THE JUNE 12 GIFT BY THE CALIPHATE & BUHARI TO YORUBA NATION.

History remains unkind to those who do NOT learn from History!!!! Posterity too waits in the wings to deal a decisive Judgment on our undiscerning and uncircimspect Present and ask what we did while Nigeria was on fire and our Heritage wrenched from us (God forbid)!!!! Thanks, But No Thanks. In ancient China, Duke Wu of Cheng, felt it was time to take over the powerful kingdom of Hu. Careful not to tell anyone of his devious plan, he married off his daughter to the powerful ruler of Hu. Thereafter he called his cabinet and asked which kingdom should be invaded. Expectedly a member of his cabinet suggested the kingdom of Hu. Duke Wu in a fitting show of anger retorted “the kingdom of Hu is a sister state now. Why do you suggest invading a sister state”? As if to demonstrate his seriousness he had the minister executed for his “unguarded and unreasonable” remarks. The ruler of Hu heard about this and similar friendly gestures of Duke of Wu, including the marriage of his daughter felt unthreatened and took no precautions to defend himself from Cheng. Several weeks later Cheng forces invaded Wu, meeting no resistance took over the kingdom, never to relinquish it. If Buhari likes let him declare the whole month of June as holiday to commemorate June 12 elections considered the freest and fairest elections in the political history of Nigeria. In addition, he can declare the seat of government MKO House, it does not bother me. How does that bring back the winner of the election whose mandate was denied simply because he was a Yoruba man? How does that bring back thousands of our youth who were brutally and mercilessly killed by the Abacha regime for demonstrating for the actualization of the mandate freely given? This was Abacha, the same Buhari served under as PTF Chairman and even proclaimed he was not corrupt despite evidence to the contrary. How does that address thousands of acres of our farmlands destroyed and people killed, including women and children under the present administration, while Buhari maintain his criminal silence. How does that address the forceful take-over of our land and destruction of our local subsistence economy? How does that address thousands of Yoruba youths whose lives have become nasty brutish and short on account of the incompetence of this ruler? As I type this message, my 65-year old brother-in-law has left his family to struggle it out in the Western world, at a time when he should be enjoying his retirement and watching his grandkids. Please tell me how the declaration of June 12 addresses thousands of our youths crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in search of better life because their jobs have been taken over by the less qualified Hausa-Fulani. In almost 15 years of my sojourn in the US, I have never met a Northerner struggling it out here. Yet they say there is unemployment in Nigeria. Or is it that the Yorubas have all of sudden become unemployable? It is time to set our priorities right as a people and a nation and reject any Greek gift. Yes, MKO deserves all the accolades he can get for putting his life on the line for even the semblance of democracy we enjoy, but the gift cannot come from the hands that killed him. *As Dwight Eisenhower said "a people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both".* Our cause is greater than the symbolic representation of a holiday declared. At the appropriate time, when we have achieved our desire and goal, MKO will be immortalized, after all, despite the denial of the federal government over several years, June 12 is still celebrated as a holiday in most of the Western states. What else is new? Except to focus on the big picture: Restructure or split it up. There cannot be any other solution other than that. On this occasion; let’s tell the government “Thanks, But No Thanks”. OLANIYI AYODELE, a voice of reasoning quoted the story of the Duke of Wu from the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.