 |
| President Muhammadu Buhari said Obasanjo is unpatriotic following the latter's letter to the president. |
And the saga continues as calls for Obasanjo's arrest seem to attract much interest than it bargained for. But who is surprised?
Nigeria is presently in a precarious situation. Political analysts describe the current state of the nation as 'gnarly' and capable of ripping apart every fiber of the nation and that which holds us together. We are simply at a tipping point in our nationhood where the slightest provocation could mark the end of the union.
We were and are still being told that there's 'Strength in Diversity'. While this is true, it does however, appears that the country is in a mess, and a complicated situation right now. Our inability to accommodate and respect each other, made that 'strength in diversity' more like a myth and beyond the realms of possibility.
This is a bitter pill that is certainly hard to gulp, but the fact remains that Nigerians have truly never been as divided as they are today. A marriage deficient of trust is only a matter of time until it crashes. This is how things currently stand in the country.
The Buhari and the APC had promised Nigerians heaven on earth as it seeks to unseat Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP in the 2015 presidential elections. However, since being entrusted with power, the Buhari administration did not only fail to keep its many campaign promises, but also failed to assure Nigerians of safety. Nigerians are left in a situation such as 'you are here today, and tomorrow you're no more'. No one is simply sure of the next minute. The Funke Olakunrin incident is still very fresh in our memories.
The government's policies are also believed to have been tailored to favour a particular region and tribe instead of the nation as a whole. So much for 'strength in diversity'. This singular act in addition to the government's lopsided appointments into prominent positions, has done more damage to the nation's unity than the president may have anticipated. Of course he should know that! There has been outcry and condemnations but the president remained unmoved. So you are forced to agree that the president knows exactly what he's doing.
But Nigerians have had enough. Even prominent leaders in the country are not holding their peace against the APC government.
If you don't know former president Olusegun Obasanjo for anything, you should at least, know him for his open letters especially to presidents in power. His letter to Goodluck Jonathan is believed to have played a major role in Jonathan's loss in the 2015 presidential elections. In fact, Obasanjo is one of the powers that ensured Jonathan loses re-election.
And now barely two months since moving into Buhari's 'next level', Nigeria's political space is heated once again as critics and Obasanjo in particular, are blunt in their approach toward calling the Buhari administration to order.
The former president in his second letter to Buhari, said he is "deeply worried about four avoidable calamities" plaguing the Nigerian nation, and cautioned the president against abandoning "Nigeria into the hands of criminals who are all being suspected, rightly or wrongly, as Fulanis and terrorists of Boko Haram type."
But the president who must not be called to order, failed to find meaning in Obasanjo's letter and instead, called him unpatriotic, with groups from the president’s Fulani circle even calling for Obasanjo's arrest. Who in his sane mind, and who lives in the very country where insecurity reigns supreme, will disagree with Obasanjo's message? You don't tell a blind man out of cover that it's raining do you?
Truth be told, non of those condemning Buhari's administration are actually saints. But it takes a government living in a different world to that of its subject, to deny the obvious.
Let's face it! Buhari simply doesn't care! He's apparently upto something and would gladly trade the unity of this country to actualize it. You can call it Islamization, Fulanization, Ruganization or whatever you think it is. But it's increasingly clear every passing day that the unity of Nigeria will only be possible if the whole country surrenders to the one who must not be called to order.
