Islanders Magazine

Open Letter To Mr. Babagana Monguno


Dear Mr. Babagana Monguno,
My name is Ola Balogun.
I have the immense honour of having been a student at King’s College Lagos from 1957 to 1961, following in the footsteps of my late father, who studied at King’s College some decades before me.
I have just read a full page newspaper advertisement entitled “They are only truly great, who are truly good” that was published on page 11 of the “Daily Trust” newspaper, signed by Mr. Hakeem Bello-Osagie and a number of other persons purporting to speak on behalf of the King’s College Old Boys Association, which is supposedly a congratulatory message addressed to you on the occasion of your appointment to the post of National Security Adviser to the current Nigerian President.
I hereby humbly wish to beseech you to note that this kind of abjectly craven and sycophantic message can only possibly represent the private opinion of the alleged signatories and disseminators of the said message, and that it CANNOT be said to be a genuine emanation of the body of King’s College Old Boys.
In my humble opinion, the persons who have gone out of their way to flatter you in such a crude manner certainly do not wish you well.
These persons may have their private reasons for wishing to flatter you and curry favour with you in this kind of sickening manner, but I wish to assure you that they are really only speaking for themselves.
A message of this kind definitely does NOT reflect the great traditions of King’s College Lagos, a hallowed institution that many thousands of Nigerians are very proud to have studied at in the century and a half that has elapsed since our venerable alma mater was founded in the opening years of the 20th century.
I unhesitatingly make bold to unequivocally reject the nature and content of the message conceived by Hakeem Bello-Osagie and his fellow-signatories in its entirety.
Unfortunately, I have not spent my life pursuing material wealth, so I do not have the means to waste money ostentatiously by paying for a full page advertisement in a variety of Nigerian newspapers in the same manner as the signatories of this strangely concocted and totally incomprehensible message.
I am however taking the liberty of forwarding the present disavowal to as many King’s College old boys as I am able to get in touch with, as well as to the Editors of major Nigerian newspapers, magazines and assorted media organizations for wide dissemination and publication.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Olatunbosun Balogun