Nollywood actress Georgina Onuoha took to her Instagram account to
give, in four parts, her opinion on the incumbent President Muhammadu
Buhari compared to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The one-time actress also tendered a lengthy apology to the former president.
It is damning
Take a look below.
Part 1 : my colleague’s confession @Dickson When I say learn to speak truth to power. Don’t be in bed with politicians ( that is as a public figure, an icon people look up to, you have to learn to stay away from any political entity that impairs your judgement or the ability to speak truth to power. You can not serve God and man at the same time. Actors should speak for all Nigerians, not only when you can get deals and gigs from politicians. Dear Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, I write to apologize on behalf of myself and the many repentant Nigerians like me who ganged up against your government in 2012. Your government’s policy to remove subsidy on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as patrol was completely misconstrued by us. I was personally deceived by my overzealous comradely towards millions of Nigerians who had traveled to various locations at that time to spend Christmas with their loved ones. I was particularly concerned about NDIIGBO who traditionally returned home in droves during this period every year. Sir, like millions of Nigerians I worked for your victory at the polls in 2011, but I considered the untoward hardship the removal of subsidy on the 1st of January 2012 as insensitive. It was simply seen as going to inflict serious hardship on the millions who voted you to power; hence we arose against it. Yes I did join the protest, but my dear Sir, I did not consider the long term positive effect it would have on the economy of our beloved nation at that particular moment. We joined forces with the NLC and the TUC, and alongside your political enemies we mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in protest across the nation. I matched with my colleagues from my then abode in Aguda through Surulere (National Stadium), to Ojelegba, through Maryland, to Ojota where we met a marmot crowd. The police and all other law enforcement agents under your democratic leadership were very civil with us; we were never harassed or molested nor killed. In fact a certain overzealous police man who accidentally shot at a young man in Mushin area in Lagos during that protest was not only dismissed from service, but he was also prosecuted and jailed!
A photo posted by Georgina onuoha (@georginaonuoha) on May 25, 2016 at 11:32pm PDT
Part 2: It takes a noble man with guts to accept his mistakes and publicly acknowledge them. I have tremendous respect for you Mr Dickson. We actors should be a pillar of hope for our people. Fight corruption wherever it exist. We can only do that by staying away from people who buy our voices for few crumbs of bread while our generation yet unborn suffer the consequences of our actions. SIR, YOU ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A DEMOCRATIC LEADER IN AFRICA! There in Ojota, Pastor Tunde Bakare and Sheik Ahmad Abubakar Gumi and Seun Kuti, and many many others were there. Even my brother Okey Bakassi was there too! We sang and danced, we gyrated, we cooked and slept there in the open arena protected by the police, the civil defence, etc. The next day we woke up matched on to Ikoyi and converged at Falamo bridge, where Ali Baba, Prof. Pat Utomi, and the rich men children were gathered – we had matched through YABA and IDUMOTA, chanting the resurrected songs of King Fela Anikulapo Kuti. We called you names like, the shameless shoeless one, the animal in human skin, innumerable and unprintable names! Even when you came out in a nationwide broadcast and addressed the people as President and father of the nation explaining why you took that unpopular decision, urging the masses to understand and bear with you for a while, we said no way! We remained adamant! We booed you! We insulted you! Mr. President Sir, please find it in your heart to forgive us. We did not know what we were doing then; but we understand better now. The same people who deceived us have turned around and increase the pump price through the back door, in the guise of subsidy removal. They have inflicted hardship on the Nigerian masses you love so much. You were not perfect, but you were a loving father to all of us, you were President and C-in-C to the North, South, West and the East, but we vilified and treated you with disrespect and ignominy.
A photo posted by Georgina onuoha (@georginaonuoha) on May 25, 2016 at 11:42pm PDT
A photo posted by Georgina onuoha (@georginaonuoha) on May 25, 2016 at 11:50pm PDT
Part 4: My take ; I applaud my colleague for his open confession. I believe change is hard, change is difficult, it takes time, sacrifices have to be made. But what I abhor is suppression, intimidation and witch hunt of those who disagree with you or how you are running the affairs of a nation. Every Nigerian past and present government has being marked with corruption because we the people are too gullible and blind to read in between the fine lines. We are blinded by religion, tribe, region and language. We don’t see the better angels in us. Until we begin to hold our elected officials accountable; we will continue to languish in abject poverty while our elected representatives that are suppose to serve us lavish our inheritance. If we have to fight corruption according to our former president (olusegun obasanjo) on his Inauguration Day speech in May 1999 which states “There will be no sacred cows” then we must probe every ex presidents, governors, Senators and honorables, local government chairmen who have caused untold hardship on mere Nigerians. We can do better as a nation to begin to look beyond being Hausa, Igbo or Youruba. We must elect the best man for the job regardless of what faith they profess. And to my honorable colleagues, we have the greatest platform on earth ( the power of media and television. Let us begin to use it to alleviate the lives of our people. We should begin to learn how to speak truth to power. You can only do that when you avoid parading yourselves for politicians who make empty promises to our people. We should be the voice for the voiceless. Not the numbers of Range Rovers, First class tickets, etc we all parade on social media, meanwhile our brothers and sisters are suffering, our uncles and aunties are dying. Schools are on strike, doctors on strike, high inflation, no electricity. We might enjoy the leisures of today but our next generation will suffer our indiscretions. Fight a good fight Speak for the people Speak truth to power Don’t sell your pride, dignity and voice for stipends. God bless Nigeria God bless Nollywood
A photo posted by Georgina onuoha (@georginaonuoha) on May 26, 2016 at 12:12am PDT