"Moaning"?
Ayo
Ayo
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @naijama
--Gloria in excelsis Emeagwali,
It looks like it's African woman's week, this week.
Nigeria's former minister of education, Obiageli Ezekwesili is on BBC Hardtalk right now –moaning about "the shared pain" over the girls that were abducted by Boko Haram. On Monday it was another former minister of education, this time Ghana's Ama Ata Aidoo on the same BBC Hardtalk...
There are other issues that should not be treated with indifference, such as when Mama Mazrui declares,
"After all he says one thing on Monday morning and changes his tune by Tuesday night."
Yes.
"The change in the day that makes them rant and rave
Black Power! Black Power!
And the change that comes over them at night, as they sigh and moan:
White thighs, ooh, white thighs" (The Last Poets)
Provocation thy name is African Woman! So you think that I am one of those guys?
You can change my mind but not my heart. You have probably seen contradictions where there is none (heart and mind are in the same place) Muhammadu Buhari has been my man since 31.12.1983 – at a time when Goodluck Jonathan was an unknown quantity, just like El-Sisi.
I just wish that Goodluck Joanthan would clean up the environmental disaster in the Nigerian oil Delta for once and for all – but the environment does not seem to have a top place in his re-election agenda...
The 2nd mistake that Morsi made was refusing to have any direct contact with Israel about Sinai etc and relinquishing the responsibility to his Minister of Defence, El-Sisi. I wonder how he felt when he was being cuddled by the Israelis.
Should there be a law that says that military men should be disqualified from shedding their uniforms for civilian attire and taking part in presidential elections? (We have De Gaulle, Five star General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and a few others – and of course in Israel the military exerts great influence on politics as you can observe this very moment....
One last thing, since it's African woman's week, it's also brother to sister and sister to sister: Assata Shakur – and you too Mama Marui are also the radical...
Pray for us...
Cornelius
On Tuesday, 22 July 2014 23:53:35 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:'At the end of the day there was less than a 48% voter turnout since he has thrown the democratically anointed Muslim Brotherhood leader of the Justice % Freedom Party, President Muhammad Morsi and a few thousand of his Muslim Brother hood members in jail , killed many thousands of them, sentenced hundreds of them to death, seized their assets, declared the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt a terrorist organisation and banned them from taking part in the presidential elections or in the political life of the country.' Cornelius Hamelberg
A great analysis . I happen to agree with you but the million dollar question is this:
will Cornelius Hamelberg refute his own testimony one week from now? After all
he says one thing on Monday morning and changes his tune by Tuesday night.
Even so I appreciate your comment.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________________
From: Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2014 8:48 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Oga Ogugua Anunoby , so what if the APC under whatever leadershwins the next presidential election?
Mama Mazrui Gloria in excelsis Emeagwali back from Viva Zimbabwe, she asks me what ai think of "the Egyptian general's election by ballot box?"
With him Adel Fatah El-Sisi - Israel's favourite Arab lackey as the only horse in town in the one horse race for the post of pharaoh of Egypt and with him and his machine guns as the supervisor-general of his own election, of course his motto was "Glory be to me in the highest for victory & coronation is assured whether you vote or do not vote for me"
At the end of the day there was less than a 48% voter turnout<https://www.google.se/search?num=100&hl=en-GB&rlz= > since he has thrown the democratically anointed Muslim Brotherhood leader of the Justice % Freedom Party, President Muhammad Morsi and a few thousand of his Muslim Brother hood members in jail , killed many thousands of them, sentenced hundreds of them to death, seized their assets, declared the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt a terrorist organisation and banned them from taking part in the presidential elections or in the political life of the country.1T4NDKB_enSE548SE548&q=low+ turnout+for+El-Sisi+election& oq=low+turnout+for+El-Sisi+ election&gs_l=serp.12...13473. 23600.0.25943.41.25.0.0.0.8. 134.1396.22j3.25.0....0...1c. 1.49.serp..35.6.364. OmA8AqwdUzY
Although Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu did say in one of his interviews, that "The military takes over for one reason and one reason only: for profit" - do we know the extent to which the class of people known as the Nigerian military is an economic power in Nigeria? In Egypt, the Egyptian army is a powerful economic & financial institution and before El- Sisi became president his military already controlled more than 45% of the business in Egypt. At this point with El-Sisi's ascension their fortunes are rolling once again but no estimate has been reached as to the extent of their economic empire in the country, today <https://www.google.se/search?num=100&hl=en-GB&rlz=1T4NDKB_ > ( Think of Umaru Dikko as Minister of Transport and communication - in charge of buying those aeroplanes, Tata buses, military boots - apart from the kickbacks, all corruption has to do is to inflate the figures – add a few zeroes to the 10, 000.)enSE548SE548&biw=1024&bih=639& q=What+percentage+of+business+ owned+by+the+military+in+ Egypt+%3F&oq=What+percentage+ of+business+owned+by+the+ military+in+Egypt+%3F&gs_l= serp.12...0.0.0.6036.0.0.0.0. 0.0
With the Egyptian military, profit is still certainly an incentive for the military to also control politics. Political stability is good at attracting investments<http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/07/18/ >blackrock-sovereignrisks- idINL6N0PS55I20140718
Since 1953 – with the exception of the now deposed President Muhammad Morsi, all of the Egyptian presidents have been military men<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > – so their economic empire has been built up over many years.en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Presidents+of+ Egypt
Behind your question is another question: Do I think that Brother Buhari would have - given a chance, successfully supervised a free and fair election that would have returned Nigeria to civilian rule?
I think that it's a question that someone should ask him.
The lovers of democracy will never forgive and still weep about what happened to Chief Moshood Abiola<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > at the hands of Babangida, the one who overthrew Brother Buharien-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Chief+Moshood+ Abiola
Everybody's saying that it's hot over here - and it's only about 22 degrees in the sun...
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/ >
On Monday, 21 July 2014 19:20:21 UTC+2, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
'But we know that those who carry out a coup to topple a corrupt government can then hold a free and fair democratic election or is that also undemocratic and not possible either?' Hamelberg
Cornelius, what do you make of the Egyptian General's recent 'election' by the ballot box? Credible?
Transparently fake? There is also Liberia's Samuel Doe to recall.
Can Generals effectively preside over their own election without rigging it?
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net >
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/ >videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> [usaafric...@googlegroups.com< javascript:>] On Behalf Of Cornelius Hamelberg [cornelius...@gmail.com< javascript:>]
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2014 10:04 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<javascript:>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Oga Ogugua Anunoby , so what if the APC under whatever leadershwins the next presidential election?
Sir,
It's good to hear say that you bear no ill will to Muhammadu Buhari's man ( yours truly) . What objections ( if any) do you have to what may man says here<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > ?en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Achebe+ Foundation+%3a+interviews+ Muhammadu+Buhari
Here's a good place to begin the reasoning :
Adolf Hitler was democratically elected.<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient& .> As you know, it took extensive fighting and great sacrifice and loss of life for the combined military might of the Allies, to finally kick his genocidal Nazi ass.hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Adolf+Hitler+ was+democratically+elected
Hamas was also democratically elected. So, "democratically elected "does not always translate into good government.
You talk about the inviolable holy constitution of Nigeria and the democratically elected governments as if they all exist in some divine space or the heavenly Jerusalem with the head of state as one democratically elected by popular ballot and anointed, supervised and blessed by Olodumare or Chineke or the One that President Goodluck Jonathan was praying to on the banks of the River Jordan and the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Hopefully, apart from praying to win the next election, he was also praying that the Almighty should rid the country of the scourge of endemic corruption and bring to an end the terror war being waged by Boko Haram.
The main point that you have made so far – and continue to adumbrate ad nauseam is based on the principle that not only the bloodless 1983 coup in Nigeria but all military coups<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_coups_d'%C3% > even one that is "popular"/widely supported/ a widely supported uprising is unjustifiable, undemocratic and unconstitutional because they overthrow a country's constitution and are therefore illegal and without the consent of either the ones overthrown or the ones thus being newly governed.A9tat_and_coup_attempts_by_ country
But we know that those who carry out a coup to topple a corrupt government can then hold a free and fair democratic election or is that also undemocratic and not possible either?
What we do not agree about is that in your view neither Muhammad Buhari – or ( based on the same principle) Jerry Rawlings<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient& > of Ghana , should not have been entitled to contest as civilian candidates, because that possibility should have already been destroyed by the mere fact that they had previously violated their country's constitution. In the case of Rawlings – we have what many consider a success story - at least partially...hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Jerry+Rawlings
In my view when a corrupt government is entrenched and perpetuates its lifetime in power by successfully rigging<http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/ > its own re-election (since, basically they are in charge of the national treasury) such a government is also violating whatever holy constitution when it becomes a government of criminals.165075-investigation- president-jonathans-niger- delta-region-epicentre-of- electoral-fraud-in-nigeria. html
In your view even when a corrupt government is thus entrenched the only way to change it is through the ballot box – and theoretically – such a corrupt government can continue for all eternity, along with a corrupt judiciary and even a corrupt military all of whom are in the corrupt government's pocket.
In referring to the Umaru Dikko affair <https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB& > you say that my man Muhammad Buhari "staged the failed kidnapping of a Nigerian citizen from a foreign country" and you call that attempt at repatriating Mr. Dikko and recovering the Nigerian people's stolen money - you call that "international banditry". I assure you that we were very disappointed that things did not all go according to plan. Those of us there in Nigeria at the time regret that it did not get to the point where Umaru Dikko - now late – would have "vomited" the money (about £5 Billion of it) – all of it. Nigeria's conscientious citizens make the same appeal to any Nigerian government and especially of the current government, we request the same repatriation of Nigeria's looted funds that are invested abroad or stashed in foreign bank accounts. But it is useless making that sort of appeal to some governments when they themselves are complicit in the looting of the nation and are themselves above the law, above the police and of course above the military.ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=The+Umaru+ Dikko+affair
Some of us read with some trepidation what Atiku Abubakar<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient& > is saying about the government's unjustifiable demonising of the opposition with propaganda that APC is "Islamic Brotherhood Party of Nigeria" and the "Janjaweed Party".hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Atiku+Abubakar
The contents of this news item<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > - are also disturbing, in the extreme. It seems to me that should the Boko Haram menace spread - mark my words - the conditions for a military coup are in the making and you know that the Nigerian military is the ultimate custodian / guardian of the nation and the constitution. When there is great discontent in the rank and file of the Nigerian military about how Boko Haram cannot be contained – when corruption continues to bloom like grass, the next logical step will be that either there are deep divisions within the military or the military takes over, "the changing of the guards" (Guy Arnold) especially should Goodluck Jonathan cling on to power after the next presidential elections. Maybe, not for the precise reason given by Emeka Ojukwu in that two part interview with Stella in West Africa Magazine<https://www.google.en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=APC+lambasts+ Jonathan+over+%241+billion+ loan se/search?num=100&hl=en-GB& .> and if my memory doesn't betray me , his exact words were " The military takes over for one reason alone: for profit!"rlz=1T4NDKB_enSE548SE548&biw= 1024&bih=639&q=West+Africa+ Magazine+%3A+interview+with+ Ojukwu&oq=West+Africa+ Magazine+%3A+interview+with+ Ojukwu&gs_l=serp.12...6636. 14019.0.16470.6.6.0.0.0.0.57. 248.6.6.0....0...1c
All sincerely said.
CH
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/ >
On Monday, 21 July 2014 12:21:03 UTC+2, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:
Thank you CH.
I had and still have no desire to be dismissive of you or your considered position in our conversation. Please pardon me if I did.
The point that I have tried to make so far is that your man grossly violated Nigeria's constitution. He overthrew a democratically elected government, forcibly seized power, governed Nigerians without their consent, violated the rights of fellow citizens, executed some fellow citizens on the basis of retroactive law, and staged the failed kidnapping of a Nigerian citizen from a foreign country- international banditry. I could go on.
All of the above may be forgiven if your man publicly acknowledges his folly and law-breaking, and asks Nigerians for forgiveness. All I am asking of him is whole contrition. Your man should not carry on as if he did right in his choices and actions as a coup plotter and head of a military junta. A lot that was unacceptable and in some cases unthinkable, happened under his watch. He must be held accountable as he would be in a more serious country. I really believe that a majority of Nigerians do not have any appetite for similar wrongs against the Nigerian people, to be committed in the future.
Ojukwu's enemies whoever they might be may point out whatever as much as they please. Nzeogwu was a coup plotter. Ojukwu I repeat, was not a coup plotter. Ojukwu did not rebel against a constitutional government. The Gowon regime was not constitutionally installed. The regime seized power through violence that is unprecedented in Nigeria's history. The violence of the Nzeogwu-led coup neither explains that violence nor redeems the perpetrators. The Nigerian Army that Ojukwu waged war against after that army attacked him, was not the constitutional, disciplined army that Ojukwu, an administrative officer in the civil service, voluntarily joined after arguably, the best education anyone could have had in Ojukwu's day. It was an army that was violently out of control by considered choice. It was an army that brutally murdered loads of its own officers and men. Ojukwu actually tried to save that army. He believed disciplined command in the military. He publicly and repeatedly called on Gowon, to defer supreme command of that army to the most senior commissioned army officer at the time, as was proper to do. Ojukwu publicly declared that he would be loyal to such a commander. Gowon did not. We all know what became of that army and Nigeria. You may know that Ojukwu counselled Nzeogwu to submit to the authority of the most senior commissioned officer in the Nigeria army after the Nzeogwu coup. Nzeogwu did as was proper to do.
Nigeria would be a different country today had Gowon done the right and proper things. He was a voluntary signatory to the Aburi Accord brokered by Ghana's General Ankrah. Gowon, on return to Nigeria, refused to implement the agreements reached in Ghana. He discarded the accord. Had Gowon implemented that accord, there might not have been a war. Nigeria may have had a different genre of leaders and a less regressive political culture. Nigeria may have by now, become a more prosperous and consequent country. Your man might not have been the subject of our conversation as he is right now. Boko Haram might never have existed to plague Nigeria as she has done and continues to do. It is instructive that some Nigerian politicians and political commentators now recommend important elements of the Aburi Accord as a way forward for Nigeria.
I believe that history is important. I believe that historical political events should be studied, discussed, and important lessons learned if a polity, is to make optimum, timely, desired progress. We both have heard I believe, that a different outcome is unlikely to result from making the same mistake. Those who ignore important lessons of history might be doing so at their peril. Thank you again CH.
oa
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ > [mailto:usaafric...@UrlBlockedError.aspx googlegroups.com <https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >] On Behalf Of Cornelius HamelbergUrlBlockedError.aspx
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 9:01 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<https://webmail.ccsu.edu/owa/ >UrlBlockedError.aspx
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Oga Ogugua Anunoby , so what if the APC under whatever leadershwins the next presidential election?
Sir,
I don't know if your goodbye was a dismissive "that's the end of the matter" or it was meant as an abbreviated "God be with you!" In either case, it's not that I refuse to be dismissed or terminated just like that, and so, aware that I was born in Freetown, where people place a high premium on individual freedom, I give myself the permission, the right of reply and for the record, to clarify the following tiny misunderstandings:
1. I wasn't being pedantic. When I say the Yoruba man – or indeed the Igbo man, I am speaking generally. If I were to say all Igbo men, that would include your honourable self, as you could not be an exception. My man ( Muhammadu Buhari) is definitely not an Igbo man - if he were an Igbo man I'm still not sure whether or not you would be inclined to look upon him more favourably or "through the ethnicity prism" as you put it. Or through the "religion" or "regional" or even "cultural" prism. We know that our man Ojukwu for instance could easily distinguish between Yakubu Gowon's ethnicity (Ngas) and that of Sani Abacha (Kanuri) and not the gross blanket term man that racists tend to use for all Black people ( "nigger<http://www.thenewblackmagazine.com/view. >") which some of them even believe is an abbreviation for Nigerian.aspx?index=605
2. You say that "Ojukwu was not coup plotter" - but you must admit that be that as it may, his enemies can also point out that he rebelled against the authority of the holy Nigerian constitution, and his man Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu is still guilty of a most heinous crime when he slaughtered Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto. Unlike Brother Buhari General Ojukwu waged a war against the Nigerian army. You are the one who says "It is a crime because the constitution/law says it is"
3. A question you expect me to answer: "Who is paying for your man's campaign I humbly ask?" C'mon !
4. You next question; "You ask those who criticized your man when he was Head of State what happened to them after they did." I like that question. At least they are alive...
That was all. At this point I don't know if either my man or Goodluck Jonathan will be contesting the presidential elections. Like you, I also pray that the better man wins...for the good of Nigeria...
Bye,
CH.
On Saturday, 19 July 2014 23:51:24 UTC+2, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:
Thank you CH.
Ojukwu was not coup plotter. He did not overthrow any democratically elected government. He did not lead a military junta. He was a believer in constitutional government. He, in my opinion, is not relevant to our conversation.
I get your intimation though. I suspect that it is based on your concern ( I will be disappointed that it is your conviction) that I view your man through the ethnicity prism. I assure you that I do not. I know that you know that the end rarely justifies the means especially when the means are unlawful/illegal and in your man's case, criminal and treasonable. Wrong is not right because it is informed by good intentions. Masses of innocent people have suffered because of the so-called good intentions of actors especially.
I am surprised by your sweeping generalization about the Igbo man and his conflation as you allege, of "Hausa man" and "Muslim". I strongly disagree. Every community/society has both its ignorant/uneducated and educated/informed classes. It is not possible that all Igbo men are not familiar with the population geography and history of Nigeria as you claim.
You state that your man has a better "moral backbone" than his peers and did not amply "line his pockets" in power. What/where is the evidence that verifiably and veritably supports this proposition? An unending campaign for the office of president of Nigeria requires deep pockets. Who is paying for your man's campaign I humbly ask?
A military coup, is not acceptable in a constitutional democracy, or a less treasonable crime because it was bloodless and/or is motivated by pompous indignation and arrogant self-righteousness. It is a crime because the constitution/law says it is. Has it not been said that "the flag is the last refuge of the scoundrel"? I add that the flag is also a refuge of political opportunists. In a democracy, citizens should choose their leaders. There is still no conclusive evidence that you man is at peace with this value. He has rejected the results of every elections that he has lost. He has challenged the results of every election he lost in court. He lost in court each time. Those are not the ways of a reformed autocrat. He seems to believe that every election he lost was rigged, and only elections he won were free and fair. He will only accept the result of an election if he is declared the winner. Those are the ways of a closet autocrat.
It is unwise and very risky to ignore an autocrat's past as he seeks new high political office. His past is a known. His future is an unknown. You claim that "he is surely not the same person that he was then- has had time to reflect and as a good Muslim to repent". That is the hope and expectation but what/where is the evidence that is the case? He may in fact be a worse person. We do not know. He is an angry man.
True repentance is preceded by acknowledgement of wrong doing and contrition. We do not know that this has been the case with your man. As much as you admire your man, it is not for you or indeed anyone else to apologize for him. He can speak for himself but refuses to. His public posture and pronouncements strongly cause many Nigerians to believe that he wants to come back to "finish the job" he started. Your man's several failures at the polls cause me to believe that a majority of Nigerians do not want that "job" finished. Then again what job if I may ask?
I remind you that your man criticizes President Jonathan and goes home to his family and loved ones. You ask those who criticized your man when he was Head of State what happened to them after they did.
This conversation for me, is not about the President Jonathan and his stewardship. It is roundly about the legitimate concerns, doubts, and suspicions there are about your man as a possible future president of Nigeria, given what is known about his past and present. If he sincerely confronts and erases them, I might even join you as one of the faithful. Why not? I want Nigeria to work better for all Nigerians.
Thank you again and good bye.
oa
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of Cornelius Hamelberg
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2014 9:33 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Oga Ogugua Anunoby , so what if the APC under whatever leadershwins the next presidential election?
Guilty: The long-windedness is mine.
Mine is probably a lone voice in the wilderness. Anyway for the record, in the name of difference or diversity and freedom of opinion, I hope that this one gets through.
I notice that in your review of military governments and their strongmen, General Ojukwu does not come under your purview. Of course that could be a separate issue altogether, if by military governments you mean all military governments including insurrectionist ones.
Here's a short list<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > . I had feared that you were going to quote Wole Soyinka on Buhari. I'll tell you this: Alagba Soyinka is not my infallible authority and he too is entitled to all his opinions and even prejudices, if he has any. Having lived so long with Igbos, in Nigeria, I know that when the Igbo man says "Hausa man" he means Muslim. I now that in that regard, he makes no distinction between Hausa and Fulani, for him North is North and Muslim is Muslim, no matter the tribe. Just as with one of my close Yoruba Brethren, as far as he is concerned, I am not Cornelius Adebayo, and that's why he calls me " Menahem<https://www.google.se/en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=A+list+of+ military+rulers+the+world+has+ known search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > ". Not Menahem Adebayo, just Menahem (in Bangladesh every male Muslim has Mohammed as their first name - usually abbreviated Md.)en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Menahem
My good Sir, according to the doctors of political science, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". You probably don't know personally (smile) - lack the experience to know that it takes some discipline to resist the temptation of corruption, when you are in power ( I mean real power). To resist the temptation which leads some to believe that the national treasury is part of their campaign treasure chest and that they can do with it as they please...
I hope that this did not escape your notice: Nigeria: Opting Out of an Insurgency<http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. >stratfor.com%2Fanalysis% 2Fnigeria-opting-out- insurgency%3Futm_source% 3Dfreelist-f%26utm_medium% 3Demail%26utm_campaign% 3D20140717%26utm_term% 3Darticle%26utm_content% 3Dtitle&sa=D&sntz=1&usg= AFQjCNGG2cdMc5WZvFfEbPgGxdFLlE mpnQ
One thing that you cannot accuse Muhammadu Buhari of is that unlike some democratically elected politicians holding high office, he Muhammad Buhari did not "illegally and generously line his pockets." Aren't you happy that for a change, such a son of the soil has that kind of moral backbone? You misplace words when you ascribe a brutal role to those who carried out a bloodless coup. He was no El-Sisi. If only he could have been given the time necessary to arrange and supervise an election!
Comfortably sitting on your high horse, your polemical response is merely a long indictment of military coups. I sympathise with some of your general critique. I too have witnessed and lived through a few, including the one that took place in Nigeria on 31.12.1983. Commissioner of Police Mr. Efebo politely declined the offer of being military governor of Rivers State after that coup. (I should have known that something was cooking when mastermind coordinator Sani Abacha turned up in Port Harcourt a few weeks before that, and a week before the coup all the international telephone lines were cut, apart from the only one I had access to at Scanastra – I had thought that it was because of the Christmas traffic.) Yes, there are tomes of critiques of military coups in Africa and other parts of the world. Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings too has left a controversial legacy (just ask Kwabena Akurang-Parry) - but sometimes, in the life of a nation, a man has to do what a man has to do.
"There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries"
Nearly all that you say about our Muhammadu Buhari is about his past, some thirty years ago. He is surely not the same person that he was then- has had time to reflect and as a good Muslim to repent, regularly. It's called "Tauba<https://www.google.se/search?sourceid=navclient&hl= >en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Islam%3a+Tauba ". You seem to be less obsessive, less judgemental about the present political dispensation and that too is understandable since "absence never lets the heart grow fonder "this is true of many of us and you too, as you live and breathe not in Nigeria but in far away North America. I suppose that you are one of Dr. Chika Onyeani's good fellows who made the Goodluck Jonathan Appreciation Day<https://www.google.se/ search?sourceid=navclient&hl= > such a resounding a success over there in the United States of America. A similar manifestation in Nigeria would probably be a little less successful even if there would be more local sycophants who can see no evil, hear no evil or do no evil when it comes to praising their Goodluck Jonathan and his good government. So, if you are going to write about what's happening in Nigeria today please don't make my man the sole target of your wrath – even if what's beginning to look like a witch-hunt<https://www.en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4NDKB_ enSE548SE548&q=Goodluck+ Jonathan+Appreciation+Day google.se/search?sourceid= > all the anti-Goodluck Jonathan governors are impeached for whatever real or trumped up charges.navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8& rlz=1T4NDKB_enSE548SE548&q= witch-hunt
Talking about WAI - six months of arrears in salaries were paid to Rivers States Civil servants a week after Buhari-Idiagbon took over the reins of government; the mountains of garbage from which mango trees had taken root and were reaching for the sky, those mountains were cleared away in no time at all so that we could all breathe some fresh air again in the environs of Mile One Market in Port Harcourt. The formerly unpaid civil servants started turning up for work on time – this too was achieved without the threat of "brutal force", corporal punishment, imprisonment or threats of sending anyone to Jahannam.
As yester day slips into becoming the past, I wonder whether or not you are as obsessive about forgiving of all that has occurred since Dr. Jonathan took office. My man, Muhammadu Buhari is criticising what he and many including me, see as some shortcomings and you say that he doesn't have a right to say anything - because he too is not Jesus Christ, is not the Messiah perhaps, oh son of man, could it be that your attitude is induced by the scripture which says, "Let him that is without sin, throw the first stone"?
The Nigerian constitution may be holy - it may even be made holier by those who would like to amend some parts of it , maybe create a few more states, and thereby bring a few more powerful governors into being - governors who preferably should support the powers that be and not bite the hand that feeds them (like that Shakespeare line
"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child"
You lament the Nigerian Military overthrowing the democratically elected Shagari government, "as bad as the Shagari government might have been". Gaza's Hamas government was democratically elected too – bad as they can be - and it looks to me that the IDF would like to overthrow that government, right there in Gaza, it what increasingly looks like a bloody coup...
So, ( back to Nigeria) what is so holy about a government that is "democratically elected "– if it evolves into a government of looters and a government that rigs what you call "democratic elections" – as indeed the NPN rigged the 1983 elections, called it "NPN Magic". I was there. They were already dancing outside the Rivers State minister of agriculture Levy Braide's house, by 3 pm on election day , by which time everybody had finished voting in Bakana – when it was time for counting the ballots they threw away the surplus votes that had been cast ( in excess of the registered voters) , into the river. You see, since the criminals could not be overthrown through the ballot box, the army came to the rescue. The same kind of criminals surely rigged future elections in Nigeria as a result of which my man fared less successfully than he would have if those elections had been completely free and fair - free, and without blackouts or the disappearance of ballot boxes en route to the counting houses or during the counting. Goodluck Jonathan's predecessor, Umaru Yaradua confessed to the extent of the rigging in the election which brought him to power.
Talking about treason, what do you think about this Palestinian MP in the Israel Knesset<http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/ >? We are talking about a real democracy aren't we? Not a make belief one.News.aspx/183046
As Always,
Wishing the best for all Nigerians,
We Sweden<http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/ >
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