Our dear President, allow me to personally welcome you back from
Jerusalem, a place regarded as heaven on earth by Christians. I’m
certainly persuaded that, like me, you must have fantasized a lot about
that monumental city while growing up as a Sunday school pupil in your
church. I still vividly recollect that the place was made popular by the
triumphant entry of our Lord Jesus Christ. I used to picture in my mind
the kind of tumultuous and overzealous religious crowd that must have
welcomed the very young Jesus who performed so many spectacular
miracles, the sort we’ve never seen again.
But despite the big reception he got, Jesus did not indulge those who
had turned the temple into a market place. He chased them out because,
according to him, they had turned it into a den of thieves, just like
some politicians have turned Nigeria into a colony of armed robbers at
this moment.
This is one lesson I hope you brought back on this trip.
I’ve
never been to Jerusalem, or anywhere near Israel for that matter, but
your visit has generated enough hoopla and substantial attention that I
can’t wait to board the next plane ASAP to go on my own pilgrimage. Such
is the awesome influence of a President, more so that of Africa’s most
populous nation.
Sir, you cannot blame them for this cynical
attitude. Most Nigerians today are generally stressed and would pounce
on anyone for sweet revenge. They have largely traced their misery to
the lack of good governance. While they might not be able to hold you
personally responsible for these woes, they think you’ve have not shown
sufficient capacity and determination to lead us out of the doldrums and
the suffocating quagmire we’ve buried ourselves in. It is that lack of
trust that has permeated all the negative attacks that you tend to get
with regularity these days. Going to Israel at this time was therefore
seen as another wasteful jamboree of no useful gain other than a photo
opportunity to distract the people from the many terrible problems
confronting them.
Since you’re not likely to be properly and
truthfully briefed by your friends and aides about the real reactions of
the people, please let me volunteer to tell you
