The ovation publisher Chief Dele Momodu, an ardent supporter of President Buhari and the change campaign has expressed some of his disappointments and dissatisfactions with the President Buhari-led administration and some of the "change" we have experienced so far. Quite an interesting article and some key points that I personally identify with. He proffered some solutions on how to deal with selfish politicians with zero national interest. According to Chief Momodu "the fight is for cash and not for any selfless service" "Many won't bother to contest if they think it is not lucrative". Find the article below as culled from ThisDay;
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 “somewhat 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. I’m 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.
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