Dele Momodu Reveals his Disappointment at the new Government in Open Letter to Pres. Buhari(Read)

 Ovation publisher and staunch Buhari supporter, Dele Momodu, yesterday wrote a desperate open letter to the president where he expressed a little disappointment over the government of APC in the last four weeks. Read his memo 1st published on Thisday below...

 Your Excellency, I write to you today with a heavy heart. The reason should be obvious. I was one of those latter day converts to Buharism, a political philosophy that believes in the reincarnation of former leaders in the days of tribulation. You were never the first man to resurrect from retirement and near political oblivion. General Olusegun Obasanjo bounced back from prison to Aso Rock Villa. In nearby Benin Republic, former military dictator and strongman, Mathieu Kerekou who had served as maximum ruler for about 17 incredible years, came back to defeat incumbent President, Nicephore Soglo in a 1990 election.  He led his country for another ten years and almost got another five-year term but for the age barrier that disqualified him.

 It is normal for Africans to run towards the wise elders of the village when trouble comes knocking. That is one of the major reasons Nigerians in their millions voted with their feet and thumbs to elect you President.  Many of those who supported you did so for several other reasons and you must understand that they were mainly not members of your political party, APC. So, apart from your age, they backed you because they believed in your impeccable pedigree as an incorruptible and honourable man, a strict disciplinarian, a Scrooge who would not fritter away our meagre resources, a scourge of rogues and prodigal sons, a metamorphosed tyrant now a born-again democrat, and so on and so forth. Nigerians ardently placed their hopes in you and fervently prayed you won’t disappoint them.

 This is the principal reason I have decided to send you this desperate memo today before some despicable politicians tarnish your hard-earned reputation and truncate this beautiful chance again.

 Sir, let me say right away that the goodwill garnered during your campaigns and the jubilation that heralded your recent victory are fast fading and you need to, as a matter of urgency, convince the people of Nigeria that you’re now ready to hit the ground running. They are not going to listen to excuses since you had 30 years after quitting the high office to onerously prepare for the job again. For them it is immaterial that you met an empty treasury or that you are mostly surrounded by selfish, corruptive influences and impostors. As I mentioned in my earlier epistles to you, Nigerians have become totally impatient and what they expect of you is tantamount to performing the miracle of turning water into wine or raising Lazarus from the dead. You cannot afford to waste any second before displaying the sterner stuff you’re reputed to be made of.

 I had encouraged you not to be afraid of taking charge of the Party that brought you to power or tackling the politicians that claimed to have helped you in the process. I had imagined that you know the ways of our politicians by now and thought you knew how to handle them. I had told you matter-of-factly that you may have to step on some powerful toes in order to achieve anything tangible. The worst that may likely happen is for people to say and accuse you of dictatorial proclivity which won’t be new in your lexicon or to be threatened with impeachment and all-what-not. But trust me, no evil shall befall you for as long as you carry the people along in your crusade and do not pander to the whims and caprices of members of the privilegentsia.

 There is no doubt that the present imbroglio in your Party is as a result of your lukewarm attitude to Party issues thinking you could merely concentrate on nation-building while others deal with political intrigues. However, it is not always as simple as that. As you can now see, you don’t seem to be on the same page with your Party. While you were busy agonising over the myriad of problems besetting Nigeria, many of your presumed disciples were busy fighting over positions and control of power the way babies squabble over lollipops. They have studiously forgotten the change mantra and the huge expectations that made the electorate to troop out in droves and cast their votes for you and the Party.

 The moment you became the President-elect, you should have readied your manacles for all would-be trouble makers. You should have sent out a powerful message to those politicians who may wish to act above the law. But the moment you appeared ready to abdicate some of your leadership responsibilities to them, the obvious lacuna gave them the needed impetus to take charge and cut you adrift. Your political advisers, if any, should have prepared you for the offensive. There is no way you are going to fight and survive the battle ahead if the political class see you as a man they can easily bully. You cannot sit on the fence.  Whilst your decision not to interfere in the affairs of another arm of Government, the legislature, is commendable and indeed your constitutional duty, you must make it clear to your Party that the same non-interference must apply to them.

Our people may have voted for your Party but they also voted for the individuals that the Party entrusted its mandate to including you.  Just as there is a limit to how the Party can control you in the exercise of your executive functions and those you choose to assist you in the fulfilment of those functions, so also must you tell the Party chieftains that there is a limit as to how much the leadership structure and duties of the legislative arm can be controlled.  If you are ambiguous about this, then you are inviting your Party leadership to write a letter to you categorically stating not only those you must appoint as your Ministers and Special Advisers but also those that you must not work with under any guise. I am sure you would not tolerate that. In the same vein you must not tolerate Party interference in the legislature.  Change has come, please imbibe it!

 In essence it is incumbent on you to deal with the issues arising from tensions created by party supremacy, parliamentary democracy and above all constitutionality.  There is a delicate balance to be struck between these competing interests though constitutionality must eventually prevail.  However, even constitutionality is subordinated to national interest, because that is the most important interest of all.

Your Party has a lot to learn from the tragedy which was invited upon itself by advertence of the former ruling Party, PDP. As a mark of respect to your status and office, your Party should have adopted your instinct and temperament immediately you conceded that the elections of principal officers at the National Assembly were “somewhat constitutional.” Even if internally aggrieved, like mortals may invariably be, your Party hierarchy should not have washed their dirty linen in public knowing the full implications of the backlash that might splash and smear your collective image. APC should have done what PDP failed to do when Governor Rotimi Amaechi won the Chairmanship of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum by instantly recognising the leadership of the National Assembly while seeking ways to ameliorate the unfortunate saga. No reasonable parent would voluntarily kill a recalcitrant child. There is always another opportunity for penitence and atonement.

 I expected the crisis to escalate once the warring factions stuck arrogantly to their positions and neither was ready to bulge. Had APC accepted its fate with equanimity, I’m certain this peculiar mess would have been exterminated. Had Saraki and Dogara shown magnanimity in victory some of the truculent malice expressed by certain leaders may have also been mellowed.

Say what you will, the PDP had its fair dose of political migraine and rambunctiousness but it accepted certain realities and moved on. The ones they failed to accept led to their cataclysmic fall. The mutually destructive suspicion in APC should have been nipped in the bud for your sake.

The burden you currently carry is heavier than an elephant and I don’t think you need or deserve this kind of nuisance distraction. The leadership of the National Assembly should also calm down by reaching out to their angry Party chieftains. There is nothing to gain in fighting a perennial war. Once upon a time, they were all friends and members of the same family. It is never too late to embrace peace and reunite. Now that we know what the bone of contention is, no one should be victimised for belonging to whatever factions that exist.

I have read endless arguments for and against the pugilists in APC and my candid advice is that you need to appoint your cabinet and aides now. The sooner you assemble and send forth your foot-soldiers the better for our polity to begin the healing process. Right now our nation appears to be rudderless and floundering and this should not be the case.

What is left for you to do is to quickly bring all the gladiators together and see how you can apply some balm on frayed nerves. The Federal Government has humongous largesse to disburse so it should not be too difficult to appease the juggernauts. When that is sorted, you should draw your own plans and let your people know your roadmap. Your job would be much easier if you surround yourself with people who can look at you straight in the eye and say the truth no matter how bitter. Most of our leaders failed because they fell victims of sweet-talking scammers.

 It is very essential that your Party sees and embrace you as their father and not the other way round. Whether you like it or not, and whether others in your Party want to accept it or not, you are the de facto national leader of your Party. You are the President and Commander in Chief of our country. Yes, you ARE the capo di tutti capi. You therefore cannot be subservient to any other person.

You must immediately take upon this role and assume that mantle. Please feel free to lay down the law and if occasion demands, enforce our law.  That is what leaders do. Ambivalence or hesitancy will simply not do! You have the next four years minus one month and time is ticking away dutifully.

Equally important is the fact that you are more of a social crusader than a politician and your Party ought to note this fact and understand that it can’t be business as usual. Your Party leveraged on your uncommon reputation to gain POWER. Sir, you can’t afford to evaporate such stupendous equity just like that. You have demonstrated enough tolerance but the time has come to repudiate our propensity for rascality.

The task ahead is so gargantuan and it would require all hands to be on deck. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I reiterate that the first priority, apart from national security, should be how to reduce the atrocious costs of running government in Nigeria. Until you achieve that sir, the Muhammed Alis of Nigeria will never stop their boxing tournaments in parliaments and elsewhere. The fight is for cash and not for any selfless services.

Many won’t bother to contest if they think it is not lucrative. I don’t know how you plan to do this but it has to be done somehow and thankfully there are many methods that you can deploy. I’m glad you hope to retrieve some of the stolen billions. You need some serious cash, Sir. The challenges ahead would dissipate if you can raise the finances needed to tackle them.

I trust that God has deliberately raised you up at this time as a veritable example to mankind that being honest is not a crime and we have a lot to learn and cheer from your miraculous victory. May God help you to carry this cross successfully.

Read More...

Dele Momodu Wants Patience Jonathan To Apologize For Her Latest Public Utterances.

Dele Momodu is the CEO and publisher of Ovation International and he is also a former Presidential aspirant.He is widely traveled and highly connected across the Africa continent. It seems the recent utterances  of the first lady of Nigeria,  Dame Patience Jonathan has gone far and wide since we all know bad news travel faster than lightening.Without dancing around, Dele Momodu has taken pen to letter to address the first lady in an open letter and i must confess "he is very right".

''Your Excellency please let me start by emphasising the fact that this is my very first letter to you since destiny elevated you and your husband to the highest positions in Nigeria. It may be the last before your tenure expires on May 29, 2015, and another begins with you or someone else in the saddle. Despite all the controversies engulfing you and your husband, I had resisted the temptation of writing you in the past for several, if not many, reasons. Kindly permit me to expatiate a bit.
I’m a great admirer of strong, confident and energetic women who cannot be bullied by the galaxy of male chauvinists that litter the political landscape of Africa. As someone who was brought up by my amazing mum, Omo Arotiwebiojo, an unlettered woman and petty trader, I knew what it took to survive in a particularly difficult terrain. Indeed, whilst some have impugned you for your so-called lack of command of the English language, I have remained partial to you because, like most of us, English is not your first language, and your contributions have enriched our home-grown lexicon!
I can therefore imagine what you and our dear beloved President must have gone through together, in thunder, lightning, rain and sunshine. The hurly-burly of life must have thrown you hither and thither when there was no one else around to share in your secret pain and anguish. But it must have pleased God in His infinite mercy to raise you and your husband up, like Jesus did to a dead Lazarus, as original examples of uncommon transformation.
I must say, Ma, that I have a soft spot for you for other reasons. I was told on good authority that you were a more formidable politician and mobiliser of people and resources than your husband. A few of your friends often regale how you have been a solid pillar and a rock of Gibraltar behind the love of your life, Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan. It is said that you’re willing to sacrifice your all for his sake and he has also reciprocated by according you humongous respect and granting you such vast powers that make onlookers see you as a de facto President in your own right. To God be the glory.
I vividly recollect your relationship with the former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua. You gave her tremendous respect and your taciturnity was legendary. Not much was heard from you at that time and not many, except probably Bayelsans, ever suspected that you had so much buried inside your heart and that you were only waiting for the opportune time to vomit them.
Even in the days of tribulations when the cabal held sway and grabbed our nation by the jugular, you and your husband handled the volatile situation with maturity and remarkable equanimity. Some of us were ready to fight your battle, and risked our lives, because we saw you as the underdogs who must be rescued from the fangs of the political hyenas. We were further emboldened by the facts of your husband’s man-in-the-street story, a fairy-tale of sorts about a man from the Otuoke manger who had no shoes. We were not just titillated but fascinated by such flashes of inspiration.
Against all odds, your husband became the substantive President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria after the demise of President Yar’Adua. Nigerians were happy about the smooth transition of power and they even boasted that for the first time we had not just another graduate but a PhD holder as President. Sooner than later, as time sped by, it was time for your husband to run his own race. Nigerians from all walks of life queued behind him and he won without much ado. The goodwill he garnered was awesomely massive and the people were very expectant about the “fresh air” promised by him. Of course, to whom much is given, much is expected.
It is nearly four years since that momentous occasion and it is time for a re-examination and re-election. But what should have been a simple walk-over for your sweetheart seems to have developed k-leg. While your husband and those close to him would want us to believe he is Nigeria’s best President ever, many Nigerians feel he has under-performed and would want to try someone else. I have seen you and your husband waka up and down this nation campaigning like no man’s business. Many have likened the exercise to a student engaging in last minute agberu (memorising) after failing to do so all along. This is the crux of my epistle to you today.
I have read and heard so much about you as a very powerful First Lady. I know that when you are at that level, not many people can tell you the gospel truth. No one wants to offend those in power. But I have decided to tell you the bitter reality once and for all. I’m not writing out of any malice, since none can exist between us. But for the sake of posterity, which I know beckons as always; the fact must be told to you. The summary of what I’m about to say is that you and your husband have frittered away most of your goodwill. Had you retained your humility in power, may be you could have avoided this commotion and conundrum of trying to achieve in two months what you couldn’t in about five years. You would probably have avoided the tragedy of trying to manipulate the electoral process, buying more time and doing a catch-up on lost grounds.
If the actuality must be told Ma, the whole trouble started the day you publicly ridiculed the Governor of your home state. It was reported that you yanked a microphone out of his hands and lambasted him like a recalcitrant school boy. In order not to cause mayhem right there, the Governor was said to have left you to your tantrums and went home quietly like a penitent student. That day, you sowed the seed of discord that would later germinate and snowball into a consuming fire. Though the Governor and your husband like true gentlemen chose to carry on their damaged relationship as if all was well, but the worst was on the way.
The battle for the soul and control of your state would later spread to Abuja where your husband began to see the Governor as an enemy who must be cut down to size. In the process of trying to achieve that dream, more Governors joined the fray and in a jiffy, the centre could no longer hold. I do not want to go into some obvious details as I’m sure you know about the intrigues of power more than me. But I must give one more example of how you laid the foundation for today’s grand alliance against your husband.
Let me put it this way. Never in the history of Nigeria have I read of a First Lady responding to criticisms in the frontal manner you attacked Professor Wole Soyinka over an issue that you could easily have ignored. That singular act of unrestrained combativeness was one of your worst public relations gaffes. Wole Soyinka is one of those global icons that you can’t take on and win. If for nothing, here was a man who at about 76 years of age trekked under the scorching sun of Abuja to defend the rights of your husband when many of the acolytes around you today were nowhere to be found. You were not supposed to repay such selfless gestures with verbal blows. That was when you finally lost me and I’m sure many others.
Let me remind you that virtually all Nigerian leaders have been disparaged at one time or the other. It is one of the heavy prices to pay in compensation for the privileges of leadership. Just imagine how much some of us attacked President Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Ernest Shonekan, General Sani Abacha and others over the June 12 crisis. None of their wives ever hit back at the critics no matter the degree of provocation. In fact, they acted perfectly normal and even tried to build bridges of friendship instead of bombing the castle.
I remember with fond memories, Dr (Mrs) Maryam Ndidi Babangida, who remained graceful to the very end. Mrs Maryam Abacha endured the most blistering attacks against her husband in life and death. She has since reconciled with many of her husband’s vociferous enemies. Hajia Turai Yar’Adua was subjected to virulent criticism by many, and I confess I was one of her knockers in the dying throes of the cabal, but she wisely kept her own counsel and declined to join issues with anyone. When it dawn on her that the battle was lost and won, she packed her baggage out of Aso Rock without as much as a whimper.
If Justice Fati Abubakar was a selfish woman and a poor adviser to her husband, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, she would have insisted that they should not quit power within the one year he promised to hand over to a democratically-elected President. That government had more than enough resources to buy the ubiquitous array of mercenaries but General Abubakar chose to go in peace and not in pieces. It was such a rarity in Africa and till this day the General is still enjoying a standing ovation for his vision.
I must also mention specifically Mrs Stella Obasanjo, whose husband has always had a running battle with the media and yet she maintained steady media frenzy in her own kingdom. She was everyone’s friend and continues to be fondly remembered even in death. I recollect one occasion when we travelled to Beverley Hills, USA, with her, and her simplicity just wowed everyone. She made sure we jumped in the cars and buses and headed out to a night club owned by Don Cornelius. She was so down to earth. On her last trip to Ghana before her unfortunate death, I had gone to pay her a visit at M-Plaza hotel where she and President Obasanjo stayed.
Despite my frosty relationship with her husband, we sat in one corner chatting away as the President attended to his own visitors. She never got involved in our endless battles with Baba. I have cited these examples to show that you and your husband are not alone in the barrage of criticisms and attacks. You must rise up way above such pedestal. But sadly, you have not been able to allow any comment pass you by, no matter how mundane.
I decided to write this open letter after the spate of vocal terror you deployed in the last few days against your husband’s opponents. In case some praise-singers told you lies that what you did was right, I wish to assure you that you’ve done almost irreparable damage to your husband’s presidential campaign. I will now proceed to paraphrase about three of those satanic verses that escaped from your tongue this week alone, but not in any particular order.
The first shocker was when you said before a crowd that those shouting the mantra of Change are not serious and that as a matter of fact they should be stoned anywhere they shout Change! I thought it was a joke until the video went viral. The next one was when you spoke dispassionately about how your husband should be praised and thanked for improving the welfare of the menacing Almajiri kids in Northern Nigeria but you then went astray by insensitively and inconsiderately saying that the Northerners are fond of bearing children with reckless abandon and throwing them on the streets to fend for themselves. You went further to say such things don’t happen in the part of Nigeria you come from. I think that wasn’t very nice or tactful.
The last straw for me was when you declared matter-of-factly that your husband’s main challenger, Major General Muhammadu Buhari should not be voted in because he is “brain dead”, according to you. That was extremely malevolent and sinister, to say the least. It is not an elegant language to be used by any lady not to mention the First Lady and certainly not about a former Head of State of the same country that you are governing and from whose citizens you are seeking a second term in office. However, I believe that this may have been an innocent quip.
Whilst some may be willing to forgive such naivety, it is essential for you to quickly assure Nigerians that you meant no harm and that despite the ill-feeling and bitterness that politics and electioneering may engender you wish no evil to any man least of all your husband’s leading rival and contender. There is nothing wrong in admitting your mistake of commission or omission. It is actually a sign of strength.
May God continue to bless you and yours.

Read More...