It is true that IBB has tons of people supporting him (don't ask me why).  I think Atiku too....but Buhari and IBB command larger following (popularity) within the North than any other.  The Northern elites are largely pro IBB (they are deadly scared of Buhari for reasons that are obvious).  I may be wrong in my assessment, but I do feel it is going to be a battle between Buhari and IBB...and, who knows, a ``dark horse" (Ribadu?) may emerge as a ``consensus candidate"....I am merely speculating here.  If we do declare that our friend Isa is ``not part of the masses", then the same label should apply to you...and to almost all of us on this list-:))).

 

What is your take on all of these?  If you aren't too gung-ho on Buhari, who else are you excited about (with reasons)?  

 

Abba

 

 

 

On 27 September 2010 09:35, Mobolaji ALUKO <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:

 

Abba Gumel:

 

As you know, we consider Isa Odidi  our common friend.

 

I have put in two calls to him, and forwarded him an email to confirm or re-confirm the sordid news about his new position in the IBB campaign gravy-train.

 

Of course, he can say that we too are colleagues who might have pitched our camps with other candidates, so why can he not make his own choice? - but I am waiting for Isa to come to a forum in Washington DC - abi nor be part of Diaspora be dat? - or Toronto to stump for IBB! :-)  There will be many questions to answer.

 

Now, some of your analysis (eg "Jonathan will take the PDP ticket (``by all means necessary").  IBB and some of the other contenders (Atiku, Gusau, Saraki etc.) will decamp to another party (or other parties).  The North will try to have one candidate to run against Jonathan..." tallies somewhat with mine, except that I am no longer as gong-ho on Buhari as I once used to be for many previously-stated reasons.  However, if, as you say, "Buhari and IBB are the two most popular politicians in the North (and Buhari is well favoured by the masses and true progressives)" - and I see IBB in that sentence, how much blame can we really give to Isa Odidi, except (maybe) to confirm he is NOT part of the masses (which he is not) and that he is either not a "true progressive" or not progressive at all?

 

Finally, I sometimes don't understand our other common friend Ola Kassim.  He kinda sorta tends to waffle too much -  eg with his support for GEJ but not for PDP, blah, blah, his snide remarks about/against progressives and Save Nigeria Group, etc. - but maybe I too am not sure that he wafflings - if that does not sound like waffling!  :-)

 

I rest my case for now.

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

On Mon, Sep 27, 2010 at 8:24 AM, Abba <abba2007@gmail.com> wrote:

 

Dear Dr. Kassim (my Chairman),

 

When I first read about this news item, I immediately dismissed it as a prank.  I still feel it is some kind of joke, since I know fully well that my brother Isa and other like-minds are working tirelessly hard to help lay a foundation for a positive (and, yes, progessive) change in Nigeria; and I expected this effort to culminate into the formation of a truly progressive political party which will command the respect of us all.  I have not discussed with Dr. Odidi on this, but I surely know that the IBB route is not quite compatible with this much-needed change (and I cannot, based on what I know of him, see how Isa will abandon the progressive ship in mid stream). 

 

Although IBB has numerous dazzling qualities (forgive my French here), he is not the answer to Nigeria's needs at the present time (largely because a man so polarizing cannot unify the nation and provide it with the much-needed progressive leadership).

I also feel Jonathan isn't the messiah we want either.  I am surprised you seem to think of him (GEJ) as a suitable material for the presidency.  For me, Jonathan appears to be grossly incompetent and unsure as to the gravity of the tasks ahead of him.  I will be interested to know about the things he has done (or not done) to deserve the support of Nigerians (and especially that of my Chairman).  He has been running Nigeria since UMYA (may God bless his soul) went to Arabia for treatment.  Jonathan has not made any quantifiable progress (or even lay a solid and realistic framework) for combatting many of our national cancers (that continue to retard national progress) such as corruption, lack of accountability, poor infrascturture, poor healthcare, poor/failed education system, poor security, unemployment etc. The question I always ask people who seem to promote Jonathan is whether or not they would be doing the same if Jonathan isn't sitting in Aso Rock (if, for instance, he is some State Governor).  The answer has always been the same...no.  The only ``quality" Jonathan seems to have is that he is on the Aso Rock throne at the moment...I do strongly feel Nigeria and Nigerians deserve better than handing someone the presidency on the platter (just because he/she is the incumbent).  The presidency has to be earned.  I stand to be corrected, but Jonathan has not earned it yet.  The man is surely thoughtful, somewhat laid back and simple-minded.  But we have tried these kind of people in the past (e.g., Shagari and UMYA) and we all know where they led the nation to.  As Obama once said, ``you can't be repeating the same thing, over and over again, and expect a different outcome".  Jonathan is not the answer for Nigeria at the present (or any other) moment.

 

Nigeria is at a defining moment now.  The choices we make will determine whether we move forward and build the progressive and prosperous Nigeria we all want or continue to move in the negative (retrogressive) direction.  Nigeria has serious problems, and we need serious people to solve them.  I hold the strong belief that, of all the people who made themselves available for the presidency this time around, one man stands heads-and-shoulders above them all.  This is, ofcourse, the gap-toothed General from the fine city of Daura, in person of Muhammadu Buhari.  Some may accuse Buhari for presiding over a regime that violated the civil rights of others (and I have condemned that too; and I have accepted his defence of the necessity of taking such drastic measures at that particular time), but, to my knowledge, no other Nigerian leader (save possibly Murtala) gave Nigeria a true sense of direction and purposefulness (he also restored the dignity of Nigeria and Nigerians abroad).  The Nigerian project was working then...and very much on the right direction (until we had the series of terribly bad governments since then).  I think even Buhari's most ardent detractors will agree with me that the man Buhari is immensely honest, trustworthy (I nicknamed him ``the Walter Cronkite of Nigeria" the other day), corruption-free, accountable, visionary, capable, principled, patriotic, firm, fair, selfless, fearless, transparent, all-inclusive, God-fearing, pragmatic and sincere.  If we are serious about rebuilding Nigeria, we should go for those who have a stellar record of doing just that...and no one comes close to Buhari on that.  I also favour the likes El Rufa'i, Okonjo-Iweala, Ribadu and Fashola.  They have all proven themselves to be very capable and fearless technocrats/administrators, with lots of dynamism and vitality...they should form the backbone of any future progressive and purposeful government in Nigeria.

 

Someone asks me the other day as to what I think may end up happening.  Here is my two cents worth.

Jonathan will take the PDP ticket (``by all means necessary").  IBB and some of the other contenders (Atiku, Gusau, Saraki etc.) will decamp to another party (or other parties).  The North will try to have one candidate to run against Jonathan...Buhari and IBB are the two most popular politicians in the North (and Buhari is well favoured by the masses and true progressives).  IBB has more resources.

The choice can go any other way.  The North is ``desperate" to ``retai" power...so, they will do anything to ``defeat" Jonathan in a free and fair election.  Many of us have great hope that the elections will be free and fair with Professor Jega at the helm of INEC affairs.

 

My plea to Nigerians is that we should do the right thing this time around and vote for truly capable people who can lay a solid foundation for a better and prosperous Nigeria we can all be proud of.  As Buhari once said, ``this generation of Nigerians, and indeed the future generations, have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together".

 

Fellow compatriots, Nigeria demands and deserves the best.  Buhari is the right man for this defining moment.  If we can't get Buhari (for whatever reason), then the likes of El Rufa'i, Okonjo-Iweala, Ribadu, Fashola should be encouraged and entrusted with the presidency.  We have to raise the bar higher.  Entrusting Nigeria to incompetent and mediocre politicians/leaders has not worked before...and will never work again.  We must all be honest and sincere...and elect honest and sincere leaders. 

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Abba

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 26 September 2010 21:03, <OlaKassimMD@aol.com> wrote:

 

Dear All:

 

To the contrary, I see no reason to be either 'surprised' or 'disappointed' in the

appointment of Dr Isa Odidi as IBB's Chief spokesperson and Supreme

Coordinator of IBB's Global Diaspora Campaign assuming he accepts

the position. Dr Isa Odidi is a politician. He has the right to change his political

affiliation any time he wants.

 

For a person as polarizing  and as difficult to promote as IBB, it is to be expected that only a

few well 'qualified'  Diaspora Nigerians can truly deliver on the onerous task of selling

the 'positive' virtues of IBB to the millions of Diaspora Nigerians who attribute

their exile abroad, rightly or wrongly to his policies. Such Diaspora promoters of the IBB Campaign

would have to be men

and women of timber and calibre and the type who can have breakfast with GEJ in the

wee hours of the morning,

lunch with Ribadu and el Rufai, dinner with Buhari and finish it off with dessert and a few drinks

at IBB's mansion in Minna on the same day.. One would need to possess the skills of a Maradonna

to successfully promote a Maradonna!

 

Let us be fair now and give 'credit' to whom it is due.

 

Considering the downward slope on which things have gone in Nigeria

since the IBB years--may be IBB's distractors abroad  (including yours truly) should

be thankiing IBB and sending donations (which he probably does not need)

to further bolster his campaign war chest. Undoubtedly, many expatriate Nigerians believe that

IBB was responsible for their voluntary exiles abroad.

How does one return such a favour?:) They probably should be thanking IBB, the same way

some descendants of African-American slaves paradoxically thank their long departed great great grandparents

"for getting on the slave boat," whenever they ponder the situation of things in today's Africa:)

 

I doubt if all the conveners of the Change Nigeria Project, Change Nigeria Movement,

Save Nigeria Group and similar organizations in Nigeria and abroad were under any illusions

that all the key players in their organizations want exactly the same kind of change in Nigeria.

Dr Isa Odidi was the Chairman and Poster Boy for the Change Nigeria Project at its inception.

I am not sure whether he still holds this august position.

 

We all want change in Nigeria; but I doubt if everyone wants the same kind of change.

This is the reason zoning becomes

a do or die affair. Some people's idea of  change is to find the shortest distance

and the fastest means of getting to the feeding trough so they can also join in the looting.

 

 A Yoruba proverb goes along the following lines:

 

"Gbogbo alangba ni ofi inu bo ile; a o mo eyi ti inu nrun."

 

Translation: All lizards adopt a prone posture while awake (with their bellies facing the ground); it is impossible to tell which ones are

suffering from belly aches.

 

 This is the same way I view entities purporting to want a change in Nigeria that are hurriedly put together, with people whose political

backgrounds are as diverse as their individual personal interests. You will never know the personal agenda

of each and every participant until it is too late.

 

I always chuckle, whenever, I read or hear some Nigerians describe themselves as

the progressives (which implies that any one who disagrees with them is an "unprogressive")

or that of all Nigerians, they are the only ones with the ability and the commitment to Save

or Change Nigeria. I ask myself,  "who are they saving Nigerians from"?

 

Why do I ask this question?

 

It is because the political arena,  in Nigeria is occupied, with few exceptions,

 almost to the brim by people

who are self serving at best and who would steal from the public purse even more

than those they demonize. Those waiting at the gate to enter--the so called--change agents

are often also just looking for their own opportunities to loot! However

there are always exceptions--rare as they may be--who are decent human beings who

are genuinely looking for real change in Nigeria.

 

It would appear that the only way to maintain one's moral chastity is to stay away from politics and if possible

from public life in general. This is because even if you are honest, the vast majority of

Nigerians will assume you are also corrupt, especially if you are any where close to being

successful in whatever you are doing. This stance is however not teenable--considering

that just as nature abhors vaccum, the political arena will only become the exclusive domain

of rogues and immoral politicians if decent people refuse to participate in politics and governance

 

So please leave my friend Isa alone O!

 

Just look at the possibilities if IBB gets in on May 29, 2011--we might  

expect Dr Isa Odidi to be appointed to any one of these lofty positions:

 

Nigeria's Ambassador to either Canada, USA or the UK--

No South Africa, Ghana

or any of those second tier positings  for IBB's Global Diaspora ambassador!

 

2) Minister of Health --after all he is well qualified in the pharmaceutical field.

 

3) Etc, etc, etc. A beg, the possibilitiues are endless.

 

And some of the same people who are currently decrying Isa's Diaspora Ambassadorial appointment

will be amongst the first well wishers to send congratulatory messages emboldened with the

prefix His Excellency Professor Isa Odidi ---blah; blah; blah and seeking his favours even before he assumes

office. Most Nigerians are hypocrities and are prone to act in this manner! Nigeria is a land

where sycophancy should be a recognized profession.

 

The earliest birds get the freshest worms. So if there are any other conveners of the

Change Nigeria Project, Change Nigeria Movement, Save Nigeria Group who are thinking of decamping

  please let them cross the carpet now O. The earlier you enter the race the more gamble

you take and the earliest 'believers' as you know, like the earliest birds will be

the most richly rewarded.

  

Now you guys can see why I keep on saying that GEJ, though not pretty, especially when

we look at his party affiliation is our only insurance against an IBB government in 2011!

We might end up having to also save Nigeria from some of the  Change Nigeria agents:)

 

Seriously, the IBB threat is a not a joke. The only way to stop him is at the polls if he wins the PDP ticket. We can not

stop an IBB presidency simply by demonizing him and calling him names on the Internet.

 

Even though the Diaspora can not vote in Nigeria, we can persuade our relatives  and friends to vote

for the right candidates and not for those  who will feed them for a few days

during the campaign season and then abandon them once they cast votes.

 

Until Nigerians stop seeing government as an avenue for personal enrichment--nothing

will change!

  

Bye,

 

Ola

-----Original Message-----
From: dipo <dipofam@yahoo.com>
To: NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com; NIDOA@yahoogroups.com; NIDOCANADA@yahoogroups.com
Cc: uhuanke@yahoo.ca
Sent: Sun, Sep 26, 2010 4:10 pm
Subject: Re: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: An open letter to Prof. Isa Odidi

 

Friends,

Politicians are truly of a different breed. I met Prof. Isa Odidi in Dubai a few months ago through Mallam El-Rufai. He came across as a very sincere politician with a clear vision about the future of Nigeria. The last time we saw was at the Hilton in Abuja, where his group - the Change Nigeria Project provided a platform to discuss the future of Nigeria. It was at that meeting that Donald Duke gave his famous expose on how Governors rig elections in Nigeria. Prof. Odidi's optimistic ideas and confidence about the future of Nigeria, and indeed the kind of good company that he kept portrayed him as a very committed fellow working on a noble mission.

I was shocked when a few weeks ago I received news that he had signed on to the IBB group. In fact many of his friends with whom he had related very closely on a progressive Nigerian agenda are still wondering what dragged him into such an ignominious company. IBB is truly evil! How did he manage to change this man who had worked tirelessly with others, especially in the last couple of months purportedly on a mission to change Nigeria? How can IBB fit into that type of noble agenda? Was it all about IBB all along?

Not that Prof. Odidi's decision is not within his rights, but he really got some of us fooled. In my view, with this sort of association with IBB, he is finished politically.

Diipo Famakinwa

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

---

From: OlaKassimMD@aol.com

Sender: NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:48:15 -0400

To: <NIDOA@yahoogroups.com>; <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>; <NIDOCANADA@yahoogroups.com>

ReplyTo: NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com

Cc: <uhuanke@yahoo.ca>

Subject: [NaijaPolitics] Fwd: An open letter to Prof. Isa Odidi

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Kenneth Uhuangho <uhuanke@yahoo.ca>
 
Sent: Sat, Sep 25, 2010 6:20 pm
Subject: An open letter to Prof. Isa Odidi

My dear professor Odidi:   It is with great pains that I came to the conclusion to put these few thoughts of mine in writing in regards to the recent announcement of your appointment as the diaspora co-ordinator for the presidential campaign of the discredited former military RULER and DICTATOR, General Ibrahim Babangida.   I, unfortunately, do not happen to be one of those who have your ears, which is why I decided to use this medium to try conveying to you the feelings of myself and, I think, that of the vast majority of Nigerians both here in Canada and in the other diaspora countries that you are now supposed to co-ordinate.   Without being garrulous, please let me state from the very onset, my profound disappointment on hearing the news this morning. It left me in a state of disbelief and stupor such that I could not even contemplate what reasons where behind your thinking about and finally accepting such a position, assuming you have already done so. The reason for this head-scratcher is and remains a mystery to me, my dear professor, because I want to think that you as an individual has more credibility and acceptance within the Nigerian community worldwide than this man you are now working for and helping to achieve his goal of RULING and LORDING it over Nigeria and Nigerians once more.   Sir, is your action a testament to the fact that some of us who hold you in high regards where being sold a bill of goods by you, or where we just bad judges of intergrity and character? I have reason to believe that you are sensitive to the plight of Nigerians because at the occassion of Mallam Ribadu's visit to Toronto late last year where some Nigerians, myself included, had the opportunity to meet with him at your palatial home of all places, you had waxed lyrical about populist themes and enjoined us all to join in the struggle. I also recalled that your honourable self are or where a member of the Change Nigeria Project, which is different from the Change Nigeria Movement of which I happen to be a member.   Being in different pressure groups notwithstanding, I came away with the impression that the primary reason members of the Change Nigeria Movement were invited to this meeting was because there was a meeting of minds in terms of our goals and objectives, which is to herald a new dawn for our oppressed country and people. However, this mind-boggling decision of yours runs counter to these objectives. It smacks squarely in the face of those of us who had hopes that maybe, just maybe, we are now starting to have Nigerians of some repute and means such as yourself bring their know-how and experience to the table as opposed to the former veneration that we had for miscreants, thieves, murderers and to put it bluntly, UNCIVILIZED people such as this man you are now committed to working for.   Sir, I surely want to believe that you have not forgotten the pains and horrors that Nigeria and Nigerians went through under the misguided, dictatorial and greedy leadership of this man. What in the 8 years of misrule by IBB convinced you prof, that he deserves another opportunity to RULE Nigeria again? Is it his annulment of the famous June 12 election? What democratic credentials does Babangida have that trumps your own?   Are you aware that Nigerians DESPISE and LOATHE this man? Are there some subterreneous moves to which you are privy that caused you to cast your lot with a thoroughly discredited and corrupt person like IBB? Or is this a play for political influence and relevance on your part?   Sir, you can do a heck of a lot better by betting on the side of the Nigerian people with whom you had pledged to stand at that august event at your house!!!    Whatever now happened to the political causes and aspirations that you so eloquently espoused in your house that day? What about your nascent political baby, the New Democratic Party of which you were their presidential flagbearer? Did you abandon those ideals and abandon your own political party? Or have you morphed from being a populist to being a member of the problem RULING class in Nigeria? In other words, have you gone from potentially being a part of the solution to now being a part of the problem class of thieving kleptomaniacs who have caused us to be the backward nation that we are today?   Sir, I am almost scratching my head to the point of scarring myself with questions aplenty, but I can't seem to find one resonating answer in your defence against my disappointment with this course of action on your part. Babangida??? Babangida??? Haba!!!!!!   So what happened to your stated admiration for and intention to work with Malam Ribadu, not out of your closeness to him personally, but borne out of the fact that you agree with what he had tried to do at the EFCC and the changes that he had tried to bring about in Nigeria? Are you still in support of his agenda and at the same time in support of the inordinate ambition of your friend IBB? Or have you ditched Ribadu in favour of IBB because you have calculated WRONGLY I hope, that with all of IBB's vaunted ability to bribe and buy his way around, your lot is better in his camp? Prof, I am absolutely convinced that you have NOT being bribed, but I am still flabbergasted as to why you reached this decision. To the best of my limited knowledge about you and who you are, you are a very successful business man even here in the white man's land because you worked hard for what you have being able to achieve. I actually used the NCA listserve to offer my congratulations and respect for your achievement when you acquired that other pharmacuetical company, Vasogen Inc. Now you want to tarnish all that you have worked for by being associated with public enemy #1?   I kindly implore you to use this medium or any of your choosing to tell us what Babangida's claim to fame is, other than having being a part of every coup plot in Nigeria except the one led by the late Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogu, at least in his own admission that is. Then, according to popular legend, he shot his way to power in August of 1985, in a bid to save his own skin. Whether or not the legend is true, we all know that he subversively took power, albeit from another military but popular regime. Popularity of the likes that IBB did not, was not and will never be able to achieve at least in the minds of Nigerians.   Prof, I happened to be at the funeral for a departed sister this morning and the topic of your appointement was obviously going to be among the discussions being held because you are one of us here in Toronto, Canada. News they say travels fast eh!!!! However, amongst all of the people that I happened to talk to about this issue, the vast majority of them were not supprised as to your acceptance of this task, save for about 1 or 2, of which I belonged. Now, I don't know if in the minds of Nigerians, that speaks more to their interpretation of your person, or if it was more a statement as to my naivete.   I dearly hoped that the latter was the case, as the former would be a gut wrencher for me because I hold you in a higher esteem than that. I want to believe that you have not bought into this latter day democratic foray of IBB's because I can tell you know that, IBB cannot win the chairmanship of his resident Minna LGA if the election where free and fair.   Nigerians are putting their fate in the new INEC leadership of Prof. Jega and I do too because of his antecedents as the erstwhile leader of ASUU. I am of the opinion that the man is incorrigible and if IBB has any plans to buy this election, then he better think again. But, like I said, maybe there are moves afoot to spring an IBB presidency on Nigerians, and you are probably aware of that. That sir, places you squarely in the fold of detractors in Nigeria and we do have a long memory.   If any of your lackeys and untruthful hangers-on have not dared to tell you, Nigerians here in Canada are pissed off by this singular act of yours and would appreciate your rejection of this position. But then again, who are we common floor members to tell a highly accomplised man like you what you can or cannot do, whether in the name of populism or not. But remember though that leadership is about the people you aspire to lead and not about imposition   I hope I have been as respectful as can be in my opinions here, and also hope that I wake up from this bad dream already and I also hope that someone in this varied list of recipients is close enough to you to have this letter forwarded to you.   Sincerely,     Kenneth Uhuangho

__._,_.___

Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic (2)

Recent Activity:

• New Members 3

Visit Your Group

See event pictures and info of the NIDO Canada World Conference, Ottawa 2010 at http://www.AfriCanVIP.com or http://www.NIDOCanada.org
SEE YOU IN TORONTO IN 2011

Nigerians In Diaspora Organization.  Our mission is to promote the spirit of patriotism, networking, and cooperation among Nigerians in Diaspora....

Support the PUSH TO VOTE IN NIGERIA at http://www.ProudNigerians.Org 

Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use

.

__,_._,___

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com