An Open Letter to President Muhammadu Buhari
Curled From The Book Hope Alive Yes We Can (Chapter 39 in review)
By Fame Agidife
April 10, 2017
Your Excellency,
President Muhammadu Buhari,
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sir,
This letter is to draw your attention to the draconian fist of tyranny running the Nigerian state under the guise of the ‘change mantra.’ Your administration has turned our nation into a modern parallel of France before its 1789 revolution. As the Bible says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." Under your watch, Sir, the mourning in Nigeria has become a deafening cry.
In just over a year in office, the Nigerian people are not only suffering, they are suffocating under the weight of failed promises and harsh realities. This is not mere rhetoric; it is the lived experience of millions, supported by the grim data produced by your own government:
*Economic Collapse and Human Cost: Your administration plunged the nation into its worst recession in 25 years. This isn't just a headline; it's the reason families are forced to make an impossible choice between school fees and food on the table. With the inflation rate soaring past 18%—the highest in over a decade—the purchasing power of the common Nigerian has been decimated. This has led to a verifiable increase in school dropouts, as parents can no longer afford the future they once promised their children.
*Mass Unemployment: The ‘change’ promised has resulted in widespread job losses across all sectors. Instead of creating jobs, we are losing them at an alarming rate. Your government’s own National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that millions of Nigerians have been rendered jobless, with the unemployment rate climbing relentlessly. Our university graduates, once the hope of the nation, now walk the streets with idle hands and fading hope.
*Rampant Insecurity and Sectional Silence: We are witnessing an appalling level of insecurity. In communities from Southern Kaduna to Benue, entire villages are being wiped out and citizens slaughtered with horrifying impunity in a relentless wave of attacks attributed to armed herdsmen. When Christian leaders and communities cry out, their agony is met not with robust action, but with a chilling silence from the Presidency, giving the impression that some lives are more valuable than others.
*Erosion of National Unity: The principle of federal character, a cornerstone of our national unity, has been dangerously eroded. The leadership of our nation's security architecture—the Army, Air Force, Police, DSS, and National Intelligence—has been concentrated almost exclusively in the hands of individuals from one specific region of the country, creating a palpable sense of alienation and making southerners and ethnic minorities feel like outsiders in their own land.
*The War on the Poor: Nothing illustrates your government's disconnect more than the price of kerosene. A litre of kerosene, the fuel that millions of the poorest Nigerians depend on to cook their meals and light their homes, has tripled in price, soaring from under ₦200 to over ₦600 in our markets. For your officials to then tell a mother who cannot afford kerosene to simply "buy cooking gas" is the modern Nigerian equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s infamous "Let them eat cake." It is a statement of profound and dangerous ignorance of the reality your people face daily.
This callous indifference sparked the French Revolution that led to the overthrow of King Louis XVI. You, Mr. President, appear to be the personification of this role in the Nigerian state, sitting comfortably amongst your All Progressives Congress cohorts while tyranny runs rampant. You once said, “I know how to deal with anyone who criticizes my anti-corruption fight,” and you have used agents like AMCON, CCT, and EFCC to pursue and silence your perceived opposition. Your draconian fist has reached so far that even a man who named his dog after you in Ogun State was not spared.
Before I, too, find myself in the custody of your DSS, let me remind you of the words of Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." And as you well know, all power ultimately belongs to God.
Yours Sincerely,
Fame Agidife
A patriotic citizen concerned for the welfare of the Nigerian masses.
No comments:
Post a Comment