With the rampant bombings by the Boko Haram insurgents, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo has written an open letter to the Islamist sect
She blamed the leadership which she credited with “more sense but also faulted the insurgents for betraying the true essence of revolutionaries in directing their venom against the lower class.
She what she has to say: –
“I am moved to write about the current state of affairs in Nigeria. My first inclination was to write to the President but since all letters to him seem to elicit only open derision and even more stupidity from his inner circle, I have decided to address my letter to a group also currently causing Nigerians a lot of pain and agony that may actually have more sense than the country’s leadership.
Dear Boko Haram
“The fact that you have taken arms against the Nigerian state is no surprise. The question should be why haven’t more young people organised themselves against the state?
“Even the fact that your motto, ‘Against Western Education’ is in a way reasonable given the fact that your leader, martyred by the Nigerian state had university education and found no reasonable employment but had to resort to thuggery for politicians to survive, as the story goes.
“He, like millions of Nigerian young people and college graduates, seeing a blighted future are doing anything to survive.
“They have become opportunistic desperados, almost sub‑human as the stepping on and trampling on each other to death at the Immigration employment debacle indicates.
‘Where you’re wrong’
“Where I think you have gotten it wrong are in two areas, if you can pardon my giving you some unsolicited advice.
“First, your victims are becoming more and more the people you should be attracting to your side. Take the Nyanya bus massacre.
“The people that live in Nyanya are usually the clerks, messengers and other lowly office workers that live out in relative slums compared to the rest of Abuja and take public transportation to work to receive monthly salaries they barely get by on.
“Consult any written work of successful revolutionaries be it French, Russian, Cuban or even the more recent uprooting of communism in Eastern Europe, to succeed you need the people to be on your side. Right now you are not achieving this.
“You are targeting the group you need most. This does not make for a successful revolution but you are making yourselves into nuisances to the people and in the end while the state, including its military machine may not be able to conquer you, your downfall will be alienating these potential allies, i.e. the oppressed and down-trodden.
“Secondly, the abduction of girls. It must be hard to stay in the bush as all male revolutionaries fending for yourselves with no sexual gratification.
Cuban example
“But again, reading up on past bush revolutionaries like the Cuban, for example, indicates that they were able to convince some women to go voluntarily with them into the bush.
“Somehow, revolutionary zeal does not include sexual abstinence and cooking and cleaning by yourselves.
“Reading must be hard for you since you hate education but the past is a good guide to the future and if you can’t read, you are done for in organizing or succeeding in most endeavours as most things have been done before and reading up on how it was done can only serve as good guidance.
“The parents of the girls you abducted are just trying to give their daughters a chance at having successful lives. Without an education there is very little anyone can achieve in this early 21st century.
“I know living in the bush; it must still seem like the dark ages but the truth is that even with the lack of jobs and opportunities for young people in Nigeria currently, it is still better to be educated.
“An educated university graduate who was selling food from a food cart ignited the Arab Spring which was spread by use of the internet which is hard to use if you are not educated.
“There are writings, videos and stuff you post on the internet which I haven’t seen. But think of it, you can only post and use the internet because some of you have some education.
“But in the end you have no control over the distribution of your advertising and recruiting information because as you may know, the internet is really part of the western system you despise.
Why you’re succeeding
“The truth is that you have succeeded because the Nigerian state has failed to provide jobs and opportunity for its young people who you can now easily recruit. By disrupting education, you are adding to the burden of the people.
“You may say, but how about our religious issue? Let the truth be told, just as there are indigenous southern Muslims, there are indigenous northern Christians even from your epicentre in Borno State and just as you are zealous for your religion, I don’t see them giving up their religion either.
“The reasonable solution to this impasse would be for you to advocate for everyone to be able to practice their religion as they see fit with respect for each other’s beliefs.
“Remember, a couple of centuries ago, all of our ancestors below the Sahara were all animists worshipping various ‘gods.’
“This ‘One God’ — us against them situation — is a relatively recent one in our human history and you will be advised to let the originators fight it out and let your people be.”
Please don’t come to lagos??…
ABOUT D MISSIN GURLS,NOBODY DAT WAS KIDNAP. How long was the alleged motorcade that nobody saw
of 275 girls? I’m not even counting the militants that
were in the vehicles with them, just the girls alone?
IF say the alleged 275 girls drove themselves from the
school to the sambisa forest (how a vehicle moves
through a forest is beyond me, let alone a motorcade)
which has been described as a ‘dense’ forest, how
many vehicles would that be? Lets not count the
militants that were in the vehicles with them.IF they some how fit 12 sixteen year old girls into 1
vehicle each, which is a wildly unrealistic amount of
passengers in one vehicles, even a pick up, that means
that 22.91 or when rounded 23 vehicles were used.
If say they fit a more realistic but high number for 6
per vehicle that’s 46 vehicles.
This is assuming that only the girls were in the
vehicles which wasn’t the case.The question is HOW can a core northern Village
community have over 275 girls in a school sitting for
WAEC? When did they start going to school? not to
talk of sending girls to school?
The Principal and State government Knows where
they kept those girls which are i know isn’t up to 40.so dey shud stp feedin nigerians wit lies.4rm ERIC KALU, bbm pin 2b3d9e83.I sat down gav masef sleepless 9t jst 2 fink of dis,plz broadcast so it gets 2 dos pple in governmt,dey shud knw we can no longer b deceived again.
Thank u, Iyabo. Omo olowu oduru,a ji f’epe sere , omo Oba n’le aro ,omo owu ajimuda . Ko kuku s’eniyan t’o burewa ni’le owu , owu ti Laberinjo . Owu On’ika won ki i d’oro, sebi awi imenu kuro ni t’owu. You’ve said it all. Perhaps, if the elites in power can see what you are seeing, the way you see it ,their conscience would have directed them to be fair and just to all.THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT DIED, AND ARE STILL DIEING DAILY. AS A RESULT OF LACK OF FOOD SECURITY, HEALTH SECURITY, EDUCATION SECURITY, SHELTER SECURITY AND LIFE SECURITY.far outnumber the ones killed by bokoharam The people arround my President only. Tell him,what he wants to hear not what he needs to hear,. This is our dilemma. Seriously speaking, a person who wants to rule any Nation, State or Local must know his CLIENTELE, and have his own blueprint. In Nigeria, when they get to an office, they start behaving as if they dropped from the MOON. They are suddenly afflicted with COMMITTEE SYNDROME…….too bad. May God, Allahu ,Ubangiji , Olodumare , deliver US.
@Eric you are very, very intelligent and i see sense in what you stated. The principal of that school should be interrogated because it is a possible secret scheme to destabilize president GET.
Hmm, just don’t what to say bcus dis situation is getting out of hand, may God just come to our rescue
This woman looks as ugly as her father obasonjo(olusegun).If I were her I would stop doing anything that would attract the camera to myself. Iyabo is stupidly advising boko haram to be attacking the well-to-do in the society and also those in govt. If that be the case then a good starting point would be those who have been president of this country both as military and civilian e.g Olusegun obasanjo(her father) and those who have been senators before e.g. Iyabo herself.
@Engr.O am so ashamed that an Engr could be clueless. Are u saying is taboo for her to say her feeling nigeria? U easy 4got that, this same woman u are attacking her personality now wrote an open letter last year in support of GEJ to the detriment of her own father (obasanjo). Now that she talking about national security and possible target 4 boko haram which it will be someday (I.e, against the political elites) u now know she’s ugly. U are have the most ugly sense human. I wonder if u will know what development is about. And bcos u don’t know that’s why u are unable to criticizes the govt of GEJ. Am very sure u don’t what ur govt shoud doing 4 u talk less of the future of ur kids. That’s the Niger-Delta will remain the way it is until u pple know how to criticizes govt either its ur person that is in power or not. Who criticizes Obasanjo more while he was in power? The Yoruba. U think they don’t is their son? They knew but bcos they want the best out of him and Nigeria at large they have to squeeze him. But in ur case, all of u from Niger-dellta and South-east u have refuses to GEJ the truth. This man will spend 8yrs and I can assure there be no meaningful that will take place in those two zones. God bess Nigeria
@Soul You are too good at misuderstanding people and issues. The reason is that you are blinded by your passionate hatred for GEJ. If you have ever been the chairman of you village u will appreciate the intricasies of administration. Iyabo obasonjo is appealing to boko haram to stop killing common people but should start killing well-to-do people and also people in govt. What kind of stupid sugesstion is that coming from one who has been a senator in this country. Tell me how her suggestion would help Nigeria solve her present security wahala.you are the one that is clueless my brother!
Hello Mr engr. or whatever you call yourself. I passive very strongly within me that you must be one of those stupid politician who have been eating fat portion of Nigeria’s wealth to yourself and feeding others with crumbs falling from your table. I see, I think people like you should be the center of target for these animals boko haram who have been killing innocent Nigerian’s. But yo! listen I’ve got a message for you my nigga. There ain’t no place for people like you to hide anymore. The judgement is here and it’s about to overtake you, wherever you may hide yourself we gonna find you homie. The ghetto youth going to find you, because we are fed up of people like you in our country and you and your family going to be the next check it out ahahah!!!
Has any one been able to interview any of the girls who escaped? The truth about this abduction is not yet fully heard. I have recently read in a social media a suggestion that the government of Borno state knows something that we don’t know; that in an attempt to get Jonathan to lift the emergency rule in the North East, this girls were purposefully taken away in order heat up the polity and to prove that the emergency rule is not working hence getting Nigerians to pressure the President to lift the emergency rule. It makes more logical sense now that WAEC is saying that it requested to send the students out to safer places for their exam but Gov Shetima sent a “WRITTEN ASSURANCES” that the school and its students were safe and secure. Please, Nigerians,who is fooling who? The other angle I must add is that APC may equally be on the know as it continues to use every ugly development in Nigeria as a clearer path-paving wat to kick Jonathan out of ASO VILLA. We are tired of these enemies of the state – the Boko Haram and the Pull-Jonathan-Down APC politicians.
At a time like this I am disappointed that one time senator of the federation and a daughter to formal president military and civilian could making such a point.I hope she know that if those that hold public office are to be attack her family is number becos whatever deprivation that citizens of nigeria is passing through stated from her own father. One more thing those who are saying that no student or girls is kidnap should their founding very well and furnish the public with their information and whereabout of the Girls. For Waec who are trying to lay blame on the govern should ve themselve and the governor blamed . In all boko haram I want you to know that everyday is for thief but one day is for owner of they house, you insurgent might be see yourself as on unstoppable go and ask you founder Osama Bin Laden what happen to him that day Pakistan . God pls I pray to fight for your people in jesus christ mighty name I pray Amen
Eric and your co reasoners, I don’t hve anything to tell for insulting the northerners’ educational status even though you are wrong. Your comments clearly shows your myopic and misguided knowledge of Nigeria and this is also the problem most of us from the south have about Nigeria. Have you ever been to any northern state?
To avoid arguing with you, I will only ask you to tell GEJ whom you support so much to fish out the perpetrators of the kidnap. Wether it is BH, the governor, the principal, GEJ have the power in his hands to find out the real story and expose it to Nigerians. The president is the Commander-in-Chief and has enormous powers to have solved the mystery(ies) surrounding the kidnap and even the insugency. That he has failed in this regards calls to question his ability to lead the country. We need actions NOT vows!
That a nice write up
waooo! anyone who find 4th against Engr.O opinion concerning ugly Iyabo’s letter to B.H must be among d idiots who have barbaric hrt against GEJ. well I don’t wants to say more as not to provoke someone here. I tink mankind have to put an end to war now or war will put an end to mankind. one love Nigeria……….