Before it is too late
I wish to formally acknowledge your letter dated December 2, 2013 and other previous correspondence similar to it.
You will recall that all the letters
were brought to me by hand. Although both of us discussed some of the
issues in those letters, I had not, before now, seen the need for any
formal reply since, to me, they contained advice from a former President
to a serving President. Obviously, you felt differently because in your
last letter, you complained about my not acknowledging or replying your
previous letters.
It is with the greatest possible
reluctance that I now write this reply. I am most uneasy about embarking
on this unprecedented and unconventional form of open communication
between me and a former leader of our country because I know that there
are more acceptable and dignified means of doing so.
But I feel obliged to reply your letter
for a number of reasons: one, you formally requested for a reply and not
sending you one will be interpreted as ignoring a former President.
Secondly, Nigerians know the role you
have played in my political life and given the unfortunate tone of your
letter, clearly, the grapes have gone sour. Therefore, my side of the
story also needs to be told.
The third reason why I must reply you in
writing is that your letter is clearly a threat to national security as
it may deliberately or inadvertently set the stage for subversion.
The fourth reason for this reply is that
you raised very weighty issues, and since the letter has been made
public, Nigerians are expressing legitimate concerns. A response from me
therefore, becomes very necessary.
The fifth reason is that this letter may
appear in biographies and other books which political commentators on
Nigeria’s contemporary politics may write. It is only proper for such
publications to include my comments on the issues raised in your letter.
Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of
the governance of this country. You were a military Head of State for
three years and eight months, and an elected President for eight years.
That means you have been the Head of Government of Nigeria for about
twelve years. This must have, presumably, exposed you to a lot of
information. Thus when you make a statement, there is the tendency for
people to take it seriously.
The seventh reason is that the timing of
your letter coincided with other vicious releases. The Speaker of the
House of Representatives spoke of my “body language” encouraging
corruption. A letter written to me by the CBN Governor alleging that
NNPC, within a period of 19 months did not remit the sum of USD49.8bn to
the federation account, was also deliberately leaked to the public.
The eighth reason is that it appears
that your letter was designed to incite Nigerians from other
geo-political zones against me and also calculated to promote ethnic
disharmony. Worse still, your letter was designed to instigate members
of our party, the PDP, against me.
The ninth reason is that your letter
conveys to me the feeling that landmines have been laid for me.
Therefore, Nigerians need to have my response to the issues raised
before the mines explode.
The tenth and final reason why my reply
is inevitable is that you have written similar letters and made public
comments in reference to all former Presidents and Heads of Government
starting from Alhaji Shehu Shagari and these have instigated different
actions and reactions. The purpose and direction of your letter is
distinctly ominous, and before it is too late, my clarifications on the
issues need to be placed on record.
Let me now comment on the issues you
raised. In commenting I wish to crave your indulgence to compare what is
happening now to what took place before. This, I believe, will enable
Nigerians to see things in a better perspective because we must know
where we are coming from so as to appreciate where we now are, and to
allow us clearly map out where we are going.
You raised concerns about the security
situation in the country. I assure you that I am fully aware of the
responsibility of government for ensuring the security of the lives and
property of citizens. My administration is working assiduously to
overcome current national security challenges, the seeds of which were
sown under previous administrations. There have been some setbacks; but
certainly there have also been great successes in our efforts to
overcome terrorism and insurgency.
Those who continue to down-play our
successes in this regard, amongst whom you must now be numbered, appear
to have conveniently forgotten the depths to which security in our
country had plunged before now.
At a stage, almost the entire North-East
of Nigeria was under siege by insurgents. Bombings of churches and
public buildings in the North and the federal capital became an almost a
weekly occurrence. Our entire national security apparatus seemed
nonplussed and unable to come to grips with the new threat posed by the
berthing of terrorism on our shores.
But my administration has since brought
that very unacceptable situation under significant control. We have
overhauled our entire national security architecture, improved
intelligence gathering, training, funding, logistical support to our
armed forces and security agencies, and security collaboration with
friendly countries with very visible and positive results. Read more
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