Dear President Buhari, greetings and hope this finds you well.
The audience you granted some Igbo leaders days ago is highly commendable, the response you gave them too on their request for the release of Nnamdi Kanu is also a welcome one. You said it is a heavy request and you will think about it. Actually the issue is a heavy one as you pointed out and should be handled diplomatically.
In one of the pictures that came out from that meeting, you were seen stooping a little and placing your hand on Chief Mbazulike Amaechi’s shoulder who was sitting down, as if to hear clearly from the leader of the delegation; that picture holds an important message. That single act is symbolic; it shows you might not be as aloof as you are being portrayed at times to be. It shows a humane side of you.
One of the members of the delegation, former governor of old Anambra state, Chief Emeka Ezeife also spoke well of you. He said you were at the meeting place before they arrived and that they were the ones who kept you waiting. He further eulogized how you were cordial and appeared committed to talk with them. Sir this is a good development, it could also mean that you are not as antagonistic to the South as is being played out at times.
It also reminds me of the 18th century play by Oliver Goldsmith “She Stoops to Conquer”. The title and summary of this play refers to the “stooping down” of Kate Hardcastle, a main character in the story, from her position in high society to the position as a barmaid. She does this in order to test the feelings of Marlow, another main character, to make sure that he loves her for herself and not for her money. By “stooping down”, she won the day.
I want to believe that every man has ego and rightly so, what matters is the way this ego is managed lest it becomes pride.
Sir, there are many times you should have stooped in the course of your administration to bring positive results and change the narratives for good. For example, at the onset of the EndSARS protest, you should have stooped just a little to parley with the youths, the situation would not have degenerated to what later transpired and is still being played out with the recent release of the report from the EndSARS panel stating that a massacre occurred at the Lekki tollgate.
It is possible as you said that these youths had ulterior motives or were being used by forces behind the scene to pull you down, but if you had stooped to them with skill, you could have turned the situation around for good and even to the shame of the enemies of the state without having the violence that we witnessed.
This is not trying to pass blames or dig up issues, it is just that part of your strategy of governance involves ignoring voices; it is a good strategy to some extent as doing otherwise might mean that you will be distracted even by unnecessary whispers, though whispers too could be very important at times as listening is part of the responsibility of leadership
The buck stops at your table and so you will have to take responsibility for most of the outcomes of governance, good or bad, especially at the federal level. You might have to take courage and limit the sycophancy of cabals with selfish interests around you; they usually obscure clearly visible realities for their own benefits. It will surprise you to know that opinions from your family and old acquaintances will give you clear picture of things in our nation at any time because they genuinely want you to succeed with the people. The young man at Onitsha market might have your best interest at heart more than some you see as your loyalists. Listen to the cabals, as many as they can be and who have access to you, but also listen to those I have mentioned.
Just Like Davido
Moving further still, some days ago, Davido, our celebrated musician, gave out 250 million naira to orphanage homes across the country. Sir the whole drama that played out, right from raising the funds to the decision to distribute it to the less privileged is worth emulating, especially by you. It will be done more from your person than your office. This is not a call to compete and outshine Davido, but that from your expressions in past times you have continuously stated your passion for lifting people out of poverty and building infrastructures.
What Davido simply did was to put out a casual call online to his fans and friends, asking them to send him 1 million naira each to him. In few hours he had gotten more than a 100 million naira and in the space of 2 days it was above 200 million naira after which he added his own 50 million to carry out the charitable deed.
This put end to the rumour that he was broke and was stylishly begging for money. He stooped and laid down his ego for this commendable act.
Sir, you may not be as rich as Davido, but I can assure you that you have enormous social capital to bring changes out of the box just like Davido did. You can put out a formal or informal call to your friends in high and low places to contribute to some charitable projects you hope to finalize before you step down as president. Well-meaning Nigerians will join too, even members from opposing parties and groups. The money ‘dey’ sir.
When you do this, people will talk as expected, but with great focus it will scale through. Be rest assured that you will be getting maximum support from here. It may not be conventional, yes, when Davido set out on his mission it was also not conventional but we can see what it turned out to be.
Try it and see. You should be getting billions in days and in dollars too if possible. At least we can make do with what we get while we wait for the loans and revenues. And part of the way to spend it is that projects will be completed before payment is made from this fund.
Once again, thank you for stooping and may you excel for Nigerians.
