I have chosen in my life and times, to side with all men who face oppression and or persecution. Having also exhaustively studied the development of Western societies and the role the rule of law which was held sacrosanct played in the development of their societies, I have come to believe that the law under all circumstances must be held supreme, and allowed to take it’s course no matter the stakes involved, or whose ox is gored. This is the only way human societies distinguish themselves from animals.

In recent times Alhaji Atiku Abubakar though not particularly a saint himself, has come under the sledge hammer of a despotic president who fancies himself as a God. As a multiplier effect of a personal feud, both the president and his vice have gone to town with a string of revelations, bordering on large scale sleaze and corruption.

In all of these, the presidents long known hypocrisy and double standards were on full display before a resigned Nigerian public. As is typical of mentally inferior African despots, President Obasanjo and his untiring spin doctors, expert only in the invention of evil, have taken advantage of the crude coercive elements of power to unleash an unprecedented litany of measures designed to oppress, intimidate, contain, and ultimately exclude Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his allies from exercising their legitimate electoral rights.

In their desperation to stop Atiku, the president and his men have turned into Bulls, knocking down every thing on their part. Before our very eyes, all kinds of lies and methods have been invented to disqualify bonafide candidates contesting under Atiku Abubakar’s Action Congress platform. A pliable INEC, supposedly the electoral umpire, but now known to be an appendage of the presidency has perfected every trick under the sun in their bid to execute the president’s evil desire.

Personal pride and ego has been elevated beyond national interests and the rule of law. Court orders are routinely disobeyed, except those that side with the desires of the Bull in Aso rock. Supporters are witch hunted, and in some cases like i.e. Iyorchia Ayu arrested on trumped up charges of terrorism.

Federal government panels indict only those opposed to the president while excluding government cronies, sycophants, hatchet men, evil geniuses and bootlickers.As I am writing, INEC acting out of a script from Aso rock continues to insist Dr Chris Ngige running under Atiku’s platform for Anambra state will not be allowed to contest, in spite of having won the court case, Peter Okocha, Delta state Gubernatorial Aspirant is also suffering the same fate, and the federal government has mischievously declared a 2 day public holiday from Thursday the 12th of April in a bid to delay Atiku Abubakar’s Supreme court hearing which was supposed to begin same day.

The extent to which president Obasanjo and his cohorts have descended in their brazen display of raw power, subversion of due process and total disregard of law and order and every civilized norm of democratic societies, is quite regrettable for a president who narrowly escaped death at the hands of another despot, and who held almost a Mandela like promise at his inception.

The declaration of a 2 day public holiday and the colossal loss it represents to different sectors of the economy bears testimony to the fact that this utterly insensitive president will not hesitate to pull down the very edifice of the nation to achieve his selfish and primitive aims.

All in all and ironically, the struggle has made Alhaji Atiku Abubakar an unlikely hero for so many like myself, who now see him as a victim of a lawless, hypocritical, overbearing, vindictive, and abusive president who fancies himself as a God.

Obasanjo has taken the abuse of power to new heights, and set several unimaginable precedents never before seen or anticipated even in the worst military regimes. I remain confident, whatever the outcome of the elections, that any objective verdict of history will appoint Obasanjo the villain and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the unlikely hero.

Comrade Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

Email: lawrencenwobu@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 In their desperation to stop Atiku, the president and his men have turned into Bulls, knocking do...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 13.04.2007 09:23

ebasain  Villager

# 2 Comrade Nwobu, thank you for your fine work. You put this tragic story of a Nigerian President bent on annihilating himself at some point in history very clearly and succinttly. From one comrade to another, I salute you. Keep up the good work. Posted by ebasain| 13.04.2007 19:05