11/07/2022
Madhi Shehu, The Nigerian Question And Ethnic Excesses
POEM Probes...
One cannot help but give Alhaji Mahdi Shehu his dues as a self-acclaimed activist and protector of Northern Nigeria. Eloquent and blessed with astute knowledge of history, the Katsina-born sexagenarian is not one you ignore with his very inciting statements, even when most cannot be substantiated.
He released a viral 38-minute audio that attracted a 50-minute visual interview from Arise Television. Both public opinions were on the excessive side of verbal coinages that could ignite an ugly unrest - all for the wrong or, better put, mischievous reasons.
Dear Alhaji Mahdi Shehu,
Your hugely contrived efforts in the audio diatribe with title, The Obi Project and Posterity, was bizarrely inciting that it could lead to an ugly strife in a country already boiling to the brim with volatility in many spheres of terrorism.
If one should accede to your claim that the six people you mentioned: HE Olusegun Obasanjo, HE Ibrahim Babangida, Gen (Rtd) Mohammed Gusau, Prof Ango Abdullahi, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and Bishop Matthew Kukah are supporting the presidential aspirations of HE Peter Obi, then they should be celebrated as honourable men desiring the best for their country. But as adorable as this news could sound, one will not rely on you to assume its authenticity. Since you couldn't know, within 72 hours of the announcement, that the younger brother to a man you included in the plot, was already primed to be named the running mate to the man you chose to destroy his ambition, rendered your laborious effort as a package laced with hypothesis and guesswork. It also made nonsense of your attempt to make-believe that you have a mole deep inside Obasanjo's camp.But this is a matter for another scrutiny.
On your extremely viscous attack on Obasanjo, the retired General is not a man anybody speaks for. He can appropriately respond if he chooses to. However, assuming, but not in any way conceding, that the elder statesman is as guilty as you charged, he is, at least, entitled to repentance. Even in your fury, you seemingly acknowledged that repentance is honourable, especially when coming from a man, who has seen over 90% of all he could possibly see in life.
Additionally, you don't need to remind the Igbos of what Obasanjo did to them during and after the war. They are equally students of history, but differ from you because of a general ability to learn positively from past events. They easily forgive and integrate because they believe in unity. That's why you see them in huge numbers in every state in Nigeria. A man that comes to your house to dine with you after a bloody clash is more forgiving than the man who invited him over. Therefore, if the Igbo man harboured any grievances against Obasanjo, the fact that the former head of state is presently open to make amends is enough for the Igbo man to forgive, forget and work with him to deliver dear country from her worsening doldrums.
On your calls to your Northern brothers to not align with anybody being presented by Obasanjo for the sake of the entire region, the four men you were cajoling and pleading with in same breath are in the contrast, seeing further than you that the time to unite the whole entity called Nigeria, in the true sense of the word, is finally here. Don't stand between a divine call. It has never done anyone any good.
And now to the subject of your energy-sapping antagonism - Peter Gregory Obi. That effort was rendered a complete guesswork based on your extremely strong but baseless allegations against the former governor of Anambra State.
Nothing could have been more painful in that audio to those who know the Labour Party's Presidential Candidate than saying that 'he hates the North to his bone marrow, with his blood' - your own words. The man you're painting in such exceedingly unfortunate words does not discriminate in all he does in life. There is no trace of tribalism in him. It's not in his character to hate any individual, tribe or religion.
A man with tribal inclination would not have worked with six different Commissioners of Police - all from core Northern Nigeria. He wouldn't have started and completed his eight years as governor with a man from Kano State as his ADC. He wouldn't have visited schools in all the six geopolitical zones in the country to donate personal money to assist in improving education standards in a country he loves so much..
Saying that he forced the Northerners sojourning in his state during his time as governor to wear identification cards as tags for purposes of debasing, dehumanizing and intimidating is the most bizarre of the allegations. Like the soft-spoken technocrat asked during a recent interview on Arise TV, "is it my Police Commissioners from the North or my ADC from same North that I sent to arrest and intimidate their own brothers?"
A tribalist will not go to Kano from Anambra to support a rice industry that needed patronage, financial support and good will to survive the harsh entrepreneurial environment in the country.
Following your barrage of bizarre accusations is that Obi supports and sponsors IPOB and ESN and has been calling for the release of every member of the group in custody. You pointed to a Channels interview made in 2017 as your proof. How very unfortunate and utterly mischievous to draw inference from a statement made in a harmless interview five years ago when situations were hugely different from today's Nigeria. In today's Nigeria, almost every community in the 774 Local Government Areas, is flinching from the menace of the terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and all manner of criminals. There has been drastic deterioration of insecurity in this country for the past five years that such statements you draw from have long been overtaken by events. To refresh your memory, Obi was emphatic that he would engage agitators, who abide by the rule of law while doing so, and deal decisively with excesses involving acts of criminality. And you better believe him.
In his life, either as a private or a public person, all his actions have clearly shown a true nationalist, a down-to-earth patriot and a genuine lover of humanity.
But you have challenged Obi to visit the North. You can bet anything that he will. He's the only candidate who, as an aspirant, visited all the states save one in Nigeria plus the FCT. He visited every state but Adamawa for being a thoroughbred gentleman that he has always been.
He has almost eight months now. If you knew him, you'd understand that he will visit all important cities in each state to talk to the people. He's so honest and sincere that people listening at close quarters easily see through his patriotism. Just give the people of Northern Nigeria the chance to evaluate the messenger themselves. If there's one aspect of your release that one can completely agree with, it's that the North are wiser now. Yes, they are. That's why they are clearly giving the signs that, after almost eight years of unprecedented insecurity and terrorist attacks in their once-peaceful zone, they now understand, just like other zones in Nigeria, that tribalism and ethnic politics have earned us nothing but doom. And more refreshing is the fact that they are willing to change. Look deeply at your brother, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, you will also understand he is already preaching that message.
If it ends up that you guessed right about the men you mentioned having already keyed into this project, then the posterity you based on to deliver your version of Nigeria you want will not likely toe your line in delivering intervention. A new Nigeria where her citizens will utilise her full potentials for her assured greatness will most certainly be more attractive to Mr Posterity.
If indeed you tried to pollute the minds of the whole nation in ignorance, then GO AND VERIFY. But if you knowingly lied against honest men to achieve whatever ethnic agenda, the time to repent is now. Four out of the six men you condemned with a collection of very unpalatable adjectives are far older than you are and have been in far bigger leadership positions than yourself. They may have realised they made mistakes and now doing everything to amend them before they visit their ancestors. Don't incite what will make them depart their fatherland in regret.
PO Express Media, POEM
Monday, July 11, 2022 Editorial.
