OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT JONATHAN FROM A CONCERNED CITIZEN

Since its an open letter season in Nigeria, let us the letters keep coming.

Dear Mr. President, It seems the best way to get your attention is to write a direct and open letter to you, I know you may not read this directly but I am sure someone close to you will, if they don’t tell you about this letter that is the first sign that they do not love you and your administration.

As one of the millions of Nigerian citizens in the diaspora, I do not care about what former President Obasanjo
intend to achieve with his letter, but I care about the content and the various allegations he made against you and your administration. Neither do I care about what Iyabo Obasanjo has in mind in her purported “letter”, if she actually wrote it, I will take it as a family matter which well-mannered Africans would not bring out in public.

I think it will be correct to say you are one of the luckiest people on earth going by your history as narrated by you. For you, a once shoeless schoolboy to attain the highest political office in the nation can only be ascribed to good luck and to some extent loyalty to the party. When you were sidelined and some people wanted to block you from becoming the acting president, how Nigerians in their millions fought on your side is still fresh in my mind, they saw you as one of them, one who will alleviate their sufferings, the one who will effect the anticipated change. But I am sorry to tell you that they have since been disillusioned and absolutely disappointed.

I am not going to blame you for the deplorable state of the nation; at least I won’t blame you for me and thousands like me becoming toilet cleaners abroad after so many years of roaming the street with no job, or for doctors who came abroad to become security guard; or lawyers who became cab drivers in the streets of Chicago. I understand also, that it is not your fault that oil theft is going on in the South-South; it is not your fault that Boko Haram terrorists are killing people in thousands in the North; it is not your fault that some sections of the country are agitating to secede. But what I think is your fault is that you have not done much to stop all these from escalating and getting out of hand.

If I may inform you sir, the main reason I left Nigeria was corruption, everywhere I go that monster stares me in the face with its 36 eyes! When I heard that we will be governed by a PhD holder, I jumped up in joy that alas! All will be right but what do I find out? Exact opposite.

It is a fact that during OBJ’s administration, ICPC was under-funded and EFCC was used to harass opponents and dissidents, but one thing I noticed was that all those prosecuted (or persecuted) by EFCC may be opponents, they were actually corrupt. It is a terrible irony that most if not all of them has either been pardoned by your regime or their conviction overturned!

I will dare say that you are not corrupt, but sir, most of the people around you are! I think it is beneath your office to go on pilgrimage with someone involved in a corruption scandal; it reminds one of that saying “show me your friend, and I tell you who you are”. It is a known fact that one of the people close to you and currently a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is still wanted in the United States for drug charges. British authorities arrested him when he landed there in 1998 and held him for five years during extradition hearings. Ultimately, however, British courts let him go after ruling that Chicago prosecutors had tainted their eyewitness identification evidence by failing to disclose that one of his co-defendants failed to pick him out of a photo lineup. Over the years, a series of Chicago lawyers have argued on his behalf, most recently in an unsuccessful 2011 appeal to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals attempting to have the charges dismissed claiming the real "Alaji" was his dead brother and that he has been mistakenly identified by everybody involved in the case. The story as told by the courier, Piper Kerman, who was jailed, has been sold to Netflix and its becoming a blockbuster soon based on her book “Orange is the New Black".

We understand that about $50 billion dollars is missing in remittance from the NNPC to the CBN. I expect my leader, my president to say something on that not for your aides to start shouting down those demanding answers. Our simple demand is that: is it true the money is missing? If yes, where is it? Your excellency, (though I don’t believe in that phrase) I read somewhere you said “''I reject insults and the fact that I am a public officer doesn't give anybody the liberty to abuse me.'' You are right sir, but people that are not tolerant of insults and abuse should not go near public offices. I will quote President Obama on this one, he said “"As president, I accept the fact that people are going to call me awful things and I will always defend their right to do so”. I am sorry to say sir, insults and praises go with office.

May I also remind you that our constitution is largely borrowed from the United States, in both constitutions; there is no provision for the Office of the First Lady. I know it is not easy for an African woman not to feel the urge to leave a legacy while in office, but the idea of a seal of office for the first lady is an abuse of power in my humble opinion. If we blame you for everything that is wrong with Nigeria, it is not because we hate you, it is because we love our country, we want to see a place we can invite our foreign friends to; a place we can call home. Nigerians are not asking for too much – good roads, electricity, guaranteed education, regular meals and security. If all these are present sir, I can guarantee you that Nigerians will not care whether their president comes from Kafanchan or Otueke.

I just heard the news that we are sending peace keepers to the Central African Republic, it is a good thing to be our “brothers’ keeper” but is the time right? With our own homemade terrorist not contained yet, why can’t we use the resources intended to help CAR to booster efforts at uprooting Boko Haram?

Lastly, I understand that a doctor that just traveled from the United States back home to Nigeria was picked up at the Airport by security agents, he was only released on the intervention of the American Embassy, and this action cannot, and will never shut critics up. If anything, it helps confirm OBJ’s accusation of Abacha style intimidation.

Thank you for listening, I anticipate a change. I will remind you that even if you contest in 2015 and win another four years, it will end in 2019, just remember what the bible said in Exodus 1:8 “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph”. Vanity upon Vanity, all is vanity!

GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA GOD BLESS YORUBALAND Adekunle Al Muftau Adeite Baltimore, MD December 18, 2013