Welcome Mr President
By MacDurugbo
Welcome back home Mr. President. It is very heart-warming that, after the long period of ill-health during which the country went through all kinds of afflictions, you are back healthy and hearty once again. I thank the Almighty God for His great grace of healing upon you and His mercies over Nigeria.
I am certain the Vice President, in whose hands you handed the affairs of the nation, filled you in on the numerous matters, issues and events, some good, some bad and some ugly, that took place in your absence hence your all inclusive national broadcast Monday, August 21, 2017. Evidently you missed nothing.
By the way, I want to thank you for the great confidence you reposed on your deputy. It enabled him to hold forth in spite of the numerous pressures that challenged his capacity to remain focussed. I can tell you, without any fear of contradiction, that but for your continued insistence that the power should rest on him, the hawks, or those your dear wife appropriately described as “hyenas and jackals”, would have pushed him aside and made him irrelevant. But, even on your sick bed, you remained resolute and focused. I can assure you, my President, that it went a long way to keep the country together. I also want to thank God for the life of the Vice President, himself, who, although not a General and a two time President, successfully fitted into your big shoes and rode the waves to keep the nation in one piece till your return.
Yes; it is good having you back for many reasons. One is to convince the hawks that there is no vacancy yet in Aso Rock. You see, my President, there was a lot of power play behind the scene; a jostle to take your seat instead of the man you handed the mantle. There were even caucuses forming to determine how to run the government in the case of permanent disability. Oh, your deputy may have deliberately left that out because of his religious background. But you should not be surprised about the fact that some people were already planning a posthumous government to come into place in the case of a vacancy in the Presidency. I am sure many of them are looking for holes to hide them for fear of what might happen to them and their future political or military career. Yes, there were also “hyenas and jackals” in your former constituency. Fortunately, all the bickering and intrigues behind the scene have come to an end and the nation can move on.
Of the many headlines that dotted the front pages of the numerous national dailies that celebrated your return at the weekend, the one I loved most was “The Lion Returns” or did it say “The Lion King Is Back”. Why did I take a preference for that headline? It sounded like a warning to the various troubles that re-surged after your departure to task the ability of the Acting President, whom, you know, has no Military experience. The Boko Haram insurgents suddenly resurfaced to torment the country once again; kidnappers, ritual killers and armed robbers, not to talk of the herdsmen and secessionist agitators, suddenly escalated their activities; as if to say “The lion is away so we are free”. Of course, they were proved wrong as your deputy rose to the occasion, like the deputy General that he is, ordering the Military back to the war front in Maiduguri. Also that headline sent a signal to the political insurgents that they better retreat or face political extermination.
Thirdly my President, thank you so much for your response to the “Quit Notice” given the Igbos by the Northern Youths Coalition. It has been a contentious issue in the last two months and, perhaps, the most widely discussed issue in the media. The demand of the Youths is that the Igbos in the Northern states of the country should leave before October 1, 2017 by reason of the agitation for an independent state of Biafra by some agitators in the South East. The surprising thing, Mr. President, is that despite the fact that Igbo Political, Cultural and Traditional Leaders have risen to declare the stand of Ndigbo concerning the unity of Nigeria, these youths are still insisting on the “Quit Notice”. The most disturbing aspect is the new hate song that is now circulating around the Northern states whipping up sentiments against Ndigbo. I am sure that with your return and the uncompromising stance conveyed by your broadcast, whatever or whoever must have conceived that idea will have no reason to pursue it.
Finally, let me testify to the dream I had a day before your arrival. I dreamt that you were back dressed in a Police Uniform. It was a brief dream which came in the early hours of the morning. I rejoiced in that dream because you were all smiles and waving to the crowd following you; but you were also matching forward as one intent on accomplishing a task before you. When I woke soon after, I was afraid because, having grown up in the village, there was this belief that if you dreamt of a person dressed ceremoniously and in a joyous mood, it has an ominous meaning for the subject of that dream. I had not dreamt such a dream before so I had no way of anchoring the dream on any personal experience. But the cultural dogma kept me from sharing the dream with anybody. I only prayed to cancel it based on my religious belief. My prayer point since your departure has been that your return (I had no doubt that you would return)would herald a more focussed and purposeful leadership.
Once again, Welcome Mr. President.
MAC DURUGBO writes from Abuja