[qoute]Without ever knowing or meeting me,
Buhari gave me a chance. As I now write, I
have never met him one-on-one. We have
never spoken to each other. It is an
extraordinary experience of an unusual
man. I was sitting on my desk in the Ministry of
External Affairs, 40 Marina Lagos in 1984,
when I received a letter appointing me
Ambassador to the United States of
America. My place of origin did not
matter. Incidentally, I am from Ibusa, a famous town now in Delta State; then, in
Bendel State. My religion did not matter
either. I had no worthwhile contacts with
Dodan Barracks. All I knew, and had
always known, was to work hard and to
express my views as candidly and as courageously as I could, regardless of the
consequences; provided I was convinced
they were right. It was never easy or
smooth-sailing. Of course, that had its
bitter consequences; but at the end, now
at 83, looking back, it worked out just right. Of all the Nigerian leaders, with the
possible exception of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe
and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Buhari has been
the one that has most approximated my
dream of what a Nigerian leader should
be. Without any attempt at self- advertisement, but simply as a matter of
fact, I knew and had worked and
interacted with most, if not all of our
leaders. I worked with Sir James Robertson,
the last colonial Governor-General of
Nigeria, after graduating from the University College, Ibadan in 1957. I served
as Clerk to the Privy Council and as
Assistant Secretary (Administrative Officer)
in charge of Security. I worked up to my
immediate boss, Mr. C. O. Lawson, the
then respected Secretary to the Cabinet in the Governor-General’s office. As part of
my schedule of duties as officer in charge
of security, I had the privilege and honour
of being a member of a 3-man-panel, two
of them British, which interviewed and
recruited the first batch of Nigerian military officers into the Nigerian army in
1958. This batch included Olusegun
Obasanjo. In 1958, I transferred to the Ministry of
External Affairs, making a career in the
Diplomatic Service which lasted forty-two
(42) years, from where I eventually rose as
Foreign Minister, having served as
Ambassador in Nine (9) countries, a few with concurrent accreditation, including
Kenya under Jomo Kenyatta, Botswana
under Sir Seretse Khama, Lesotho under
King Moshoeshoe I, Spain, The Holy See
under three Popes, (John Paul VI, John
Paul I and John Paul II), the United States of America, Canada and, lastly, in Israel
for six (6) years, a mission I established
and rose to be Doyen of the Diplomatic
Corps. In between, I was Chief of Protocol
of the Federation to Zik and Balewa,
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Directing Staff in the
National Institute of Policy and Strategic
Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, for two years
(1988/1989). I am now a retired pensioner, carefully
minding my own business and tending my
personal affairs. I do not belong to any
political party and have never belonged to
any. In the best tradition of the colonial
public service of my days, I have remained strictly anonymous and aloof;
occasionally, making my views and
opinion privately known to the
appropriate authorities of the day on any
issue I feel strongly about. I seek no office
and no financial or material favours. All I am doing is to put on public record my
private opinion, views and experience,
which may not be available and known to
many Nigerians. Major General Muhammadu Buhari not
only gave me the opportunity to serve
Nigeria as Ambassador in the United
States, he did even more than that. He
entrusted to me the care and welfare of
his family; still without our knowing or meeting each other. He sent his wife and
two children to me in Washington D.C. for
medical treatment. He took his chance
and dealt with me strictly on a
professional basis. His family were with me
in Washington D.C. when the General was overthrown in a coup d’etat. We did the
best we could and sent them back home
safely under the trying and traumatic
circumstances they found themselves-
still, never a word from this unusual
person. In 1988 after I returned as Ambassador from Washington D.C., I was
assigned as a punitive measure as
Directing Staff to the National Institute of
Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru,
for two years. The subject of our research in that year
led the Syndicate I headed to visit Buhari’s
State of origin. With the approval of
government, members of the Syndicate
visited Buhari who was then under house
arrest in his home town, Daura. This most extra-ordinary man received us with
warmth and courtesy. We found him
living in a modest, sparsely furnished
three or four bed-room bungalow which
was his house. He still did not know who I
was; nor did I disclose my identity to him. It was unbelievable, even in those days,
that a former General in the Nigerian
Army and a former Head of State could
live in such a modest, spartan abode.
What further struck me was a complete
lack of bitterness; unless the Fulani in him, concealed and dissembled it! What do all these tell me about this man,
Buhari? Others may have a different
opinion of him. I absolutely concede to
them the right to hold their views. As far
as I am personally concerned, four short
phrases summarise my overall impression and opinion of Buhari. An incorruptible
man. A patriotic Nigerian devoid of any
trace of ethnicism and parochialism. A
deeply religious man. Above all, a
sterndisciplinarian. We so often talk glibly of the giant strides
Asian Tigers have taken to leap from the
state of underdevelopment to developed
nations. We refer tirelessly to the
achievements of men like Lee Kuan Yew. I
have, personally, met Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore. I did so in the company of
General Yakubu Gowon when he returned
from exile from the United Kingdom. Little
do we know or appreciate the agonizing
hardship, pains and sufferings all
Singaporeans, Chinese, Malays, Indians and other ethnic nationalities, had to
endure for Singapore to attain its present
height as a respected nation. Gold must
be smelted in hot burning furnaces before
unleashing its shine and purity. Lee Kuan
Yew was a benevolent democratic autocrat. He subjected his people to a
good dose of rigorous healthy discipline.
No country makes that type of progress
Singapore made without an unwavering
sense of disciplined direction. Moreover,
Lee Kuan Yew was an inspirational leader of his people. He governed by example. It is not just the question of the number
of kilometres of roads you build that
elevates a nation. It is not a matter of the
megawatts of power you generate nor the
number of buildings you erect for the
populace. Not even the refineries you build or the volume of agricultural
products produced and exported. These
are important. Any leader surrounded by
brilliant experts, excellent technocrats and
loyal advisers can achieve those basic and
essential needs. Leadership calls for much greater attributes than the performance of
those feats. A leader must have a strong,
solid, moral and disciplined background,
the inspirational ability to galvanize his
people to higher, lofty and common
purpose. These are not ordinary attributes available to every man. They are
uncommon gifts and talents dispensed
and bestowed only to a few. This makes
the difference between one man and the
other; one woman and the other. It is not
often we have a Ghandi or a Mandela; an Ataturk, or a Winston Churchill, a Charles
de Gaulle, or a Konrad Adenauer, who
became one of the most respected
Chancellors of Federal Republic of
Germany at the ripe age of 81, a Margaret
Thatcher, or even our own often quoted Obama. Nearer home, with all their
imperfections, considering that a prophet
is without honour in his own country, we
must reckon with Azikiwe, the Sardauna,
Awolowo, Aminu Kano and J.S. Tarka, the
real and genuine ‘founding fathers’ of our nation. Buhari, in my view, belongs to the last
and passing generation of this group of
Nigerian leaders. It was a pity that fate
thrust him into leadership limelight at a
period in time when military revolution
and coups d’ etats were in vogue and held sway. In a democratic setting, as we
now have, I believe that the real worth
and essence of this man, encapsulated in
an exemplary and enigmatic personal life,
will blaze through and shine forth. It will
soon be clear that those of his followers of questionable and dubious pedigree
who think they can latch on to the
reputation of this rare Nigerian would be
the first to be highly disappointed.
I also believe that what is badly needed at
this stage of our national life is a leadership that will turn the country
around; and rescue us from the depth of
chronic indiscipline, disorder and
decadence we have, over the years,
gradually descended and slided into.
What I believe we need is a strong hand at the helm, with the support of our
people, who will instil in us a much
needed sense of order and discipline;
inspire us into patriotic zeal and sacrifice;
bring out the best in each one of us; and
encourage in us the love of nation. The nation’s sense of indiscipline and
disorder is evident and all pervasive even
in very simple things and matters of the
day and moment. A road-side mechanic
claims to be an Engineer (Engr) and insists
on being so styled. A traditional herbalist insists he must be called and respected as
a professional medical Doctor (Dr) and,
indeed, hugs the appellation. An ordinary
traditional village community leader who
flamboyantly styles himself a Chief and
clownishly attired in a self-designed robe, is addressed not only as “Your Highness”,
but takes offence if he is not properly
addressed as “Your Royal Highness”. A
number of respected Kabiyesis no longer
have regard for their beautiful traditional
titles, unless we, their ‘subjects’, address them as “Your Majesty” or worse still,
“Your Royal Majesty” The same applies to
the ‘Ran kadades’, most of our Emirs and
prominent men in authority revel in when
interacting with the poor subservient so-
called talakawas. May I also observe that the awkward title of ‘His Eminence’ is a
misnomer which should be revisited and
reconsidered. Members of our legislative houses feel
incomplete and uncomfortable until they
are addressed as ‘Honourables’ or
‘Distinguished Senators’. They are no
longer plain ‘Mister’ or ‘Madam’. I believe it is time we became a little more
creative and find suitable traditional and
local substitutes for these foreign
appellations which portray us as
caricatures and ridicule us as people and
nation in the outside world. What a pride and beauty to have one of the foremost
traditional rulers of the land being regaled
with the title Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku
Akpolokpolo Oba Erediauwa! Why can we
not start emulating and adopting this
practice in most of our national institutions? It will give us a sense of pride
and self-worth. Ambitious pseudo-intellectual self-
publicists cleverly thrust their mediocrity
and opinions on us and flaunt their
borrowed, half-baked, ill-digested ideas,
concepts, jargons and clichés. Pages of
our national newspapers are replete with lavishly self-serving advertisements of
obituaries, weddings and birthday
celebrations. Why not severely tax those
who place these wasteful advertisements
to rake in and release funds to charities or
other good causes such as sporting and educational development of the country. Hitherto decent, pretty, confident young
ladies on our television sets in order to
make themselves more attractive and
acceptable, bleach their skin to pale
sickening white, with their veins thinly
exposed; their bare knuckles and elbows still looking jet black. They should be
reassigned to the back room offices,
decorated with mirrors, left to rue their
new look which has become an eyesore to
many viewers. Our television channels
have suddenly become a babel and cacophony of crude and embarrassing
noise makers, reflecting the values of a
sick society, drunk with democratic
excesses. Honorary degrees are sold, bought and
conferred on underserving personalities
by many of our Universities and these
personalities shamelessly parade them at
will. A few prominent church leaders have
relocated their pulpits from their churches to the seats of secular power while a
number of Imams have not been able to
teach their adherents the purity of their
religion which preaches respect for human
lives. Our youths need impeccable high level
connections before gaining employment
at any level, both decent or menial.
Impunity freely reigns in the land more
than ever before. The temples of justice
are daily being desecrated. The Lady now has her eyes wide open; seductively
beckoning and soliciting for favours. More painful still, is the near-absolute
control of our entire being and lives as a
people by others. We appear helpless to
cast off that yoke and burden even
though we claim to be independent;
helpless to govern ourselves with any modicum of self-respect and dignity and
take our destiny into our hands. The list is endless. Am I a part of this
messy order? Certainly, yes. None of us
can pretend not to be part of it, in one
way or the other, in differing roles. Only
that some exacerbate it more than others.
This situation calls for a man who, by personal example, can firmly and
fearlessly put an end to these vulgarities
and inanities. This is one side of the coin. There is
another side of the coin to our national
life for which we can proudly hold our
heads very high. This is the side no other
single country in the world I know can
ever match. The list is inexhaustive and much longer than our shortcomings. We
do not, however, necessarily need to dwell
on them or spell them out here, as we
search for positive measures and values
that will enhance and edify our nation. Buhari represents, in my opinion, the last
opportunity we have to get things
reasonably right before the baton passes
permanently on to the next and coming
generation. After him, the generation of
the ‘founding fathers’ would have faded away; with their legacies, left behind,
hopefully for good. He should be given
the chance to restore and consolidate the
disappearing values of that ‘golden age’
so sadly disrupted by the military, to
which paradoxically and tragically, he and those in that generation, and that before
him, were willy-nilly pressed into being a
part of. He carries on his frail, ageing but reliable
shoulders a historic responsibility and
burden of getting it right. He has a
bounden duty to realign the nation
towards achieving its manifest destiny. He
has no excuses for failure. Otherwise, why should he be seeking power at his age? It
makes absolutely no sense. Why not take
a comfortable and relaxed back seat like
most of us. History will judge him very
harshly should he fail. The immediate challenge before him, I feel
convinced, is how to curb the excesses of
the teaming mass of followers who,
undoubtedly, adore him. The next, is to
rein in the display of empty, hollow
pompousness and offensive arrogance by a few of his elitist, lazy patronage-seeking
associates; who, if victorious, will flock to
him without discrimination. I had always
instinctively recognised and resented this
feeling at first hand, even from a distance. I believe it is time for us to begin anew.
Let us begin to lead our lives as normal
human beings; and not in self-delusion
and self-deceit. This is the real
transformation needed. This is the
revolution we yearn for at this point in time in our national life. I can now start
understanding what drove past Chinese
leaders into staging the “Cultural
Revolution”. Nigeria is ripe; indeed, over
ripe for a non-violent revolution which
will shake us all up like a volcanic eruption from our present national stupor.
Who will sweep out the quacks and
charlatans in our midst? Who will
guarantee us enduring values? Who will
cleanse the cobwebs from our national
home? All said, let no one forget there is no
better country than Nigeria in the whole
world. I feel happiest when I am in
Nigeria; despite the agonizing frustrations;
despite the infuriating hardship; and even
when I am being driven daily to the brink of desperation. [/qoute] Ignatius C. Olisemeka
Ambassador
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs source:leadership.ng/features/410583/buhari-personal-experience

Indeed! Ina koro biaty.

asadike:
Indeed! Ina koro biaty.

did u even read it?

NGBEKE!

nwaanambra1:


did u even read it?

NGBEKE!

di ngbeke!

asadike:
di ngbeke!

eeh!! Nwuyem!

nwaanambra1:


eeh!! Nwuyem!

enwem time gi

nwaanambra1:


eeh!! Nwuyem!

ewem time gi

asadike:
ewem time gi

i weghi time di gi? eekwa? kpachapu anya gi oo!!! N' weregi iwe now agbam gi "anukwayim"!

nwaanambra1:


i weghi time di gi? eekwa? kpachapu anya gi oo!!! N' weregi iwe now agbam gi "anukwayim"!

ok. Have taken back my word, u are no longer 'di ngbeke'.

asadike:
ok. Have taken back my word, u are no longer 'di ngbeke'.

now that's better! i love me some humble wifee!

now go get me a cup of cold water - kneel down and serve it to me!

after that go to the bedroom do the needful and wait for me! i will join u in a Jeffy!

nwaanambra1:


now that's better! i love me some humble wifee!

now go get me a cup of cold water - kneel down and serve it to me!

after that go to the bedroom do the needful and wait for me! i will join u in a Jeffy!

idi sure na aru di gi?

asadike:
idi sure na aru di gi?

afagi bu asadike - i bu ASA! Abum Dike na dimkpa!! ke du i fe ozo i choro?!

nwaanambra1:


afagi bu asadike - i bu ASA! Abum Dike na dimkpa!! ke du i fe ozo i choro?!

kedu ife nga eme ka iwere ra pu mu aka?

asadike:
kedu ife nga eme ka iwere ra pu mu aka?

Iga yom biko ma kwu si na i bu nwuyem - ngbe imere nka agam arapu gi aka

nwaanambra1:


Iga yom biko ma kwu si na i bu nwuyem - ngbe imere nka agam arapu gi aka

odika imaa na m bu agu nwanyi. Imaa nu wu m.

asadike:
odika imaa na m bu agu nwanyi. Imaa nu wu m.

otego nchoba agu nwayi nga nu! ma ka na abum dike na dimkpa - soso agu nwanyi bu nwayi nwe ike i nekwata m anya!

haa! nwuyem! ngwa bia! biem oma no do gi ka mbu! Bia ka anyi kpa ka a ga esi ga fu nne gi na nna gi!

nwaanambra1:


otego nchoba agu nwayi nga nu! ma ka na abum dike na dimkpa - soso agu nwanyi bu nwayi nwe ike i nekwata m anya!

haa! nwuyem! ngwa bia! biem oma no do gi ka mbu! Bia ka anyi kpa ka a ga esi ga fu nne gi na nna gi!

lol. bia nwaanambra, u no well.

asadike:
lol. bia nwaanambra, u no well.

GBAM! THAT'S Y I NEED U TO COME TAKE GOOD CARE OF MOI!

nwaanambra1:


GBAM! THAT'S Y I NEED U TO COME TAKE GOOD CARE OF MOI!

ok my handsome one, I will.

asadike:
ok my handsome one, I will.

good! ngwa nu inbox am ogugu ekwe nti gi kam kpo gi ka anyi karia ofuma!

nwaanambra1:


good! ngwa nu inbox am ogugu ekwe nti gi kam kpo gi ka anyi karia ofuma!

nsogbu adi gi, nwokeoma.

railway workers. ga ebe ozo biko.