ERA OF OPEN LETTERS: MY VERSION
I started this write-up with laughter. Pity you did not see it!
Why did I laugh? It is because pompous foolishness often sees itself
as extreme wisdom!
OBJ wrote a letter to GEJ accusing him of myriad misdemeanour which,
in my opinion, are childplay compared to what OBJ did to Nigerians
when he was Head of State.
Then Iyabo comes up with a defence of her stewardship at the senate.
Some people have chosen to see it as her vitriolic against her father OBJ.
But methinks her letter is more of a show of her anger against
Nigerians for treating her the same way her father caused others to be
treated.
My take on both letters: they are both self-serving!
Reason is that those letters have no business being public knowledge
if their authors had any selfless intention. For instance, OBJ could
have sought audience with GEJ and then give him a piece of his mind.
In the same vein, Iyabo could have called her father on the phone to
tell him off. We do not need to be further insulted with these
self-serving efforts at self righteousness/glorification. After all,
when the going was good and they were settling themselves with
proceeds from our common treasury, none of them thought of writing us
an epistle on that.
Secondly, like it is rightly stated in the purported Iyabo letter, OBJ
would not have tolerated such a letter from anyone when he was Head of
State. The Igbo say that a man who kills with the knife does not allow
people to go behind him with a knife.
I make bold to say that if anyone had had the temerity to write such a
letter to OBJ, we would have had another of the notorious high-profile
unsolved assassinations that were the hallmark of his regime.
I am not a Jonathan apologist, but I believe he has received more
undeserved bashing than any other serving Nigerian president. He has
his foibles but if the old man had good intentions, they could have
had series of correspondence without any of them leaking it to the
public.
I wish to end by saying that perhaps the death of Nelson Mandela and
the unending accolades he received from all over have awoken something
in OBJ. Remember that in 1999 that they drew a similarity with Mandela
coming out of prison and becoming president and our own OBJ doing
same. From my knowledge of this man, he is one that would most
definitely appreciate the amount of honour Mandela received (I still
remember he was angling for a Nobel at a time. Thank goodness it isn't
Nigerians that are giving that award). And to think that he quickly
addressed a press conference at Mandela's demise, methinks that OBJ is
openly bailing out of GEJ's ship. Perhaps, it is to clear his name
from stain, so he can claim a Mandela-like legacy.
Or it could be that the outcome of the Anambra elections brought about
his final act of letter writing. Who doesn't know how desperate he is
in trying to settle his godson with the destiny and treasury of
Anambrarians.
Whatever it is, I am not moved by OBJ's antics because he had his time
to do right by Nigerians and he flouted it. If Jonathan is a bad
leader then he learnt from an equally bad predecessor. No successor
would have dared go against OBJ if he was at least honest and upright.
Sir, it is one thing to be evil and devious but it is another, in
fact, insulting to pretend to be sanctimonious!
To GEJ, good leaders exploit opportunities. OBJ failed woefully. His
letter is an opportunity for you to be better than him. Read all and
then make amends. Nigerians might be docile for now, but we aren't
stupid. We know our left from our right.
For Iyabo, show respect to your papa! If you have ought against him
(in King James' Bible English), go inside the house and settle it. If
you want to write him, do it privately. And if you want to attack
Nigerians, come out and do so. Don't hide under the present mass
hatred for your father's legacy. If you hated him so much, why didn't
you do it while he was president? Or is it now that you are
remembering how he maltreated your mother? Where was that memory when
you were collecting keys to his houses in Abuja and Abeokuta?
To Nigerians, how much of this rubbish do we still have to take?
Didn't Governor Amaechi tell us what to do a few weeks back? When are
we most likely to reclaim our land from these leeches?
Ehen! Did the senate truly back down on the 7-year imprisonment for
people who speak against the government? If not, read my lips, I
didn't speak against the government o!
Why did I laugh? It is because pompous foolishness often sees itself
as extreme wisdom!
OBJ wrote a letter to GEJ accusing him of myriad misdemeanour which,
in my opinion, are childplay compared to what OBJ did to Nigerians
when he was Head of State.
Then Iyabo comes up with a defence of her stewardship at the senate.
Some people have chosen to see it as her vitriolic against her father OBJ.
But methinks her letter is more of a show of her anger against
Nigerians for treating her the same way her father caused others to be
treated.
My take on both letters: they are both self-serving!
Reason is that those letters have no business being public knowledge
if their authors had any selfless intention. For instance, OBJ could
have sought audience with GEJ and then give him a piece of his mind.
In the same vein, Iyabo could have called her father on the phone to
tell him off. We do not need to be further insulted with these
self-serving efforts at self righteousness/glorification. After all,
when the going was good and they were settling themselves with
proceeds from our common treasury, none of them thought of writing us
an epistle on that.
Secondly, like it is rightly stated in the purported Iyabo letter, OBJ
would not have tolerated such a letter from anyone when he was Head of
State. The Igbo say that a man who kills with the knife does not allow
people to go behind him with a knife.
I make bold to say that if anyone had had the temerity to write such a
letter to OBJ, we would have had another of the notorious high-profile
unsolved assassinations that were the hallmark of his regime.
I am not a Jonathan apologist, but I believe he has received more
undeserved bashing than any other serving Nigerian president. He has
his foibles but if the old man had good intentions, they could have
had series of correspondence without any of them leaking it to the
public.
I wish to end by saying that perhaps the death of Nelson Mandela and
the unending accolades he received from all over have awoken something
in OBJ. Remember that in 1999 that they drew a similarity with Mandela
coming out of prison and becoming president and our own OBJ doing
same. From my knowledge of this man, he is one that would most
definitely appreciate the amount of honour Mandela received (I still
remember he was angling for a Nobel at a time. Thank goodness it isn't
Nigerians that are giving that award). And to think that he quickly
addressed a press conference at Mandela's demise, methinks that OBJ is
openly bailing out of GEJ's ship. Perhaps, it is to clear his name
from stain, so he can claim a Mandela-like legacy.
Or it could be that the outcome of the Anambra elections brought about
his final act of letter writing. Who doesn't know how desperate he is
in trying to settle his godson with the destiny and treasury of
Anambrarians.
Whatever it is, I am not moved by OBJ's antics because he had his time
to do right by Nigerians and he flouted it. If Jonathan is a bad
leader then he learnt from an equally bad predecessor. No successor
would have dared go against OBJ if he was at least honest and upright.
Sir, it is one thing to be evil and devious but it is another, in
fact, insulting to pretend to be sanctimonious!
To GEJ, good leaders exploit opportunities. OBJ failed woefully. His
letter is an opportunity for you to be better than him. Read all and
then make amends. Nigerians might be docile for now, but we aren't
stupid. We know our left from our right.
For Iyabo, show respect to your papa! If you have ought against him
(in King James' Bible English), go inside the house and settle it. If
you want to write him, do it privately. And if you want to attack
Nigerians, come out and do so. Don't hide under the present mass
hatred for your father's legacy. If you hated him so much, why didn't
you do it while he was president? Or is it now that you are
remembering how he maltreated your mother? Where was that memory when
you were collecting keys to his houses in Abuja and Abeokuta?
To Nigerians, how much of this rubbish do we still have to take?
Didn't Governor Amaechi tell us what to do a few weeks back? When are
we most likely to reclaim our land from these leeches?
Ehen! Did the senate truly back down on the 7-year imprisonment for
people who speak against the government? If not, read my lips, I
didn't speak against the government o!
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