Open Letter To President Muhammadu Buhari

Posted by African Examiner Articles/Opinion, Latest Headlines, Letters/Rejoinders Friday, June 12th, 2015

Dear Mr. President,
As the gentle breeze reaches you, we bring our plight to your attention as we anticipate your promise to end corruption, impunity and insecurity in Nigerian. It will be insane for any of us to start complaining now, as we are all aware of PDP misuse of the country’s wealth for sixteen years.

Honestly, this open letter is meant to shed more light on the challenges faced by Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora especially as it pertains to Nigerian embassies abroad. Though your office is open to the people unlike your predecessor who alienated himself from the masses, I choose this medium to actually send a point to those who might not be privileged to see a private letter.

President Muhammadu Buhari

We have absolutely no reason to doubt your commitment to cleanse the government of corruption and create a government that works for the people of Nigeria. We know that this campaign will outlive your presidential term just as efforts in different aspects of our national life have outlived other patriotic Nigerians in the past. This time is particularly important because Nigeria stands at the threshold of greatness or implosion, and the decisions you make in the next few years will significantly determine our future as a country.

We recall your promise during the campaign to end the impunity of extrajudicial and journalist killings and deliver justice to the families of the victims. This gave new hope to many people who defied fear and terror to vote for you.

We know that our quest for truth, justice and healing faces historical and structural challenges that are not easy to transcend. Victims, witnesses, advocates, and family members continue to face threats to life and health. But we cannot stop working to end the culture of impunity and joining efforts to bring forth a culture of accountability.

Tackling this problem demands wisdom and firmness that the previous government was unable to show. You have to make difficult decisions, and there is no way out of the mess our dear nation has been thrown into that will be easy. Like many Nigerians, I hope you do whatever it takes to restore normalcy to the country.

Secondly, I would also want to bring to your attention the criminal practice of Nigerian embassies across the globe. One wonders whose interests they protect or if Nigerian embassies that are supposed to protect the rights of every Nigerian living in diaspora have now become businesses. The daily exploitation of Nigerians by these embassies must come to an end; we must define the path of our country on accountability and transparency at home and abroad.

These embassies continue to charge Nigerians twenty dollars to stamp any document most especially in eastern European countries, this act is illegal, criminal and alien to the constitution of Nigeria. The problem extends beyond monetary exploitation to their lack of concern for Nigerians living in the countries they serve. In different countries around the world, embassy staff don’t answer phone numbers on their websites, hardly respond when Nigerians in trouble, and generally behave as if they don’t care at all. We cannot expect people to respect us if those people know that we don’t matter to our own embassies in their countries. Here in Ukraine, the story is not different; we must stop this if we are interested in reclaiming our place as the giant of Africa.

Sir, you have to strive for the change that we desire. You know Nigerians trust you to deliver on your promises, and I strongly believe that addressing these two issues would be a great way to start your mission to move Nigeria to the heights of greatness that it so surely deserve.

Sincerely,
Comrade Ahmed Omeiza Lukman, Kiev Ukraine.