This is a response to the puerile and opportunistic press statement jointly signed by the quartet of retired General Ibrahim Babangida, Aliyu Guasau, Atiku Abubakar and of course Dr. Bukola Saraki.

Let no one be surprised that we have chosen to leave out Bukola Saraki from the field of presidential contenders. It is an open secret that he does not want to be a president. Rather, he is a carpetbagger, a frontman for Babangida in the race for 2011 presidential elections. As for the three musketeers, this is a reply to their opportunistic attachment to the tragic Independence day bombing of Abuja.

Their argument is based on the Al Jazerra interview with Henry Okah and the perceived fascism that Dr. Jonathan is about to unleash on his perceived political opponents. In as much as one cannot deny the right to subscribe to a media of choice, but in this case, it is pertinent to note that these three musketeers are using the Okah interview with Al Jazeerah as a lifeline.

It is unfortunate that these men have chosen to hang on to the Al Jazeera interview with Okah to further foul an already fouled air. . Where was Al Jazeera when the Yardua cabal held Nigeria by the jugular for several months? Where was Al Jazeera when Nigeria was debased by these northern elements in the Yar'adua cabal? Is this a sign of the Samson Complex? The three musketeers have ruled and ruined Nigeria at various times.  They were neither productive nor innovative. The only thing they achieved was stupendous personal wealth. It is unfortunate that it is these same expired men who are angling to rule us again. Though Babangida pointed to building Abuja and conducting the freest and fairest election in Nigeria, he failed to appreciate the damage he did to the body polity of Nigeria by the annulment of the same election. It seems as if the general does not appreciate that a coup under any guise is like shooting one's parents. It is a sacrilege. His ultimate sin against Nigeria was the annulment of the June 12 election.

More than any one in the history of Nigeria, Babangida debased, despoiled and ruined Nigeria with his recklessness and grand scale theft of our resources. We are therefore anxious to have Al Jazeera interview Babangida as to the source of his stupendous wealth, the murder of Dele Giwa, the annulment of June 12, 1993 election, the mysterious place crash in Ejigbo suburb of Lagos. Will Al jazeerah please interview him as to why he is hiding behind the courts to escape the critical lenses of the Oputa panel.


Will Al Jazeera also want to interview Abubakar Atiku as to the source of his wealth? We all knew he was a civil servant, in the customs and excise department. A department of government known for a type of corruption that is even offensive to Hades. Will Al Jazeera want to be independent as expected to ask Atiku whatever happened to his case in the USA, the reasons for his hasty departure from the USA and why his wife Jennifer is on the wanted list in America. One hopes that Al Jazeera is not trying to insert itself into the high wire politics of Nigeria. A bystander who pulls a gun in a fight is no longer a bystander. He/she has become a combatant. We do not need the poster child of Al Qaeda in Nigeria.

One can safely place IBB in the same camp with Henry Okah, a merchant of death, an anti-social love-peddler; up for sale to the highest bidder. We will not fold our arms and let the so-called Northern leaders pile on Jonathan. It is not a matter of party affiliation; it is a matter of fairness. Where were these people and Al Jazeera when the Yar'adua drama was unfolding? Offices in Nigeria were headed by Northerners Have they suddenly forgotten the ignoble role they played keeping a dead man in power? Whatever happened to Al Jazeera when Christians were massacred in the North?


I wonder if they appreciate the figure of speech deployed by President Jonathan when he reiterated the tragic bombing was not a MEND affair. Let me take these people out of their ignorance. I risk saying that what the president did was to translate his native tongue into the English grammar. Of course it came out sounding otherwise. But for the avoidance of doubt, the message he was conveying was that a renegade group using the name of MEND was behind the bombing. He said no one could be more Niger deltan than him because his home was right beside an oil well with all the attendant environmental fall out. In that instance therefore, as we say in Africa it will only be a deviant child who will attempt to undermine his father. After all, it is only a wicked child who disrupts his father’s outing.

The fact that these people understood what Dr. Jonathan meant, but chose to play politics with it speaks volumes about them. It is a sign of desperation and irresponsibility. What stops Okah from waking up on another day to implicate these expired men in the same bombing? They forget that Okah is an anti social human being, a deviant with little respect for self and for society at large. How about the text message supposedly implicating Raymond Dokpesi, another social misfit, another social love-peddler.

What we ought to do now is to allow the investigations run its course and the rewards given to people implicated as deserved. Indeed, no one is above the law in Nigeria. Finally, one hopes that the three musketeers will get away from the dangerous adventure with Al Jazeera. We do not want the poster child for Alqaeda and the Talibans in Nigeria.

As for the president, Dr. Jonathan, it is not in your place and position to absolve MEND under any guise. It is not in your place to speak in tongues when it comes to the wickedness of MEND. I’m a Niger Deltan like you. But I speak English. I do not translate my local language into the English grammar because I happen to know that it will connote a different meaning. You need to stay away from inserting yourself into the middle of a tragic comedy. All responsible people from the Niger delta felt deep embarrassment by the Independence Day bombing. You need to allow the investigations take its course and the most severe form of punishment meted to all involved. In the interim, you need to reassess the security network around you. You may just be sleeping with the enemy. Be careful.

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/abuja-bombings-and-three-musketeers

Let no one be surprised that we have chosen to leave out Bukola Saraki from the field of presidential contenders. It is an open secret that he does not want to be a president. Rather, he is a carpetbagger, a frontman for Babangida in the race for 2011 presidential elections.