OPEN LETTER TO NIGERIAN LEADERS

OPEN LETTER TO NIGERIAN LEADERS by David King (a satirical poem)


1. Dear Nigerian Leaders,
this is a candid letter to all of you whom we have either voted for or have been forced on us by the leaders we elected.

2. Whatever title you might be carrying, be it President, Vice President, Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Governor, Deputy Governor, Minister, Commissioner, Ambassador, High Commissioner, SA, PA or whatever, please see to it that we don't all die off before we the youth of Nigeria start enjoying the dividends of democracy.
3. I have chosen this medium to address you because we are in the era of open letters, e.g. open letter from Obasanjo to Jonathan, open letter from Iyabo Obasanjo to Olusegun Obasanjo, open letter from Chief Edwin Clarke to Chief Obasanjo, etc, etc.
4. Since the advent of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 and even since before then, you people have been referring to we the youth as the leaders of tomorrow, but up till now na siddon look we still dey do while you people are recycling yourselves in different positions.
5. How can we explain that the youth leaders of the various political parties at one time or the other were above the age of 60. The UN defines a youth as “a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood’s independence and awareness. It can be based for instance on the definition given in the African Youth Charter where “youth” means “every person between the ages of 15 and 35 years”. So why are 60-year-olds being named as Youth Leaders in Nigeria? Yeye wan begin dey smell abi? God dey sha!
6. Hey, Oga Leader, why is it that our teachers are poorly paid but our leaders are handsomely remunerated? Primary school teachers are frolicking with abject poverty and wallowing in stupendous penury while their products are stinking rich. Haba Oga Leader, please try a little more for our teachers na. Do you want our teachers to turn to petty trading and neglect the pupils? Al of them will become like Akpors. Don't let our University and polytechnic lecturers embark on needless strikes that will set the educational development of our students back. Ok just check out this, many female students who returned to school after the last ASUU strike came back with pregnancies. Some of the boys decided to abandon school and learn a trade. Some died. Many got married. And many have even forgoteen what they had learned before the strike. Hia!
7. Dearest Nigerian Leaders, when you were campaigning you promised us heaven and earth. You promised free education, free water, free housing, free wives and free husbands, etc. But soon after you are elected you will make Abuja or your state capital your permanent home. You will change your sim cards and hire many personal assistants to keep people away from you. Its not fair oo. Some of you will go to the National Assembly and be shouting nay and aye without making any meaning contributing throughout the four years. Some will be buying bulletproof cars and marrying new wives.
8. I know some of you are seriously trying, but that is not enough.
9. We the youth of this country believe seriously in you and some of us even go out of way to ensure you win your elections, but time after time we are disappointed by your actions immediately you are sworn in. It is always the youth that are killed in election violence. It is the youth that are used to conduct the election. It is the youth that are used by the politicians to ensure victory at all cost. But at the end of the day the youth will be effectively left out when the spoils of the office are being shared. Haba!
10. The Holy Book tells us to pray for our leaders and we have been praying ever since but the situation is still standing kamkpe, no shaking. The rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer.
11. Oga Leader, we the youth cannot even marry confidently anymore because our future wives have been spoiled by the money of these so-called big men. How will my future wife respect me when I'm buying her recharge cards while one big aristo is buying her iPhone and Blackberry handsets. I will buy her weave-on and he will open saloon for her. I will give her money for keke NAPEP and he will buy her tear-nylon brand new car. I will offer to take her to the nearby mama-put and he will give her return ticket to Dubai for shopping. Chai!
12. Dear Leaders, I know that insurgencies and incessant industrial actions by various trade unions are seriously acting as stumbling blocks to you and your plans for my dear Nigeria, but at least let us see your effort and we will appreciate it even if it is not adequate.
13. Fix electricity for us and we will gainfully employ ourselves because we know the government cannot fully employ all of us. Our girls will go into hairdressing, tailoring, and other ventures while our boys will go in barbing, graphic designing, music, and so on, but there must be light, if not, we will keep using all our profits to buy fuel to power our I-pass-my-neighbor generators, and at the end of the day we will only be working for the importers and retailers of petrol.
14. If there is stable electricity, we will use our talents to feed ourselves instead of craving to join the military, police and paramilitary agencies. The rate at which all the youth of this country are joining the paramilitary these days, everyone in this country will soon be wearing one uniform or the other. But many of them are not joining because they like the paramilitary, its just because there's nothing else to do to earn a decent living.
15. The only activities that are helping the youth escape poverty now are music, comedy and football. If not, how will Okocha, Kanu, Mikel, Martins, Keshi, Ahmed Musa, Ogenyi Onazi, and others have escaped poverty? Psquare, Ice Prince, Basket Mouth, Gandoki, Kafee and people like Wande Coal escaped poverty through music, comedy and dance. I know that they sometimes pass immoral messages in their music but unfortunately that is what people are willing to pay for. The government is doing enough to develop football but not much is being done for the entertainment industry.
16. Because of these developments, people that have two left legs now want to play football. People with croaky frog voices are singing, dry people are cracking drab jokes, and every unemployed youth wants to become a deejay. They said afterall all you need is a laptop and virtual dj software, and you can download the latest songs from the web, grow dreadlocks on your head and you have become a DJ. But we can't blame them because everyone has declared war on poverty.
17. My dear Leaders, our roads are bad, and instead of the authorities to concentrate on rehabilitating the roads, the road safety people are keenly interested in introducing new number plates.
18. Instead of strengthening the Police Force, new paramilitary agencies are springing up, instead of us to pray for our leaders, we are cursing them, instead of condemning corruption, we are celebrating them, instead of educating our children, we are sending them out to hawk on the streets, instead of our young ladies to dress, they are undressing in the name of fashion. Everything is just turning up side down.
19. Oga Leader, even parents and we the youth have our own faults. Parents are charging exorbitant fees as bride price, and the girls are getting older and giving birth in their fathers' houses. Boys are now getting married thinking they are men, forgetting that marriage is about maturity and not about age. Mothers are pushing their daughters to flirt with celebrities, to get pregnant for them, and to force them into marriage. That's why the likes of Peter of Psquare, and their oga at the top, 2face all have children out of wedlock.
20. Once upon a time in Nigeria, bankers were held in very high esteem, but these days bankers cannot dare to do shakara because they can be sacked at any time and their employers will blame it on government's economic policies.
21. Leader oh Leader, we cannot do without you and you cannot do without us. We are partners in this project. Give us the basic necessities of life and we will continue to support and pray for you as the Holy Book has instructed us to do.
22. My dear Government, give us light, good roads, transparent elections, equal opportunities, adequate security, force the reduction of bride price, ensure that bail is free in police stations, punish whoever tries to bribe a policeman, soldier or public official. Make it illegal for people to decamp from PDP to APC and then from APC to PDP again and again, be very careful about people you give national awards to, pay your workers reasonable minimum wage, pay your policemen and soldiers well so that they won't be tempted to demand bribe.
23. Mr. President, tell your State Governors to look inward and generate more revenue from their domains instead of depending heavily on Federal Allocations, screen your Ministerial candidates properly to avoid appointing political jobbers as Ministers.
24. Mr. Governor, when you are contesting for office, choose your friend as your running mate to avoid fighting with him in future. Appoint Commissioners based on merit instead of doing political compensation. Don't appoint too many Special Advisers and other aides, they will just swell your wage bill without any productivity. Take care of your residents and civil servants and don't tell people to ''Go and die''. And it is not necessary for you to contest for Senate after your 8 years. Also, avoid forcing your candidate on the people when your tenures elapse. Let the people choose their own leader. Let Godfatherism die a natural death.
25. Mr. Senator, Legislator, Honorable, or who ma sef, election is not a do or die affair. Stop switching the peoples' loyalty from their Governor to yourself. Make laws that will benefit your people instead of sitting in the National Assembly to shout aye and nay without knowing the facts of the matter. Your sitting allowance is not just for sitting, it is for meaningful contributions.
26. Mr. Local Government Chairman and Mr. Councillor, use the money allocated to you to better the living conditions of the people in your locality. It is not compulsory for you to marry more wives or acquire more concubines, or buy more houses and cars with the people's money.
27. My dear fellow youths, make hay while the sun still shines. Marry a friend and stop looking for a designer wife or husband. Work hard now that you are still young and still have abundant energy. Stop yahoo yahoo. Stop praying for your father to die so that you can claim the inheritance. Struggle for your own. Ladies, dress decently and stop making married men to break their wedding vows. Stop carrying plots of land on your head in the name of Brazilian hair, you will break your neck, use that money to start a business. Guys, if any sugar mummy toasts you, tell her that you respect your mother and won't sleep with her mate. Young ladies stop this longer throat and accept what your boyfriend can afford instead of sleeping with your father's secondary school principals because they have nothing but a few coins to lose, but you can lose your pride, your virginity, and even your life.
28. I know my letter is not up to 18 pages as is the standard, but I just had to get this off my mind. He who has eyes, let him read and do.
29. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria and long live the Nigerian Youth.
Signed
David King

President Jonathan asked CBN Governor Sanuni Lamido Sanusi to resign.

 
That is according to a report by Thisday. Find it below...

President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to resign immediately on the grounds that the letter Sanusi wrote to him on the unremitted $49.8 billion oil revenue to the Federation Account, was leaked to former President Olusegun Obasanjo by the CBN governor.

But Sanusi who has denied leaking the letter to anyone, has refused to resign and informed the president during the heated telephone exchange that he could only be removed by two-thirds of the Senate as required by law.

THISDAY learnt that the president had called Sanusi and accused him of leaking the letter to Obasanjo, which enabled the latter to use it as one of many allegations he levelled against Jonathan in his letter titled: “Before It is Too Late”.

The president, who a source in the presidency said was very angry and was not prepared to allow Sanusi to proceed on his terminal leave in March, asked him to tender his resignation before the close of business last Tuesday.

However, Sanusi denied that he had leaked his letter to Obasanjo and made it abundantly clear he would not be forced out, except he is removed by two-thirds of the Senate.

He also told the president that the letter was available in the presidential villa, available in the finance ministry and available in the central bank and wondered how he (Sanusi) could have leaked the letter, which was so widely available, to a former two-term president of Nigeria who has his people all over the place.

Sanusi also expressed his surprise to the president that he was the one being asked to resign instead of the president to ask those responsible for the non-remittance of the funds to resign.

His response, which threw the president aback, degenerated into a heated exchange during which Sanusi told the president that as the federal government’s Chief Economic Adviser, mandatorily required to bring issues of critical economic importance to the attention of the president, he had done a patriotic duty to his country.

“He informed the president that it is necessary to deal with the issues and not the letter that had been leaked since it has since been established that it was not $49.8 billion that had not been remitted to the Federation Account, but $10.8 billion, which was still in dispute and by any stretch of imagination was still a large sum.

“Sanusi felt he was being forced out for doing his patriotic duty to his country by drawing attention to the unaccounted funds. He only has two months to go, so this was a ploy to force him out and destroy his career and reputation.

“He knew this and for this reason, refused to throw in the towel as requested by the president,” a source familiar with the conversation said.

But the president was said to have remained adamant and insisted on the CBN governor’s resignation.

Following the exchange, Sanusi, another source said, briefed his close aides at the CBN and family of what had transpired between himself and the president.
The source said he did it to shield himself from harm, as he felt his life might be in danger for defying the direct order of the president.

When contacted Wednesday on the issue, the president’s Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, did not pick up or return THISDAY’s calls and text messages.

Also, efforts to get Sanusi and the CBN to speak on the matter met a brick wall.

Sanusi had written to the president in September informing him that, among other issues, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had not remitted $49.8 billion of oil revenue to the Federation Account over a 19-month period.

Although the letter was not made public until December 4, 2013 when it was leaked, Obasanjo referred to it in his letter dated December 2, 2013, to the president, in which the former president also accused Jonathan of being clannish, destroying the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), compiling a political watch-list of 1,000 people and training snipers to target opponents of the administration, among other allegations.

The president had since denied all of Obasanjo's claims in his rebuttal of the former president's letter.
Expectedly, Sanusi’s letter drew the ire of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which called on the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the president.

In addition, the Senate directed its Committee on Finance to probe the contents of Sanusi’s letter.

However, Sanusi’s letter was immediately denied by NNPC, which accused the CBN governor of not only playing politics but also of being ignorant of the operations of the oil and gas sector.

Following NNPC’s repeated denials, a joint press conference was convened by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Sanusi, during which it was revealed that a reconciliation process was ongoing, and had so far established that it was not $49.8 billion that had not been repatriated to the Federation Account but $10.8 billion.

During the press conference, however, Sanusi attempted to distance himself from the statements made by Okonjo-Iweala and Alison-Madueke, stating that it was $12 billion that had not been remitted by NNPC.

But the finance minister immediately interjected, insisting that it was $10.8 billion that had not been remitted to the Federation Account and was still in dispute.

But it is not clear what would now happen to the CBN governor who has already indicated that he will leave office in March on a three-month terminal leave ahead of the expiration of his tenure in June.

He had earlier written to the president last year that he would not be seeking a second term.

Clearly the Jonathan presidency must be feeling uncomfortable with Sanusi's remaining five months in office in this political season.

As at last night, efforts were being made to reconcile the president and the CBN governor and create an orderly transition at the apex bank so as not to harm growing confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Old National Anthem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyXxbSVES28&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Police arrest Rivers state lawmaker Hon.Chidi Lloyd, over alleged murder.

   
Hon. Chidi Lloyd, the Rivers State lawmaker who was arrested for hitting his colleague with a mace during the mayhem at Rivers State Assembly in July 2013, is in trouble again.

The River State Police Command has arrested him for the alleged murder of 2 people, one Kingsley Ejeuo and police sergeant Urang Obadiah.

In a statement issued by the Rivers State police, Chidi Lloyd is accused of knocking down and killing the police sergeant while pursuing Kingsley Ejeuo who he also killed. The statement below...

“The Rivers State Police Command has arrested Hon. Chidi Llyod of the Rivers State House of Assembly for murder of police Sgt. Urang Obediah and Mr. Kingsley Ejeuo, his kinsman and arch political opponent. He was arrested on his way to join Governor Amaechi Rotimi in his private jet at the Airforce Base to escape justice.

“Hon. Chidi Lloyd on December 30, 2013 while pursing his political opponent, knocked down Sgt. Urang Obadiah, in spite of his effort to stop him, rammed and killed him and went ahead to crush the Passat car of Mr. Kingsley Ejeuo was driving and killed him.

“Initially the Police thought that it was a mere accident, which ought to have been a manslaughter. The Commissioner of Police directed ACP Aliyu Garba, the Area Commander Metro, to visit him in his hospital bed and commiserate with him, conscious of what he did, Chidi Lloyd relocated to another hospital.

“Facts emerged that Chidi Lloyd drove a bullet-proof vehicle while pursuing his political opponent, late Mr Kingsley Ejeuo, and he (Lloyd) knocked down Sgt. Urang Obediah, who died on the spot and (Lloyd) moved ahead to smash a political opponent in his Passat car who equally died instantly."

The police command also claimed in the statement that Chidi Lloyd escaped from the hospital where he was being guarded by four policemen. He is currently in police custody.

SEASON OF LETTER PART 3 (ASARI DOKUBO VERSION)

02 January 2014
Olusegun Obasanjo
Balogun of Owu
Obansajo Farms,
Ota,
Ogun State.
RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE (RE:
OBASANJO’S LETTER TO PRESIDENT
GOODLUCK JONATHAN)
Ordinarily, I would not want to dignify you with a reply to your ill-conceived letter, as that has a way of oiling your elbow or prop your self- importance – provoking your well-known self-
will.
I have also delayed my reply for one reason- to perfectly gauge public opinion on your latest onslaught against President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan – President of a country full of mind-boggling contradictions that you’ve always, falsely regarded as your personal creation.
At least that’s the spirit behind your insolence, impudence and make-believe that point to the fact that you’re above national censure, ideological / ethical direction and control.
Finally, I have had to reply you because of the nature of my past encounters with you – encounters that I feel should convey my deepest sense of grief, as it relates to your recent gaffes, shocking errors and dwindling self-esteem.
It is a common knowledge that if not for the imperious nature of Nigeria and the monumental fraud that attended its creation, caused primarily by the 1914 Lugadian error, it would’ve been very difficult for the likes of you to stand before me, talk less address me as a leader.
This is so as my royal pedigree, as an Amachree and as an Omubo with dignified accoutrements would’ve denied you such leverage.
In comparison to your nebulous background, I doubt what your shadowy pedigree is, what you’ve always avoided in all your discourses, and which you’ve deliberately shrouded in obscurity.
Because if indeed your pedigree is anything significant in the Owu quarter of Egbaland, many like me would’ve long known it, or deduced it from your puffy, inestimable swan-songs that reinstate your pride and vaulting ego.
Nobody has ever attested or verified the history of your background. The background of a man is important because it is what depicts his social standing and sense of history. Many even doubt if you are a true Yoruba man.
With such strings of doubtful pedigree attached to your person and with a history of dreadful perversities that is attached to your memory – this is as your characteristic way of life- defeats customary belief, ground norms and persuasions.
I wish to state that but for history and posterity, my grandmother Princess Okukuba W.D.Goodhead scion of the great King Amachree, royal lineage of the Kalabari state, in the Ijaw heartland, taught me the need to clear all false accusation or charges that are designed to malign and mislead others, whenever they are hatched by depraved trouble-makers like you. Connected to this is
the need not to allow any cowardly abuse or insult to go unanswered, especially when mischievously made by the lowest of the lowest amongst rascal folks, to whose rank you belong.
Sometimes I find it hard to believe that you once led this country.
I find this very enlightening that you seem to provide the true reason why this false entity called Nigeria; have had unending, mysterious and tragic incidences ever since you were thrown up to direct the affairs of this geographical area called Nigeria- striving vigorously to dictate her down-ward push, down the edge of a vaulting, irredeemable precipice.
Your negative influence over Nigeria seems to define and redefine this fraud-state called Nigeria that has since her creation, done more harm than good to those entrapped in it.
In other to educate you on my background, I am Mujahid Dokubo-Asari; was born Melford Dokubo Goodhead( Jnr) to an aristocratic family in Kalabari. I am the son of my father,
Hon Justice Melford Dokubo Goodhead (Snr) a descendant of a long line of jurists, inventors, scholars, statesmen and successful business men. Because of my outstanding background and seeming feat of personal success, I’ve repeatedly shunned the toga of false, foreign and dubious praise-singers that you crave in your bid to get every attention from all quarters. I don’t seek to be venerated by men or pursue inordinate hero-worship from perceived lackeys – what you’ve lived for and pursue with zeal. Therefore I remain who I am – Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Alabo Edi Abali of Kalabari – a great scion of the King Amachree dynasty.
http://dailypost.com.ng/2014/01/03/open-letter-asari-dokubo-replies-obasanjo-full-text/