09 July 2016

WINTER IS COMING: NO POINT FOR WAR, WHEN WE CAN HAVE PEACE - LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI


Dear Mr. President,

I sincerely pray for you and your family. May God grant you the strength to lead us in this challenging times. I will be foolish to say I voted for you. I worked and voted for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan because I believed in the man as you have come to believe in him. And perhaps God allowed you to be President at this time because only you can do what am about to suggest and become the Father of the modern Nigeria.

I am grateful to you for the courtesy you have shown to your predecessor.  Your attitude towards him is the hope I have in writing this letter to you in the presence of your enemies.

I believe that if you can handle the Jonathan matter maturely the way I orchestrated it in my mind, you would do same in this other matter.

The country is now more divided than ever and it is not because of you. It has nothing to do with what you have done. October 1st, Nigeria will be 56 years and you know that this is not the country you dream of. Anyone who thinks it's your fault is missing the point. You inherited a broken country just like Goodluck did.

Goodluck instituted pure democracy,  as he's referred today as arguably the father of democracy in Africa.  You are fighting corruption and once you extend it to people in your camp without any insinuations of witch hunt things will be better.

If we had all the time maybe the country could have been salvaged. But I fear that winter is upon us like the legendary movie GAME OF THRONE. While we are fighting ourselves there is an enemy coming so fast who knows no friends nor foes. He is a bloodsucking demon whose insatiable nature has seen him ravish many lands and peoples.

War comes with starvation,  disease,  terror and unimaginable horror. I fear it is around the corner. You can blame my fear on ignorance of things you have put in place to avoid it.

But this is why I fear. Before Boko haram, we knew no such thing as bombing,  but they came and destroyed many of our people in the north. Now it is Avengers crippling the economy as they make demands that have become all too common.

Mr President, this is my advice. Let's not give the demon War an opportunity to visit our land, when we as a people can reason amongst ourselves to drive him from our doorsteps.

Look beyond the Avengers and other groups agitating. Look inwards. Do you think anything good can come out of Nigeria the way it is?  Personally,  I don't. Most citizens don't. Their silence is as a result of hopelessness. People are worried and afraid.

If you give yourself some time to fix things and you see that it is not happening,  please consider negotiating the future of Nigeria.

Let me digress a bit. It will not be a failure for you to do so just as it is not a failure for Jonathan to concede defeat. People must have pushed him to stay put and annul the election that brought you to power but he stayed mature. People will tell you that if Nigeria is restructured let it not be your time. They are misleading you. If you see no light at the end of the tunnel the way things stand and decide to restructure you will go down in History as the father of the modern nation. Your enemies will love you and the world will praise you.

Negotiating the future of Nigeria doesn't necessarily mean dividing the country. These are suggestions that should be considered:

1.) Nigeria with regions controlling their resources like it was and donating to the centre. (Don't let anyone push you to be selfish about this. It's the only way the Niger Delta problem can be solved. Jonathan couldn't do it because he's from the region; help him and Nigerians to end this madness)

2.) Confederate States. This to me is like the Great Britain. They have their own country in one country. Each people are still bound to one another for a stipulated period of time. The Niger Delta will still give from their oil to other bound-countries. Just as they will benefit from the other countries. This to me will solve the Biafra problem immensely. While they cannot completely abandon their brothers but I should presume its a compromise they will be willing to make.

3.) Outright secession. This personally I don't support because of the problems that will follow,  but if we are forced to do this we should consider before the universe force it on us. But I must warn advocates of this theory that it's more difficult than they think.

Mr. President,  like I said earlier, you must consider these carefully and seek your own counsel most of the time.

Should you decide to look into it,  I advice you to set up a unity committee comprising people of the various regions, religions and political divides. Please don't include people with a reputation for unreasonableness. They can't be reasoned with. Read the reports of the committee act quickly while you try to fix things.

Mr. President, at this juncture permit me to make a simple request. Call Nnamdi Kalu and talk to him like your son. Assure him you are considering a lot of things and appeal for his patience. I believe he will listen and remain calm. This gesture will please your fellow countrymen and women in the east. You will score high points in that region.

I have so much to say but at this point I think I have taken too much of your time. I will keep praying for you to lead us to build our nation because you are the leader we have and the bulk stops at your table.

Thanks.

Written by Stanley Edokpolo
He is from urhobo, Delta State
the Author and publisher of Otello magazine.

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