Dear President Olusegun Obasanjo,

I happened to have  been  at the  Nigerian  Embassy  in Paris France during your trip there as a President elect sometime in late  1998 or early 1999. During that trip there was an incident which I am very sure you have  not forgotten. A certain  young  man sitting at the rear rose up angrily raining abuses on you, and claiming that you and all the former leaders destroyed the country,and that your second coming was not going to be any different. It took the security personnel, and a cross section of Nigerians to calm this man down. And of course fearing for your security, you had to cut your trip short and left immediately after the incident.

After  your departure, Nigerians present on that fateful day were divided.There were those who felt that the young man  was right, that there would be no positive change from your second coming. There were others who felt that  because of what you went through under General Sanni Abacha, which culminated in your being jailed for treason, that you would have been humbled, and would therefore be on the side of the masses.

In retrospect it does seem as if the young man was right, which is the reason and focus of this letter.

Here you are Mr President, a man who almost died in jail due to the inherent injustices in Nigeria, yet less than 5 months after the formation of Your government you sent troops to massacre innocent civilians in  Odi Bayelsa state. The police under your watch has become an increasingly murderous organisation. There is hardly any day, one does not hear of the police  killing innocent civilians, who are exercising their constitutional rights of protest. Incidentally quite recently in France there were protests that lasted almost 2 weeks, I noticed among other things that nobody was killed by the French police, a few French police officers who went as far as beating up some of the protesters, were themselves suspended from duty. Mr President how is it that you can sleep at night with all these blood  being spilled under your watch? Why is it that you, just like most African leaders don’t have any value or regard for the lives of your subjects even in a democracy? Do you, deep down  in  your heart really think it is right for the Police and Army to be killing people  at will? Why is there so much violence in our society, some of them sponsored by the same leaders, whose number 1 duty  is  to  protect  the  lives  and  property of their subjects? Are we Blacks and Africans cursed?  don’t you  realise that the world is watching us, and my guess is as  good as yours, if you have any. That these “Oyinbo” people are laughing at us.

Mr President you claim to be born again, but your callousness to human life  and justice, is hard to  reconcile  with your self confessed  Christian  faith. you claim to be fighting corruption, but on the other hand you aided and abetted  a political Godfather  Mr Chris Uba, in  kidnapping  a  sitting governor, because  the governor  reneged on the terms of sharing  the “Egunje”. How then can you claim in all  honesty, that you are genuinely  fighting  corruption?.
I happen to have read your book titled “This  animal called  man”  in  this  book  you  captured and  espoused  all  the  ideals  of  a  just, fair and egalitarian society. But your actions since in office, contradicts  in-toto  all  the  ideals espoused in the said book. On (page 185) of the said  book in your own words, this is  what you had to say.

“In our modern day world there is a trend to live selfishly and even hypocritically, saying the right words but doing something else vastly different. But  in  public and private life, deeds and actions must match words. If our proclamations are not matched by our actions, we are living a false life, and there is no truth in us”. Mr President  these are your words, which ironically is a complete opposite of your actions.


In the area  of  nation  building,  you have shamefully  continued to fail, you have specifically failed in strategically  Uniting the South, which is your primary constituency. It is definitely not an accident that  ethnic militia’s have proliferated  under your watch. You  have  continued to frustrate  any  move that  will  introduce true federalism, and  devolution. Withought any doubt,you are obviously enjoying the over-concentration of power, to the detriment of  Nigerian unity. Which should ordinarily be of paramount importance. Your arrest and detention of  self determination protagonists, and the continuing lack of respect for the rule of law, is as I am sure you know, an outright mockery of democracy.
Freedom of speech and self  determination  is  a  constitutional  as well as a human right, but you choose to clamp those who exercise such rights in jail. In case you don’t know. I wish to let you know, that  throwing non violent activists in jail is a wrong strategy, that will not in the least address the problem, but would rather heighten it.  Prison has never solved any problems linked with self determination activism. Of course you have been in prison yourself, Nelson Mandela, chief Obafemi Awolowo, Kwame Nkrumah, Martin Luther King, amongst, others have all variously been in prison. I am at a loss as to how prison or even death can stop the ideals of their struggle.


A more pragmatic approach would have been more realistic in resolving  the self determination question?. I am convinced You know how to outsmart  these  activists, and  render  their  struggle  unattractive to their teeming followers, but unfortunately lack of courage and  the Nigerian  factor has so far not  let  you  thread that road. Because regrettably the Nigerian factor is all about, “oppression, suppression, extra judicial killings, lack of equity and fairplay“.

Once again in your book  â€œThis animal called man”  (page 204), this is what you had to say.


“The  Nigerian unity I fought for is not to be built on injustice, human rights abuses and human indignity. To support or advocate unity on such detestable basis will amount to betrayal and negation of the principles on which I fought for Nigerian unity“. Further on (page 214) this is what you had to say.

“For devolution of power, balance and stability, I prefer the six zones to be the basis of our federating units”

“I will  like to see a clause for self determination, and self determination process included in the constitution”

Mr President in conclusion, I am sure you have realised that these excerpts from your book, and in your own words, has to a large extent revealed a brazen display of hypocrisy and dishonesty in your actions and policies. It also confirms  what most Nigerians have always suspected, being that, our so called leaders past and present,  have abundant knowledge of what to  do, to set a fractious nation in the right direction, but deliberately refuse to do so. As you enter the twilight of your sojourn on earth, I leave you with  your conscience, and remind you  that  some  day, you  will have  to stand before  God in judgement.  I also implore you, in the confines and tranquillity of your inner chambers, to deeply reflect on what kind of a nation you would  like to leave behind, knowing  that there is time yet, to make genuine and profound changes.  



Chinedu  Nwobu
6  old bridge  toberona
Dundalk. Republic of Ireland

Robot  Villager

# 1 Dear President Olusegun Obasanjo, I happened to have &nbsp...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 06.05.2008 04:02