PERSONAL OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR BUKOLA SARAKI, THE ELDEST SON OF MY BOSSOM FRIEND, THE LATE SENATOR (DR) OLUSOLA SARAKI, FORMER LEADER OF THE 2ND REPUBLIC SENATE….
My Dear Son,
I believe this my unusual Open letter will not
come to you as a surprise, however, whatever
embarrassment or inconveniences it will cause
you, I have no regret, having regard to the
issue raised therein.
I read with grief the statement made by one
Mr Femi Ogunsola, eldest son of late Pa Prof,
Albert Ogunsola who recently passed on at the
age of 90. The name Prof. Ogunsola rang bell
when I remembered that my late friend and
political associate and your father, Senator (Dr.)
Olusola Saraki, (Waziri Ilorin), mentioned to me
his desire to recommend one of the sons of Pa
Prof. Ogunsola as a Minister and that his son
Senator Bukola Saraki who was then the
Governor of Kwara State and who was very
close to the presidency, wanted another
candidate. Later again, he informed me that he
has agreed to support the candidate nominated
by his son. This was ever before the show of
shame exhibited by your own father mainly
because he did support your younger sister,
Senator Gbemi Saraki becoming Governor of
Kwara State.
However, after you had arrogantly triumphed
and humiliated your father and your sister, and
greedily seized the central seat, you even
encouraged your followers to derogate and call
your sister unprintable names. These were the
grievances and the pains of your later father,
Senator (Dr.) Olusola Saraki, the Iroko of Kwara
State who visited me with about six of his
supporters at my T.Y. Danjuma residence,
Asokoro, Abuja after the 2011 Gubernatorial
elections in Kwara State, he said he wanted to
correct certain impression that has been
created in the media after the 2011 election
and that the Media has reported that he has
settled with his son (Bukola Saraki) and I
replied that I read about it. The statement was
not true and that all he did was to return to
PDP as a result of pressure from his well
wishers and this should not be misconstrued as a reconciliation with his son, Bukola. He went
further to state that he has no reason for an
immediate reconciliation with his son whom he
did everything for, but naked him in public. He
went on to cite an instance to support his
statement to me. He said one of his sons has
just married in Spain and he directed that you,
Bukola should not be allowed to attend the
wedding ceremony in Spain. He left my house a
dejected and frustrated father.
I was away in London for my Medical check-up
when my good friend, Senator (Dr.) Olusola
Saraki, who was my closest friend in the Second
Republic passed on. I immediately phoned you
from London but your Aid who answered my
telephone said you were very busy with your
father’s funeral ceremony. On my return to
Nigeria, I sent delegation of 3 including
Professor Saliba Mukoro, Prince E. K. Okojie
and Chief Richard Lamai to represent me at the
“40-day Fidau”. They met you, Senator Gbemi
Saraki and your mother, Mrs Florence Saraki.
While it is true, I have nothing to benefit from
a “Thank You” from the great “Senator Bukola
Saraki”, because it is normal for courtesy to
return from such kind gesture for an Elder who
was a friend of your father. However, it did not
come to me as a surprise.
Thereafter, I phoned your mother to
commiserate with her and to fix a date for me
to visit her in lagos. She replied, she was
planning to visit me in Abuja to appeal to me
to reconcile you and your sister Gbemi, I
accepted her request. Immediately I went into
action and every attempt to contact you with
the same telephone number with which I
phoned you in London has failed for the past 9
months. I went further to contact some on the
friends of your late father who were with him
in the organisation known as “Northern Union”
and you deliberately refused to contact me and
I felt upset, dejected and sad, as you can be my
biological son, and I remember many years ago
when you were in Kings College, Lagos and my
nephew, Engr. Ebiakpor Clark. But I did not
know that other prominent Nigerians were also
making serious effort to reconcile you and your
sister until I read the statement by Mr. Femi
Ogunsola as published in the Nation Newspaper
of today (20th November, 2013) at page 57,
where he lamented as reproduced hereunder:
“His late father’s only regret was his inability to
reconcile Senator Bukola Saraki and his
younger sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki. The
younger Ogunsola, a Commissioner
representing Kwara State at the Federal
Character Commission (FCC), added “I
remember his last words were “what will I tell
Dr. Saraki if I meet him again; if the
differences between the brother and sister are
not resolved.” “Even on his death bed, he said
Saraki’s children are vital to the continued
peace in Kwara”.
It is therefore, with great pain I join the late
Professor Ogunsola to appeal to you to
clampdown from your “political Throne” which
you have seized from your father without his
blessings and humble yourself from arrogance
of power. You should remember that power
belongs to God and he gives it to whom he
chooses, and no one can arrogate to himself
which Allah did not give to him and humility
cause nothing and no matter your
masquerading as a political leader of Kwara
State which you believed you genuinely
inherited from your father, Kwara State can
never be the same again. No amount of
celebration anybody makes during the 1st
Anniversary of Senator (Dr.) Olusola Saraki,
except such person shows remorse and openly
ask for forgiveness for the wrong done to your
father.
Finally,I repeat again, I have no regret in
addressing this open letter to you, because
what you did to the late Professor Ogunsola in
refusing the 90 years old man reconcile you
with your younger sister Gbemi when he was
alive, may also happen to me when I am dead
and I do not want my son to do like Femi
Ogunsola did, and to tell the world that I
regretted for not been able to reconcile Bukola
and Gbemi as requested by their mother.
Once again, I appeal to you as a son, to clamp
down from your high office and put your pride
and arrogance aside and face the realities of
life, because, your father, Ogunsola and I have
seen it all.
Thank you and God bless.
Yours sincerely,
SIGNED
CHIEF (DR) EDWIN KIAGBODO CLARK OFR, CON, FORMER FEDERAL MINISTER OF INFORMATION.
www.sojworld.com (c) July 29, 2017.
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