No, Baba Atiku, You Must Come To The United States By Churchill Okonkwo

Mr. “President-in-waiting”, Chief Atiku Abubakar, (GCON), you finally admitted that [you] “have difficulties visiting the U.S.”. E-e-yeah, poor Atiku. You are probably too poor that the U.S. Embassy officials are concerned that once you come to the U.S. you will abscond and join me in the under the table security job, so, you were denied a visa. Or is it that after going through your documents, the U.S officials concluded that you are so impeccable, character-wise and in business sense that they don’t want the corrupt American system to dent your integrity?

I was looking forward to your visit when I heard that you will be speaking at a trade and investment gathering in Washington D.C. later this month. I have been mobilizing your supporters ready to roll out the drums and welcome you at the Dulles International Airport. We were planning to show the world that the next President of Nigeria that will finally unlock our potentials has arrived. Then, BOOM! You admitted the obvious; you are a wanted man in the U.S.

Baba Atiku, has your dishonesty and lack of integrity caught up with you? The three things per Frederick Williams Robertson that deserves no mercy are hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny. The last thing we need in Nigeria is a leadership with failed honor but success in fraud. Oga mi, leadership is more than just being able to amass wealth through questionable means. It should also be about character and integrity. We need leadership by example. If that example is soiling your hands and running away from America, Nigerians will say tufiakwa!

Baba Atiku, your supporters who are worried about the direction the Nigerian ship is headed are even more worried that a “wanna-be” President cannot obtain a visa to visit the U.S. You can reject the allusions that your presidential ambition will be hampered by the loud and clear message from the U.S. that you are unfit to set foot in the land of the free. It’s okay to remind Nigerians that our constitution does not require presidential candidates to visit the U.S. before conning their way to Aso Rock. But you can no longer hide the fact that you are a wanted man in the U.S.

Your jibe on President Buhari when you referred to some Nigerian leaders that were once ‘denied’ entry to the U.S. until they became President is a lame excuse. As President Buhari rightly told you, when denying that claim, go to the American Embassy and clear your name. Until you do this, Governor Wike and his gang in the PDP will always see you as a flawed candidate to carry the flag of the PDP in the 2019 elections.

Oga Atiku, remember the saying, “The bigger your head, a knock on it never misses”? That’s exactly what the PDP and APC have been doing with you. The baggage you are carrying on your head is too big that everyone could knock you down. Sincerely, as I watch you tour the states to woo Fayose, Wike, and Co, I feel sorry for you. It is a betrayal for the PDP big whips to ‘welcome’ you only to indirectly impugn your integrity by publishing this list of invitees to the U.S. Think about this slowly; why are Wike and others seeking to draft Kwankwaso into the PDP Presidential race?

Did you not see that Governor Wike is planning to do to your ambition? Why do you think your name was included on the same invitation with Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo? Think. Is it a ploy to tell Nigerians that you are running away from the U.S. while Dankwambo can freely go to the U.S.? So, you see why you must come to the U.S. If not anything, it will send a signal of APC and OBJ that you are “the man they couldn’t arrest”. Please don’t disappoint your supporters.

Oga Atiku, the greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquired, but in his integrity. You have nothing to fear with integrity since you have nothing to hide.  To prove that you are not lying, running and hiding, make another application to the Embassy of the U.S. in Abuja. When you have a date for your interview, inform them that you are coming with your mob. Mobilize millions of your supporters to the Embassy and you all should stay there until you are granted a visa.

A visit to the U.S. will also give you the opportunity to go see your political associate Williams Jefferson, who is currently serving a jail term related to fraud that has nothing to do with you.You must visit America before PDP primaries and 2019 elections. If you fail to do this, it means you don’t have integrity. And you know what they say about people without integrity? Nothing else they do or say matters. Absolutely nothing.

Grounded ginger is smeared on a child’s anus in the Ghanaian culture as punishment and sometimes as medicine to some ailments. I am afraid that the ginger smeared on your image in being declared a persona non-gratain the U.S. is a punishment for your fraudulent past. Oga Atiku, you will not be jumping from party to party with decayed teeth if you know how to brush our teeth. You had your opportunity, but you chose to launder millions of Dollars to the U.S., which you eventually used to establish the American University of Nigeria.

Baba Atiku, as you tour the states across Nigeria, avoiding proximity to the U.S. Embassy in Lagos and Abuja, here is a puzzle you MUST explain to your supporters: How could a former Vice President and a wanna-be President; the famous philanthropist; the highest “creator” of labor after Dangote and the proud owner of American University of Nigeria be denied a visa that officers of the Nigerian police Force could obtain?  Why is someone with your credentials running away from the U.S.? Something doesn’t just add up my Baba.

Nigerians cannot support a “wanna-be” President that could not go to America as an ordinary Nigerian citizen because he fears arrest. Integrity is the most valued asset for a society seeking to build and progress. Baba Atiku, you MUST, therefore, come to America to show that your integrity means more to you than fame, money or winning elections. You must come to America if you want us to take your words on the economic transformation of the Nigerian landscape to Dubai without a pinch of salt.

Finally, baba Atiku, I will leave you with the Igbo proverb “if a deceitful person buries himself, one of his arms will stick out”. One of your arms is sticking out and asking Nigerians for votes in the 2019 election. Before that will happen, we are demanding to see the buried parts of your body hidden from us. There is no better stage in the world to show your full face than the U.S. A dog may refuse food, but he does not refuse to answer a call. Please answer this clarion call and come to the U.S. We are watching your every checkered step to Aso Rock,with our eyes closed.

You can email Churchill at Churchill.okonkwo@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi