Open Letter to President Jonathan

Dear Sir,

Looking at the many challenges facing the nation due mainly to its multi-ethnic composition, the task of ruling Nigeria to the satisfaction of each of the ethnic groups is no doubt Herculean. While assuming the mantle of leadership, the ultimate mission of every ruler, including yourself, I believe, is to effect positive changes, and improve the quality of lives of the people. Nigerians will certainly be fair enough to score you pass marks in a few areas of our national lives.
That your
government is committed to free and fair and credible elections with little or no interference with the activities of the Independent National Electoral Commission, as demonstrated during the last general elections, is undeniable. Similarly, a minute level of success in electricity generation would also be credited to your government. However, permit me to state that the areas of our national lives where people score your government very low completely supersede the areas of relative success. General insecurity in the country gives cause for serious concern. Armed robbery, kidnapping, hired assassination, brutal killings are the order of the day.
The Boko Haram scourge with its attendant massacre is the worst threat to national unity in recent time. The cause of all this is simple: Inability to meet the basic necessities of life has given rise to the decision by many a youth to embark on nefarious activities. Another cause of the above is corruption-induced joblessness especially among our teeming youth population. Mr. President, though your government is doing its best to tackle the rather complex challenges, a lot still needs to be done to alleviate the sufferings of the masses in this regard. The question now is this: Can we rightly say we are where we ought to be at 53 years after independence? In terms of dividends of democracy, are we getting the best from the governance put in place by the ruling party? To me the answer to the above questions is NO.
That automatically raises other questions: For how long shall we remain in this sorry and pitiable situation? Why can’t we honourably and sincerely give room for a change, allowing in a set of new breed politicians with fresh ideas instead of retaining old recycled politicians with obsolete ideas?
The activities of the group have claimed thousands of innocent lives. It is worthy of note that you have been criticised in various fora for not doing enough to tackle the menace. Don’t you think it will not be too much of a sacrifice to make for you to round off with the ongoing tenure and relinquish power for the sake of love for your country and the citizens? If such a change of hands will guarantee peace, I think you should consider it imperative. If I were in your shoes, I would simply consider the current term as my second tenure and therefore honourably bow out of the highly traumatic experience.
At the genesis of this tenure, the electorate put party affiliation apart to vote massively for you. That they did with high hopes that your government will impact positively on their lives. You had good intention to perform no doubt, but it seems you are perhaps handicapped by the limiting forces surrounding you. Believe it or not, Mr. President, the same people who had hidden the realities from you thereby making you perform less than your intended plan will still be the same people asking you to go on; pursuing your second term agenda purely for their selfish reason. Your Excellency, it is on record you conducted, through the Prof. Attahiru Jega led-INEC, the most credible, free and fair general election in the nation in recent times. That is a significant achievement. The permutation that you might still enjoy wide acceptability through votes as it happened last time may not be correct this time round. You would have therefore written your name in gold for posterity’s sake if you decide to jettison 2015 aspiration. Rather than being the beneficiary again, kindly supervise the conduct of another free and fair general election which will allow Nigerians to pick leaders of their choice. The decision will be in the best interest of the entire nation as it will foster sustainable democracy for which good work you will be remembered forever.

-Matthew Adeleye, Ota, Ogun State. 08033280115

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