Seun Kuti’s warning against
Femi-Fani Kayode regular critics of the present government did little or
nothing to stop the ex-outspoken minister as he has written another open letter
to Buhari.
Mr President, you will
recall that I wrote you an open letter on December 28th, 2015 which I sincerely
hope that you found most gratifying, illuminating and helpful. That was two
days before your Presidential media chat which took place on December 30th. I
hereby humbly crave your indulgence to add an addendum to that open letter.
That is what this contribution represents.
I hope and pray that this
second letter, which will be the last, will further enlighten you and impart a
little more wise counsel to you that will result in assisting you to properly
appreciate the complexities of our times.
Mr. President it is
pertinent to note that approximately two hundred and sixty five years ago one
of the founding fathers of the United States of America, Mr. Benjamin Franklin,
said “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”. I am sure that you will agree
with me when I say that he was absolutely right.
Just in case you do not
know who Benjamin Franklin was permit me to point out the fact that he is a man
that is revered by the American people and much of the civilised world up until
today and he is the individual whose face appears on the one hundred U.S.
dollar bills that are used till today.
He was a great statesman,
diplomat, politician and intellectual and most important of all he was a deeply
courageous man who was motivated by his deepest convictions and his christian
values and who was prepared to risk life and liberty and stand up to tyranny.
I guess most Nigerian
leaders have much to learn from him especially at times like this. Yet
thankfully all is not lost and at least a few of our politicians are beginning
to find their voice and speak out against the evil in the land. Permit me to
share one example with you.
A few days ago Chief Olisa
Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of our great party the PDP, exposed the
fact that there was an orchestrated attempt by your government to intimidate,
silence and utterly decimate and crush the opposition.
In open defiance to what
can best be described as this insidious and sinister agenda he told the world
that ”President Buhari is not God and we will not worship him”. Whether he
knows it or not Metuh has not only spoken for the PDP but also for the
overwhelming majority of the Nigerian people.
Permit me to add the
following words to his timely contribution. Woe unto those that tremble before
men of power and that worship false gods. Destruction and perdition awaits
those who bow before Baal, who exalt the servants of Belial, who kiss the ring
of the Baphomet, who say ”Buhari is God” and who crawl at the feet of the Lord
of the Flies.
Mr. President the point is
simple and clear: you are not God and even though we respect your office we
will never bow before you, we will never worship you, we will not relent in our
efforts to oppose you and, regardless of your constant threats and wicked
intentions, we have absolutely no fear of you.
This is because our fate
and destiny and the future of our beloved country lies in the hands of the
Living God and not in the hands of any misguided and tyrannical dictator.
Injustice, persecution and tyranny last only for a season.
At the appointed time the
Lord will step in and He will deliver and vindicate the falsely accused and the
righteous captive. He will also avenge the spilling of innocent blood and He
will fight the cause of the martyrs.
With this in mind and
regardless of the dangerous counsel of the hardliners and extremists that
surround you, I urge you to please take note of the following: Sheik Ibrahim El
Zakzaky, Colonel Sambo Dasuki and Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, who are all political
prisoners, must NOT die under mysterious circumstances whilst they are in your
custody.
No matter what your
advisers and those in your inner circle tell you if, God forbid, this were to
happen the fall-out and consequences for your reputation and your
administration would be too much to bear.
This brings me to another
issue which is a cause for grave concern. Your stated resolve not to obey court
orders and to deny Nigerians their right to bail after the courts have given it
to them is not only an affront and gratuitous insult to the Judiciary but it is
also a violation of the constitution.
I say this because, unlike
military dictatorships, democracy enjoys and derives its power and legitimacy
from the inviolable and sacred principle of ”separation of powers”.
What this means is that the
Executive arm of Government, which by the grace of God you head today, is
distinct and separate from the Legislature and the Judiciary.
As head of the Executive
and President of the Federal Republic, you have absolutely no power or right to
interfere in the processes of the Legislature (which is the National Assembly)
or the Judiciary. Both have their own rules, regulations and leadership and the
constitution guides them and guarantees them total and complete independence
from you.
As a matter of fact they
are charged by the laws of our land and the constitution to act as a check and
balance on you as President and to ensure that you do not abuse your power or
subject your people to tyranny.
Mr. President I watched you
on your media chat the other day and I am constrained to tell you that you not
only abused your power but that you also crossed the line with some of the
things that you said. For example you have no right to tell the courts how to
administer justice and who and who not to grant bail. Again you have no
business to tell the legislature which laws to pass and how to run their
affairs.
Again you have no right and
neither do you have the power to pronounce any Nigerian citizen guilty of any
crime unless and until a duly constituted court of law has done so. You cannot
be the prosecutor, judge and jury in any criminal proceeding and this is
especially so when you initiated those proceedings and you are the accuser.
To attempt to do so is not
only unacceptable and irresponsible but it is also heartless and unkind. The
fact that most of our senior and respected lawyers have refused to tell you
this simply because they are scared of you or because they are looking for
patronage from your government does not mean that what you are doing is lawful
or acceptable. What you are doing is morally and legally reprehensible and it
is unacceptable in any democratic and civilized society.
In the same vein you have
no right to try to stop members of the opposition or the general public from
criticizing you or condemning your obvious failings. Mr. President criticism,
opposition and dissent are the lifeblood of democracy and without accommodating
and tolerating them you cannot claim to be a democrat.
You have no right to
attempt to cower or intimidate the fourth estate of the realm, which is the
media, or attempt to pervert and corrupt the Nigerian public with daily doses
of lies, falsehood, deceit and propaganda which is being duly and dutifully
administered by your Minister of Information and your numerous media aides.
All these things give me
and millions of your other subjects concern yet it doesn’t stop there. Perhaps
the most disturbing example of your sheer insensitivity was your reaction to
the question about Igbo marginalization during the media chat. In response to
that question you asked “who is marginalizing who” and went further to ask
“what do the Igbo want?”
Mr. President I wish to
remind you that it is an incontrovertible fact that in just seven months your
government has succeeded in marginalizing the Igbo more than any other Federal
Government in living memory and certainly since the civil war.
This is a record that you
ought not to be proud of. What the Igbo want is fairness, equal rights, equal
representation, equity and respect. They also believe that they have the right
to determine their own future and make their own choices.
Mr. President I do not
believe that this is too much for them to ask given the fact that they have
contributed, perhaps more than most, to national development and integration in
the last forty five years?
It is not too much to ask
given the fact that no less than three million of their people, including one
million innocent children, were slaughtered during our civil war in the name of
keeping Nigeria one?
I have no doubt that you
will remember this very well Mr. President given the fact that you were one of
those that prosecuted that war and fought in it.
You will also remember the
brutal mass murder and the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were
perpetrated against the unarmed and defenseless Igbo civilian population of
Asaba in 1968 when over one thousand of them were rounded up, taken to the town
square and shot to death for no just cause.
The soldiers that carried
out that unspeakable act of cowardice, brutality and barbarity were under the
command of your professional colleague, the late Head of State, General Murtala
Mohammed. Mr. President that was a dark, shameful and ignoble chapter in our
history which still cries out for justice and reparations.
Needless to say the pain of
such horrendous events and numerous others that the Igbo have been subjected to
by the Nigerian state and those that control it over the last fifty five years
still haunts them.
The truth is that
regardless of the obvious contempt that you have for them the Igbo will
continue to insist on justice, fairness and on having their rights respected in
our country.
If you refuse to address
their numerous and legitimate grievances and you refuse to treat them with the
understanding, sensitivity and compassion that they deserve, the agitation for
self-determination, secession and the yearning for the establishment of a new
nation called Biafra will wax stronger and stronger until it reaches dangerous
and irresistible proportions.
That is what you are toying
with Mr. President and if that were to happen be rest assured that the Yoruba
would take a cue from it and so would the people of the Niger Delta. It would
effectively signify the beginning of the balkanisation of Nigeria.
Whether you and those with
your world view like to hear it or not, that is the bitter truth. May the
Ancient of Days grant you the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to accept it
and to do something about it. May the Lord of the Universe give you the
foresight and the insight to appreciate the fact that Nigeria cannot survive a
second civil war.
Mr. President I sincerely
hope that you do not take offence at my admonitions and counsel. I speak only
out of concern for the fortunes of your administration, your reputation and out
of love for my country. God bless Nigeria.
Femi Fani-Kayode was former
Aviation Minister.
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