Your Excellency: I greet you. First, this disclosure: I am neither a PDP nor APC member. I do not belong to any political party in Nigeria. I am a passionate patriot of our great nation. However, I am also an unapologetic supporter of our President, Muhammad Buhari. I admire his blunt, bold simplicity, sincerity, sense of purpose, commitment, unconditional care for Nigeria’s everyday people and patriotism, especially since he transitioned from a brutal Military dictator to a born-again democrat. I believed almost 20Million Nigerians that voted for him in the last election saw the same qualities as I did.
Sir, I write in response to some of your vicious attacks on our President. I cannot go back to years of continued hostility from you, to our President. It seemed you continue with this exercise because no one within his media relations has responded aggressively to some of your juvenile comments with regards to the President’s health, policies, wife, and his family. Your Excellency, when is enough, enough?.
You smack the president with a silly smirk on your face: you have reduced the office of the Presidency to a playhouse program. Where is your dignity and respect for your elders? Yoruba culture is rich and endowed with profound respect for our elders. You are Yoruba. Sir, respect that sacred and unique culture of your tribe. One of the fundamental elements of democracy is right to free speech. It’s within your rights to criticize the President, but with respect, maturity and dignity your office beholds.
Few days ago, 82 Chibok girls were released by the terror group Boko Haram, the deal was still fresh when you accused the President of manipulating information. Sir, you alleged that the release of these girl captives was diverting attention from the sick President’s true state of health; you further, carelessly stated that the Chibok girls were not missing. ”What is not missing cannot be found”… But sir, where were you when Goodluck Jonathan made a surprise three-hour visit to Nigerian soldiers stationed in Sambisa Forest on January 14th, 2015? Are you so stressed thinking about your next media frenzy showmanship, to forget, so soon, that your political party, PDP, was in power when the Chibok girls were kidnapped?
I am really concerned with your state of mind, your mental health, because of your careless statements. You are the Chief Executive of one of Nigeria’s young states. Ekiti State is just 21 years old. You are not an outlaw or the leader of an unorganized turbulent brood of intimidators or mob boss. You are a Governor. Chief Executive! Respect that institution by behaving decently. Stop embarrassing the good citizens of Ekiti State.
Early March, you challenged the President to speak to you from his London sick bed, as proof to Nigerians that he was not dead. Who the hell are you?… Who made you a spokesperson for the Nigerian people? You are a State Governor, not an arrogant Federal employee. So, why did you think that Nigerians trusted or considered you credible source of information with regards to their President? Sir, with the greatest respect, are you hallucinating? You are not the Voice of Nigeria….
Your Excellency, you charged our President’s wife, Alhaja Aishat, of playing games with the release of the Chibok girls. Last year, you accused her of being wanted in the United States for Halliburton alleged corruption. These were your musings during her publicized visit, as First Lady, to the United States. Do you really reason about the consequences of your statements before you open your mouth? During our severe recession in December, you indicted President Buhari for using the recession to punish Nigerians. You denied that the country was in a recession. Why would an elected head of his people punish his nation with a recession? What is the purpose or desired goals of punishing Nigerians with the recession?
You are an elected leader. In life, time is the judge and history, the jury. You are 57 years old, these times. You are 21 years apart from 78, perhaps one day; you would attempt political office at past prime of your life. How would you feel, if, at 78, a 48 yr old lavishes insults at your office and person, mischaracterizes your aspirations for our country and declared you dead while you are recuperating from illness? We are not omnipotent; no one is immune from health challenges… Health conditions come at any time of our lives. A man who disrespects an old man with lies and callously wishes him death, his father’s age mate, is indirectly expressing his years of built up emotions, rage, and anger toward his father.
Your Excellency, personal attacks on a sick honest old man will not give you closure to past relationships with your father. Only therapy would reconcile you and your dad. You seemed an emotionally troubled Governor. You are erratic, hysterical, bullish, and insecure, an embarrassment to the office you occupy.
Sir, I remind you that Buhari’s administration is yours too. Historians would remember you as the Governor of Ekiti State, during President Muhammad Buhari’s administration, as a democratically elected President. Buhari’s successes and failures are part of your governorship history. You may think your freestyle outbursts against President Buhari identify you as a “straight shooter” or unafraid anti-establishment. No sir. Your antics show a disconnection between your present and your past: your tirades, frequently directed at a disciplined servant of the people, suggests you are struggling with your low self-esteem, past emotional trauma, always wishing to be the attention of the moment. My dear Governor, something is wrong with you. You are neither the law nor above it as Chief Executive of Ekiti State. “Ekitians” shall remember you as a lawless loudmouthed attention seeker willing and able to say stupid things. A man that reacts on impulse. You make headline news as a clown, as President Buhari’s attack machine, than actually addressing the economic and social challenges of the great Ekiti people: healthcare, jobs, crime, education, security, good road, and infrastructure. Pay civil workers their past salaries and find creative ways to make their salaries regular, focus on programs to help millions of unemployed youths and graduates with no jobs. Give every child the opportunity to better healthcare and education. Reduce crime by encouraging local law enforcements with regular salaries and for teachers, too. Build affordable hospitals, clinics to help ageing Ekiti population, not run to the local markets to price “ponmo” or walk into a popular “Buka” and eat just to show you are a regular “homeboy” Governor connected with everyday Ekitians. Sir, how would Ekiti people remember your administration, twenty years from now? Under your three year administration, what programs have impacted the ordinary person in Ekiti. You were elected as Governor in 2014. You perfectly used Buhari’s illness to distract citizens from auditing your lame duck administration. Your Excellency, it is absolutely possible to fool few people, sometimes, but it is impossible to fool all the people, all the time.
Thank you for the privilege to write you.
Sincerely,
Azuka Jebose