I used to
admire General Mohamadu Buhari a lot. In him, I saw an Incorruptible Nigerian,
whom given the chance, could rid our country of its greatest challenge—corruption
in high places.
My view of
Buhari’s incorruptibility remains unchanged, but in view of his actions and
inactions in the wake of the crisis that followed the April 2011 elections, I
do not consider him qualified to air ideas about Nigeria’s snail paced crawl
towards political and economic emancipation from the brigands that now hold her
captive.
Buhari, I
have said before, lost all rights to talk when elder statesmen are called upon,
just as he has lost the goodwill that has ensured he returned time and time
again to compete for that exalted but oft raped position of this nation’s
president. While I still say that Buhari did not ask his supporters to take to
the streets and slake their rage on innocent Nigerians, doing nothing to call
them to order painted him in colours that are not so different from those he
was seeking to oust.
Anyway,
this post is not really about what the man did, or didn’t do, after the
elections last year. This post is about what the man is doing now and what he
intends to do come 2015. Buhari as he is wont, warmed his way back into
national consciousness by declaring in no small words that come 2015, naija
masses will revolt if INEC does not allow for free and fair elections.
Hmm...here we go again, was my reaction when I saw
reference to the statement on twitter, knowing the dams would soon burst and
all hibernating GEJ Voltrons, as tweeps call them, would awake and be up in
arms. My, my, was I right? Reno Omokiri, a young man most armchair activists
like myself have come to expect the most uncouth behaviour possible in the
course of defending his government pay cheque did not disappoint—kind of
reminds one of pre-activist FFK’s brashness. Reno attacks on Buhari’s audacity
to attack the hallowed PDP machine signalled other hibernating voltrons into
action and the battle to ‘call Buhari to order’ was on in earnest.
While I
think the PDP, and GEJ’s camp, are right to defend themselves if someone
wrongly accuses them of wrong doing, in this instance they are absolutely
wrong.
Why?
Simple.
First:
Because Buhari, though he might have accused them of rigging elections in the
past, was only warning of the fall out of any attempt to rig the 2015 ballot. Second:
Other, both highly and lowly placed, Nigerians have issued similar warnings in
the past, and no one bothered to send out the verbal attack dogs.
I think GEJ
is still missing the whole point of being president. He has to understand that
as president he is number one and therefore the first target when things go
wrong, and also the first when praises for things being done right are dished
out.
Also, most
of the technocrats drafted into government to help this unassuming man navigate
foggy landscape of government-citizen relation are still dozing in the zombie
days of military dictatorships, where any and every ‘his/her Excellency’ is
sacred. Gaddem! This is a democracy, no matter how flawed, and people should be
allowed to have opinions. I think it would serve GEJ and those who purport to
speak for him to stick to the substance of opinions, not insinuations and hyperboles.
For PDP and
its supporters: you may have ruled naija for the past 12 years, but you are not
Nigeria and do not represent the masses. It is not given unto you to react to
every statement from perceived political opponents as if you are Nigeria.
For Buhari:
you lost your chance when it was clearly there for the taking. Go home, rest
and advise younger protégées on how to take political opportunities. Also, talk
smart, you are no longer in the army.
For the
naija people: it is coming again, and we are losing ourselves once again to
that sectional divide. When did Boko Haram stop being a PDP invention abeg? We
need to wake up and smell the beans before it burns once again.
