By Dele Sobowale
“Every country has the government it deserves”. John De Maistre, 1735-1821. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p80).

If you voted for “Jonathan not PDP” in the April elections, then you have no moral right to complain about fuel subsidy removal. When you vote a candidate; you simultaneously vote for a set of policies and programmes. It is merely stupid to want to separate the two.

And let me quickly admit that Jonathan was duly elected president in April 2011; even though I voted for Buhari. All those who voted for Jonathan are responsible for whatever fate befalls their fellow country people henceforth.

That should teach us a lesson – although the ability of Nigerians to learn from past mistakes is doubtful. Come another election and rivers of naira flowing and the same mistake will probably repeat itself.

And don’t blame Jonathan for deceiving you. Back in the WILD WILD WEST of America, in the early years of settling, and when horses were literally the life-line of the people, it was common wisdom that, “It is the buyer’s fault, if he fails to ask if the horse is blind”.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS P 24). From the time Yar’Adua died, and Jonathan pretended that he was “consulting widely” to determine whether to run or not, till election day, most of us, including so called progressives, threw away our thinking caps. We shall pay dearly for it. SUBSIDY IS GONE!!! Hardship begins!!!!

AUDU: IS THAT THE BEST ACN CAN DO?

“Politicians are their own grave diggers”. Will Rogers, 1879-1935, American Humorist. (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 191).

The nomination of Prince Audu as the Action Congress of Nigeria’s candidate for governor in the just concluded elections, in Kogi State, was a joke carried too far. Not once, until that contest, have I found myself praying that the PDP would beat the pants off the “progressives” who must have had an off-day in candidate selection.

The picture of the Lagos State Governor Fashola, a gentleman of the first rank, standing on the same podium with Audu brought tears to my eyes. It was a disservice to the journalists posted to Kogi as State Correspondents during Audu’s tenure from 1999 to 2003.

To us he was “a terrorist” in Government House and only those with short memories among our colleagues would have forgotten so soon those who fell in service of journalism in Kogi. Has the party become so desperate that just anybody will do? I hope not.

My heartfelt congratulations go to the Governor-elect. Although, I am not a journalist, his victory saved journalists from death itself. Audu indeed! Who will they field next Adolf Hitler, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun or Sani Abacha?

LAGOS STATE GOVERNORSHIP: 2015 CHRISTIAN AGENDA – 4

“Those who deal in ideas, if they are wise, will welcome attack. Only a peaceful passage should dismay them for it proves that the ideas do not affect anyone very much”.

Professor John Kenneth Galbraith. Harvard Economics Professor, Nobel Prize Winner.

“The best answer to grievance complaint is seldom “shut up and let’s have peace; it might be sit down and let’s talk”.

Dele Sobowale, 1968, Boston, USA, at a workshop to determine how to bring peace to Boston—then engulfed in racial riots”.

I was still at Igbobi College, when students of the University of Ibadan staged a protest against the Anglo-Nigeria defence pact. I was in Lagos to join the march which was halted by the Nigeria Police at Race Course with tear gas. It was my first encounter with violence unleashed against peaceful protesters.

As far as Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Britain were concerned, we were “disturbing the peace”. It was not my last encounter with tear gas. Less than a year after reaching America on US government scholarship, I was on the march, called by late Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968, from Selma to Montgomery in support of black Americans and got more tear gas.

I also witnessed death face to face. This was followed by other episodes in Boston. I had nothing to gain, as a Nigerian, but the satisfaction that I was fighting for justice for millions of black people. There are at least 6 million Christians in Lagos. That is a good number to defend.

In 1999, I was probably the only Christian columnist who whole heartedly supported Sharia, when first introduced by Zamfara State. It is also on record that when Umar Farouk Abdulmutalab was involved in his Christmas Day misadventure in the USA, I was the only Christian columnist who rose to his defence and I paid a terrible price.

My daughter’s wedding took place two weeks after that defence and it was boycotted by many Christians who thought I was siding with “ Moslem jihaddists”. Over N2 million worth of food and drinks were wasted. This year, I openly expressed preference for Buhari over Jonathan and again incurred the wrath of fellow Christians.

An annual contract worth over N5 million was cancelled on account of that. Let any other columnist declare what he had suffered for others beside his friends on matters that don’t directly concern him.

So, the least I expect of my Muslim “brothers” is not “shut up and let’s have peace”, but “Dele can we talk?” Since that is not the response, I will go forward. Anyone who wants to write rejoinder needs to be told that this might be a marathon and not a dash –depending.

Either way, the scars received fighting for others have prepared me for this one. So let me continue where part 3 left off – going down memory lane.

Then came 1999 and the Alliance for Democracy, AD, which was later swept aside by the Action Congress of Nigeria. The less said about the first primaries the better. The finalists were Funso Williams and Bola Tinubu. The party leader in Lagos was Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu.

We still trooped out and voted AD. And when there was a split, we trooped out and voted Action Congress of Nigeria. One thing however is undeniable – the incumbent governor and the party leadership, in every party and state, determine who will succeed the governor.

Please take a look at the line up in the “progressive party” in Lagos State today and admit to yourself, honestly, what you see. From Leader to Governor to Chairman ask yourself if the power distribution is fair. Meanwhile, they are already lining up a successor to Fashola. Should we wait for a fait accompli?

LAST LINE: The Senate in 2011 faults BPE. No Wikileaks. Read Chapter 8 of “Deleleaks” and find out how one parastatal was robbed under Obasanjo’s nose. Buy the book; N5,000 per copy.