Let The People Win: A Passionate Letter To President Goodluck Jonathan By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

Dear President Goodluck Jonathan,

My sincere commendation goes to you- The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, on the successes made so far by the military in flushing out the insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country. Achievements like this are commendable and the people would appreciate it if the exercise completely achieves total success such that the insurgents are completely wiped out of the region and the country at large.

Perhaps after the end of the ongoing 6 weeks of military operations, if the results achieved are enormous and tangible, the people might be glad that the postponement of the general elections was not in vain, so long it does not affect the elections again.

Your Excellency Sir, I have resulted to using this medium to write to you because it is the fastest and surest medium I can afford. Hence, pick no offence that it was made public and not personally delivered to you.

Four (4) years ago, you were elected by the people in good fate, full hopes and aspirations for a better Nigeria. Four years on, by and large majority of the people have been victims of broken promises. The same set of promises that were used as manifestoes four years ago remains the same four years after. And like so many experiences of the past, the people have been confronted with blasted hopes, and the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon them. Hence, they are now forced to end up with the alternative- Change.

Buhariphobia; The Only Logical Reason For Election Postponement. By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

It would be difficult for an ordinary Nigerian that understands the way Nigerian politics is being played to believe that the postponement of the general elections which were earlier scheduled for February 2015, was not masterminded by some group of people for reasons best known to them.

I know that for some reasons, some may wish to argue that the major reason why the elections were postponed were indeed for security reasons as mentioned by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Boss- Prof. Attahiru Jega. But the question is; if the Presidency was sure of victory at the polls on February 14, 2015 as earlier scheduled, would it have succumbed to the acclaimed security reasons for postponement? The answer is No!

Also, some may want to buttress the aforementioned that in 2011, the elections were postponed and no one accused the President of having a hidden agenda, so no big deal if it happens again. But the truth is, there is a big deal this time around. The conditions responsible for a postponement in 2011 were different from the conditions being used in 2015. In 2011, elections were independently postponed by INEC itself for logistics failure and were not under the influence of any external conditions or persons. Meanwhile, in 2015, while giving the postponement speech, Prof. Jega mentioned emphatically, that they were fully prepared for the elections but have no choice than to postpone it because the security chiefs said they were not ready. The same security chiefs that are under the control of the Commander in Chief, altered a process which their Boss is actively involved. That could not have been possible without the consent of their boss.

The Presidency`s Desperation Verses The People`s Determination By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

Finally, the Presidential election has been postponed, a new date; March 28, has been fixed. Whether some sets of people are responsible for the postponement, I can`t tell, but there are evidences that suggest that some particular sets of people were very interested in the postponement of the election and may have influenced the decision for their selfish gains.

Come to think about this; How do you describe the scenario when a media house- Associate Press, reported on Saturday (7th February, 2015) Morning that an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told them that the election would be postponed for 6 weeks due to security challenges and that the announcement would be made later on Saturday. Then INEC swiftly debunk this report that there was no official announcement yet as regards that and, it was still meeting with stakeholders to come up with decisions which would determine if the election would be postponed or not.

Then after the meeting and consultations that were expected to influence the decision of INEC, the announcement was made and the election was officially postponed jsut as reported by Associated Press.

This Is Why Buhari Must Debate! By Ogundana Michael Rotimi

Permit me to use this medium to wish you all a Happy New Month. February 2015 has been declared; the month of change. This is a certainty and the people are determined to see this change come through.

Last week, The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expressed confidence, that her presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan would defeat the main opposition party, All Progressive Congress’s (APC) Candidate; General Muhammadu Buhari, in the North, in a landslide victory come February 14th, 2015. This was said during their re-election campaign rally in Kaduna.

Although, aside from the reasons they give, that is; being that their party governs more states in the northern part of the country than the opposition party and due to the achievements of the President in the agricultural sector and in building of almajri schools, I do not think there is any other tangible reason for this claim. The statistics that ended up giving them such confidence remains unclear to me but I would like to advice them to go back to the black table, to check and re-validates their methods correctly. While I remind them, that, it is the same northern part of the country that the president will win in a landslide victory that had his convoy and election team petted with stone and other items, not once not twice but thrice by aggrieved citizens, in Bauchi, then Kastina and Taraba.