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Your Excellency Sir,
Hearty congratulations as you mark 86years of good health, good life man and well-being on Ear and most especially as a Nigerian. On behalf of myself, my family, and the Young People of the Middle belt region, I send you wishes of good health and longer life.
Your Excellency Sir, I choose to write you this open letter a day after your birthday because I wanted you to celebrate this glorious day well, and when you wake up in the new age we shall discuss Nigeria in detail.
I have every right to address this letter to you at this time because of many reasons. You are the father of present-day Nigeria. Though Nigeria came into being through the merging of the southern and northern regions in 1914, by 1967 that marriage was to cut short if not for your spectacular leadership. Your beautiful name became a slogan: Go on with one Nigeria! You fought through thick and thin to ensure that Col. Ojukwu’s Biafra never saw the light of day. You rebirthed Nigeria.
At my Present age, you had the opportunity to preside over Nigeria as head of state. There were elders and more educated Nigerians than you at that time but grace located you. Today, even though I am more schooled and experienced professionally than you were in 1967, I am still quite a very young Nigerian and a boy in the eyes of many.
However, grace has located me to be the one to write you this letter irrespective of the many elders and experienced people of my time.
I pray that that grace will lead someone to bring this letter to you. If you are reading this letter, may that grace bring you memories of your youth to recharge you?
Your Excellency, in no doubt you have contributed to the unity and development of this great country Nigeria. During your days of Go on with one Nigeria, one of your field commanders was Muhamadu Buhari. That young officer has grown in ranks to become head of state and retired but has returned to rule again. His second coming is having a lot of trust issues that are capable of breaking that very country you worked so hard in your youth to keep it as one.
Unlike your junior Olusegun Obasanjo who has been commenting at different intervals to correct the ills in government, you have remained silent. There has been a high level of insecurity, indiscriminate corruption, bad governance, unprecedented nepotism, celebrative abuse of power, and total decay in governance, but your silence is becoming too loud daily.
For example, the Middle belt you are from in general including Plateau State, the state of your birth; the origin from which you are celebrating 86years today has been a theatre of bloodshed. For over five years now, no day passes by without a man being hacked down by Fulani herdsmen. These herdsmen have maimed and terrorized every indigenous community of the Middle belt. Unfortunately, the presidency has continuously given a silent node. The entire region has been soaked with blood with impunity, but no one cares from the center. This is the same situation in other parts of the country. Life in the country you birthed is becoming worthless day by day. Rather, the federal government is burnt on taking people’s ancestral lands and giving it to foreign herdsmen through RUGA and recently the bill to take over waterways by the federal government. Unfortunately, you have remained silent.
Today, Nigeria has been extremely polarized by those in power. The security architecture of the country remains in the hands of one ethnic group, the federal character has been abused igniting all the fires that need to burn up Nigeria. But no one hears your voice.
Your Excellency, things have been polarized in Nigeria to the extent that one needs to come from a particular tribe or region to even become a criminal. If Boko Haram members are caught on the battlefield, they are taken to Abuja and celebrated as repentant but a criminal renounces his ways in Benue, he was rounded up by the army and killed!
In this Nigeria you birthed, Ibo protesters were easily declared a terrorist group but AK47 carrying Fulani herdsmen are not declared terrorists!
Sir, you need to speak out. Your good intentions of one Nigeria are being abused I plead to your conscience to speak out.
His Excellency, in Nigeria today Petroleum in the Niger Delta belongs to Nigeria but Gold in Zamfara belongs to Zamfara. If we speak out, we called wailers and lovers of corruption but I believe at 86 you should not be afraid of names. Loans are being collected carelessly to fund projects that will benefit other landlock countries instead of funding projects that will benefit Nigerians. How will you keep quiet at moments like this?
At a time the combined Education and health budget for over 200 million Nigerians is far less than the budget for 469 legislators, people like you need to speak out. These things are making young people angry with their country. If you are to be in your youth, you would have been angrier.
If you could go to war for Nigeria in your youth to keep it one, the world should hear your voice at a time like this.
His Excellency, the youths of Nigeria today are fed up with all these and have entered into the streets to show their grievances. We are asking you as your birthday gift to Nigeria, to speak out. Speak truth to power except you are part of the problem. The Nigerian Army you once commanded is completely lacking in ideas but the government is keeping the service chiefs for their gains. This army is about to make a huge mistake, their recent comments on civil issues show their intentions to unleashed terror on armless protesters in the name of operation crocodile smile. This is the time you need to speak out.
Your Excellency Sir, you have to stand up and redeem yourself. You have to speak out against the forces struggling to split Nigeria with ethnic favorites policies. You birthed this Nigeria and it should not be destroyed in your lifetime. Even if you don’t care whether it will be destroyed or not, ask yourself, if Nigeria is continuously pushed and it breaks at this time, where will your middle belt be? Where will your family be? Where will your descendants be? In the hands of those who care only about their tribe and religion?
If you are alive but cannot speak for Nigeria again when you are no more, who will speak for your descendants?
As you mark your 86years of greatness I charge you to do one more great thing- rally your mates, your boys and form a rescue team. Stand up and redeem the Nigeria you birthed. Do this before it is too late.
My name is Iorsamber Martin,
A concerned Patriot for a better Nigeria.
Copied from Joi Johnson’s page.