Open Letter to President Jonathan

My dear humble and smart Mr President, His Excellency, Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan, I am using this medium to write you this open letter as a concerned youth of the federal republic of Nigeria who have been directly and indirectly affected by your policies since you took over the helms of leadership some 6 years ago, and whose only hope is Nigeria only and who still believes so much in Nigeria.

Let me first and foremost commend you for the acclaimed transformation you’ve been causing across the federation as the political climate have to a large extent been an avenue of educating those who believe you run a clueless government and that your government is a non performing one. With the amount of documentaries, political adverts and canvassing campaigns for you going on, our hitherto view of you is almost changing as we have been all along not observant or should I say blind to this transformation you’re bringing about in our beloved country, but the issue is there are still lot of other issues that the masses look forward to you on, which will have just made us give you a re-election on a platter of gold.

My dear Mr President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, let me use this opportunity to tell you that
I once was your ardent fan and though I can’t say I am again now, I believe I can stil be again. This can only be as a result of what happens between now and March 28 for a start, and what happens between then and May 29 as a summary. Your acts, dispositions (even body language) will go a long way to bring about my loving and being ready to die for you like I once did some years back again.

Please note that this is not just a gainsay. I remember vivdly like it was yesterday how I lost my voice from shouting my love and support for you when a picture of you was displayed at the 2010 EXPERIENCE progran by House on the Rock at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.

My memory is still very fresh of my displays of acrobatic dance when you visited the Redemption camp prior the election that brought you to office.

I really campaigned for you then o, though my campaign for you now is that Nigerians should pray that God should guide you and arrest your heart for a proper transition in this remaining months of your government, before you hand over to the next goverment which by God’s grace will emerge from a free and fair credible election you are working assidiously with the security agencies to assist INEC in conducting.

WOW! I SO ‘BELIEVED’ IN YOU SIR, AND SO ‘BELIEVE’ YOU ARE OUR MESSAIH. Truth be told sir,I still have that believe in you, though the believe have been seriously shattered in these past years of your administration, but I believe you’re God’s ordained, to CHANNEL us to exactly where God wants to take us to as a nation. (Sir, please note my use of channel as this infers that I beleive God wants to use you to lead Nigeria into that transition that will put Nigeria where it should be in the committe of Nations through this forthcoming elections in less than 6 weeks).

My smart president sir, it became imperative for me to write you this open letter because from my observation (my own opinion though) of popular opinion about you these days ( which is not what I’d want to dignify with my computer keyboard which I use in composing this letter), there is a clout in the air that you’re putting all machinations in place to thwart a kind of almost credible election that brought you into power some years ago by using all the power (constitutional, non-constitutional, economic, military, judicial, etc) you have and can create to make sure a repition of an election that saw the decision of the masses getting you into office 4 years ago is truncated because of mostly maybe not your personal interests, but to safeguard the interest of some vultures (as they said o) that wants to totally destroy the nation’s economy to their benefit.

My response to them is, “that cant be true”.

They further give me instances by saying you cant be trusted if one is to go by the way your word have never been your bond when it matters and what I told them is are they sure you even said those words they regard as bond? Well they showed videos and other proofs but I just tell them na them know. Do they think being a president is easy?

They said you condone corruption since cases of corruption is higher than it had ever been in the land and nobody have ever been brought to book and I tell them cant they see you’re busy working to make sure Lagosians now enjoy Air-conditioned trains to carry out their daily business activities.

They say Nigeria is poorer than it had ever been and I tell them are they blind to read economic reports about our country during this your tenure. I even told them how can Nigeria be said to be poor when Nigerians have the highest numbers private jets in the world. Had to let them know you said so and that one woman from Kenya prasied us for that when you visited their country with SEVEN private jets, for them to believe this our great feat as against rumours of being among the poorest nations.

They are saying unemployment is on the rise than it had ever been, and I told them this government is working assidiously to create jobs but some people are sabotaging the efforts. For example, if not for the impatience of the job seekers that led to the death of many job seekers into immigration recently, do they know how many jobless Nigerians youths will have been gainfully employed by now? Anyway you are still and will still keep addressing the issue of unemployment as you have promised Nigerians FRESH AIR and 2million jobs yearly if re-elected. They had better cast their votes wisely.

They again said education has collapsed as even the educated youths can’t get employment and the rate of academic failure is unimaginable, and my reponse to them is are they not aware of the almajiri schools in the north. I told them education is paramount to you as i have heard you say in many of your political rallies that, it is your being educated that gave you the priviledge to be where you are today.

They said four years ago, you promised to use only one term in office and I told them the only constant thing in life is change and as such it’s your choice (even if this brings to question your integrity). Some of them almost lynched me at this point, before one asked me that what of electricty, you promised your goverment will have stabilized it at the end of 4 years? Trust me, I replied them point blank that your excellency can’t be blamed if they have no money to buy dstv, so they could have watched where you told Christiane Amanpour that, that is one area Nigerians are very pleased with this goverment for, for the ground breaking achievements recorded so far in electricity.

They went further to say terrorism is gaining unprecedented ground today in the country and some personnels at the war front had even had to in recent times written you open letters as to why the war against the BH can’t be won, without getting any open reply from you. Well my response to them was what more reply do they need? The security chiefs have promised NIgerians that this will be resolved in the next 6 weeks as against how it had escalated in the past 6 years, because your goverment has given full and neccessary support needed to make sure this is achieved in the coming weeks.

They are actually saying a lot of things to your detriment to we the masses and believe it or not, I am seriously giving them the right responses as to the best of my knowledge on each issues raised, but there’s this particular issue that I cant respond to, and this is what prompted my open letter to you.

It is about the shifted date of going to the polls. There is a public belief that you have an evil agenda and that you and your affiliates are the ones behind this shift. This I believe is because all those that are clamouring for postponement are either members of the PDP or those appointed into public office by your government. Olisah Metuh, Edwin Clark, The NSA amongst a few and maybe on the other hand some small unrecognized political parties that probabaly have nothing to loose or gain from the election, but maybe much to gain from the presidency if the election is shifted. Though I dont believe them as I watched with my own eyes on Channels Tv and heard with my own ears from INEC chairman, Prof Jega, the reasons for the postponement of the election. Securty is the stated excuse and though your distractors may want to blame that on you since you’re the chief securty officer of the nation, I believe you have everything under control.

My plea with you sir is though I know you’ve talked through Ruben Abati, about May 29 being sacrosant as the date for handing over to the next goverment which may be and (going by what some are saying) will not by God’s grace be you, I want to urge you as the father of the nation to please make the said poll dates sacrosant as well, since nothing was said to that effect by your mouth piece, and as such give me an audacity to challenge your distractors by being able to tell them that, “did I not say it? GEJ is the channel through which God is leading us to the next transition”. This is to avoid them telling me like the yorubas will always say, “Aje ke lana, omo ku loni, tani ko mope aje to ke lana lo pa omo to ku je” (Witch cried last night, and the child is dead this morning, who doesnt know its the witch that cried that killed the child).

This can only be achieved if (1)some abracadabras like the elections postponement forced on Nigerians is not allowed to repeat itself, (2)the leaked audio recordings of insinuations of rigged elections in Ekiti state is treated and a guarantee of such not happening again is given, (3)you and your cabinents/ affiliates not making moves to force the present INEC chairman out of office as being speculated in some quaters at the moment and as he has won the confidence of the majority that he is capable of delivering a free and fair poll, and (4) amognst others, making sure the issue of security is settled for the proper conduction of the election on March 28 and April 11 as already slated to avoid further postponment which can result in a total rubbishing of our constitution.

Answer to this particular question that have been used to corner me for still believing in your administration like I still do now can only be got through the outcome of March 28 especially, and April 11 and May 29 respectively, as I believe you have all it takes to put the mind of Nigerians to rest by God’s grace.

Finally sir, let me use this medium to appreciate your humility, at your recent tour of churches for prayers for you and the nation. While on this tour sir, remember you’re not only the christains’ president, but president of all religious factions in the country. Please try and make visit to the religious places of all these other Nigerians.

God bless Nigeria.

NB: Since I have no direct link to Mr PRESIDENT, pls help pass this letter on till it gets to him or his associates.

by Obideyi Lobinco Olanrewaju 
a concerned youth of Nigeria.