The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Polls: Vehicle for good governance   

    SIR: I write to open the eyes of our political contestants to things they might have not considered but necessary to be included in their manifestoes. But, I fear if this will sound relevant to them because of the time to put such to action as the bell of elections is about ringing.

    But, will anyone come to my aid? We keep witnessing and experiencing violence and insecurity in Nigeria. The Boko Haram insurgency keeps attacking and weakening our bones. Our country, once renowned for peace and tranquility, is at the verge of a civil strife.

    The Chibok girls are not back. What are we going to do? As if this isn’t enough, the economy has been in distress. Our one- time developing nation has stopped moving forward. The reasons are not far-fetched. We know that corruption, embezzlement, bribery, mismanagement, greed and self-centeredness have contributed to this.

    What are we going to do? Someone said government officials are our representatives and their primary aim is to serve the nation and make the living standards of people better. I also agree but what we are experiencing do not confirm to this.  Candidates are at one another’s throats.

    Those seeking to be councillors, chairmen, governors and president are tearing one another apart and setting thugs after themselves. It appears the more violent you are, the likelier your chances of getting to political offices.

    What then is our fate? Is it that nobody, I mean, not even a single person has seen the state of our country? Is Nigeria not turning into Sodom and Gomorrah? Why do we have to go after worthlessness and become worthless?

    As we go to the polls, Nigerians have a choice to determine the direction they want the country to go. Our votes should get us good governance and credible leadership. We need men that can transform and change the nation at all levels.

    So, come March 28 and April 11, we have an opportunity to shape this nation again. Our votes can buy us a better tomorrow or keep things worse. Let’s vote for good governance and great men.

     

    • Abegunde Tunrayo, Department of Mass Communication, Kwara State University.

  • Card readers: What INEC should still do

    SIR: Despite all odds, the doggedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use the card reader for the forthcoming general elections is highly commendable. Since INEC made public its intention known to bring sanity into the electoral process this time around through the use of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as well as the Smart Card Reader (SCR), the commission has come under intense attacks from the various political interests, who many observers believe, are threatened that with the adoption of the machine, it may be difficult to manipulate the process any longer.

    The card reader is a simple device that authenticates a voter by matching the fingerprint with the code on the chip of a card and keeping a record of all cards that had been read and verified. It is designed in such away that it is capable of eliminating multiple voting to almost a zero level, thus cutting off a major source of election fraud from the polity.

    For the first time in the annals of the nation’s electioneering, the electoral body is introducing the card reader aimed at curbing electoral malpractices and INEC said the device would be deployed in all the polling units as well as voting centres across the country. In view of its many inherent advantages of significantly limiting rigging and fraud in the course of conducting proper accreditation of voters, those still opposed to the use of card readers claim that the machine had not been well tested and as such, could not be trusted for use now.

    We recall that a group of political parties were the first to join the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in opposing the use of card readers in accrediting voters while the All Progressives Congress (APC) supports its use.

    To the critics, the use of card readers for the elections would rather aid the opposition parties’ vested interest to allegedly manipulate the exercise to favour particular candidates and disenfranchise many registered voters or likely winners. At the end, it was agreed that INEC could go ahead with its plan to use the device as obtainable in other progressive nations of the world. With the nod by the Senate, the mock voters’ accreditation was conducted in select constituencies across the nation and its outcome was a mixed grill.

    In carrying out the mock experimentation, INEC chose one registration area in each of the 12 selected states – Anambra, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Delta, Lagos, Rivers, Kano, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Niger and Taraba – to test the workability and efficacy of the device.

    Notwithstanding a few hiccups encountered, the mock voters’ accreditation was largely successful. This could have led to the wide approval granted thereafter by critical stakeholders such as the civil society groups, respected opinion leaders and international observers, who applauded the exercise.

    Now that the coast is clear for INEC to use the 182,000 card readers it has acquired, there’s still the need redress some lapses observed during the mock trial before the elections finally begin in a matter of days. There is also the need to get it right to prove cynics wrong that the card readers can actually work effectively! This remains a major challenge before the electoral body. To begin with, it should ensure that the card reader batteries are fully charged and well preserved such that they do not run down within hours of use.

    Secondly, there is the need to reduce to the barest minimum, the stress being encountered in the process of authenticating registered voters as many of them, who had presented their cards during the exercise, could still not be identified.

    It should be appreciated that conduct of credible elections remains the right course to attaining sustainable democracy. The use of card readers, from the available information, is not electronic voting but an innovation that would promote the electoral process by empowering voters to elect candidates of their choice meaning that votes would actually count.

    But when this is not done and people’s representatives are not credibly chosen, violence, hatred, chaos, anger and crisis become the order of the day. This makes it possible for the wrong persons to occupy elective office without any articulated programmes and policies to address the needs of the state and the citizens. And who suffers? The entire nation, of course.  That is why every effort at holding free, fair, transparent and credible polls should not be wished away.

     

    • Adewale Kupoluyi,

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).

  • PDP’s lies about state creation

    SIR: For quite some time now, immediately after the postponement of the 2015 general polls from February to March/April, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially in the South-west geopolitical zone, began a campaign of deceit mostly on the electronic media, through sponsored jingles that its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan will create more states in the region if voted for.

    Thus, the party is deceiving the people that the creation of states is dependent on the President’s re-election. An example of such is the one that is frequently aired on popular private electronic media in Oyo State, including the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), under the auspices of Chief Ms. Jumoke Akinjide, the Minister of State for the Federal capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, who doubles as the South-West Coordinator, President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation.  Another nauseating aspect of it is the way some Yoruba royal fathers have been using President Jonathan’s visits to demand for the creation of state in their respective regions and how some leaders of Yorba extraction, mainly those that constitutes the delegates to the 2014 National Confab who endorsed the President’s candidature in a post summit Confab held recently within the region, have been misleading the people by making them to believe that the President has the power to create states since the issue forms part of the recommendations in the report of the Confab that was set up by him.  It wouldn’t also be unwise if one queries the rationale behind the President’s second term endorsement by the self-acclaimed Yoruba leaders. Going by this, one needs to wonder why Ms. Akinjide, with a respected discipline in the legal profession, vast experience in developed countries of the world as well as her party’s assertion to give ‘Power to the People’ feel so comfortable with such deceptive political gimmick all in the name of winning votes for her party and the President.

    Without nursing an iota of partisanship, if the Oyo PDP chieftain truly has the interest of the people at heart, she wouldn’t have resorted to such ridiculous and negative propaganda with the intention of swaying the votes of those she perceived are not well-informed among the electorate concerning certain workings of the government. Instead, she would have taken it upon herself as a lawyer saddled with the responsibility of interpreting the law and also as a political leader whose watchword and actions should be based on transparency and accountability in service to the people, to enlighten the bulk of the electorates on the process of creating new states under a civilian rule.

    Of course, one would have expected the minister to be aware of the fact that all the states that have been created in the history of the nation were done under Military rule through decrees at the will of dictators and their cronies.

    So, it wouldn’t be illogical to conclude that Ms. Akinjide and the PDP, as well as the President’s apologists in the south west are just being insincere to the electorates for they obviously knew quite well that President Jonathan or any President under a civilian rule cannot take responsibility for state creation due to what Section 8 of the 1999Constitution stipulates.

    Taken that the political enlightenment of the people should be one of the responsibilities of any well-meaning political party in a democracy, especially towards an election. This is to say that leaders and members of political parties should beat the forefront of enlightening the bulk of the electorate on how some policies; laws and basic principles that the society is governed by are formed.  It would, however, amount to an outright insensitivity on the part of a political party if it is found to be involved in deception and lies about certain governmental processes during its campaign for votes.

     

    • Abimbola Makinde,

    Total Garden, Ibadan

  • Can our first lady be ever amenable? 

    SIR: To say that First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan’s destructive utterances can ever be controlled, could be an understatement. One cannot imagine that after reading the article titled “Can someone call Dame Patience to order” written by a renowned journalist, Mr. Kanayo Esinulo, which was published at the back page of Daily Sun newspapers of February 13, 2015, she still would not employ decorum. This is so after considering her utterances at a rally in Benin, capital of Edo State the following day, which witnessed minimal improvement. Does it mean that the First Lady is not amenable?

    President Goodluck Jonathan should have taken time out to plead with his wife not to make him lose the March 28 elections because her utterances could be responsible, if added up. It is also a pity that top PDP chieftains, close friends and associates of President Jonathan, seem afraid of asking him to caution the First Lady on her meddlesomeness in party affairs coupled with her flippancy, most of which showcase the party’s pursuit in bad light.

    I am afraid that the PDP is drawing nearer to a verdict of losing the March 28 election. I am also dismayed that more intelligent and educated personalities like Onyeka Onwenu and Mrs. Kema Chikwe, among others, who are normally in the First Lady’s entourage, could not advise her. Or are they cheerleaders and sycophants? They should consider; peradventure another occupant takes over the Aso Rock by May 29, 2015 their fates will be sealed and locked out of the place. I hope they are still intelligent enough to understand this.

    At her Benin outing, the First Lady had as one of her messages that the Presidency had been occupied for eight years by other geopolitical zones and asked why the South-South should be denied the opportunity. To her, this is a selling issue; to many, it is very parochial. Barring short memories, she should have known that apart from the statement being a non-issue, the North should have been allowed to complete Yar’adua’s eight years tenure instead of Goodluck Jonathan contesting in the 2011 elections.

    Moreover, people are quick to remind her that her husband was quoted in the media, at the twilight of 2011 elections, promising not to stay beyond 2015.

    Probably for the sake of the spoils of the office, he should have a rethink.  Also, in Dame Patience’s other statements at the rally, she goofed when, rather than appreciate Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, for cancelling booking earlier made by Mrs. Buhari’s group for use of the Samuel Ogbemudia Station for the same date and favoured her; she described the (Aisha Buhari’s) postponed visit as a plot by the opposition to foment trouble.

    Any right thinking person would be at a loss understanding what her statement in this regard meant.  What a power-drunk, incoherent and insatiable First Lady, people continue to say! The other time, Dame Patience defended her unfortunate statement that anyone who shouts ‘change ‘should be stoned. She said after all, her husband was stoned in Katsina, Bauchi and Taraba; whereas it was established, respectively, in Katsina, Bauchi and Taraba that the acts were carried out by aggrieved PDP members.

    She could not be assuaged by statement of the PDP-controlled Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda, about the fact that the stoning was arranged by the FCT minister, Bala Mohammed and also the revelation by the PDP spokesperson in Taraba, confirming that the stoning there was carried out by aggrieved youths who claimed they were not brought in to be part of the arrangement for the President’s visit. The youths did not stop at that. They also torched the State secretariat of the PDP. As Kanayo Esinulo rightly expressed aloud: “Can someone call Dame Patience to order”?

    • Dr. Cyril Kachi Madueke,

    Awka Road, Wuse II, Abuja.

  • Kudos to Gov. Ahmed

    SIR: I wish to employ this medium to commend the Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed for the following landmark achievements of his administration:

    First is the prompt payment of government workers’ salaries and pensioners’ allowances despite the continued reduction in the state’s monthly allocation from the Federal Government. As a matter of fact, the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the state, Comrade Farouk Akanbi, recently gave kudos to Ahmed while the state’s pensioners’ association endorsed him for second term because of this achievement.

    Second is the constant training and retraining of the state’s civil servants, which has made them more resourceful in the discharge of their duties. A sum of N250million was set aside for this to cover civil servants of various cadres throughout the state.

    Third is the setting up of a globally acclaimed community health insurance scheme employing the most comprehensive health systems, featuring an advanced Diagnostic Centre and five remodelled general hospitals.

    Fourth is the empowerment of a new generation of agribusiness men with the provision of about N215million to 172 lead farmers under the state’s Off taker demand scheme.

    Fifth is the establishment of the City and Guilds’ of London- affiliated International Vocation Centre, Ajasse – Ipo, which has now made the state an emerging hub for world ranked vocational skills acquisition.

    Others are the boosting of the state’s informal sector by the injection of N1billion in microcredit advances to 50000 small businesses and the creation of 10,200 jobs within four years in line with the administration’s pledge to empower the state’s youths.

     ‘Segun ‘Bambo Ojomo,

  • Still on card readers for 2015 elections

    SIR: The media has been awash with resistance and vigorous campaigns being mounted against the deployment of the E- card reader for the conduct of the 2015 general elections by the PDP and its cohorts.

    In a democracy, the majority must have their way while the minority must also have their say. The reality today is that the grounds for the rejection of the use of E-card reader by the PDP for the 2015 general elections smacks of mischief and unwillingness to be part of a free, fair, transparent and credible general elections as promised by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and so the Nigerian people and the international community should understand the game being played and place it in proper perspective.

    The E-card reader is a technology that has been tested and deployed for successful conduct of elections in Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia and now being imported into our system with the aim of enhancing the credibility of our elections by INEC that has been working tirelessly to deliver on its constitutional mandate in a responsible and responsive manner.

    Under Prof. Jega- led INEC, we have seen improvements in the conduct of elections with the use of different ballot papers for different local government with the aim of eliminating electoral malpractices including ballot papers faking and ballot box snatching among others.

    We still have other notable developments in our electoral process that have reduced electoral malpractices during elections, earning INEC commendations from stakeholders and the general public, in the process.

    Today, elections are held in such a way that accreditations and public announcements of accredited voters take place before the commencement of actual voting and these to a large extent help in curbing electoral irregularities. Unlike what obtained in the past, election results are now announced publicly at the polling units to the hearing of all and it has succeeded in no small way in checking electoral malpractice.

    It was because of the successes recorded by INEC in its previous innovations that propelled it to look at the option of the E-card as another system of enhancing the transparency and credibility of our elections.

    Unfortunately, this laudable and responsible step is facing stiff opposition from political parties and groups who are well at home with electoral brigandage and want us to continue with the old shameful ways. The E-card reader is a devise that ensures that the spirit of democracy as enunciated in one man, one vote, one woman, one vote is respected and implemented.

    With the E-card reader, it is impossible for a voter to present PVC other than his own for voting. The E-card reader detects fake and cloned PVC within seconds and eliminates the possibility of a voter voting more than once for a candidate of his or her choice.

    Through the use of the E-card reader, it eliminates the undemocratic and unconstitutional culture of political parties purchasing PVC from voters with the aim of committing electoral criminality. The E-card reader thus curbs electoral robbery of massive thumb printing, which originates from the polling units and which has the potential of igniting crisis on election day and thereafter.

    The advantages of the E-card reader in enhancing our elections is an added value to our electoral system in the sense that it has the possibility of strengthening our democracy through responsible and responsive political class who will become aware that their political fate can be made or unmade through the ballot box.

    The field test of the E-card reader conducted by INEC in 12 states of 2 in each of the six geo political zones of the country on March 7th 2015, revealed that it was a huge success as the duration of its life span confirmed the statement of the electoral umpire that it can last for 12 hours as against the 5 hours designated for accreditation in polling units on election day.

    The E-card reader is not a mechanism for voting, but rather to confirm the authenticity of the voter so that enemies of progress do not shortchange democracy. So any person or party/person leading campaign of calumny and blackmail against its use must be understood for what he or she represents.

    Therefore, the wolf cries of those against the deployment of the E-card reader for the conduct of the 2015 general elections is not borne out of altruistic intentions, but because of their plan to employ undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional means to perpetuate electoral robbery that has now been foiled.

     

    • Nelson Ekujumi,

    Surulere, Lagos.

  • Nigerians must reconcile with God

    SIR, may I use your widely read newspaper to remind Nigerians that the only path to genuine recovery for ailing Nigeria and her embattled people is for us all to waste no further time in turning back to God by obeying His sacred commandments to the letter.

    Our dispositions to one another at all levels and on all spheres, governmentally and non-governmentally, show clearly that we have little or no regard for God and His interests. We behave as if we created ourselves for our cherished mundane purposes. Love, which God decreed in 1Corinthians 13, as the pivot of human interpersonal dealings, sadly, has no room in our affairs today.

    The general run of our so-called leaders feeds us with deceit, while we, the poor, swallow it hook, line and sinker in utter helplessness.

    The situation is exacerbated by the offensive conspiracy of silence by those that should be the conscience of the nation and the defender of the cheated at all times, and the callous support of the few that should guide the ungodly towards the path of righteousness.

    Quite disturbing is the fact that those among us that revel in criminalities like corruption and abominable exploitation/oppression of the masses of the people have forgotten that as old as Methuselah lived (969 years according to the Bible), he died one day.

    Those of us who own numerous mansions at the expense of the impoverished masses who live in shanties fail to realise the vanity of life and the fact that however long we live, we shall leave all behind and eventually give accounts of our (mis) deeds before God, The Impartial.

    Let us remind ourselves of what God says in Psalm 9: 17 – 18: “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectations of the poor shall not perish forever.”

    The materialistic rulers of the world and their conscienceless cohorts may smile to the banks today while their preys languish in abject poverty (hunger, homelessness, inability to pay school fees etc); everything will end here because there is no bank in heaven to accommodate their loot.

    Daily today in the news media, we are innundated with mind-boggling stories of criminalities perpetrated by the desperate ones who have been pushed to the wall by the wickedness of those that should cater for their welfare. An idle hand, it is said, is the devil’s workshop and there is a limit to which a hungry soul can stand it without misbehaving.

    It is painful that the poor whom our Lord Jesus Christ came and lived for are now being cheated, exploited and oppressed by the few with the mandate to turn their situations around for better.

    Even in our private capacities, how do we treat our servants – housemaids, drivers and messangers? Do we realise that they too belong to the same society where people cough up intimidating amounts as university tuition fees per session? How do you, a multi-millionaire, expect the driver you pay a monthly paltry salary of N35,000 to be a proud father of a varsity student? One can go on and on about the nauseating indices of Godlessness that are fast turning life into hell for the majority.

    Money ritualists are on the loose while assassins, kidnappers and armed robbers are not showing any sign that they may down tools anytime soon.

    With all these, it is time we all sat down and reflect on why God created us and the consequences of treating His commandments with disdain. We must all daily ask ourselves: If God calls me today, have I been living in His ways? This is why we must reconcile with Him today that we may live according to His will and enjoy His abundant Grace.

     

    • Philip Babalola,

    Senior Pastor, Evergreen Church of God,

    Obanikoro, Lagos.

  • Obanikoro and the bow of shame

    Viewed from both the moral and constitutional standpoints, the recent clearing of Senator Musliu Obanikoro, the former Minister of State for Defence, for another ministerial appointment by the Senate, amidst protests from the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers connotes the depth of depravity and desperation by the administration of President Jonathan. One that a public affairs analyst has aptly described as ‘jackboot democracy.’

    Perhaps, only that would shed more light on a sordid political aberration that has a minority number of Senators mouth ‘ayes’ after a majority had staged a walk out in protest. The way and manner the Senate President, David Mark, ruled against the objection raised by a Senator who pointed out the reversal of a previous court ruling in the face of a pending case on the controversial Ekitigate, it was obvious the PDP lawmakers were acting out a script by the presidency. They wanted Obanikoro given a leeway at all costs. Even the counsel offered by Senator Ganiyu Solomon that the issue be deferred until the grey areas had been ironed out, was jettisoned by Senator Mark, apparently to foist his preference and, of course, that of his party on all. This is a most unfortunate dimension to politics in Nigeria, more so in an election period.

    The worrisome aspect of the political melodrama paints the ruling PDP as a party only too willing to ram its dictatorial tendencies down the already aching throat of long-suffering Nigerians. For, if Obanikoro, representing Lagos State, has been accused of influencing the voting process in Ekiti State that swung it in favour of his party, what guarantee is there that President Jonathan is not out to use him for another sinister, hatchet job during the forthcoming elections?

    Beyond the desperation of the PDP to win the March 28 and April 11, 2015 general elections, Nigerians should be more concerned because of the culture of impunity which has pervaded our political landscape for years and worsened since the assumption of office of President Jonathan in 2010. One would recall, with a sense of collective shame, how the erstwhile head of the Pension Board accused of having embezzled billions in naira of pensioners’ hard-earned terminal benefits was hurriedly granted a court waiver to pay a paltry sum and go home a free man! That was until Nigerians felt outraged and stated so.

    It has been a similar sad commentary on our description of the simple word ‘corruption’ that one Stella Oduah, then as the Aviation Minister accused of over invoicing of the purchase of two cars was allowed to stay put in office for months until public outcry was loud and compelling enough to reach Mister President in Aso Rock. So far, the other greasy allegation against the jet-setting current Minster of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke, for squandering billions of our common resources globe-trotting, has suffered a drowning effect. This may not be too surprising for a country where its number one citizen does not equate stealing with corruption!

    But while the public angst against Obaniokoro is not yet about attempting to milk the national till dry, his speedy clearance by the Senate for a ministerial appointment, while the Ekitigate electoral scam is still in court, smacks of the twin evils of corruption and impunity. These two, we must admit, have collectively undermined the strengthening and sustenance of democratic institutions in Nigeria since the PDP’s stranglehold on the nation’s political jugular for some 16 years. Anyone, no matter how highly placed, who cannot understand those terms may have to consult his dictionary, if he has any.

    Not too surprisingly, the Lagos State chapter of the APC has described the confirmation of Musiliu Obanikoro as a minister by the Senate, despite damaging implications in a rigging scandal in Ekiti, as ‘a show of shame’. The concern of the opposition party is that this recent event further drags the image of Nigeria and the Senate in the mud.

    What also baffles close watchers of the country’s polity is the refusal on the part of President Jonathan to set up a committee to investigate the weighty allegations against Obanikoro.

    In all of the unfolding political soap opera, it is morally reprehensible that a ministerial nominee is forced on the country under shady circumstances. The import of this is that Nigerians who are interested in free, fair and credible elections, the mass media, independent election observers, as well as the human rights community must be at eternal vigilance.

     

    •By Idowu Ajanaku

  • Kudos to Jega

    Going by the preparations already put in place by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the headship of Prof. Attahiru Jega towards the conduct of the 2015 election, it can safely be said that all so far is well and good.  It is evident from the various newly introduced steps taken to ensure that the elections will be devoid of election rigging and manipulations that characterised the 1999, 2003, 2007elections, including even the 2011 elections.

    From all intents and purposes, the alignment and configuration of card readers with Permanent Voters  Card (PVC), the coding and colour differentiation of ballot papers on local government basis, the configuration of polling units with card readers, distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) which by Friday, 13th March, 2015, as reported, has attained 81% collection of the total number of available PVCs, by voters, voters education and enlightenment programmes for all stakeholders, just to mention a few, are indeed signs of readiness of Prof. Jega to satisfy the yearning of the millions of electorate, who from all indications, in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, are more than ready to constitutionally exercise their voting rights come March 28 and April 11 in the presidential/national assembly and governorship/state assemblies  respectively.

    The stance of Prof. Jega on the controversial deployment of the military for the 2015 election is commendable and would no doubt enjoy the support of the majority of the electorate taking cognisance of the declaration/admission of Senator Ken Nnamani in his capacity as a Senate President to International Observers Mission led by former US Secretary and Chairman of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Mrs. Madeleine Albright, that “the PDP used mobile policemen and soldiers in the highly rigged governorship and state assemblies elections that was held on April 14, 2007, prior to the presidential and National Assembly” that took place on April 21, 2007.

    All forms of actions that can result into rigging of the 2015 election through disenfranchisement of the electorate should in as much as possible be avoided.  One fact that should remain firmly in the minds of all Nigerians is that when the electorate are disenfranchised through apathy or fear of the unknown, the result is the emergence of unpopular and unacceptable people at the helm of affairs and it can be better imagined what kind of governance leaders that get elected under this kind of arrangement will give to the people when they assume the position of leadership.

     

    •Odunayo Joseph

    Publicity Secretary,

     Lagos/Ogun States Branch of Okun Dev. Association

  • Re: “The renegades”  

    SIR: Omatseye’s “In Touch,” an analytically sound and balanced views, on the state of the nation, every Monday, is a reader’s delight.

    We love and appreciate you. However, the jaundiced view you marketed last Monday under the caption: “The Renegades,” was patently sacrilegious when juxtaposed against our cultural values and heritages.

    With the Yorubas as the nucleus race, despite colonial invasion and its resultant desecration and pollution of our highly revered, sacred, holy places and spaces, we are always ‘in touch’ with nature and hence hardly forget ourselves to the extent Omatseye did in last Monday’s “In Touch” piece.

    A true Yoruba man with nucleus blood running in his veins, knows the existing relationship between him, the elders and the Creator, who made humans the crown of His Creation.

    How dare Omatseye cast elder statesman like Chief (Sir) Olaniwun Ajayi in the mould of “raft of renegades”? As a nucleus child, does Omatseye understand and appreciate the potency of the power of the tongue? By that statement, Omatseye has committed a taboo whose chain-reaction, at the level of the unseen, could be very dreadful.

    Hence, you should move fast and tender a public apology for such a grave error in order to avert any violent reaction from Nucleus Ancestors, of which the due date, one may not foretell. We love Omatseye and would not like to miss his analytical mind for any reason, what so ever!

    Yours in the service of the Almighty Maharaj Ji. My Love and Blessings

     

    • Satguru Maharaj Ji,

    Living Perfect Master.