The January 2023 letter penned by our highly respected Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo is not something that should be taken lightly by Nigerians and my advice to those that have not yet read it is simple. Wisdom is profitable to direct and the best way for a Nigerian that has been battered by poverty to read this powerful letter is to find a “cool spot” where a medley of songs by the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti is playing in the background.
When OBJ begins his salutation with “dear compatriots and friends”, Fela’s voice must be replying with “Let us get down to another underground spiritual game!” By the time the Afrobeat legend starts demanding that you reply “wheeen” to his chant of pasun pasun you should have concluded the first chapter. As OBJ continues and says that; “We have had campaigners going up and down the country feeding us with what they mean and what they do not mean, what they understand and what they do not fully understand, what is possible and what is not possible, what is realistic and what is unrealistic, what is true and what is untrue. I believe that we need not be confused nor be gullible.
Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again.” The right music in the medley should be the refrain; “Na so our life dey be, since dem say we get independence” and you must reply; “soja come, soja go!” As the “Ebora of Owu” continues his yarn about the standards we must set for the next Presidency with his jives; “I have come to realise a number of factors in character, attributes and attitude that are necessary in the job of directing the affairs of Nigeria successfully and at a time like this. These characteristics or attributes are many but let us be mindful of some key ones together.”
Just turn up the volume on; “Water, Light, Foodu, Housu – Ye paripa O! (Exclamation of despair) – Wetin – do them? You mean you don`t know! By the time OBJ begins to remind us that he became Head of State at age 39 – Fela must help us to reply with the vibes of; “corner, corner, passi, passi – under, under, passi, passi – side, side, passi, passi – up, up, passi, passi from the hit track ITT.
At this point, some of us who were youths when OBJ was receiving a coffin as Head of State in Obalende and are still considered as youths today need to speak up and beg the elders of Nigeria. It was colonial engineering that fractured the natural leadership selection of Nigeria to re-invent and install career soldiers as leaders. The noble profession of soldiering has its advantages but democratic governance was never a part of the military drill and this was the post-colonial strategy that retarded our national progress for at least five decades.
Because of the peculiarity of the profession, the word of command is maintained by the chain of command and neither critical thought, innovation nor creativity is encouraged in the ranks. The letter is somewhat emotive, and predictably intuitive but thin on critical thought. It has been proven without a shred of doubt that Nigeria has systemic problems and our liberation leaders recognised this fact.
If OBJ really has the future generations in mind instead of just staying relevant after the next election he should make that leap from the analogue end of thought processing to consider the digital solution processing that will quantum leap our nation to the forefront of civilisation where the hopes of our youth can be restored. Nigeria has become the laughing stock of the world because it is open knowledge that systemic problems cannot be solved by playing musical chairs. All said and done the letter is just a continuation of the underground spiritual game to keep Nigeria failing without falling while spilling the blood of disenfranchised youths to serve the ancient covenants of power.
Knowing that a time like this would finally arrive, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa posted the concept of “Eternal Truths” as the solution. He was referring to universal truths that bind the commonality of all mankind and it would be a terrible shame for anyone to cheapen his brilliant submission. “Eternal truths” are the building blocks of enculturation programmes and the “self-evident truths’’ that form the foundation of the United States of America came from that stable.
The genuine use of “eternal truths” is the greatest hope of Nigeria and we must prevent its abuse so that it does not become clichéd, divisive and misunderstood like the word “restructure”. May God protect us from well intentioned elders who fill their mouths with alligator pepper before helping us to blow a speck from our eyes. By the time you have concluded this OBJ letter – Fela should be calling for the inclusion of double bass into this whole underground spiritual game crooning; “everybody run run run (Eh-ya!) Everybody scatter- scatter (Eh-ya!)
*Ladi Peter Thompson, a consultant (Strategic Thought), writes in from Lagos.Orakles1961@gmail. com
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