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Opinions of Thursday, 11 January 2018

Columnist: Iddrisu Abdul Hakeem

An open letter to former President John Dramani Mahama

Former President John Dramani Mahama Former President John Dramani Mahama

Dear Ex-president John D. Mahama,

Truth, they say, is always a statement of fact. In my local culture, truth is likened to the human buttocks: if you despise and get angry with them regardless of their size, you would finally sit on them!

With the greatest respect, the wisest council you would ever heed is to listen to those who advise you to relax in your skin about the flagbearership bid of your party to save your dignity and the dented political image that you sustained in the last elections. In other words, if you want to see the real size of your party in terms of population under your leadership again, make that very unwise decision to lead the party into the 2020 polls.

Your Excellency, your recent media orgasm and utterances suggest you might like to lead the party again even though you choose to remain tie-tongued and funereally silent over it.

But the enviable disgrace you ‘enjoyed’ in the 2016 elections was simply a tip of the iceberg Mr. ex-president if you allow the praise singers to massage your rather deflated ego and deceive you into such a political den.

You are not the first in the continent as a one term president.

Don’t look far Mr. ex-president, your neighbor, former president GoodLuck Jonathan who also got political power on a platter of gold and silver just like you, after presiding over the burial of his ‘boss’ that ascended him to the political throne of Nigeria as president, shared similar leadership experience with you, is relaxing today with his dignity intact.

Many suggest his coming back but his recent endorsements of few other stalwarts of the PDP like Atiku Muhammed as flagbearer into the 2019 general election have silenced many who belong to this school of thought about his intention to lead the PDP again.

Just like you, he led a Democratic party PDP into the Nigerian 2015 presidential election with the symbol of the party, on which ticket he was running, being UNBRELLA and got rejected by Nigerians for alleged error or diarrhea of leadership, thievery, and financial indiscipline displayed during his tenure.

Mr. Former president Mahama, Jonathan has grounded himself in political peace and even suggesting potential candidates who can lead them to wrestling power from President Muhammadu Buhari and his gerontocratic APC government which you must not miss the golden opportunity to emulate.

Majority of political analysts believe the epic of your leadership throughout the four years and few months of which you were ‘caretaker president’ after the demise of your ‘boss’ Prof. Mills, was exhibited the night you showed statesmanship and called president-elect, Nana Akuffo Addo to concede defeat.

Mr. former president, the harsh truth is that, though the ‘bitterest pill’ to swallow’, the monumental electoral fiasco and disgrace that bruised your political ego and reduced you to a mere gigantic bums of jokes in the eyes of both citizens and denizens of our republic, is still a threat and injurious to your persona and the hard earn image of the NDC and for which reason you must not show up in this flagbearership contest. Your praise singers of course, are shouting louder than thunder and from rooftops to brand you as the best bet for Ghanaians because of their parochial interest (another chance to thief) but I guess there is a method to undoing that midsummer madness:

Do not contest, rest! Enough is enough!

Your coming back would not only be a disaster but a flagrant disrespect and insult to the intelligence of Ghanaians because the messy impression and notion you left in the general air and in the minds of Ghanaians when you described us as citizens with short memory! Your coming back could mean to enjoy and feed on their ‘short memory’ and I don’t think they would find a vacuum in their bleeding hearts that your ‘incompetent’ handling of the economy cut deeper into to forgive you.

You would be punished again by the voters and this time around, they would strip of the little respect they reserved and conferred upon you for your conduct after the declaration of the 2016 elections.

You would experience the full effects of the venom of the Ghanaian voter!

Perhaps, the United Nations would employ your services in ‘citizen of the world’ kind of jobs if you don’t want to rest your wary bones for almost twenty years of service to our dear country.

But to lead the country as president again, amount to living in fool’s paradise and an obvious April fool day’s joke.

Jealously guard against your dignity.

Mr. Former president, give others the chance to serve. Nobody in the first place compelled you to hand the holier mandate Ghanaians gave you like a tithe or ‘Sadaqa’ to President Akuffo Addo. In fact, many thought you were not in need of second term by your nonchalant and ‘unpresident’ posture you showcased when you glorified and nearly legalized corruption in this country under your stewardship!

Some of us even thought it was a deliberate attempt or plan hatched to put gavel in the ‘fried rice’ of political ambitious youth of the party by dashing the power to the old man Nana Akkufo Addo in order to strangulate and suffocate to death, their political ambitions as youth of the party that offered you the same silver opportunity to serve the country.

For the quick revival of your great party in order to make it rise from the ashes of political shame your inactions, as you admitted, brought it, please, forcefully tame your leadership appetite and allow fresh and new crop of leaders to takeover.

Mr. ex-president, nonetheless, if you think you are ready to bear the headless monster of shame your ‘coming back like kai kai’ may inflict upon your ‘political persona’ in the history books of the party, then carry on.

Truth hurts and bitter but this is the reality on the ground and the only political panacea and tonic you need to cure your political wounds you have been nursing over a year now since that historic defeat, is to step aside.

I wish you quick recuperation sir from that electoral accident you had.

Afehyiapa.

Your Ardent Supporter, Iddrisu Abdul Hakeem. …….SIGN…….