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Richard Grenell and election hatchet job

By Julius Okangwu
26 March 2015   |   11:00 pm
IT is a fact that President Goodluck and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been at the helm of affairs of the country in the last five years with nothing concrete on ground to show for it. Concrete, in the sense that the resources at the disposal of the government within this period are not…

IT is a fact that President Goodluck and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been at the helm of affairs of the country in the last five years with nothing concrete on ground to show for it. Concrete, in the sense that the resources at the disposal of the government within this period are not commensurate with what it is now flaunting as transformative achievements.  It has been more of theories, propaganda and compromise to hoodwink Nigerians, than the practical realities on ground. Stealing of public fund is no longer corruption, but ordinary stealing. The Presidency had frustrated the anti-graft agencies from performing its duties, and the beneficiaries of the corrupt practices and scandals under the present government are the ones leading and sponsoring PDP presidential campaigns. Name them: pension, oil subsidy, NNPC, aviation, arms deal, immigration job scams and many more others.
 
Nigerians now know better and are ready to embrace change. Thus, the Presidency, and the PDP anchored their re-election campaign on two fronts: bared-faced lies, and campaign of calumny that have divided the country along religious and tribal lines like never before in the history of the country.
 
Mostly targeted in the campaign of lies and calumny by the Presidency and the PDP is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) General Muhammed Buhari (rtd) a man seen by President Jonathan and his allies as a strong barrier to his quest for second term in office. Since Buhari emerged as the APC presidential candidate December last year, President Jonathan and his desperate foot soldiers have thrown every jibe, allegation and tantrum namely; non-acquisition of certificate, health saga, and religious bigotry at him, all in a bid to demystify and demonise him but to no avail. By the day, the more they try to bring Buhari down, the more Buhari’s popularity increases because Nigerians are ready to embrace and witness change tomorrow.
  
This development has made Presidency and its hawks to develop cold feet and decided to desperately dollarize the polity in the face of dwindling Nigerian economy.
 
With a clear signal that the game appears over, they resorted to hiring of foreign media mercenaries to do a last minute hatchet job against Buhari which is to tag him a religious bigot or fanatic. It is not out of place that the presidency and the PDP have run out of ideas because they have over-flogged this issue in the past, but make no headway.  

Now the question is who is Richard Grenell and what is he doing for Presidency and the PDP in this election?             
 
Grenell’s last minute lies against Buhari and the APC titled “Muhammadu Buhari: Electing the APC Presidential  candidate will be a disaster for Nigeria and Africa” which was published as advertorials on the front page of almost all the national dailies including The Guardian cannot change the tide for President Jonathan and the PDP because it was a pure falsehood that cannot stand.
 
This is coming after the Presidency has fritted away millions of Nigerian tax payers’ money in sponsoring hate campaign against Buhari in the last three months plus. It is coming at a time the Presidency has doled out millions of the country’s money to traditional rulers, pastors and influence peddlers, while civil servants are being owed several months of salaries and arrears.     
 
A particular page out of the Republican playbook says, continue to throw mud with the hope that something sticks. Undoubtedly, Grenell and his allies are hired by the Presidency and Jonathan Campaign Organisation. Richard Grenell is a partner with Capitol Media Partners http://capitolmediapartners.com), a republican firm that specialises in building international media campaigns.  Here’s a Winston Churchill quote you’ll find on their website: 

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even has a chance to get its pants on.”

Here’s also a Wikipedia entry on Richard Grenell: Richard Grenell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia Richard Grenell (born September 18, 1966) is an American media commentator and former diplomat. He is the longest serving U.S. spokesman at the United Nations and briefly served as national security spokesman for Mitt Romney in his 2012 campaign for president of the United States.[1] [2] He became the first openly gay spokesman for a Republican presidential candidate, after being hired by Mitt Romney. He resigned after pressure from social conservatives and gay liberals alike.[3]
  
Nigerians are not carried away or amazed by Grenell’s pedestrian and primordial statement against Buhari days to the presidential poll because they know that it was not altruistic. They also know what motivated it and where it was coming from. It was a pure hand of Esau and voice of Jacob and smacked last minute desperation by the Presidency and the PDP. It is another campaign of calumny gimmick by the PDP.
 
It is of note that Buhari has in the last three presidential outings 2003, 2007, 2011 chose three Christians as running mates namely late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke and Pastor Tunde Bakare. In the pursuit of the outcome of these elections, Buhari has submitted himself to the due process of the court without resorting to violence or self help. Buhari as Head of State never implemented or advocated the implementation of Sharia law. Under his regime, he refused to take the country into the membership of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) insisting Nigeria is a secular state.  
  
After his regime, Nigeria joined OIC and President Jonathan was the first Nigerian President to attend OIC meetings. President Jonathan’s current Minister of Education and former governor of Kano State implemented Sharia law to the letter during his eight-year administration as governor. Today he is in the forefront of Jonathan’s re-election bid in the Kano State. If Islamising Nigeria is as easy as dreamers or prophets of doom like Grenell want the world to believe, why has President Jonathan not Christianised Nigeria in the last five years? This is a food-for-thought for all Nigerians irrespective of religion or tribe because the country needs and deserves a leadership with strength of character at this critical point of the country’s history. 
 
On October 2014, Buhari had during an interview with The Cable, an online news platform, said that he was not a religious fundamentalist or extremist as his opponents had alleged and that all those trying to hang such malicious tag on him were merely attempting to demonise and tarnish his image.
 
Nigerians, the choice is yours. It is about the future of Nigeria irrespective of tribe or religion.

• Dr. Okangwu, a university don, wrote from Abuja.

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