Politics
2019: Buhari Go Home And Rest, Man Shall Not Live By Power Alone – Dele Momodu
The publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari following speculations he may be seeking reelection come 2019.
In the long letter he shared on the social media on Saturday, Momodu pleaded with Buhari to perish the thought of continuing in power.
He begged the President to please go home and rest, adding that Nigerians can no longer bear the current hardship.
Read full letter…
Kindly permit me to be as brutally frank as possible. As a stakeholder who made his modest contribution to your emergence as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, I owe you nothing but the truth. I was not a member of your party when I volunteered to support your mission and ambition in 2015. I was elated when Nigerians succeeded in chasing away the profligate and reckless government of the PDP, led by President Goodluck Jonathan. I was one of those who unleashed terror on that government and I subsequently presented you with a compilation of my articles in which I criticised and advised the then President, free of charge. I never expected that our situation could ever get worse under the APC government that almost literally promised heaven and earth. But it has become evident that it is easier to govern by words of mouth than by force of action.
It is indeed shameful that those like me who supported you so vociferously have become butts of jokes everywhere we go. Sir, I plead with you to ignore your acolytes who may be telling you that all is well in Nigeria. My unequivocal verdict, without any fear of contradiction is that things are very bad. While I will not, in all honesty, totally heap the blame on you, there is no doubt that your government has been less than competent. I’m reasonably convinced that you have not availed yourself of the abundant talents it has so pleased God to endow Nigeria with. Rather, you’ve chosen to saddle yourself with hungry lions and deadwoods that you’ve resurrected from penury and oblivion. Leadership should be about managing people and resources. Most of the people you are working with are already retired or tired and with little or nothing new to contribute.
It is grossly unfair that it was very convenient for us to lampoon and scandalise Dr Goodluck Jonathan, yet most of us have remained funereally silent and unreasonably complicit in the evil that the current men of power are perpetrating and perpetuating under your watch. Unknown to you Sir, some people are merely using you to rule by proxy. There is no evidence of discipline in your team, one of the greatest things you preached so fervently about in your first coming as military Head of State. Your acolytes are virtually getting away with murder. Someone, somewhere, sat down with birds of the same feathers, to conjure and compile the most disgraceful list of political appointees ever and yet nothing has happened to those who brought such perfidious insults on our nation. Instead, we are being regaled with tales by the moonlight to gloss over serious maladies in the polity and damning treachery against our nation. No serious apologies. No penitence. Only some foolhardy cockiness from those who will repeat the same nonsense when tomorrow comes.
Your Excellency, it has become very difficult, if not impossible to defend the excessive shortcomings of your government, please, permit my oxymoron Sir. We definitely want you to succeed but it seems some demons are desperately determined to make you fail by all means. The more your administration unravels, the more ridiculously hopeless it seems. You have waltzed from crisis to crisis instead of from glory to glory, as most of us expected. We thought you truly possessed the magic wand and talismanic effect to make all our problems evaporate and vamoose in a jiffy. We did not expect to be regularly mesmerised by impotent excuses galore.
I sincerely doff my hat to your wonderful wife for her rare and uncommon courage. Regardless of what her detractors may say, she is the only insider who has been trying to say it as it is. Even if some of her critics feel she’s seeking for relevance in your kingdom, it is still within her rights. I’m sure that when the day of reckoning comes, you will remember and appreciate her timely warnings. Without mincing words, what Madam Aisha Buhari has been trying to tell you in clear terms is that this government is swimming in a big foul mess and that you should not be carried away by the fake adulation and false adoration you see all around you. There is no government in Nigeria that did not enjoy the services of praise-singers who disappeared as soon as the government itself collapsed like a pack of cards. Ask President Jonathan!
I’m aware that your foot-soldiers are already warming up for the next election. I really do not know what they hope to tell and sell to the electorate this time, particularly after the colossal failure of the last three years. I do not see how they expect to fund your campaign without resorting to the same type of extravagant jamboree we witnessed in the dying and last days of the PDP’s prodigality. As a result of your decision to contest again, you are being forced by circumstances beyond your control to compromise and capitulate on your known principles. Is it not better, and more profitable, to return home, triumphantly, with your reputation intact than to win a pyrrhic victory with everything you ever stood for wasted on the altar of vainglorious aggrandisement? What guarantees do you have that you will win the next election even if you agree to sell Nigeria to the political gladiators?
Sir, I’m pleading with you in the name of God, the Merciful and all-powerful, that you don’t need two terms, or eight years in power, to prove your greatness. Nelson Mandela spent only one term in power and retired to superlative glory as the world’s most respected and revered and idolised statesman. Robert Mugabe spent about four decades in power, yet he returned home in total infamy and unenviable disgrace. It is a lesson of life that we must all learn, sooner rather than later, that man shall not live by power alone. I know my preaching is not likely to touch you and your hardened supporters but, at the very least, I want it to be on record that I spoke publicly, out of genuine love and concern, while you were being goaded on by those who stand to gain more if you win a re-election next year. For most of those asking you to continue, by fire and by force, it is always about their personal agenda and survival. They know their political careers would come to a shuddering halt and abrupt standstill should you fail in your bid to come back. In their desperation to come back at all costs, they are going to do exactly what PDP did, or even much worse. What moral authority would you then have to justify the continued detention and harassment of some of the PDP operatives accused of wasting government resources on Jonathan’s truncated re-election bid. Who amongst us can in good conscience say in the market place that you won the last election on pure merit and that no substantial government funding went into your campaigns.
This year promises to be an interesting one. You will soon discover how treacherous human beings can be when some of those hailing you today as the authentic messiah begin to show you their true colours. Our country is bleeding dangerously while some over-pampered politicians can only think of winning elections by hook or by crook. The quality of your appointees in recent time points to how directionless your government has finally become. In a country overflowing with so many amazing brains and talents, it is incredibly shameful that those are your best representatives for our country. The easiest way for a leader to fail is to continue to attract those much worse than himself. Conversely, the best way to succeed is for a leader to recognise and attract and surround himself with those much better in all aspects of human endeavour. This does not erase or take anything away from the leader but it actually enhances his personality and how he is perceived by everyone. The late sage of blessed memory, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was a veritable example of how a leader can effectively tap into the collective brains of some geniuses and add to his own in a way that makes him appear super-human.
Nigeria has never been in short supply of whiz kids at home and abroad but Nigeria started dying when our leaders stopped respecting merit and preferred to enthrone mediocrity. The truth is mediocrity begets further mediocrity. The few good leaders in your government have not been able to display their wizardry out of fear and trepidation that some cabal would mark them out and hack them down so ruthlessly. It is a sign of the times, that the courage, astuteness and brilliance that made them stand out in the political crowd has suddenly taken flight and they are now little more than wimps in your insipid government. The bureaucracy in Abuja is enough to suffocate and disorientate any fertile mind.
If I were in your shoes, I would consider that it is not too late to groom and propel some of the best brains in APC or even those living beyond the shores of Nigeria to succeed me. You do not need to look far in this regard but I will not make any suggestions today, lest it be misinterpreted that I am touting any particular individual as a worthy successor. I’m reasonably convinced that you have worked very hard and seem to have reached your peak. To God be the glory. In a country of nearly 200 million people, God has been too kind to you. Apart from former President Olusegun Obasanjo, no other Nigerian has been given a second chance so miraculously. You will be able to justify this unmerited favour by leaving Nigeria much better than you met it. The only way you can do that in the next remaining year is to sacrifice your own personal ambition and hand over the country to proven and tested modern and cosmopolitan technocrats. The world has moved beyond the backwardness that we are being saddled with in Nigeria today. The world expect us to be the true giant and leader of Africa not by words but in deed.
My appeal to you is to urgently do a self-assessment to determine and decide on whether you are what Nigeria needs at this time and age for our country to join the comity of other nations in their march towards technological advancement, political stability, social security and economic prosperity.
With all due respect, Sir, if your answer is yes to the above, you may go ahead and contest but if in all honesty, the answer is no, my prayer is that you will find the courage and selfless spirit to quit the stage while the ovation is loudest. That in itself would be a deserving legacy. I’m watching and waiting for your patriotic decision with bated breath.
Thank you, Mr President, for your usual attention and kind consideration of my latest memo to you, albeit so early in the year.’
Springsteen Ndubuisi
January 8, 2018 at 2:24 am
He’s afraid the next man might haunt him
Ohida Dada
January 8, 2018 at 12:25 am
Atiku he doo give you money
Jacob Evans
January 7, 2018 at 10:08 pm
Hopeles yoruba man
Ani Aloysius Kenechukwu
January 7, 2018 at 9:18 pm
only if he can hear
Tochukwu Ndukwe Jnr George
January 7, 2018 at 7:42 pm
Biafra will be restored before 2019 so Buhari continue because ur the president of Nigeria 2019 & beyond also I want Fulanihersmen to kill many people as a gift to one Nigeria’s
Tochukwu Ndukwe Jnr George
January 7, 2018 at 7:41 pm
Biafra will be restored before 2019 so Buhari continue because ur the president of Nigeria 2019 & beyond also I want Fulanihersmen to kill many people as a gift to one Nigeria’s
Charles Onukwue
January 7, 2018 at 7:32 pm
Hahahahaha. The mistake has been made already
Chi Iheme
January 7, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Onyemaechi Tony
January 7, 2018 at 5:42 pm
Nice advice, if only the cow can hear…or the grave takes its toll
Johnson Oyebode Are
January 7, 2018 at 4:53 pm
Na why davido disgrace u be that I don’t know where Nigeria found all you aged fool ur friend FFK self dey laugh like mum when him wife dey feed am u people are just lunatic don’t u watch CNN and see how all those white people are compose in there way all of u na oloriburuku
Ejimofor Anayo
January 7, 2018 at 1:26 pm
No let him make himself a life president and life petroleum minister.he is their messiah not mine.
Ernest Jombo
January 7, 2018 at 2:37 pm
What they thought of the man to be, they did not see it in him, many think leadership is by big name
Godwin First
January 7, 2018 at 1:20 pm
Dele u’re very Stupid man. this Is why people see Yoruba as most senseless..alot of Evil things going on in so called Nigeria , hav u ever try to show It to the world through yr tv stations, fool
Chukwuemeka Samuel
January 7, 2018 at 1:13 pm
To me, i want Buhari to come out contest 2019 election and even that of 2023, because power belongs to him and his kinsmen the manslaughters fulani herdsmen and not with GOD, if care is not taken, what happend to Nebuchardizzar will befall him.
Abdulazeez Abubakar
January 7, 2018 at 1:09 pm
BIG LIAR, BUHARI 2019 by god grace
Ernest Jombo
January 7, 2018 at 2:35 pm
Do u see at all?
Wise Mike
January 7, 2018 at 11:35 pm
Ewu
Henry-Paloka Adimonye
January 7, 2018 at 12:30 pm
Dele ur mumu is coming to do
Fakeye Idowu
January 7, 2018 at 12:14 pm
A voice from wilderness!
Umeh Christopher
January 7, 2018 at 12:08 pm
A word is enough for d wise,
Umeh Christopher
January 7, 2018 at 11:58 am
Hmmmm african leaders are so wicked, they always want to die on power, mr buhari shine ur eyes, don’t let all these cabals push u to ur grave, ignore second term ambition,
Nwokwu Nathaniel Okoro
January 7, 2018 at 11:56 am
Biafra must be restored
Justice Nwi-UeBari
January 7, 2018 at 11:08 am
I wish him RIP
Chukwudi Moon Nwose
January 7, 2018 at 11:05 am
Dele thank u for this word
Isma'il Lawal
January 7, 2018 at 10:49 am
Yes wo buhari should be even impeach by Senate
Abiola Salau
January 7, 2018 at 10:48 am
Let us stop attacking him , he is entitled to his second chance regardless of whether he is performing well or not . The primary election of his party APC will decide his choice for contesting the next election , i’m sure of that .
Egbunike Frank Nnakwe
January 7, 2018 at 10:45 am
Naked truth
Kafir Baraka
January 7, 2018 at 10:42 am
You dey pursue Kanu wey get brain pass you.. & ur blind followers dey clap & hail you, just dey mess up.. You must dance de music.
Kafir Baraka
January 7, 2018 at 10:39 am
So mighty buhari… Ur name don go down disgracely like dis.. I pity you
Soji Olayiwola
January 7, 2018 at 10:35 am
Failure for buhari in 2019……No way for him.
Oguzie Jude Ama
January 7, 2018 at 10:17 am
. Laughing stock!!
Muhammadsani Inuwa
January 7, 2018 at 10:13 am
Thugs and liars.
Yusuf Makolo Markus
January 7, 2018 at 10:25 am
thou art the biggest thug n vagabond descendant of liers.
Muhammadsani Inuwa
January 7, 2018 at 11:30 am
thugs, thieves, terrorists and mafia.
Onyemaechi Nnaji
January 7, 2018 at 10:07 am
Which of the “BUHARI”
Chukwu Veego Chima
January 7, 2018 at 11:50 am
Jubril..
Kenn Iyke Ogbuke
January 7, 2018 at 10:05 am
You are very stupid this man,you saw him and campaigned for him,who are you fooling?
Adedapo Adebisi Adejuwon Barcelona
January 7, 2018 at 9:55 am
Uncle need appointment from buhari but baba neglect his side.
Anene Moses Chigozie
January 7, 2018 at 9:49 am
Foolishness to the highest order, buhari remains a disaster to Nigerians
Kelechi P. Emmanuel
January 7, 2018 at 9:47 am
Yes
Udo Idika
January 7, 2018 at 9:36 am
Did Buhari need to be told, he should go and rest
Kayode Masha
January 7, 2018 at 9:34 am
Greed has damaged the name of Buhari, the man who was loved by all Nigerian as the indefatigable fighter of corrupts. His named in moodled in the mood by unscrupulous people. I only can blame his wife , Buhari has lost honour befitted him.
Ignatius Igidi
January 7, 2018 at 10:32 am
He never had an honour, point to me one of his honour.
Austine E Atah
January 7, 2018 at 9:33 am
Big Yoruba fool . You must not stop at this month, u must write as much as you wrote to frustrate Jonathan . Foolish man weh die for idiot backyard
Eme Henry Chizie
January 7, 2018 at 9:32 am
the same dele that was shouting buhari all over the country reflecting back to 2015 election you should be ashamed of yourself for putting Nigeria into this horrible mess
Kayode Masha
January 7, 2018 at 9:38 am
He has apologised
Stephen Sopulu
January 7, 2018 at 10:18 am
Yes he has apologized just as kayode said
I know many people voted this Buhari out of ignorance n under charms but they have regained their senses n knowledge too
Arinze Anughere
January 7, 2018 at 12:01 pm
Since he has apologised, he is forgiven, therefore, he knows what he is saying now! Having been arrested like St. Paul on the road to Damascus.
Ogbonna Kalu
January 7, 2018 at 9:27 am
He still have another four year, we told south west that this man was evil but they never believed
Raymond Freedom Dennis
January 7, 2018 at 9:25 am
biafra must to be restor that is all what we knw