FEATURE ARTICLE

Friday, June 15, 2018
[email protected]
Bonn, Germany
NOW IS THE TIME………. (1)

Every hero becomes a bore at last (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue (De La Rochefoucauld)

igerian youths are telling the old men of Nigerian politics to take their exit for young talented intellectuals who will use their youthful energy and determination to bring about change that will make Nigeria a better place for all. The youths are challenging those expired politicians who ate our yesterday, ate our today, and are planning to eat our tomorrow to call it a day.

Before going on, upfront, I have a message for President Buhari from Nigerian youths. They've said that honoring the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, Chief Moshood Abiola, with the highest national honor, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), did not go deep enough. The youths want Buhari to give the go-ahead order to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce the results of that 1993 presidential election, and to declare Abiola an ex-president of Nigeria. Anything less, the youths said, is tantamount to a ruse for the Yoruba votes. The youths then warned Buhari to desist from absurdity and desperation.

Most importantly, Nigerian youths said that since everybody, including Buhari, himself, has acknowledged that the 1993 election was the freest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our independence, that failing to honor the man who midwifed that election, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, amounts to hypocrisy. Our youths are telling Buhari that the person who deserves the highest honor after Abiola should have been Prof. Nwosu, and they've called on the president to give him, Nwosu, his due, even belatedly, as the amiable professor deserves better, because, without his effort, the 1993 election would have been a sham like the ones before or after it.

To make a quick point here: Prof. Humphrey Nwosu was one of the men who molded me; he was one of my lecturers at UNN, in the 1980s, a paragon of virtue and intelligence. He was always a cheerful fella and was well-liked.

Furthermore, Nigerian youths are saying that Buhari's apology for the cancellation of the election is not acceptable to Nigerians; after all, during Abiola's travails, Buhari refused to sympathize with him, as he, Buhari, said then that he had no pity for the man who financed the coup that removed him from office as a head of state. Everything Buhari has done now is an after-thought. Our youths are also irked that Prof. Soyinka received Buhari's apology on behalf of Nigerians, saying that Soyinka betrayed so many of them who put their trust in him. Nigerian youths wondered why Soyinka demeaned himself and his educational status by supporting Buhari as president in 2015 only to be complaining now how evil has taken over good in Nigeria, and how Nigeria is on autopilot because of Buhari's lack of leadership.

Nigerian youths then concluded that conferring the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), on Abiola, and the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Niger (GCON), on the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Yoruba men, was a calculated attempt to sideline Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and to degrade his reputation within his tribal group. Remember that Obasanjo has been crying out that Buhari wants to arrest and send him to jail for telling him not to re-contest in 2019.

This came from a youth group - "Buhari Must Go By Fire By Force" (I'm sure many have read it). The group tried to explain why Buhari is after Obasanjo. According to it, "this is not about corruption fight or his 2019 election bid. Obasanjo is a major obstacle to Buhari's Islamic agenda. Obasanjo is not happy and comfortable with the lopsided appointments by Buhari which carries an Islamic and Fulani hegemonistic agenda. Obasanjo has queried Buhari's lopsided appointments to one ethnic and religious group-Islamic Fulanis. Obasanjo has seen the danger and called on everyone to save Nigeria from the direction Buhari is driving the country. Obasanjo may be a bad person, but he has never pushed the country to such an extreme brink of collapse.

Buhari is bent on Islamizing Nigeria and enthroning the Fulanis over the country. This is the greatest danger to all of us. Every Nigerian must see this greater picture and join hands even with our enemies like Obasanjo to frustrate and dethrone this evil Buhari. Do not be wooed by his fake corruption fight, but consider your freedom of worship and association as your utmost priority.

Obasanjo is the strongest voice from the South and a Christian for that matter. T.Y. Danjuma has realized the danger and mobilized his people. If we allow Buhari to silence Obasanjo, he will go after Danjuma, Dogonyaro and other top Christian soldiers. The South, Middle Belt and all Christians must wise up and stop Buhari now".

Be that as it may, our youths still maintained that Obasanjo has himself to blame because he fronted for Buhari in 2015. The youths said that both Buhari and Obasanjo are dangerous for Nigeria and should be consigned to the dustbin of history in or before 2019. If Buhari is done away with, the threats he poses will go with him.

Our youths condemned Obasanjo's attitude of talking out of both sides of his mouth, and for being a "political taxi" that has no garage. In 2015, Obasanjo said that Buhari is the best thing that can happen to Nigeria, and in 2018, Buhari, for Obasanjo, is a mammoth failure. In 2015, Obasanjo not only supported Buhari against Goodluck Jonathan, he also made derogatory remarks against Goodluck Jonathan, but today, he regrets his actions then.

Nigerian youths then bemoaned the fact that due to Esprit de 'corps (people with a military background), Obasanjo allowed Buhari, twice, to go scot-free when he should have disciplined him for embezzlement. When Obasanjo was the head of state and Buhari was his petroleum minister, a whopping sum of $2.8 million went missing from NNPC's account in England, and Obasanjo did nothing about it. The second time was when a panel indicted Buhari for embezzling PTF money. The Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, says the "greatest mistake" of former President Olusegun Obasanjo is his failure to prosecute and jail President Muhammadu Buhari for "looting the Petroleum Trust Fund" under his supervision. In his words:

"I saw the report and it was shocking. Billions of dollars had vanished. Obasanjo summoned him and showed him the damning report. Buhari begged like a baby. Sadly Obasanjo let him off the hook."

According to SaharaReporters, Buhari was appointed by late General Sani Abacha to head the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF), in 1994. Obasanjo later disbanded PTF in 1999, when he assumed office as President of the country. A national committee was later set up to investigate the allegation of mismanagement of the funds. The committee, however, advised Ex-president Obasanjo to set up a judicial panel to recover about N25 billion that was reportedly mismanaged, but no action was taken about the recommendation.

Nigerian youths want Obasanjo to go into hibernation, for the rest of his life, and leave Nigeria alone as he has caused lots of havoc for the country; in fact, he has overstayed his welcome in the political arena.

To be continued!

TIT BITS

Read this (if you haven't by now):

https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2018/06/12/what-june-12-reveals-about-nigerian-democracy-by-femi-aribisala/

Listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZZprU7ORO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knGBDWLHxI8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2gyAEWVMhE

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!


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