Daily Trust Sunday

Dead Men Working

- Elnathanjo­hn.blogspot.com, Twitter: @elnathan with Elnathan John ecceneljo@yahoo.com

Dearest Buhari,

Iam so glad to finally see that now that you have recovered fully and should begin the serious work of governance, you have decided not to allow this to distract you from the larger and more important goal of beginning the campaigns for the 2019 elections. This is so so important especially as in the beginning you were busy, for months, studying the mess left behind that you were unable to appoint ministers to run the ministries and then shortly after you appointed them you fell ill and had to spend a few months away. But now you are hale and hearty and there is no better time to begin the job of convincing Nigerians through rallies and speeches and political appointmen­ts and keeping an eye on disloyal people and enemies, that you are indeed the right person to carry Nigeria through to 2023.

This past week a lot of people have died. Either slaughtere­d in Benue or shot dead in Rivers or killed in Borno. These dead are only a sign that you are working. When you are effective, your enemies get more and more agitated. So there is no need to make a broadcast about these killings. People may even say that you as a Fulani should come up with a permanent solution to the crises all across the country that pits pastoralis­ts against settled communitie­s and farmers, leading to deaths and reprisals, but what do they know? You are alright my dear. You have done so much we do not even deserve you. But because of your love for us, you have decided to reappoint your last campaign director Rotimi Amaechi along with that governor who was indicted in the Zaria massacre of unarmed members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. You love us and because of this, I love you.

I also saw that in the list of appointmen­ts to boards of parastatal­s there were quite a few dead people and many Nigerians were worried. I just need to admit that at first, I was worried. But it did not take me long to recognise the genius in what you have done. You are a leader of many firsts. I cannot remember a leader who has so much respect for the dead. A leader who cares for those who have passed away. If you can do this for the dead how much more for the living. I just have a few suggestion­s going forward for how we can hand this appointmen­t of dead people.

First I think we should appoint a larger number of dead women. You know how maternal mortality in Nigeria is still high and all? Maybe we find one person to represent the group of women who died in childbirth? Maybe that way you can show how much you care about the health of women who are pregnant. Also, I am thinking of someone like Bola Ige. It is not good to abandon him like that. I feel like we have not remembered him enough. A posthumous appointmen­t is great. I was also thinking of Gani Fawehinmi. I am sure that in death he will be as vibrant and bring to your government even more legitimacy, especially

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