An Open Letter to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu – Righteousness Exalts A Nation!
4th June, 2023
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,
Aso Rock Villa,
The Three Arms Zone,
Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
TRUTH, RIGHTEOUNESS AND JUSTICEI am impelled by my religious conviction which requires me to tell the truth to all men, low or high, to write this letter to you, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu(BAT). I am unable to address you as President neither am I able to congratulate you on your swearing in for the following reasons: firstly, there were reports of violence, voter’s intimidation and INEC compromise of the electoral process that brought you to the office you now occupy; secondly, your victory is being challenged at the Election Petition Tribunal and until the Tribunal adjudges you to be the victor, it will be inappropriate to address you as President or congratulate you. I hope the 10th National Assembly will take a cue to amend the law to enable election Petitions to be concluded before swearing into any elective office.
In jurisprudence, known as the science of law, there is what is called the Social Contract being the basis upon which people agreed to form an organised society and cede some of their rights to a leader in return for protection and service delivery. The Social Contract also implies that the people must consent for someone to be their leader, especially in a democracy otherwise the very foundation of the Social Contract is breached, what lawyers will call fundamental breach which entitles the other party to rescind the contract and sue for damages. The application of this to any compromised election entitles the citizenry to reject the outcome and for the perpetrators of the electoral heist to be tried and imprisoned. What is akin to the jurisprudential Social Contract is enshrined in Section 14 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which provides that “sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority”. This means that for anyone to lawfully occupy any elective office in Nigeria, the people must actually consent to it.
Flowing from the foregoing, and until the Election Petition Tribunal is able to affirm your victory, I am only able to address you as a placeholder of the office of the President which, fortunately, entitles you to exercise all the powers of the office of the President. Hence, I commend to you the following just and right approaches for the exaltation of the country.
Firstly, do not appoint to your Cabinet any praise singer as they do not have anything to offer the citizenry but will only occupy the office to enrich their pockets. You should identify Nigerian technocrats from around the world and appoint them to come and serve their motherland WITHOUT LET OR HINDRANCE.
Secondly, do not imitate President Buhari who appointed only his kinsmen to sensitive positions of the country as we are over 250 ethnic groups that comprise Nigeria. Also, do not operate the policy of 95:5% in favour of one ethnic group as against the others. Also, do not make careless statements such as referring to a section of the country as “a dot in the circle”. Emphatically, as a current father of the nation, you must do justice to all without partiality.
Thirdly, you must begin to probe the Buhari-led government immediately. Start from oil theft in the Niger Delta and then NNPC (and gradually to other fabrics of that government). Do I need to pre-empt you about the humongous malfeasance you will discover from such probes?
Fourthly, you are well past the seventh (7th) floor of your life which means by God’s special grace you might just have another three (3) more floors to climb. Sincerely, I wish you long life! However, the point here is to remind you that you are already wealthy and you do not need more money to continue a good life. I am not saying do not collect your salaries and allowances BUT DO NOT LOOT OR EVEN PILFER THE TREASURY. The Bible tells me that “The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it.” That simply means we are ALL caretakers on earth as we own nothing because one day whether we live 120 years or more we will die and leave behind whatever wealth we have amassed since God owns everything on earth. So, it is senseless to amass illegitimate wealth especially when it will AFFECT the citizenry. Apart from you sir, eschewing corruption, fight corruption within your administration sincerely because no matter how punctilious you might be some of the people you will appoint in your administration are only coming to loot not to serve the country.
Fifthly and fundamentally, create institutions through the instrument of law. A revered Philosopher of yore has postulated that let law rule instead of the whim of man which is not better than an animal. So, there cannot be a strong man in favour of the society because such will culminate in abuse of power but we can rely on good laws as they ought to apply to all equality. Also, strong institutions we outlive your administration to the ultimate benefit of the country. You should constitute intelligent and versatile lawyers to identify institutions we need to turn Nigeria into the league of civilised nations. I will recommend a few lawyers into this proposed Committee such as Femi Falana (SAN), Mike Ozhekhome(SAN), Olisa Agbakoba(SAN), Mr Sylvester Udeme, among other numerous sagacious lawyers for appointment into this critical mission to establish strong institutions in the country.
Sixthly, I want to hint on the security of the nation. It is crystal clear to even the blind that the security of the country is at an abysmally low ebb, unfortunately. Carnage everywhere which the Buhari-led government did next to nothing to tackle. Please sir, in the name of Jehovah most high, do not imitate such. Firstly, try to get the National Assembly to establish state and community (local government) policing. Security is first and foremost local, hence the local communities must be substantially involved to achieve 100% security of their communities. If you are unable to get the National Assembly to do that, double the size of the current police force in addition to the policy that 50% of the police in any police station must be indigenes of the particular community where the police station is situated.
Seventhly, the manner and way the Buhari-administration removed the fuel subsidy is a summary of the anti-poor policies over the eight years of that government. Please sir, it is your duty to quickly cushion the effect of that anti-poor policy of fuel subsidy removal. Firstly, ensure all our refineries are working again as soonest as possible. Secondly, increase the salaries of civil servants by at least 50% which means that minimum wage has to be not less than #45,000.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria where truth, righteousness and justice shall reign!
Yours faithfully,
Othniel Ikpibako
