Open Letter To Mr President, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu -By Oshiahanwa Moses

Your Excellency,

President and Commander -in- Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,

Firstly, I want to use this medium to commend  the good work you are doing through your ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ which is meant to transform the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

I commend your bold decision in the removal of fuel subsidy which was riddled with corruption, impoverishing the masses and stupendously enriching few people at the expense of the masses. I commend your infrastructural drive, your fearless and decisive fight against insurgency, terrorism, kidnapping and general insecurity and of course many other lofty policies that address poverty, corruption, etc.  At least Nigerians are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. Mr President, you no doubt, mean well for our dear fatherland. I wish you more successes. Posterity will never forget you for putting Nigeria on the right track.

The successes your administration has achieved within this few years can only be attributed to God who rules in the affairs of men and your sincerity to make Nigeria work. The Nation was at a brink of total collapse at the time you took over the mantle of leadership. God’s people prayed and God heard the prayers. And of course the Nation is still being kept by the invisible hands of God through the continuous prayers of His people. There are many Christian Assemblies and homes where prayer is continuously being made for your administration to succeed. Prayers are being made for your health and family and the Nation generally. There are millions of Nigerians who believe and are proud of your leadership.

I have personally attributed and defended your emergence as the President of Nigeria as an act of God considering the challenges you faced during the primaries of your party. The hurdles you overcame to win the general election and the ensued challenging legal battles you overcame. While most people attributed all these victories to your ingenuity, I attributed it to God. It can only be God. Some folks might contest my view, it does not really matter as everyone has right to one’s personal opinion. Your Excellency, if God wills, you will still continue to lead our beloved nation beyond 2027 (and if the Lord delays His Coming).

As a Lagosian, I have never doubted your ability judging from your performance as governor of Nigeria’s most populous State. Though I have never met you one –on-one. I have watched your wisdom in handling crisis, making a meaning out of a chaotic environment. Your policies as the former governor of Lagos were not anti-Christian. You are not a religious bigot nor fanatic. You understand the value of religious freedom and have a lot of respect for the Christian faith. No wonder your beloved wife could still retain her Christian identity and even function as a pastor in a Pentecostal Assembly. The entire Lagos Christian community applauded your educational reform in which mission schools and private schools were returned to the original owners. A testament to your respect for secularity of our society and religious freedom.

Your Excellency, I want to draw your attention to the bill before your table, awaiting your assent, I mean the controversial bill sent by the legislative upper Chamber – the Senate. The bill purportedly meant to ban preaching and hawking in public commercial buses and vehicles. I have not seen or read the bill. But it is already in the public domain. It is being discussed privately and publicly, particularly in the social media. I wouldn’t know if this is really true. I learned that the argument of the distinguish senators was that it will significantly reduce accident on our roads.

I want to appeal to your Excellency not to give assent to the bill. The bill is set to persecute the poor who eke out a living by selling things in the buses. The question is, how does hawking in public commercial buses/vehicles cause accidents? If the bill is meant to ban hawking on the expressway, this is understandable and it is acceptable judging from the danger involve. Accidents are not caused by the poor folks who sell things in the buses. Accidents are caused by over speeding, recklessness of drivers, bad roads, disregard for traffic road signs and probably some other extraneous factors. It is a common knowledge that some drivers are on drugs while driving. Some are drunk and yet driving. The car crash involving Antony Joshua and his friends about a year ago was not caused by any one preaching or selling something in it. We later learnt that the driver was drunk and over speeding.  I appeal to the distinguish Senators to withdraw that bill. The bill is an indirect way to set the government against the Christian faith. It is a subtle persecution of Christians who choose to practice and express their faith openly and anywhere duty calls. It is their fundamental right as entrenched in our constitution. In advance democracies such as UK, US, France etc., this right is cherished and well protected.  Preaching in vehicles and trains is a common thing and not criminalized. They have ample religious freedom.

The peace and unity we enjoy in this nation are from God, the God of the Bible who directs his children to preach the gospel to all and in all places. The question is, ‘’Are there empirical evidences that support the view of the distinguish senators that selling things or preaching in vehicles distract driver’s attention and eventual cause of accidents?’’ The opposite is rather the truth. Sharing the Word brings the presence and protection of God and averts accident where ordinarily it would have happened. That is the fact.

The bill is a subtle attack on the gospel and the Christian faith. It is also a common knowledge that inside most public buses or vehicles, radio and television are installed and people listen to news, TV/radio programs freely while travelling. They watch movies, play music, watch football in the buses, discuss politics and trending issues and so on. If preaching in public buses should be criminalized, then watching broadcast, listening to radio and any discussion in public commercial buses and vehicles should also be criminalized.  I urge the upper chamber to rethink this bill and withdraw it. The real target of the bill is the gospel and christians not hawkers.

As 2027 is approaching, assenting to the bill will further make your administration more unpopular, anti- people and anti- God.  Why should anyone suffer for genuinely practicing his/her faith? Assenting to the bill rubbishes whatever achievements your administration has recorded. It will further make your person more unpopular both at home and abroad. If you give your assent to the bill, you give more grounds for Christian persecution in Nigeria, not just at individual or group levels but also at governmental level, making the practice of the Christian faith risky and dangerous confirming that the muslim-muslim ticket actually has a hidden agenda.

Your Excellency, there are more worrisome issues for the upper house to tackle rather than fight against the gospel and the poor hawkers.

Long live Mr President! Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria!

Oshiahanwa Moses is a staff of the National Identity Management Commission.