My Candid Letter To The Senate President

35 Pendulum By Dele Momodu

Dele Momidu

Your Excellency, I’m convinced the time has come to write you
this letter despite the fact that I have some measure of access to
you. I decided to do this in order to tackle the mischief makers
who believe I’m your very close friend and as such must be a
rabid supporter of yours. I have been accused of all sorts of
garbage including being paid heavy sums of money from your
bottomless pocket. I’m aware that most of these guys can never
believe that anyone could stand up for principle without pecuniary
gains. But before I go into the meat of this letter, I need to state
my background briefly as I’m sure you don’t even know me well
enough to understand and appreciate my socio-political trajectory.

I have read all sorts about you and I and it is necessary
sometimes to put the records straight for the sake of doubting
Thomases who can never see anything good in others. You were
a Governor for eight years and I can’t remember ever meeting
you one on one. The only time I believe we exchanged physical
pleasantries would have been at the 70 birthday dinner hosted
in honour of your mother-in-law, Erelu Ojuolape Ojora at The Eko
Hotel and Suites in Lagos some years back. I remember seeing
and greeting you and a few of the former and current Governors
present including Olusegun Osoba, James Ibori, Babatunde
Fashola and others.

I would later see one of the pictures I took at the party and read
many years after that I was busy drinking champagne with James
Ibori who was being wanted for several cases of corruption and
so on. I could not believe my eyes because the picture showed
clearly that I was chatting with Chief Olusegun Osoba while Ibori
minding his business behind me but someone needed to rubbish
me for reasons I could never fathom. Not just that, Ibori was still
a Governor and would I run away from a function or refuse to
greet people so as not to be accused of hobnobbing with corrupt
leaders?

The next time I interfaced with you was after you employed Mr
Bamikole Omishore who was my American campaign coordinator
in Washington DC, when I joined the Presidential race from
2010-2011. I was happy that you got such a brilliant young man
to manage your social media. But you and I got closer for only
one reason in the past one year plus because we both
campaigned vigorously for Major General Muhammadu Buhari and
you and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi were the best of pals and he
has been my friend long before he became Governor of Rivers
State. I loved the way you, Amaechi, Kwankwaso, Wamako,
Tambuwal, Atiku Abubakar, and others took the bold decision
that would change the course of Nigerian history for better or for
worse when you abandoned PDP despite threats and
harassments. I must have met you about twice in your Lagos
home to strategise and was particularly impressed with your
ability to rally the likes of Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Wale
Tinubu and others who ordinarily would have felt a need to
support the government in power. I was informed you were able
to raise some stupendous amount of money during and after the
APC primaries. We talked more on phone and you assured me
constantly that everything was on course. The rest is history.

However trouble started as soon as victory came. I knew you
had only one ambition and that was to become the Senate
President. I thought that was a legitimate dream but did not
envisage that it would turn out to be your albatross. Politics in
Africa, and probably elsewhere, is a deadly game. You’ve fought
several battles in your life but I doubt if you ever bargained for
this one. It all started like a joke. Your party apparatchik was
obviously opposed to your candidacy. You were equally
determined to realise your life ambition. One of the rumours then
was that you could not be trusted with power and that in the next
four years you would have become unstoppable if you decide to
go headlong for the Presidency. I’m not a member of your party
so I could not understand what the hullabaloo was all about. The
manner you emerged caught everyone unawares. The biggest
problem was the fact that you sought and got the unequivocal
support of members of the PDP in the Senate and even did a
deal that made it possible for one of them to become your
deputy. That was the hara-kiri you committed and your enemies
would never forgive you for that.

One thing led to another, and things fell apart and the centre
could no longer hold. You probably underestimated the resolve of
your enemies to cut you down to size. The next we saw were
allegations of impropriety levelled against you at the Code of
Conduct Bureau. You were said to have been dodgy in your
assets declaration forms. Anyway, it seemed you had touched
the tiger by the tail and it remained to be seen how you would
wriggle out of the monumental trouble you had inadvertently
courted by your rebelliousness and bellicosity. I was personally
irked that we were back to the Nuhu Ribadu days and I voiced my
opinion openly. I was not defending you but defending the rights
of man. I had thought naively that APC knew what it was getting
into with an ill-assorted assemblage of different characters from
varied backgrounds. I presumed there was an accord that all
sinners became saints once they migrated and amalgamated with
APC. The deluge of immigrants from PDP convinced me that
President Buhari would have to sanctify the pollutants if any in
the new party. Not once did I hear of any objection to the
proliferation so I assumed all was well.

I never said you should not be prosecuted but that we should
discourage a situation where every successive government uses
anti-corruption camouflage to punish its enemies. This position
was not meant to protect you but to discourage a perpetuation
of such tradition. I wrote copiously against the harassment of
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu when he went on similar trial. I had
demonstrated publicly against the Yar’Adua cabal when they tried
to stop Dr Goodluck Jonathan from assuming power when his
boss was terminally ill. I remember also when I wrote an open
letter to Mallam Nuhu Ribadu in 2007 and how I was viciously
attacked by his supporters. But what happened after? Nuhu
himself was forced into exile as a victim of impunity. Mallam
Nasir El-Rufai and The Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi,
formerly known as Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, became veritable
victims of impunity and I was vehemently opposed to their
ordeals.

I needed to state this background very well as a way of
documenting my modest contribution to the discouragement of
impunity as a former victim myself under the military regimes.
Now that it seems many Nigerians are comfortable with setting
fire to an entire village in order to catch some rats, I will not
belabour the issue further. Please, permit me to now address the
case at hand. I want you to know that no matter what you do
henceforth, the case against you will go on. The earlier you resign
yourself to fate the better. You have done all you can to prevent
this from happening and the time has come for you to defend
yourself as best as you can. I understand the psychological
trauma you are under. You are in utter shock that a party you
laboured with others to build and nurture has decided to treat you
as a pariah. You are stupefied at the sudden turn of events.
But let me advise you, the Judiciary is still the best arbiter and if
you’re truly innocent, you will be vindicated but if you are found
guilty after exhausting all legal options available in the land you
must take a bow and accept the judgment with equanimity. Even
if the APC decides to sweep this under the carpet, someone may
still bring it up tomorrow. It is in your best interest to face the
bullet and hope for a miracle. I’m not one of those who have
written off the Nigerian Judiciary. I will also not join those who
have already convicted you in the court of public opinion. I’m a
Christian and I know none of us can cast the first stone and we
should be careful not to gloat over anyone’s misfortune.

Please, note that you must do nothing to pervert the course of
justice by enacting hurriedly-packaged laws ostensibly meant to
block your trial. It will further diminish you and make your
sympathisers recoil in shame. To whom much is given, much is
expected. God has been very kind to you and as a Muslim you
must submit yourself only to the will of Allah, the only one who
can forgive our sins. Who knows what the outcome may be at
the end of the day?

I beg you in the name of God to take courage. Stand like a man
and carry your heavy cross.

A TOAST TO FOLUKE ABDUL-RASAQ AT 60

One of the very quiet but powerful achievers in Nigeria today is a
lady I admire and respect so much, Mrs Foluke Kafayat Abdul-
Rasaq who is marking her 60 birthday today. I was stunned
beyond words when I came across her resume recently. It is
noteworthy that despite her intimidating credentials, she remains
humble and focussed.

Mrs Abdul-Rasaq holds a Master of Science in Banking and
Finance from the University of Ibadan and is an alumnus of the
Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. She is a non-Executive
Director of Africa’s global bank UBA and has been the Chairman
of the bank’s Board Credit Committee. As far back as 1997, she
was Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State. She later served
as an Executive Director of ML Securities, a stock brokerage firm.
A passionate lover of education, she set up the famous Bridge
House College in Ikoyi, Lagos, an independent private sixth form
co-educational institution. She is happily married with children and
grandchildren.

Please, help me raise a toast to this virtuous woman

~Thisday