21 Oct 2009 |
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The Moral Of The Story By Nasir El-Rufai
When ever I am confronted by Nigerians abroad and at home who complain about the state of the country, I always tell them that Nigeria is a sum total of Nigerians and their attitudes and that if Nigerians do not care enough to DO something to effect the change they want, then nothing will change. As I am never tired of saying, actions have consequences, but words are cheap. If we really want things to change in Nigeria, we will have to confront heads on members of the cabal that is holding Nigeria to ransom. If we merely talk about it, or cry, or remain passive nothing will change. On my facebook profile, I get a lot of responses from people saying things to the effect that ‘God go catch them’. While this is true, the more active truth is that it is the natural principles that our creator has put in place that will govern creation and one of those principles is that we must not be willingly overcome by evil forces, we have to challenge them.
As such when Edmund Burke said that ‘all that is necessary for evil forces to win in this world is for good men to do nothing’ we begin to see that the emphasis is on doing.
Some weeks ago, I Nasir El Rufai, was refused my inalienable right as a Nigerian to a passport at the Nigerian High Commission in London. Now I had options available to me. I could have cried and cursed those responsible for my plight (which would have achieved nothing and only delight my tormentors) or I could have accepted my fate and waved a white flag of surrender (which would have meant that I have allowed a precedent to be set meaning that it will happen again). Finally, I could do something about it. And this is precisely the option I took.
After I was branded a liar by the authorities when I told the world of my ordeal (a lie which a lot of Nigerians unwittingly bought into) I determined to expose my tormentors. With the help of well wishers and men of conscience right at the heart of the government in Abuja, I was able to get documentary evidence to prove that what I had said was true and that what the administration said was a blatant lie. Thus exposed, the administration chose to sacrifice the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, a man that I know and respect for his sterling gentlemanly qualities. Ambassador Imohe was made a fall guy for doing the bidding of the president, who rather than have the courage of convictions to own up to his wrong, pointed accusing fingers to an unnamed ‘mystery security officer’ who it turns out is none other than the president’s National Security Adviser, Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar, who will undoubtedly not give an instruction of that magnitude to Ambassador Imohe without instructions from his boss.
To cut a long story short, I have today been accorded my right and have received a new passport from the very same High Commission in London that refused to oblige me in the face of the now infamous memo.
What is the moral of this saga? The moral is that Nigerians should give up their age old passivity and hold their government to account. They should not just roll over. They should no longer accept rigging, or imposition of candidates. They should no longer accept double convicts like James Ibori as Godfathers and king makers. They should not tolerate thieves being called honourable. Nigerians should heed Edmund Burke’s words and demonstrate to the world that we are overwhelmingly good people who are being manipulated by an evil cabal and made to look bad to the world. We must stand up to the cabal. No more should we accept venting our frustration under trees and in beers parlours. In 2011 we should prepare. If any individual be it the incumbent or another rigs, we should refuse to accept the elections, we should refuse to recognize impostors and if we do, then we should remember that a people deserve the type of rulers they get to rule over them.
The people who helped me expose this administration have proven that evil will bow to good when confronted. It may take time but it is a certainty. This is a message that we must remember as we approach 2011.
http://www.nasirschronicles.
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