The emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the president-elect seems to have re-awakened letter writing as a communication tool; TOPE SUNDAY writes.
This year alone, a total of three letters relating to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the president-elect, have been written.
The first was scripted by former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt the collation of the presidential election result. Also, he called President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the process. However, his letter was met with stiffer resistance from Nigerians, who described him as an interested party in the election having publicly endorsed Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Chimamanda’s letter
Another letter was written by a Nigerian-American writer, Ms. Chimamanda Adichie, and addressed to President Joe Biden of the USA. In the letter entitled, “Nigeria’s Hollow Democracy,” she alleged that the election was fraught with irregularities.
But Professor Yemi Oke, a top Nigerian lawyer, in his counter letter to the both USA and Canadian presidents, described her Chimamanda’s letter as “seditious and a case of extraterritorial ethnocentric politicking of a non-resident Nigerian-American.”
Also, the trio of Bayo Onanuga, Femi Fani-Kayode, and Dele Alake did not spare Chimamanda describing her epistle as “fictional, garbage that belongs to the bottom of a public toilet, a falsehood, respectively.”
Political communication
In his opinion, a political scientist, Mr. Femi Fayomi, said letter writing is one of the cardinal forms of political communication in a democratic government, adding that “it is a legitimate medium where citizens or electorate express opinions, views, perspectives, and concerns on any public policies or programmes.”
Fayomi, who is of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, however, told Blueprint Weekend that Chimamanda’s letter “is full of unsubstantiated claims which exposed the content of her message to serious reservations,” adding that her message was largely based on a third-party report which might not totally represent the actual event that happened during the elections.
He said: “Letter writing is one of the cardinal forms of political communication in a democratic government. It is a legitimate medium where citizens or electorates express opinions, views, perspectives, and concerns on any public policies or programmes. To participate in the politics of a country, a citizen is allowed to express an opinion in speech or through an open public letter to any public official or on any policy.
“So, it is not out of place to experience the letter-writing phenomenon, particularly in a democratic government. It is my considered opinion that the letter written by Chimamanda Adichie was full of unsubstantiated claims which exposed the content of her message to serious reservations. Her message was largely based on a third-party report which may not totally represent the actual event that happened during the election.
“Although the 2023 presidential election in Nigeria may not be flawless and this has become a judicial matter as several petitions are before the Presidential Election Tribunal, it is safe to refrain from making public comments in the form of counter letters by APC loyalists.”
According to Fayomi, Tinubu’s presidency will in her life experience a litany of public open letters because of his being a democrat.
He said: “The Tinubu presidency will in its life experience a litany of public open letters. Tinubu’s administration will be heavily tested with a series of open letters to assess his purported strong democratic credentials.”
Political immaturity
Expressing his view, a public affairs analyst, Comrade Sunday Alifia, said while Chimamanda is constitutionally right to express her opinion on issues, her action questioned Nigeria’s emancipation.
“The right to write or an expression of personal interest and the right to reply is enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The open letter titled, “Nigeria’s hollow democracy” published in the Atlantic was the writer’s searing reaction to the election of February 25, 2023, which produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner.
“She chided the US Government for congratulating Nigeria on elections she described as “unforgivably, unacceptably flawed,” while lashing out at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Washington Post for complicity in the compromised process, and a jaundiced narrative, respectively. Nothing wrong with her letter in my view; the reason is that in recent times, even our so-called leaders cutting across the ruling party and the opposition have at one time or the other reported scenarios and happenings in Nigeria to the US in the form of a visit,” Alifia said.
He added that, “One of the visitors said Nigerian youths are lazy, don’t give visas to corrupt politicians, and don’t recognise one election or the other. What makes Chimamanda’s letter special from what Obasanjo has written in the past? Or a series of running to the West each time we have challenges here in Nigeria? It painted the scenario of our questionable emancipation; I mean freedom from the former colonial masters. So, what the young lady has just done is just following the steps of those who are equally complaining because at one time they were equally victims of what they condemned.
“The activities of the counter letters are just mere political interest because over the years, Nigerians, politicians and, of course, individuals have not demonstrated that they are completely independent of the West in their characters and actions. We would not stop ridiculing, washing our dirty linen in public before the West until we come to the terms that we are really mature politically to handle our internal affairs within and by ourselves, the many more letters will continue.”
OBJ’s amoeboid politics
A legislative aide in the National Assembly, Mr. Aliyu Usman, in his reaction, told this reporter that Tinubu’s administration would witness more letters because he defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which, according to him, is the political homestead of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He said: “Unfortunately, the Tinubu administration will see many more letters because he defeated the PDP which is the political homestead of Nigeria’s chief letter writer. Of course, he pitched his tent with Peter Obi, and his political adventure morphed into the Obedient movement in 2023, and makes it a double jeopardy for Chief Obasanjo who has been playing what I call amoeboid politics for some time now.
“It is, therefore, not a surprise when a new letter writer emerged in Chimamanda. She only followed the footsteps of the former president. However, what is disappointing about Chimamanda’s letter is the fact that she was willfully ceding the country’s sovereignty by writing to the president of another country. Is she aware at all that Nigeria is an independent country and as such state security is perceived in terms of sovereignty, and chiefly, this means an obligation from all other countries to keep off Nigeria’s domestic affairs?
“The good thing though is the fact that many reality-checking rebuttals have been penned back at her. It is normal in politics for such tit-tats. Miss Adichie, I’m sure, knows that her letter was going to evoke a response. There is no way she was going to taint Sen. Tinubu’s hard-fought victory with her dramatic stunt and not expecting a strong reaction from the army of Bola Tinubu loyalists across the world.”
Ethnic politicking
Also speaking, a Public Affairs Analyst, Ms. Adebimpe Adewumi, said, “Apparently, letter writing may well have a more important function today in the political process than it had several decades ago. Recently, the importance of letter-writing in the political process of the nation has been buttressed by Tinubu’s presidency and letter-writing adventure. Particularly, the letter was written by the prominent writer, Ms. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, to the US president, Mr. Joe Biden.
“Tinubu’s team replied to Chimamanda, saying a letter to the US president based on “falsehood.” While some responses have accused Ms. Adichie of lacking evidence and having seditious elements, others have also criticised her letter as being premised on ethnic sentiment.
“A Nigerian professor described Ms. Adichie as a “writer-turned ethnic politician.” However, Ms. Adichie has in her response stated that, “My support for Peter Obi is rooted in real things, my faith in his ability. Ms. Adichie’s argument, however, does not seem to convince us that her plights are not on cultural grounds. Chimamanda Adichie’s letter and pro-Tinubu’s letters as such have improved letter-writing adventures over the past two months. Letter writing is, therefore, a vital and modern tool for communication in the political process of nations, particularly Nigeria.”
