{UAH} Before Museveni Escapes with Official Hypocrisy By Danjuma Aliyu

Before Museveni Escapes with Official Hypocrisy By Danjuma Aliyu

BY STUDNIGERIA on JUNE 3, 2014 • ( 10 )

By Danjuma Aliyu

"I have never called on the United Nations to provide security for my people. Me, Youweri Museveni to say that I have failed to protect my people and I call in the UN….I would rather hang myself. We prioritized national security by developing a strong army otherwise our Uganda would be like DRC, South Sudan, Somalia or Nigeria where militias have disappeared with school children. It would be a vote of no confidence to our country and citizens if we can't guarantee our security, what kind of persons would we be?" – Yoweri Museveni.

There is a proverb which says that sometimes when a big problem lands you on the ground, some smaller ones too will take advantage and begin to climb on top of you.

There is no doubting the fact that Nigeria, being a big nation is facing a big challenge to end the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency but it seems some small, insignificant, infinitesimal flies are trying to take advantage of that to rub it in and voice out their long- held hatred and disdain for us as a people.

While we will address the obviously harsh and unfair comments by the McCains and Clinton's of this world about our current security challenge at a later date, the above words attributed to the hypocritical overlord in Ugandan seems more annoying.

Eminent Nigerians such as Olusegun Adeniyi of Thisday and human rights activist Mr. Femi Falana SAN have lent their voices in support of Nigeria and the leadership of the Nigerian government with regards to the negative comments made by Youweri Museveni. A small man who wants to be big by force. He is a little fly who wants to make headlines in the international media by all means, even without asking people who know how they do it.

In a country of the blind, a man with one eye can as well become king. Museveni is the small head of a small nation who lives in self delusion that he has arrived on the continental stage, having ruled his hapless nation with iron fist for 28 years. Consequently, he now believes he can make comments on contemporary, continental issues in a disrespectful, arrogant and condescending manner. If there is any African nation anyone who is under the influence of some cheap drugs or alcohol wishes to diss, that country should not be Nigeria.

We have always known Museveni to be egocentric and incapable of brilliant thoughts but he surely surpassed his own recent records by that careless utterance in which he didn't even mind hurting his country's relationship with Nigeria and probably his personal rapport with our President.

In the above misguided comment which has since gone viral, Museveni not only tried to deceive his audience that his state had never faced the kind of insurgency Nigeria is facing and that he had never invited foreign help to secure his people, he also mentioned Nigeria as one of the countries which do not prioritize security.

For the umpteenth time, we need to tell everyone who cares to listen that all the criticisms that our government has suffered in recent times over this Boko Haram issue has been most unfair as Nigeria is not the first country to come under the fury of dare- devil terrorists. We are not also the first country to seek foreign help. We have in fact been there for many countries in Africa and beyond on many occasions when they have needed our assistance. We have put in resources, soldiers, lives etc in helping many countries to solve their internal problems. We have done this consistently over the years, gaining nothing in return but losing a lot. Our contribution in terms of FINANCE, personnel and equipment to AU, ECOWAS, ECOMOG, NEPAD, etc have been more than any other country.

So, it is the highest level contempt for any leader of any African country to try to ridicule Nigeria because some foreign help is coming our way in these Boko Haram times.

If we may ask, who is Museveni trying to deceive by saying he had never invited foreign help to solve the country's internal crises? For how many decades did the Joseph Kony- led Lord Resistance Army (LRA) maim people and kidnap innocent school girls in parts of Uganda and how many millions of Ugandans fell victim of his violent campaign? How many times did the United Nations, United States and many other countries intervene before Museveni himself was able to sleep with his eyes closed? And with all the " strong army" and the immeasurable foreign support he even got, has he found Kony and made him pay for his crimes against Ugandans?

The above questions are necessary because Museveni is now claiming to be suffering from selective amnesia. We hereby use this opportunity to remind him about his past.

It is on record that United States and other Western countries have been called upon many times by Museveni to provide troops, arms and ammunition as well as FUNDS to help fight the LRA. Just recently, on March 24 this year to be precise, the United States government reportedly deployed military aircraft as well as an increased number of troops to Uganda to assist in the hunt for the elusive Joseph Kony. That was not the first time Museveni was getting such foreign assistance.

The fact that Kony suspended his violent campaign and went underground is also attributable to the fact that the International Criminal Court( ICC), an organ of the United Nations declared him wanted for war crimes. And Museveni is bragging that he has never sought or gotten any support from the UN.

Museveni also tried to mock Nigeria over the Chibok abduction saga. Has he forgotten so soon that the LRA invaded St. Mary Secondary Grammar School on October 1996 and took away 150 girls. It is on record that it was not even the strong Ugandan army that Museveni bragged about that RESCUED the girls. It was the vice-principal of the school, Reverend Sister Rachele Fasera who rescued 109 of the abducted girls.

The remaining girls remained in captivity for many years before Museveni himself wrote a letter to Kofi Anan, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations to intervene and help rescue the remaining girls. So, who is he deceiving?

And again, who doesn't know that the cruelty of Boko Haram is a child's play compared to the sheer callousness of the LRA? Imagine a man who watched helplessly as some demented souls waste the lives of thousands of his people talking to Nigeria about security. What impudence!

According to the Human Rights Watch, between 1987 and 2006 "at least 20, 000 Ugandan children were abducted. More than 1.9 million people were displaced from their homes into camps and tens of thousands of Ugandan civilians died. Nearly the entire population of Acholiland was displaced due to a combination of LRA actions and the Ugandan government's forcible resettlement of people in camps. Living conditions in the camps were horrific, and for years communities were largely cut off from basic necessities. The death toll from cholera and other diseases was often higher than from the conflict itself."

Away from security, it is also on record that due to Museveni's mismanagement of the Ugandan economy and the systematic destruction of the country's revenue base which he supervised, his government has in recent years had to depend on foreign aid to FUND the annual budget of the country. According to the Overseas Development Institute, Uganda received $1.6 billion in 2011, making it the 20th world largest aid recipient. See who is pontificating about self- reliance.

Danjuma Aliyu

Viele GruBe

Robukui

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