I continue to wonder what the problem of Ikhide is. He us first accuse people of ethnic bias, yet all his writings are steeped in specious syllogism. Since all Nigerian Presidents past, and the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, share something in common, the propensity for short memory on history, and their blind use of power, what Osundare did was to help jolt and rouse the President from crashing himself and the nation into a waiting calamitous ditch.
Osundare like every discerning patriot could see desperation of the ruling party in the activities of its sponsored agents, including Alhaji Asari Dokubo, in the President's desperation to hold tenaciously to power by all means.
Osundare is simply warning against, among other things, the President's misuse of security agents as was the case in the immediate historical past in Nigeria with tragic consequences. In recent times, the unprovoked attack on, and vandalization of, APC secretariat in Lagos, or the nocturnal haunting down of leaders of opposition on the nights preceding elections as was the case in Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections on flimsy excuses, or the organized bombing of APC secretariats in the South-South, by some hired Party hooligans are sufficient cause for patriotic concern. Any attempt to continue the trend is capable of "scattering" the country ..., and all Ikhide could see in the timely warning is to insinuate tribalism and ethnicity. I am almost certain that Ikhide's interpretation or analysis could only have been a product of a warped psyche
, perhaps, needing urgent deliverance.
Ooo
May the President hear and be tamed by Prof Osundare's timely warning that "our Rome may be room indeed".
Cheers,
Ademola Omobewaji Dasylva
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
| From: Bode Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2015 21:02 To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com Reply To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Osundare waffles again on the Nigerian problem! |
Ikhide,
You recently lamented that the Nigerian electorate is still largely fragmented along ethnic lines. If one were to take you seriously, it would mean that Buhari has the North locked down and Tinubu (who would be minister in a Buhari Government) and Osinbajo already have the West locked down for Buhari, so, by what math then does Jonathan win the elections? And if he were to "win" against a candidate with perceived support of the coalition of ethnic majorities, would that not lead to the scenarios Osundare outlined here? In other words, your logic of ethnic politics already makes Jonathan's victory inconceivable and thus set up a dangerous situation if he were to emerge winner even legitimately.
On 1/31/15, 12:10 PM, "'Ikhide' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
"Another alarming phenomenon is the treasonous threat from some 'militants' from your region of origin who claim to be speaking and acting in your defence and on your behalf. One of them actually declared for the whole world to hear that 'Nigeria will be history' if you are not 'given' a second term. The closer we get to the election, the louder has become the thunder of this piece of ethnic blackmail. For the avoidance of doubt, I am one of those who fervently believe that the Niger Delta has been done a terribly raw deal by previous Nigerian governments, and that a combination of reparation and reconstruction has become a compulsory political and economic (and environmental!) necessity. But, Mr. President, have you been hearing what these 'militants' have been saying? Have you been listening to them? Are they really speaking on your behalf? What do you see and sense in their threats: a bond of ethnic solidarity, or a threat to Nigeria, the country over which you preside? Are you a president of the whole of Nigeria or a tribal champion for an ethnic enclave? Have you done a study of the sociology and statistical diversity of the votes that brought you to the presidential throne – or that Nigerian conundrum called 'doctrine of necessity' which eased your way to full presidential power a few years ago?"
- Ikhide
"Now, the impending election. As I once said in an open letter of this nature to one of your predecessors in the presidential office, in my reading of Nigeria's history, no event has so constantly, so serially threatened the peace and very existence of Nigeria as the conduct of general elections: the botched federal elections of 1964, the Western regional elections of 1965 whose blatant rigging led to the 'weti e' insurrection, then the January 1966 military coup, then the pogrom on the Igbo people, then the secession of Biafra, then the (un)civil war; the 'landslide fraud' by the NPN in 1983, then another 'weti e'episode, then the military coup of January 1984; the June 12 1993 election widely considered as the freest and fairest in Nigeria's history, annulled all the same (or for that reason) by General Babangida and his cohorts, then the long period of civil strife and the eventuation of General Abacha's murderous despotism. The election of 2003 and 2007 did not go without the usual rigging, while the one of 2011 that brought you to a full presidency ended up with violent protests in certain parts of the country."
"Mr. President, your party, the PDP, has ruled Nigeria for over 15 years now; it has established an unconscionable control over all the levers of power. You will scatter this country if you allow them to use that power to disadvantage the other parties. The major cause of Nigeria's electoral fiasco is the refusal of the ruling party (at national and state levels) to allow a peaceful change of power. That kind of civilized democratic transition is often seen as a sign of weakness. And when the ruling party makes peaceful change impossible that way, it invariably makes violent change inevitable. Please don't make a mockery of the 'I' (standing for 'Independent') in INEC. Let victory go to whichever party the Nigerian people choose to embrace. Again, as I told one of your predecessors at this kind of electoral juncture a couple of years ago, please remember there is life after power. Let us do everything to circumvent the 2015 apocalypse. Make sure History does not write you down as the last President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
- Niyi Osundare
Read this poorly veiled ethnocentric msnifesto and the stubborn insistence on avoiding personal responsibility for our mess and understand why I have no use for lost Nigerian intellectuals. Osundare has taken speaking from both sides of his mouth to artistic heights. This is shameful. Nigeria is burning and this is all we get? Na wa!
- Ikhide
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