Wednesday, February 21, 2001		 ANNOUNCE THIS LETTER TO YOUR FRIENDS

By Tobi Oyelesi




The General's lectures may earn your distinguished college a bad reputation

Dear Dr Daniel (President, University of Chicago)

am writing on behalf of perhaps tens of million of Nigerias with respect to the above lecture which is being hosted by your distinguished institution of learning. No doubt by now, you would have heard and read about all the controversies this lecture series have generated in the Nigerian community in the United States. I can assure you that it is generating the same level of concerns in the Nigerian communities both here in Europe and back in Nigeria as well.

Although we (Nigerians and friends of Nigeria) may not be in a position to take matters into our own hands in order to stop you from hosting the subject lecture, there are a number of issues I believe you should be made aware of. Firstly, General Abdulsalami A. Abubakar, General Ibrahim Babangida and their cohorts presided over the darkest periods in the history of Nigeria - theirs were some of the most brutal regimes that the world has ever witnessed. I am not going to bore you with the detail, but the facts are there for all to see. Secondly, they are very corrupt individuals who looted millions of dollars from the Nigerian treasury - Nigeria is still paying for these acts today in the form of high debt servicing and collapsed infrastructures. It is the same money that they are now using to distabilise the current political dispensation in Nigeria. By hosting them, you are offering them a platform and an avenue to continue their aim of regaining power in Nigeria in order to plunge millions of Nigerians back into the feudal ages. The best and probably the most most impartial place to learn more about these guests of yours is the US State Department. No doubt, you will find their files interesting reading.

It is also worth mentioning that hosting the General's lectures may earn your distinguished college a bad reputation. Millions of lovers of democracy all over the world will most definitely be offended by your action, should you decide to go ahead with the lectures. Dictators all over the world should not be rewarded for their evil deeds; certainly not in the bastion of democracy; certainly not in an institution with impeccable reputation.

Long live democracy. Thank you for reading my email.