Wednesday 7 January 2009

Using Nuhu Ribadu to Kill Nigeria! Letter to my "Comrades" by Kayode Ogundamisi


The fact that Nuhu Ribadu is now the “hero” of the collective struggle of Nigerian’s speak volume of the state and character of the “opposition in Nigeria” No disrespect to Ribadu but surely the NGO industry is fast becoming a bread and butter sector and seem to have hijacked the best cadres in the land. Bravo to Ribadu and shame on us all!
It does confirm that those who initiate “revolutions” may not get to the promise land.
I spoke against Ribadu’s recklessness during the era of that civilian dictator called Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasonjo and his “do and die PDP”.
Let us face it EFCC under Ribadu was an extension of the PDP but it was a welcome development as it exposed rogues amidst robbers selective or not.
I commend Ribadu for at least making a nonsense of the so called “activist in government” and “activist out of government” when I look at some of the characters who more than 20 years ago started the NANS struggle with us in the students movements and those who took our collective sweat and the sufferings of the people to become NGO merchants, making millions in the process and look at what Ribadu has achieved today, I will anytime any day be comfortable with Ribadu on our side and on the side of the people than the many former activists who are now, commissioners, special advisers, senators, house of rep members , local government chairmen, even some became governors but did worse things than the military lootocrats and made the dark goggled Dictator Sanni Abacha seem like a saint.
Thanks to Ribadu saga we now know some were “consultants’” under Ribadu and now some “consult” under Farida Waziri and no one to “consult” un behalf of the suffering masses who have no access to the basic needs of life or who long ago gave up on Nigeria.
Now we have a seven point agenda from a rogue government that forgot to include “human dignity” as a priority.
In my Lagos home I am my own government. I have a ministry of water and mineral resources by providing myself with bore hole water. ( the last time I set my eyes on public water in Agege was in the 1970’s)
I have my ministry of defence as I pay the local vigilante boys to keep watch on my property. (the last time I saw the police patrol my street ? during elections held to rig in looters)
I have my own ministry of energy and power supply as I depend on generator to get power supply ( I don’t even know what they call NEPA or PHCN, the neighbourhood transformer’s been out of order for more than 19 months but no one cares as PHCN does not exist anyway)
I can go on and on and that is the story of a middle class Nigerian. You are left to imagine the faith of my mother in a village near Ikare Akoko.
Ribadu may have his faults but then who amongst us can come out and say “hey I am white and all white” . I am tired of the name calling in the pro and anti Ribadu activists camps,
The Ibori,s , Igbenedions and those over 30 State governors, public office holders, senior civil servants, police officers and some in the military who are alleged to have made a mince meat of our commonwealth must be having a field day with bottles of Odeku and Kilishi or Suya as we tear each other apart over Ribadu.
I don’t want to mention names but if we start a public debate of what is going on in the so called Nigerian “civil society” movement then the SSS will just go to sleep and note that they have their work cut out by selfish elements who masquerade as pro people fighters’ and rabble rousers.
Rather than allow the ruling cabal break us into pieces now is the time we come together form a coalition and start a campaign for the Nigerian people. We did it against Babangida, against Abacha, against Obasonjo we can do better under Yaradua. We need not look at Ghana or Obama for help, we are our today so our children will have tomorrow.
If we go on this way . the PDP and those other private owned political parties like the AC, ANPP et al will continue to make a mockery of us.
I did not go in and out of jail, get physical injury from the torture meted out by Akilu and had my family hunted, comrades killed just to follow any pretender now.
Please we must unite to save our nation. If we cannot save our nation and work together even on a provisional beginning ,we should pack shop and leave our country to wicked people in and out of government. The first task is to save Ribadu from Yaradua and from himself. The rightness and wrongness of Ribadu's treatment is in the court of law. We should let the court decide, welcome him to the fold and let him play a role for our people.
“COMRADES” If we still have any “COMRADE” left. We must come together for the sake of Nigeria. Some of us slept in the bush thinking the revolution was near not knowing we were almost being led to “suicide” bid.
It is never too late to put those experience in use in a non violent civil disobedience against Vagabonds in Power and if need be resist the Violence of an emerging repressive state.

Kayode Ogundamisi.