Open Letter To President Buhari: A Call To Nigerian Patriots, By Charlie Oribamise

Open Letter To President Buhari: A Call To Nigerian Patriots

By Charlie Oribamise

Congratulations to our new president, Muhammadu Buhari who did not let go of his dream to come back and be an instrument God is currently using to effect a profound change in Nigeria that will reverberate throughout the black race.

A patriot is a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion. This is the man whom God has chosen to be at the helm of affairs in Nigeria at such a time as now. Just as PMB answered the call, so must he challenge other patriots to join hands with him to build a nation of our dream.

Nigeria always invests in every man and woman in our armed forces for free. Our men and women who have sacrificed greatly, especially during the civil war to keep our nation united are greatly appreciated. Through the rank and file of our military forces, leadership is learned and utilized to the fullest, hence after their military service, majority of them, men and women usually become leaders in industries and also in politics.

This is a cause for celebration, as PMB can, in esprit-de-corps., call on every military leader- Head of States, and Governors who had served Nigeria to be ready to contribute to the rebuilding project at hand. It is a time to give back to a nation that has given so much to them. The Bible says, to whom much has been given, much is required of him.

Nigeria DO NOT need to go cap in hand to IMF, World Bank, UN, USA, UK, China, Europe or anywhere else to borrow to execute the rebuilding of Nigeria that President Buhari will embark on. The resources are with us and within. I think we all know wealthy Nigerians who can give loans to Nigeria; they should patriotically step up to the plate and collectively be a part in rebuilding our dear nation, Nigeria.

With the outcome of the most recent election, each geo-political zone of the country knows full well that NO ONE zone can win the federal executive without collaborating with other zones. There should therefore be no more BORN TO RULE mentality or it is our turn to ascend to the throne in Abuja. So, every Nigerian from all six geo-political zones must heed this clarion call of our dear Mr. President.

This is the time of meritocracy, whereby the brightest among us, irrespective of creed or religion or gender should be celebrated to lead us out of poverty and underdevelopment that Nigeria has experienced for TOO long. To our new leaders, the task ahead is daunting, but achievable if we ALL join forces with you and I hope and pray we will. It is a clarion call that ALL stakeholders in the Nigerian project must answer.

I will not enumerate what problems we face, because an average Nigerian will tell you in a heartbeat what those problems are. I think we should become a people who proffer solutions to those teeming problems confronting us.

Nigerians being so religious, know that money answereth all things. God has blessed us abundantly that we should not experience poverty, but our kinsmen and women have raped our resources dry and stacked them away in foreign national vaults providing jobs, and loans which have added values to the living conditions of the nationals of those nations. So, President Muhammadu Buhari should, behind the scene, call on the Council of State members, including Gen, Danjuma, and canvass that everyone who is of means, should voluntarily give:

1. Their oil block(s) back to the Federal government for 20years within which we would have established Nigeria on a solid foundation of prosperity for all. There was a list of oil block owners published awhile back. See: http://odili.net/news/source/2012/mar/9/601.html
2. Between now and December, 2015 every millionaire, and billionaire in Nigeria must tithe 10% of their net worth to the national coffer.
3. The 8^th National Assembly must do away with the runaway salary that they voted for themselves in time past. All frivolous allowances they voted for themselves must stop. Effort to change them to part time legislators should be intensified, so they too can engage in businesses to generate employment and stop being freeloaders draining our collective resources for their lavish and extravagant life style.
4. The Governors must also curtail their extravagance in office and pursue people oriented programs that will lift our people out of poverty.
5. The Chairmen and Councilors at the local government must champion austerity living and become custodian of grass-root development.
6. The President and his Vice have set the ball rolling by declaring their assets and will lead by example by slashing their salaries and entitlements by half.
7. Every effort must be made to recover from foreign banks every dime stashed there by our corrupt leaders, and every nation that refuses to assist us, should be termed enemy of Nigerian nation that we should devise a means of reducing our trading and economic activities with.
8. Effort to establish a National Airline to counter revenue flight from our country that all foreign airlines are currently profiting from. We should demand from each of those countries the same frequency we grant to their airlines so that we can reap from this untapped revenue generator too.
9. We must develop our tourism and entertainment industry which government must promote to reap bountifully from
10. Sport is another area that must be fully harnessed. We must professionalize our sports so that it becomes revenue generator.
11. All our inventors, scientists, IT gurus should have government backing and sponsorship that will translate us to producer and not just consumers so we can generate revenue and not depend on oil and gas only.
12. Agriculture must be fully mechanized so that we can feed ourselves and export the excess for needed revenue for other infrastructural development.
13. There should be a tax regime on private jets, luxury yatch, properties valued over
14. N100million from which proceeds should be dedicated to upgrading our airports to acceptable international standards

The same behind the scene call must be made to the leaders of our banks, and corporations, our traditional rulers- the Emirs, Obas, Obis; our religious leaders, the likes of Pastors Adeboye, Oyedepo, Bakare, Okotie, Kumuyi, the Catholic church hierarchy, the Supreme Leader of Islam, the Pentecostal churches associations, the CAC church hierarchy, the owners of our private Universities, Nigerians in Diaspora, this list is by no means exhaustive. Other men and women of fortune should also join force with President Buhari.

This should be an era of self sacrifice by all for the greater good of all without mortgaging the future of our unborn children to a debtor nation.

Now that the 8^th National Assembly is inaugurated, the nation and the ruling APC must ensure that criminality and forgery is not rewarded in the Senate. To make believe, ‘the cry for change’, any Senator or employee of the NASS who engaged in the recent forgery of the Senate Rules must face the full wrath of the law. This way, no one will dare make mockery of honesty and purposeful leadership for the country anymore.

APC as the governing party must lead by transparency in their affairs so that even the opposition PDP will be challenged to change the way they do business. President Buhari, APC national working committee, and legislative leaders must hurdle together and present bills that set the tone for a selfless service and audacious agenda that this is the era of sacrifice for the good of all.

Let the emphasis be laid that ‘between now and December 2015’, visible change(s) that an average Nigerian can feel, smell and touch is in place through the answer to this clarion call of patriotism. There must be timeline set for these agenda so that all and sundry can be carried along.

Expectation from all is to voluntarily answer this patriotic call of sacrifice. All the looters of our treasury from our independence are known by all especially the government. They should voluntarily come forward and surrender the loot. Otherwise, the EFCC and ICPP should be unleashed on them. Thank you very much Sir.

Oribamise writes from Minnesota, United States