By Dele Sobowale

“Every country has the government it deserves”, Joseph de Maistre, 1753-1821.

You voted for Jonathan, not PDP.  That’s fine. Now you’ve got Jonathan; the worst PDP imaginable and Alamieyseigha as extra dividend. So, why are millions of My Fellow Countrymen complaining? From late 2010, until the last Sunday to the 2011 Presidential election that year, we drummed the message to ears that were blocked and brains that were turned off. The message was as clear as can be. DON’T VOTE FOR JONATHAN; YOU WILL REGRET IT.

I was flat on my back in a hospital in Abuja, courtesy of a benefactor, on that Election Day. But, prior to that I had used every forum to campaign against Jonathan – my early morning prayers sessions at the church, my clubs, my family meetings etc. Each time, the majority had listened to me politely, some had argued with me. I was under the impression that people were convinced. My first shock came in the early evening of the day after the election.

Coming out of induced sleep at the hospital, I had watched the AIT television rendering the results state by state without paying much attention until it got to Lagos; where I expected Ribadu to clear one million-plus votes. Instead, it was Jonathan who scored one million-plus votes. I rang the bell for a nurse and lodged a complaint that the drug given to me was affecting my vision. She asked “why Sir?” I replied that what I was seeing on television could not be true; Jonathan could not possibly clear Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Oyo states.

“But, that is true Sir”, she said. Still not believing, I picked up my phone and called a close associate, a columnist with the NATION to double check. My friend not only confirmed the figures but he added. “I also voted for Jonathan, but, not PDP. In fact many of my colleagues here did the same”.  That was a deadly blow; but it was also revealing of how, even a majority of ordinarily intelligent people can be wrong.

Future historians should have no problem in selecting a statement which summarises our collective self-destruction in this era. It will be that statement which, in addition to the scandal of spending, reportedly, about N500 million on a phony thanksgiving, has made possible the outrage of granting state pardon to an ex-convict, who still has cases to answer outside Nigeria; despite jumping bail. Alamieyeseigha, is one of the reasons Nigeria, our dear fatherland, is classified among the most corrupt worldwide.

However, just for the record, let me present to, Fellow Nigerians, “who voted for Jonathan not PDP”, some of what Alams was accused of accumulating through corrupt self-enrichment. Then, all those who voted for Jonathan can hold themselves partly responsible for what happened two weeks ago.  Jonathan will come again to ask for your votes. But, because most Africans are stupid, he might again be re-elected. Have you noticed that no single high profile robber had been sentenced since Jonathan became President? You voted for him. My hands are clean!!!

·   N1.5 billion converted to buy Chelsea Hotel, Abuja.
·   N450 million to buy property on plot 26, Bashir Dalhatu Close, Abacha Estate, Ikoyi
·   N435 million to buy property at John Kadiya Close, Asokoro, Abuja.
· N420 million to buy property at 1, Community Road, off Allen Avenue,  Ikeja.
·   N1 billion to buy shares in Bond Bank, Ikeja.
·   Three million pounds transfer to Barclays Bank, Plc, London.
·    Seven million pounds transfer from Lagos to Royal Bank of Scotland, London.
·   8       Fifty million pounds transfer from Lagos to the Royal Bank of Scotland.
23.  175 million pounds to London to purchase property.
25. Converted 241 million pounds to buy London property.
26. Converted 3 million pounds to buy property in London.
28.Converted $409, 761.24 to buy property in London.
29. Converted 1 million pounds to buy property in South Africa.
30. Converted N250 million to buy property at Ikoyi.
31. Transferred $160,000 to open account in U.S.
32. Transferred N35 million to Portharcourt to buy property.
33. Had N105 million balances in personal account No 2010062850006 at Bond Bank, Plc.

For God’s sake, go and add up the figures yourself, bearing in mind that there was more.  Then honestly ask yourself, what point a President who could grant pardon to anyone capable of this magnitude of alleged heartless looting of public funds mean. That is the man you voted into office.

CALLING IGBOBI COLLEGE 58-62 SET
Tempus fugit, and,  if you have not completely buried your Latin under mountains of eba, amala, booze and other things best left unmentioned, still means, “time flies”. We all left dear old Igbobi College, fifty years in December. So our  class’s 50th Anniversary comes up in April. Please contact Segun George, KSJW, our class President to find about the arrangements. More to the point, we need your donations, starting from N100,000. Segun’s number :  0803-3013349.

P.S. Condolences are in order on account of our dear late ELIJAH JOE, aka  Deacon  Ayo Ositelu, who was a member of the planning committee for this event until the end.  May his soul rest in perpetual peace.

QURAN A-Z IN PRINT; SOON TO BE LAUNCHED — 1
The appeal made on behalf of the young Muslim Author, Nurudeen Seriki, months ago, to publish his book, has yielded amazing results. For purposes of transparency and accountability, let me summarise how we got here –especially for those who have either assisted or promised to do so.

Funds promised or donations could not possibly get the book published. Providentially, and, unexpectedly, a Christian publisher, Mr Agbo Areo, offered to print 1,000 copies free of charge. But, at that stage, it was still in manuscript, far from publication and I had in the meantime seen the book as an opportunity to make a statement about religious tolerance – especially among Christians and Muslims. We needed a strong partner.

Without hesitation, we turned to Alhaji Animasaun, my Egbon, on this page for almost seventeen years. Incidentally, that perhaps should serve as a lesson for those who might have thought that Alhaji and I had broken off on account of our disagreement on this page. Nothing could be further from the truth. We both grew up, substantially in Lagos, where, people disagree, fight physically one minute and you see them the next drinking together as if nothing had happened. For us, there is never a final fight.

Alhaji, who we pounced upon without calling first, received us and helped to develop the manuscript in a way neither Nurudeen could ever have imagined. In the end, what we now have is more than a book. It is a statement by two Muslims and two Christians that all of us in Nigeria still need each other in order to create something good from nothing.