Dr Nura Alkali, a neurologist at ATBU Teaching Hospital, Bauchi, posted the photo along with a lengthy post in reaction to Buhari's supporters who have been mocking Mrs. Tallen, claiming she rejected her nomination because she is corrupt and cannot steal public funds under PMB’s government.
"To the right of Mrs. Buhari in this picture is Mrs. Pauline Tallen, the former Deputy Governor of Plateau State who has declined an ambassadorial post. The man in clerical gown is Reverend Morris, the Catholic priest of St. Theresa’s Church Yola. I’m the man in a blue jumper and cap in the third row. It was February 2015, and we were visiting IDP camps in Yola to distribute a trailer-load of drugs and baby food which the APC women wing and Mrs. Buhari bought for IDPs in Adamawa and Borno states. St. Theresa was one of the eight IDP camps in Yola. I can remember shedding tears as an adult on only three occasions: on an Egypt Air flight after my father’s death in January 2009; at St. Theresa; and at Eagle Square on May 29, 2015. Mrs. Tallen brought me to tears that day at St. Theresa.
I didn’t record her speech, but I still remember what she told the Christian audience of over 2,000 IDPs: “President Jonathan deceives Christians into thinking that this election is a fight between Christianity and Islam. That is a lie, and all he wants is your vote. Where was he when Boko Haram killed your loved ones, burnt your houses and made you refugees? Where is he now that you lack food and medicines? He is busy campaigning for votes with public funds among well-to-do Muslims and Christians who know nothing about life in an IDP camp”. I think she also said she was a Catholic, but I’m not sure now with the passage of time. Anyway, Mrs. Tallen spoke along those lines for 30 minutes on the microphone, and finally told the audience that she was voting for Buhari, and it was in their interest to also vote for Buhari to help end Boko Haram and corruption in Nigeria.
I actually thought she went too far, so I watched The Reverend Morris all this while but all I saw were smiles. When it was his turn to speak, The Reverend reiterated what Mrs. Tallen said and thanked us for showing concern when others had "failed them tragically”. Making political capital out of IDPs go against my Islamic beliefs and moral values, so I didn’t publish this event during the 2015 campaigns. I do that now not for myself (may Allah forgive me), but to shame those ignoramuses who claim Mrs. Tallen rejected her nomination because she is corrupt and cannot steal public funds under PMB’s government.
I ask them, if Mrs. Tallen was corrupt, what stopped her supporting GEJ – a fellow Christian – who had claimed that stealing is not corruption? I stated my opinion on this issue days ago, and thought the matter was laid to rest. But since some of my Fb friends and their friends continue disparaging Hajia Naja'atu, Mrs. Tallen, Dr. Bugaje, Professor Akinwande and co., I will continue writing to educate them that while many Nigerians are corrupt, many others have the interests of Nigeria at heart to the same degree as PMB, if not even more. I love this challenge. Abuse those who declined government appointments and I’ll abuse you in turn. If you don’t like it, please unfriend me the way I unfriended others like you over the past week silently and without them even noticing it. I restrained myslef over the "my wife belongs in the kitchen and the other room" saga, but on this, I won't shy away.
It is by now clear that the more inches you give to some so-called "Buhari supporters", the more miles and fathoms they would want to take from you and the sea. It was Works and Power Minister Babatunde Fashola who said he won't wrestle with pigs to avoid mud dirt on his body and garments. I respect that, but i'm not Fashola, so in the dirty arena of Nigerian politics, I'm always a willing combatant hoping for a duel with idiots.
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