Why We Need Atiku INTRODUCTION First of all let me make it clear that I am not given to the art of flattery, and neither have I ever benefited from the large heartedness of Atiku Abubakar GCON.I have visited with him twice only, and I must confess that this is a voluntary assignment from an ordinary but patriotic citizen of Nigeria. There are so many Nigerians who see politics as a dirty game; a realm reserved for rogues and criminals. As such they will have nothing to do with politics. They will offer no constructive criticism or participate in the democratic process. It is not an understatement to say that many a Nigerian does not participate in the voting process. Perhaps this is because many do not even know that voting is a civic duty that every Nigerian above the age of 18 is mandated to participate in. Nigerians have witnessed four general elections since 1999.Nigerians to be candid have been disappointed by the unpalatable turn of events. Of all these elections, the 2011 General Presidential Election that produced Dr. Goodluck was the one that many a Nigeria hoped and trusted to solve his/her problem by creating an enabling environment for private business to thrive, by creating more jobs, by providing good education and quality healthcare, and above all by providing security for life and property. Alas this is not the case. The man who went to school without shoes is now oppressing those who have no shoes through the partial removal of the fuel subsidy, increase in the tariff of the epileptic power supply and so many other anti people policies. I like Goodluck as a person. He is a man who is very down to earth, humble to some extent and very approachable. But I don’t like Goodluck the president. Not because of his ethnic or religious background. No. I don’t like his presidency because to me it is a disaster and a monumental disappointment. It has failed to deliver on its promises. It has tolerated corruption more than any other regime or administration in Nigeria (Check the recent report of the Transparency International).It has shielded corrupt people like the sons of Bamanga Tukur and Ahmadu Ali. It has violated the principles of rule of law and fair hearing in Rivers State. In fact this government is a monumental joke. Things have fallen apart, and this once so glorious a nation is now a laughing stock, a giant without decorum, respect and dignity. A giant that can’t feed itself. There are no jobs available to the graduates, the skilled and unskilled youths. Dr. Ngozi said that this is what is giving her sleepless nights as finance minister. Insecurity is now the norm. The media is being strangled (Thisday reporters and others can testify to this).The government is making plans to help farmers with fertilizer through the purchase of mobile cell phones worth 60 billion Naira. The not-so-glamorous but vain First Lady is making plans to build a worthless secretariat for African First Ladies. This useless secretariat will cost 4billion Naira even as her husband voted the sum of 2billion Naira for the expansion of the Aso Rock Villa Banquet Hall. The country’s foreign reserve has been plundered because the custodians of our economy do not believe in saving for the rainy day. A government that according to its own CBN Governor, “borrows more and save less.” We need change. Period. Thank God we are in a democracy which is a government of all Nigerians. Our country belongs to all of us. It does not belong to Goodluck. We have a constitutional right to change things. Our destiny is in our hands. We will not take arms to fight. We will fight for our right to get good governance through the ballot box. We will change this government and usher in another one through the ballot box. We can do it. We must do it. I have come to believe that Atiku Abubakar GCON can give us the desired change we need in Nigeria. Atiku can fix the power deficit and revitalize the economy. Atiku can constitute a team that will work to maintain law and order in this nation. I have my reasons for saying that. I know some of you reading this book will have some reservations with regards to that. We live in an age where issues are settled through debates so I will like to present my facts to you. I believe that a careful reading of this book will convince you that Atiku is the right man to occupy the Presidential Villa come 2015. God has given Goodluck a golden opportunity. He has failed woefully. Let us try another alternative. Let us try Atiku.I should like to say that Atiku can become our own Lee Kwan Yew or Mahatir Mahatma. This is not a simple issue at all. This is not a talk about power or money or ethnic warfare. This is about our children. This is something that has to do with our survival. My major worry is Prof. Jega’s INEC readiness to be a just, unbiased umpire. I am scared about INEC, and I am still struggling to convince myself that INEC will be transparent in 2015. This is more so when I am seeing a presidency that says 16 is greater than 19 or 5 is greater than 17. Oh that the United Nations General Assembly will create an electoral body to monitor and conduct elections in Nigeria. Public opinion is the way people think and feel about a matter. Nigeria is a country blessed with so many opinions. There is a plethora of opinions from the various divides of Nigeria concerning the problems and challenges facing Nigeria. There are so many people who believe that the major problem with Nigeria is weak institutions or paper tiger institutions. This school of thought believes that all the necessary laws and policies are there but the institutions to implement them are weak or rather dormant. One reputable proponent of this school of thought is President Obama. There is another school of thought that postulates that the major problem confronting this geographical entity named Nigeria by Flora Shaw, mistress to Lord Lugard is corruption. Insecurity, according to another school of thought is the main obstacle to Nigeria’s journey to reach the promise land. It is a concrete fact that cannot be disputed that weak institutions, corruption, and insecurity are major problems confronting this country but I think the school of thought that postulates that the major problem confronting Nigeria, nay Africa as a whole is bad leadership. That is the crux of the whole matter. There is a shortage of good, credible leadership. And without a reputable, credible and qualified leader, no meaningful progress can be achieved no matter what. The first rule is, seek ye first a good leader, and then all other things will be added to you including strong institutions. This is not a paid job. I have a civic duty to do what is right. I have a civic duty to say or write what is right. I have to use whatever means I have at my disposal, especially the written word to educate the average Nigerian voter to take the right decision come 2015. Here are my reasons. 1. Why We Need Atiku: SECURITY OF LIFE AND PROPERTY ”If you are the president you tend to know everything because people come to tell you what you know and what you don’t know. My rule is that a president has no excuse about any wrong going on in the country. He knows all of them and if he does not do anything about them, it is his fault. That is my view.” Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Former CBN Governor and former finance minister The present leadership of President Goodluck is trying its possible best to discharge its cardinal responsibility to Nigerians. The government, no doubt knows that the provision of security of the inestimable lives and properties of Nigerians is its cardinal responsibility. The number one duty of the government is the business of security. The government has everything at its disposal—the NIA,DIA,SSS,CID,NIS,NPF, the armed forces and what have you to ensure and maintain the peace. The president is empowered as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces so that his power will not be limited. All this is to see that the number one citizen discharge his duty of providing security without any encumbrance. The constitution has empowered him to use every instrument of government at his disposal to maintain the peace. My mother in law, a Christian was attacked inside a church in Borno. Her offence was that she was sweeping the church. About 30 school boys were massacred in Mamudo by criminals and hoodlums. Dr. Munguno, an elder statesman, a Muslim was also kidnapped. The mother of the finance minister was also recently kidnapped .A Christian worship centre was attacked in BUK Kano. An entire community was massacred in Zamfara just barely after some hours when someone ordered the redeployment of the security operatives. It may be noteworthy to mention that I was also ambushed in a 4 hour cross fire shooting spree between the Police and the Boko Haram people recently. An 11 year old boy was hit by a stray bullet in his buttocks. So many people were also injured and about 3 others died. That was when I really realized that this government has failed. That was when I know that this government does not respect the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It does not respect or value the life of the ordinary Nigerian. It only respects the life of the rich and the affluent. It is a government that has no conscience; a government that can just travel out to hobnob with foreigners when 30 innocent, promising boys were killed in their school. A government that did not even find it worthy to get the names of the students or even say sorry to their parents. There is no gainsaying that the monitors of the present Nigerian government are overwhelmed by the escapades, network, strategy and prowess of the Boko Haram boys. The Commander in Chief is somehow scared to death. His godfather and Ijaw strongman, Edwin Clark who has now been financially rehabilitated by this government had decided to do the unthinkable and blame IBB for the current security challenge confronting Nigeria.IBB has left power since 1993 and he doesn’t even reside in Abuja but in Minna. He is not the Commander in Chief. How then can he undermine the authority of the present Commander in Chief? What Edwin Clark is saying is this: IBB is stronger than my godson’s government. My godson is at their mercy. Someone should come and help my godson. Now listen: we don’t need a sissy as president. We need a brave, courageous man as president. Mahmud Jega in his article titled Destroying Baga in order to Save it which was published in his The Monday Column of the Daily Trust wrote something that caught my attention. The erudite writer and journalist wrote that , “…back in 1978 when the Italian Police discovered the body of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro stuffed in the body of a small car, the Interior Minister resigned and accepted responsibility for the police’s failure to rescue Aldo Moro.”That is how it should be. Take responsibility and accept the blame that you have failed to discharge your duty. The government should have a rethink and tender an apology to Nigerians for its apparent failure to give them security. It has instead connived with business men and defense contractors to squander huge amounts of money under the guise of security allocation. The president is a new entrant into the political terrain. He has no political base and associates but sycophants. It is true that the Boko Haram insurgency has some political undertones in it. That is why the use of force had not been able to curtail or solve it. An experienced leader with wider network of friends and associates is needed to negotiate and dialogue with the aggrieved parties. The country cannot afford to have a leader who does not know how to use words. It is rather sad that the present peace that is been enjoyed in Maiduguri came about because of IBB, the same man that Edwin Clark accused of fuelling the crisis. Was it is not IBB that said that the only solution to the Boko Haram insurgency is the Azare Option? The Azare Option is a model used by the youths of Azare town who decided to take charge of their security in their hands by confronting the proponents of the Boko Haram insurgency. This is exactly what is happening in Borno. The soldiers have not been able to do anything. It was the Azare Option proposed by IBB that was used by Borno youths to checkmate the Boko Haram boys. Nigerians should know that we need to give Atiku the opportunity to lead this country in 2015 because of his ability to negotiate, dialogue and make compromise where necessary. Atiku has been around for some time now. He knows who is who in Nigeria. He has political associates all over the place. He has a political base that cut across all the divides of Nigeria. He could reach out to any religious group or sect in Nigeria. He is not a coward. He believes in the rule of law. Since he so much believes in the courts he will do everything to strengthen them. An amnesty committee is already in place. Before the committee could be inaugurated, two vital persons nominated by the presidency declined to serve or work in the committee. Let’s pray that the government will be able to bring this insurgency to a halt through the committee. But like I said earlier on, Boko Haram insurgency is beyond amnesty and compensation to culprits and victims. There is every possibility that another group will show up after this amnesty charade. In fact the well respected Christian prophet, Apostle Johnson Suleiman has prophesied about a deadly group that will emerge after the Boko Haram group. According to the prophet this group will be more deadly than Boko Haram. Apostle Suleiman is known as the most accurate prophet in Nigeria.(See Appendix for the Christian clergy’s 45 prophecies for 2013.) The legendary Sir A.T. Balewa during his second anniversary said, “the primary aim of government is security in the sense of protection of life and property. The cardinal aim of those in government is to achieve their objectives by persuasion—I repeat by persuasion, which is a higher art than compulsion.” The other reasons will me made plain in a new book titled 2015:WHY WE NEED ATIKU
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 20:06:57 +0000
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