A United States-based Nigerian writer, academic and journalist, Professor Okey Ndibe has said that former Nigeria Vice President and current presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar had lost an opportunity to make a human statement when he retracted his earlier one condemning the murder of Deborah Samuel, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto over alleged blasphemy.
Professor Ndibe, who spoke today, May 15, during the presentation of his critically-acclaimed novel, Arrows of Rain, in Lagos, said that it is time Nigerians began to draw the line and insist on what to accept and what not to.
“He (Atiku) lampooned what would have been a human statement. To become the President of Nigeria is more important to him than to sacrifice every idea. In other words, Atiku would not mind governing a nation of graves.”
The acclaimed writer said that Nigeria is an open wound but that rather than healing it, those who run this country as it were, open the wound more and more.
“It is time that we began to look inwards and say to ourselves what isn’t that we are willing to accept, what impunity. Where do we draw the line and say here and no further.
“So I say to all of us we must decide -individually and hopefully through groups of like minded kindred spirits – where we draw the line. If a politician cannot say that this act is unacceptable and that the perpetrators of it must be held to account we must decide whether we want to give this man a second of consideration as a potential president.”
Atiku had said immediately Debora was killed: “there cannot be a justification for such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered, and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.”
But he retracted the statement following reactions from Northern youths who told him that he had lost their support and votes in the forthcoming presidential election. He then reissued another statement saying that the first statement was a misnomer and did “not agree with his orders.”
“This evening, I received information that a post was made that doesn’t agree with my orders. I use this to announce that any post without AA is not from me. May God protect – AA. ”
