Editor’s note: Months passed since Dele
Momodu, prominent magazine publisher and
popular writer, has written his desperate memo
to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerian journalist writes his third party memo
to leader of the nation, sharing his views on
wat is called change.
People refer to me as Buhari’s man and ask
“what’s your Baba doing ooo?”
Your Excellency, it’s been months since I
wrote my desperate memo to you. I wish to
thank you once more for reacting promptly
and swiftly at that time and for giving me the
honour and privilege of meeting you in your
office. I remember presenting you a special
compilation of my articles, especially the
many admonitions to your immediate
predecessor, President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan. After handing over the book to
you, Sir, I promised to continue acting in my
self-appointed capacity as Special Adviser
because of the need to tell you what those
very close to you might not be able to say.
They might be afraid of you and your
reaction. The truth is you are a plain and
simple man imbued with a mission and a
passion to save this great country but you
cannot do it on your own. You can only do it
if people close to you, who should be
advising you, tell you as it is so that you can
do that which you were elected to do.
Sir, it is on the above basis that I’m back
today for reasons some of which you
probably know already from your own
personal observations and readings. But
before I go further, kindly permit me to set
some records straight before some
conspiracy specialists step forward to ascribe
other people’s opinion to me. I shall clearly
expose my personal views and state where I
belong or stand for any avoidance of doubt.
Everywhere I go people refer to me as
Buhari’s man and ask “what’s your Baba
doing ooo?”. I seriously have no problem with
that. I’m proud that I joined so many other
Nigerians as well as foreign friends in
supporting a man of impeccable pedigree and
solid integrity. No matter your view of
President Muhammadu Buhari, one thing his
bitterest enemies give to him is the fact that
he is way above the level of most mortals in
matters of uprightness.on
This is why many of us volunteered to
scream your name to high heavens and we
were ready to follow you to Golgotha. Many
of your opponents have not gotten over the
thrashing you gave them and would forever
seek everything and anything to smear you
with. It is therefore not surprising that there
has been so much noise about what you’ve
done or left undone. Whether they are right
or wrong in their assessment, I feel it is right
and proper to let you know what people are
saying about you including your most ardent
fans and supporters. Sir, please, let’s not
dismiss them as mere rabble-rousers. A
groundswell of public opinion can easily
metamorphose into an ocean of
disenchantment and cataclysmic confusion.
In short, I believe your enemies are skilfully
setting you up for failure in order to be able
to taunt your supporters later by saying we
“we told you so!” In this regard it is pertinent
to always bear in mind the Yoruba saying
‘ehin kunle l’ota wa, ile ni a se ni ngbe’!
Loosely translated it means “the enemy lurk
outside in the backyard but your foe resides
inside your house.”
The change you promised Nigerians is fast
becoming a mirage
What is the matter this time? Many Nigerians
are lamenting that the change you promised
them is fast becoming a mirage. It is
certainly not what they are seeing right now.
They insist that your style and methodology
appear too slow for a nation in dire straits
and in need of urgent and miraculous
deliverance. They are not happy that you are
no longer the prudent man they used to
know. They think you’ve already capitulated
by frolicking with members of the bourgeois
class and junketing around the world while
Nigeria burns like Dante’s inferno. They are
miffed that you are still keeping the
Presidential fleet when you are supposed to
have sold most of them off, if not all. They
are worried that the mandate of four years
they gave you is being unwittingly frittered
away and before you know it all the goodwill
you garnered would have evaporated and
vamoosed. Time, they say, waits for no man!
The economy crisis
The economy and the free fall of the Naira
have become worrisome. There are all
manner of rumours that may make matters
worse, if true, about the current state and
status of our banks. Though the Central Bank
of Nigeria has come out forcefully to dispel
the dangerous rumours, they want you to
unleash your economic master-plan as soon
as possible, so that what was once a
baseless rumour does not somehow become
harsh reality. They are expecting a blue-print
that would guarantee a farewell to poverty.
On this I agree with the opinion that
something drastic has to be conjured up to
arrest this drift to perdition. Nothing
amplifies this monumental tragedy than the
debit card fiasco which stipulates that
Nigerians cannot live in a civilised world by
walking into any international hotel or shop
of their choice and paying with their cards.
This is terribly depressing.
What this means in plain terms is that
Nigerians must patronise the black market
and run the risk of carrying cash recklessly
whenever they travel abroad. It makes a
mockery of the cashless society that the CBN
has fought so hard to put in place and
jeopardises your fight against corruption
because government officials who travel
abroad must of necessity carry large sums of
cash if they are not to be embarrassed or
even disgraced. Sir, the most important thing
is that this is not healthy at all. The last
thing your Government should be telling the
world is that we are so broke that we are on
our knees. The world laughs at us and treats
us with derision because we have resources
other than crude oil which should make us
one of the richest in the world if we properly
harness them. We must stop giving the
impression that we are so impoverished when
it is leadership, brigandage and a lack of
focus that has failed us.
Boko Haram Issue
The other matter that continues to embarrass
Nigerians is the issue of Boko Haram. The
matter is made worse by the fact that you
are a retired army General who should know
and have what it takes to drastically reduce
if not exterminate the cankerworm. But
rather the menace has exacerbated. It has
snowballed into a seemingly unquenchable
conflagration. I had argued repeatedly that
the military alone cannot achieve this result.
Intelligence seems to be the key word here
Also identifying and locating some of the
cells and prominent sympathisers is crucial.
Those who arrogantly and naively say that no
form of negotiation should take place are
very far from the theatre of war. They have
probably not heard of a group called IRA, the
Irish Republican Army, that terrorised Great
Britain for God knows how many years. I and
my directors at Ovation International were
lucky to escape a massive explosion that
shattered the peace and tranquillity of
London Docklands when a bomb went off
inside the South Quay light rail station which
was next to our office at Beaufort Court. The
battle of wits and the war of attrition had to
be fought using the carrot and the stick
approach. It was the carrot approach that
eventually succeeded and the United
Kingdom has now been rid of that hitherto
interminable scourge for many years!
Sir, you have a herculean task ahead but it is
not a mission impossible. Other nations are
experiencing almost similar challenges and
they are forging ahead. The first indicator to
exhibit our seriousness is when we stop the
business as usual syndrome and tighten the
belts of government officials and politicians.
If the idea is to continue along the path of
profligacy then Nigeria is contagiously jinxed.
The Republic of Tanzania has already taken
the lead. I will publish a report that has
already gone viral below this letter as a
veritable example of what is possible.
Momodu, prominent magazine publisher and
popular writer, has written his desperate memo
to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nigerian journalist writes his third party memo
to leader of the nation, sharing his views on
wat is called change.
People refer to me as Buhari’s man and ask
“what’s your Baba doing ooo?”
Your Excellency, it’s been months since I
wrote my desperate memo to you. I wish to
thank you once more for reacting promptly
and swiftly at that time and for giving me the
honour and privilege of meeting you in your
office. I remember presenting you a special
compilation of my articles, especially the
many admonitions to your immediate
predecessor, President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan. After handing over the book to
you, Sir, I promised to continue acting in my
self-appointed capacity as Special Adviser
because of the need to tell you what those
very close to you might not be able to say.
They might be afraid of you and your
reaction. The truth is you are a plain and
simple man imbued with a mission and a
passion to save this great country but you
cannot do it on your own. You can only do it
if people close to you, who should be
advising you, tell you as it is so that you can
do that which you were elected to do.
Sir, it is on the above basis that I’m back
today for reasons some of which you
probably know already from your own
personal observations and readings. But
before I go further, kindly permit me to set
some records straight before some
conspiracy specialists step forward to ascribe
other people’s opinion to me. I shall clearly
expose my personal views and state where I
belong or stand for any avoidance of doubt.
Everywhere I go people refer to me as
Buhari’s man and ask “what’s your Baba
doing ooo?”. I seriously have no problem with
that. I’m proud that I joined so many other
Nigerians as well as foreign friends in
supporting a man of impeccable pedigree and
solid integrity. No matter your view of
President Muhammadu Buhari, one thing his
bitterest enemies give to him is the fact that
he is way above the level of most mortals in
matters of uprightness.on
This is why many of us volunteered to
scream your name to high heavens and we
were ready to follow you to Golgotha. Many
of your opponents have not gotten over the
thrashing you gave them and would forever
seek everything and anything to smear you
with. It is therefore not surprising that there
has been so much noise about what you’ve
done or left undone. Whether they are right
or wrong in their assessment, I feel it is right
and proper to let you know what people are
saying about you including your most ardent
fans and supporters. Sir, please, let’s not
dismiss them as mere rabble-rousers. A
groundswell of public opinion can easily
metamorphose into an ocean of
disenchantment and cataclysmic confusion.
In short, I believe your enemies are skilfully
setting you up for failure in order to be able
to taunt your supporters later by saying we
“we told you so!” In this regard it is pertinent
to always bear in mind the Yoruba saying
‘ehin kunle l’ota wa, ile ni a se ni ngbe’!
Loosely translated it means “the enemy lurk
outside in the backyard but your foe resides
inside your house.”
The change you promised Nigerians is fast
becoming a mirage
What is the matter this time? Many Nigerians
are lamenting that the change you promised
them is fast becoming a mirage. It is
certainly not what they are seeing right now.
They insist that your style and methodology
appear too slow for a nation in dire straits
and in need of urgent and miraculous
deliverance. They are not happy that you are
no longer the prudent man they used to
know. They think you’ve already capitulated
by frolicking with members of the bourgeois
class and junketing around the world while
Nigeria burns like Dante’s inferno. They are
miffed that you are still keeping the
Presidential fleet when you are supposed to
have sold most of them off, if not all. They
are worried that the mandate of four years
they gave you is being unwittingly frittered
away and before you know it all the goodwill
you garnered would have evaporated and
vamoosed. Time, they say, waits for no man!
The economy crisis
The economy and the free fall of the Naira
have become worrisome. There are all
manner of rumours that may make matters
worse, if true, about the current state and
status of our banks. Though the Central Bank
of Nigeria has come out forcefully to dispel
the dangerous rumours, they want you to
unleash your economic master-plan as soon
as possible, so that what was once a
baseless rumour does not somehow become
harsh reality. They are expecting a blue-print
that would guarantee a farewell to poverty.
On this I agree with the opinion that
something drastic has to be conjured up to
arrest this drift to perdition. Nothing
amplifies this monumental tragedy than the
debit card fiasco which stipulates that
Nigerians cannot live in a civilised world by
walking into any international hotel or shop
of their choice and paying with their cards.
This is terribly depressing.
What this means in plain terms is that
Nigerians must patronise the black market
and run the risk of carrying cash recklessly
whenever they travel abroad. It makes a
mockery of the cashless society that the CBN
has fought so hard to put in place and
jeopardises your fight against corruption
because government officials who travel
abroad must of necessity carry large sums of
cash if they are not to be embarrassed or
even disgraced. Sir, the most important thing
is that this is not healthy at all. The last
thing your Government should be telling the
world is that we are so broke that we are on
our knees. The world laughs at us and treats
us with derision because we have resources
other than crude oil which should make us
one of the richest in the world if we properly
harness them. We must stop giving the
impression that we are so impoverished when
it is leadership, brigandage and a lack of
focus that has failed us.
Boko Haram Issue
The other matter that continues to embarrass
Nigerians is the issue of Boko Haram. The
matter is made worse by the fact that you
are a retired army General who should know
and have what it takes to drastically reduce
if not exterminate the cankerworm. But
rather the menace has exacerbated. It has
snowballed into a seemingly unquenchable
conflagration. I had argued repeatedly that
the military alone cannot achieve this result.
Intelligence seems to be the key word here
Also identifying and locating some of the
cells and prominent sympathisers is crucial.
Those who arrogantly and naively say that no
form of negotiation should take place are
very far from the theatre of war. They have
probably not heard of a group called IRA, the
Irish Republican Army, that terrorised Great
Britain for God knows how many years. I and
my directors at Ovation International were
lucky to escape a massive explosion that
shattered the peace and tranquillity of
London Docklands when a bomb went off
inside the South Quay light rail station which
was next to our office at Beaufort Court. The
battle of wits and the war of attrition had to
be fought using the carrot and the stick
approach. It was the carrot approach that
eventually succeeded and the United
Kingdom has now been rid of that hitherto
interminable scourge for many years!
Sir, you have a herculean task ahead but it is
not a mission impossible. Other nations are
experiencing almost similar challenges and
they are forging ahead. The first indicator to
exhibit our seriousness is when we stop the
business as usual syndrome and tighten the
belts of government officials and politicians.
If the idea is to continue along the path of
profligacy then Nigeria is contagiously jinxed.
The Republic of Tanzania has already taken
the lead. I will publish a report that has
already gone viral below this letter as a
veritable example of what is possible.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment