OBASANJO CULTURE OF VERBAL HOSTILITY: TIME TO STOP As President Goodluck Jonathan was been urged by prominent citizens to respond to the tirade of allegations made by former President Mathew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo in his infamous 18-Page letter titled Before it is too late, I was of the opinion that Mr. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should not descend so low to respond to such baseless fabrication crafted to rekindle Obasanjo loss political relevance. My other reasons were: (i) Chief Obasanjo believes very strongly that nobody is good in governance except himself. Those who know him very closely often described him as Very Difficult to Please, Domineering, highly vindictive and as slippery as an eel. This description cast credibility question on the entire letter and the real intention of the writer which is not only for political relevance but also to incite Nigerians, malign and embarrass President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and undermine his administration. The letter was devoid of evidence or facts known to even the author. The phrase if it is true and third party references as Suswan told me, means that he was not sure of his facts and should be ignored to avoid unnecessary political tension that could over heat the polity and distract Mr. President from focusing on the Transformation Agenda of his administration before it is too late. (ii) Nigerians are very much familiar with Obasanjos antics and his well known Politics of Do or Die for which he will stop at nothing as long as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan continue to insist on due process and refused to be used as stooge. The letter, is one of his numerous subterranean plots designed to scuttle Mr. Presidents constitutional right for a second term in office come 2015 using his malicious propaganda agents masquerading as G5 Governors who are more of gangsters than politicians. Based on this, I considered it unnecessary and not befitting for Mr. President to engage Obasanjo or his media platforms in a war of words or public tiff. (iii) Finally, A cursory reading of the letter clearly showed that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was unknowingly indirectly writing his 1999 - 2007 administration Score Card. This is because we can clearly trace all the allegations made against President Goodluck Jonathan back to Obasanjo, either as the originator or Perpetrator. How ever, in view of heightened popular demand by eminent Nigerians including Chief Edwin Clark, Chief Richard Akinjide and others for Mr. President to respond, and having also thoroughly read through President Goodluck Jonathans response which to me, was a master piece, highly revealing and an excellent lesson in civility, I felt convinced that the reply was indeed very necessary and therefore had to align my opinion with others. The allegations were too embarrassing, inciting and weighty to be ignored or swept under the carpet. There is more to Obasanjo letter that meet the eye. Chief Obasanjo has crossed political red-line in his actions and should be quizzed and made to substantiate in sizzling details his claims in the interest of public safety and national security before Obasanjos mines explode. Nigerians are watching. According to my people, When an elephant decides to be agile like a monkey, he ceases to be an elephant and should be treated as such. Obasanjos venomous attack on government demeaned him as an Elder Statesman. Statesmen are not men who talk like youths, but one whose utterances does not fuel, rather it douses tension in the land, solve problems and engender peace. This is statesmanship. Obasanjo should be made to proof his allegations to the satisfaction of all Nigerians. Particularly, the issues of keeping of 1000 people on political watch list and training of snippers by President Jonathan before it is too late. Nigerians are all ears. The Obasanjo we know, is friend today, enemy tomorrow. With his avowed, desperate and discredited mission to stop Goodluck Jonathan second term in 2015, he is capable of orchestrating anything untoward and blame same on Goodluck Ebele Jonathan government if nothing is done to check his excesses before it is too late. In this case, he has failed because he who shakes a tree truck Shakes himself. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a Special Divine Political Gift to the people of Nigeria. His battle is of the God and no one can fight God and win. He is our choice for President come 2015. Nigeria belong to all of us. No person is bigger than this Country no matter how highly placed or has the monopoly of verbal recklessness. We can not continue to condone or encourage the arrogance of Provocative Statements, Unguarded Utterances, Verbal Hostility and Inciting baseless Letter Writing just to blackmail the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan by those who believed Nigeria is their private estate and have the patent right to choose and own who become the President of this Country. I am worried because these statements are made by those who should know better as Elder Statesmen yet they talk more like youths. It is on record that some frontline politicians from the North had threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable and spill blood if for any reason they fail to win Presidential Election. What do we see today? The emergence of Boko Haram insurgency with associated killings of innocent Nigerians, serialized insults on Mr.President, inciting letter writings, unwarranted whistle blowing and unholy alliance to heat up the polity, mislead the gullible public and run-down the government of Goodluck Jonathan in order to stop him from 2015 presidential election. Let it be known to all that the fate of Jonathan in 2015 depend on God and the good people of Nigeria and not on Nigerias criminally rich Cabal, and the self acclaimed king makers who believed they have the final say on who gets public office, where, when and how. Recently, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was alleged to have said that the next elections are likely to be violent and that many people are likely going to die and the only alternative left to get to power is to take it by force....... This is verbal recklessness taken too far considering the status of El-Rufai as a man who served this nation at the highest level and currently a key chieftain of All Progressive Congress (APC). In the same vein, social media quoted a sitting state governor to have said Only a foolish man will vote for Jonathan. How could a man in such a high office as a governor descend so low to use such indecent word and inflammatory language on the President of his own country in the name of politics. It is a classic demonstration of indecency and insult not only on Mr. president but also to those of us Nigerians who have vowed to vote for Jonathan come 2015. Are Nigerians no longer free to to vote for any candidate of their choice? If we can, why the abuse on those who have chosen to vote for Jonathan? It is becoming too shameful that most of our public officers lack basic decorum and civility in making public speeches. Their public conducts and speeches should douse tension and give hope to the people and not to incite Nigerians against government in the name of politics. What we observe today are public officers who talk before they think not minding the sensitivity of the issue. I urge the relevance security agencies to call Obasanjo and his allies (who believed they are untouchable) to order before they sink the smooth sailing ship of this nation due to loose lips. Mr. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is not a magician. It is practically impossible for him to fix Nigeria in one day. He has done exceedingly well and had creditably discharged himself as the President of this country in spite of the obvious challenges. We need to encourage him and not to resort to making baseless provocative statements and incitements capable of misleading the Nigerian public, cause disaffection and destroy our bond of unity as a nation. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan giant strides could be seen from the impressive development indices and bright economic outlook of his administration visibly noticed in all sectors of the economy including - Agriculture, Power, Education, others are employment generation, Banking, Transport, and Foreign Direct Investment etc. His developmental strides which have been widely acknowledged as highly impressive have kindled a prairie fire that had swept the minds of well meaning Nigerians and beyond. It will warm those who believe in it and born those who fight its progress. Dr. Isaac Mietamuno Jaja Arise Nigeria.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 02:15:55 +0000