Buhari Is Inherently Evil, A Criminal; Jonathan Lazy-Seun Kuti

YOU recently gave back to the society as part of activities marking your

32nd birthday. What really informed this? I won't describe it as giving back to the society. I would say it was a

development aimed at investing in my community. We are looking at how we

can make people become the best in their endeavours in our own little way.

So, I worked with my friends at the French Cultural Centre and the

Alliance Francais. We decided to donate French lessons to both junior and

senior secondary school students of Agidingbi Grammar school. A French

teacher will go there once a week to teach French. Why did you decide to have a lowkey birthday celebration?

I am just 32 and it is not a milestone age. I didn't plan to spend much on

the celebration this year. Though, I have celebrated many birthdays, but

for this year, I only took my family and my really close friends out to

celebrate in my own way. It wasn't a party thing. I threw a big bash when

I was 30, though, maybe because that was significant. But as an African,

especially a Nigerian, I don't see the reason one has to throw parties

always when so many of our sisters and brothers are dying. If we really

look at things carefully, we would observe that we are in the time of

sobriety. It is not a time to show personal achievements, but to think

about our failing community. Though, I could afford to throw a lavish

birthday party, but I didn't feel it was neccessary. I celebrated my

daughter's birthday recently when she clocked one year. If one thinks

about what people are going through in the country, one will feel sorry

for them. I am not talking about the usual suffering, but the continuous

trend of insurgency, insecurity, kidnapping, honestly, it is crazy.

It is few weeks to election, but you have not been speaking up unlike some

years back when your voice would have been heard every where. Does your

silence mean you are comfortable with the situation?

No, I am not. I have realised that it is time for me to do more and talk

less. What is my talking going to change right now? The campaigns have

started. The presidential election is a few weeks away and both candidates

are preaching their plans to better the lot of the citizens. I am not

supporting any candidate because none of them represents my own

aspirations for Nigeria. I look at Jonathan and Buhari; I don't believe

that they can offer me a Nigeria that I want. I am less concerned about

their ideologies for Nigeria. What concerns me the most is that we waste

people's potentialities. None of them is talking about the real issues

that affect us. We don't have an effective emergency system that can come

in handy when there is an emergency situation, unlike what is obtainable

in other climes. This kind of first aid health care system will create

more jobs in each of the 774 local governments areas in Nigeria. None of

them will talk about that because they are not ready to work. They would

prefer to serve meals to pupils in public schools; these are all

superficial things. What will it cost the government to strenghten the

security agencies and fight corruption to a halt? These are the kinds of

development Nigerans crave for. If you throw one politician in jail there

are another 10 corrupt politicians waiting to take his job. In this 20th

century, our president is showing train all over the social media. Is this

the kind of development we are talking about in 2015? This doesn't

translate to anything. They keep promising us that things will get better.

Forty years ago, Martin Luther King, wrote a book entitled: “Why we cannot

wait”. I implore young Nigerians to read the book and take those incidents

he mentioned seriously so that they can know why we cannot wait. We cannot

wait for your lame policies. It is what these people make from the

policies that they will use to employ us; which is totally uncalled for.

This is the same thing we have been fed with since 1980 and it has never

come to reality. From structural adjustment programme to Vision 2000 to

2010 to 2020 supported with seven point transformation agenda. These are

nothing but lies. My take is that we, especially young Africans, should

realise that this is the time we have to do something about our future.

Taking a look at your criticism of President Jonathan, does that mean you

won't vote for him? Cuts in… I don't just criticise Jonathan. I have criticised Buhari too

because he has been claiming that he would fight corruption. It is not

that I am nailing anyone on the wall. The fact is that, I am explaining

things the way they appear to me. And, I can tell you that the picture of

the things I am looking at is not good to embrace. You said you want to take charge of things so that the country can move

forward, but we are yet to see the seriousnes in you, why are you not

coming out? The reason is that the political system in Nigeria today is not inclusive.

It is impossible to have an Obama in Nigeria. My take is that this is the

generation when young people should make up their minds and stand by their

resolve. President Jonathan said during his campaign in Lagos recently

that we should not end our generation like theirs. He said they have

failed us. But it is believed that Nigeria's problems had been there even before

Jonathan became president, do you think he should be blamed?

Yes. It has been there before he assumed power because his generation did

not stand up for something good. Their generation was sold out to

oppressors and he's trying to inspire the people of this generation to do

the same thing. Today's set of young Nigerians have to understand that

there is no joy in believing their narratives. It is only a few of us that

will benefit from it, leaving millions of our brothers behind. We cannot

make the same mistakes our parents made and expect a different outcome. We

have to speak in a whole new voice. The president claimed that his

generation has failed us because they keep doing things the same way. So,

we have to change it and start from the bottom to the roof, which is the

Okonjo Iweala's way to fix the Nigerian economy by making rich people

extremely richer and making the poor poorer. When people say there is

development in Africa, I usually ask that where is the development. There

has been no single human capacity development in Nigeria in the last 30

years. Even under Jonathan's administration, the human capacity

development is at the lowest ebb. The only development they pay attention

to is foreign investment. Do we check the housing budget every year? Don't

let us go to the time of the military; have you checked the public housing

budget since Obasanjo's time? How many Federal government public housing

schemes have you seen? How many people are living in the Federal

Government housing schemes? Where are these things? Why should there be

homeless people in Africa with all the lands and manpower we have? They

don't think along these lines except how business would work. The business

moguls live fat on our money. Can we compare Otedola or Dangote to Bill

Gates or other rich men in the world. These are the kinds of billionaires

we create in our society. They take and never give back what we can see.

What have they brought to the society that makes them so great? Nothing,

instead government has been supporting them to take what belongs to us. We

heard when Obasanjo was called the richest black man in the world. Also,

where is Abiola's wealth today? None of his companies is functioning. He

died and everything disappeared, why? No one is asking that question. I

urge young people not to look up to these false heroes. They are not the

real change agents, they only want to take advantage of us. None of them

could be compared to Steve Jobs. I don't have much to say about the

election because I feel that in the next dispensation, there must be a

completely new kind of politics contrary to the politics of APC and PDP.

We want a completely different political party that will make the demands

of the people its main piority. Fighting this cause is not going to be easy. Would you be seeking to

contest a political office to tackle the problem of Nigeria?

Never, I am not a politician and that is not what I am driving at. Do you

know the number of Africans that have died for Africa's freedom? The young

generations are not reminded of what they have done. Today, we are

celebrating those that stopped them in becoming leaders. I want Africans,

especially Nigerians to realise that people have died for them. Even to

write a book to educate people, Walter Rodney, who wrote, How Europe

underdeveloped Africa was killed in an explosion in Tunisia and his death

has never been resolved till today. Forty years after the death of

Lumumba, CIA documented how American government deliberately murdered him.

Take a look at Charles Taylor's case too, among others. These were great

people who died fighting the cause of the common man. Maybe when we are

reminded of those who have died for us to gain freedom, then we will start

standing for what is right in this country. People should stop being

materialistic. Because somebody is offering you money does not mean you

should sacrifice your soul to him. Are you talking about the 21 billion naira campaign fund that was raised

for Jonathan? Can you imagine a situation whereby some people were said to have donated

a sum of N21 billion to support President Jonathan's second term campaign.

Do you know what this money would do to change the lives of Nigerians?

Instead of investing the money on health care facilities across the

country, your business moguls donated the money to Jonathan's re-election

bid. The president said in Lagos and I was shocked when I heard him say

that: “I do not want to address old people like me, because they are

failed completely, they have spent already”. I think this is the most

factual statement I have heard in the last thirty one years.

With all you have said, would you vote during election time?

It is not about whether I would vote or not, but I want a lot of young

people to go out and vote. My not voting is because I am trapped between

the devil and the deep blue sea. So, I just refused to be forced into

voting for Buhari because to be honest, Jonathan and his administration is

not working. Personally, I don't want to vote for Buhari or Jonathan.

Jonathan is not a good president and Buhari himself, is not the solution

to Nigeria's problems. But we need to keep our democracy going except

people are ready. This is my opinion and I don't want people to emulate

it. I have personal reasons that others might not have, for example:

Buhari jailed my father on currency trafficking. My father did nothing

wrong, but he put him in the prison for three years. My first three years

in life from 1984 to 1986, I didn't see my dad; he was dumped somewhere in

Maiduguri. This is my own personal reason for a man like Fela who will

never commit a crime. I know my dad and for you to jail that man you must

be inherently evil. You know when you have experienced such blatant

disregard for human right by taking away three years of his life for doing

nothing. Will Buhari say he is not a criminal? He claimed he knew nothing

about the PTF money. If he says he was not aware about that, how did he

know when money got missing in Nigeria? There is a precedence. He has

claimed ignorance before, he can do that again. For me, I have personal

grudge against him; it has nothing to do with his political agenda, if I

don't believe in it. But to be honest as well, head to head, I think

Buhari can be better. Jonathan is lazy and I am yet to meet another

president that is as lazy as he is. The fuel subsidy was a chance for

youths in the country to challenge this governmnet for its wrong policies

but the youth were not united. We had to allow the Nigeria Labour Congress

(NLC) to bail us out of the situation. Hopefully, after this election, I

hope the younger generation would understand and be more united for 2019

when we will be having another election. What informed your annual foreign tours? The fact is that I have to work; there is no work for me in Nigeria. I get

a lot of jobs outside the country. You know I have a big band. Fourteen

families depend on me; I will be a fool to sit back in Nigeria refusing to

take jobs abroad. I am very happy that I have the longest serving band

leader in the world and he built his first house working with me, in fact,

all my band members are landlords, except me because I have not seen where

to build mine not that I don't have the money. This is how far I have been

able to impact on the lives of my band and without our international tours

and the jobs that come Fela's band would be dead. This will be another

person that died for Nigeria that they are willing to forget. How many

Nigerians can talk about my uncle, Dr Beko Ransom Kuti, who also struggled

and laboured in the prison; he eventually died for Nigerians in prison.

His last years in life was a struggle and he eventually died. Do we

actually know how many heroes that have laid their lives down for the

freedom of the common man. This is what kills me when I see people not

empowering themselves and their minds or they getting distracted by

irrelevant and superficial things. The only person that have died was a

Jewish man called Jesus Christ. Many people did not see Him when he died,

but the white men came and said he died for you somewhere on the cross of

Calvary 2000 years ago. Some people have died for the peace and freedom of

today's generation but it is a pity that they have been forgotten. As far

as I am concerned, anybody can die, since he knows he will wake up again.

I don't see anything special in that. He knew He would resurrect, that's

why He said he would wake up the third day. But your heroes that have died

for you with no promise of resurrection have long been forgotten.

Are you an atheist? I don't believe in the existence of Jesus or God. In fact, I don't believe

in anything supernatural. It is established that I am an atheist. There

are enough people that believe already and what has that changed? I have

never prayed in my adult life; the last time I prayed was during our

assembly days in secondary school. From what I have studied in religion;

whatever is going to happen will surely come to pass. Your prayer cannot

change anything. The only thing that must be fulfilled is the will of God

and that is what religion says. So, prayer is futile. The fact that we are

asking God to change His will is a terrible sin. The only prayer we should

always pray is that God, let your will be done. Asking anything personal

is like we are imposing on God. But the fact remains that you should always appreciate God for the gift of

life? It depends on the kind of life I choose to live. If I live the life of

Jonathan where everything is free I would give all glory to God, not when

I work so hard to survive on a daily basis. I cannot give glory to anyone.

It is only rich men, like Jonathan who have not worked in their entire

life before. The only thing they do is to see people, talk in meetings and

share what belongs to other people. They will give glory everyday because

you don't know where your wealth is coming from. Go and tell Bill Gate to

give glory or have you seen him in church or heard them talk about God

before? Never! It is only those that receive free buzuzu that will give

glory to God always. How is life now as a father? Everything is new and good things are interesting; my daughter is a new

good thing and very interesting. Our relationship is smooth. I think we

relate very wellbecause I was there when she was born.She is very special

to me and I think every parent says that about their kids.

Could that be the reason you christened her Adara? Her name means a lot to me. The name represents hope. For me, I am still

very optimistic about life. I believe we can still create a better Nigeria

for the people coming behind us. You seem to like pets, especially dogs, why? My dog, Positive Vibration, popularly known as Vibes is my companion,

especially when I am alone. I prefer it than a human being because human

beings are unpredictable. I grew up around dogs. My late dad, Fela had

dogs and called them: Jamba, Jokotobo, Wukolo and Gbogboloji. My uncle

also had dogs which he called: Nini, Asake and Felix. My dog is five years

old now. Nigerian Tribune The post Buhari Is Inherently Evil, A Criminal; Jonathan Lazy-Seun Kuti appeared first on Pointblank News .