The Yorubas have a saying “oro se ni wo ka le mo eni to feni.” Meaning you don’t know who genuinely cares about you until something (nasty) happens.
That is the case with Mr Atiku Abubakar and Nigerians. Mr Abubakar was the former Vice President of Nigeria. Since the second term when he was in office from 2003-2007, he has had one ambition to become the President of Nigeria. He was so engrossed with it that it led to a major rift between him and his former boss, the then serving president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He accused his boss of planning third term in office.
His boss told the world he could not support the ambition of Mr. Abubakar because he is too corrupt. “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Friday that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar should not count on him for support in his latest bid to actualize his life-long ambition of being elected the president of Nigeria. The former president, one of the most influential of his living peers, hinged his blistering position on the unsavoury corruption perception of Mr. Atiku while speaking with PREMIUM TIMES shortly after his arrival from Kigali on Friday afternoon”.
“How can I be on the same side with Atiku?” Mr Obasanjo asked. “To do what?”
“If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support,” he added.” Premium Times August 4, 2018.
It is sad that in the current juxtaposition to see who will become the next president in 2023 elections the issue of character of contenders particularly on corruption is not being mentioned, I think it has become a common denominator, Nigerians have somehow in their thinking come to the conclusion that they can hardly get a leader who is not corrupt- a sad commentary on the nation’s future.
The issue that is at hand that has also shown that Atiku Abubakar is not fit to become the president of this secular nation called Nigeria happened last week. The internet was agog with the killing and burning of one Miss Deborah Samuel Yakubu a 200- level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto for blasphemy on Thursday, May 12, 2022. Mr. Atiku Abubakar obviously desiring to show he cares and would stand for justice to boost his presidential ambition sent out a tweet.
“There cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice,” Mr Atiku said. “My condolences to her family and friends.”
Barely one hour later we read:
“Atiku Abubakar has deleted a post he made syndicated on his Facebook and Twitter pages about slain Deboral Samuel after coming under a barrage of threats from fanatics of northern origin who asked him to forget his presidential ambition. Mr. Atiku’s post around 10:20 p.m. Thursday was deleted less than an hour later. Both had garnered thousands of reactions within minutes, according to a screenshot taken by Peoples Gazette. Most of the comments were from fundamentalists who warned the politician to stay away from condemning the murder of the Christian student.” People Gazette.
When challenged about why he should delete the tweet this was his explanation :
“The former Vice President of Nigeria, Abubakar Atiku, on Friday said that every tweet in his official social media handles must get his approval before publication. Mr. Abubakar, one of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirants, said this when he paid a consultative visit to Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo at the Government House, Benin” The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
The long and short of this saga is that Mr. Abubakar who is from northern Adamawa state but continues to receive support across the country, especially amongst southern Christians who see him as a moderate statesman has shown his true colour. One of his campaign mantras is that he is a bridge-builder! We can see from deleting the tweet that talk is cheap. Abubakar Atiku is obviously a bridge burner and destroyer!
Maybe the media has been bought over not to highlight this obvious signal of who Abubakar truly is, otherwise, the media should debate the implication of deleting this tweet because in a civilized nation this singular action is enough to cost Abubakar his ambition!
These in my opinion are the effects of Abubakar deleting the tweet:
- Like the current Muhammad Buhari leadership that is basically serving the interest of northern people and the Fulani’s at the expense of other parts of the country, this is what Abubakar, God forbid he gets to power will portend. Abubakar’s presidency will serve the northern people, cabals, oligarchs, Fulani’s, fundamentalists, and Muslims at the expense of others.
- Though Nigeria is a secular nation the Christians in Nigeria cannot get justice, even if Abubakar wants to give justice the moment some people from the North are against it, he will back out. Deleting that tweet shows Abubakar has no guts.
- Abubakar cannot be trusted, he is consistently inconsistent. Whatever he says in the morning cannot last the day. Until the issue of Deborah Samuel’s, we didn’t know that he is not the one writing his tweets. That he does not vet his tweets. What a coward Abubakar Atiku is!
- Abubakar Atiku like any other politician will do anything to get to power but will not follow through on his campaign promises. He will simply deny every promise saying that he did not approve them, by then it is too late for your votes to be meaningful.
- Atiku Abubakar – as it is often said you don’t have a second chance of making a first impression. It was a lost chance. The tweet he sent was insincere and hypocritical and was to score a cheap political point. It would have earned him the votes of the Christians en-mass thinking they have a defender in him. Deleting the tweet shows where the heart of Atiku lies.
- Atiku deleting that tweet shows he supports the killings of Nigerians by a set of barbaric people, the kidnappers, the bandits, Boko Harams and terrorists.
- Atiku deleting the tweet simply means his personal ambition is more important than the people he aspires to govern.
- Mr. Abubakar deleting that tweet simply means he is not a defender of the truth and justice.
- Mr. Abubakar deleting that tweet simply shows him as a sectional leader.
- Mr. Abubakar deleting the tweet shows the downtrodden masses, the poor, the no names, do not matter to him and in honesty, they should matter!
Conclusion: In my opinion, a vote from a southerner or Christian for Mr. Abubakar Atiku is a vote misplaced or “misvoted.” I am one of those praying that God will give us a genuine leader that will have the interest of the citizens of Nigerians at heart irrespective of their religion, tribe, ethnicity, and demography. Mr. Abubakar deleting the tweet asking for justice for Deborah Samuels Yakubu is deleting the Christians and the southerners from his heart, his agenda, his curriculum, God forbid he gets to power. May the Lord give to Nigeria leaders that will see the country as one, treat them as one and will not be afraid to call a spade a spade and more importantly will not delete the nation from Google Maps or the earth.
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