Nigeria, doubtlessly, is an odd country where the occurrence of the oddest of oddities is almost as certain as daybreak and nightfall. Since General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) announced his plan to vie for the position of the president of the country every attention has been directed toward him. He has become the epicentre of every discourse to the point that even Mr President, through his relentlessly loudmouthed mouthpiece, Reuben Abati, could not resist the temptation to not ignore the Buhari phenomenon which swept through the capital city and landed at Eagle Square, the president’s backyard.
The Buhari phenomenon is clearly not ignorable. But the ruling party and its cheerleaders claim the man’s candidacy constitutes no threat. And, in spite of this pretentious disposition, and in a manner reminiscent of the 2011 bitter cyber battles, packs of cyber terriers, whose remit is to scandalise the man and hunt and tear down every of his support base, are unleashed. And despite unrelenting attacks it remains to be seen whether anything other than diverting attention from more serious problems can be achieved.
So, while we charge at each other in vilification or defence of the man Buhari, more serious headaches have become increasingly immune and, therefore, almost invincible.
Buharism, for which official Panadol has been prescribed, has suddenly relegated Boko Haram to second place in the government’s order of priority. And because under the illusion of a ceasefire deal we had been made to believe merry days were back again we have ceased to talk or hear of the menace of the terror sect even though our compatriots in the northeast live with it day after day.
And about a fortnight ago, after a series of pleasant stories to convince us that the insurgency had been defeated or forced to capitulate, we were told all abductees in Boko Haram’s captivity would be back home, including the more than 200 Chibok girls stolen in April. Again, being sufferers of untreatable fitful optimism, we bought the story and futilely waited to see an insurgent (commander) holding out an olive branch and shaking hands with our commanders and swapping abductees with prisoners.
None of these has yet het happened. And the relentless terriers are back to the old business of blame shifting. They claimed the opposition APC foiled the ceasefire and frustrated the abductees’ release. When asked for evidence they cited a Dr Stephen Davis whose earlier indictment of their own they rejected. And when further prodded they cited a certain Femi Fani Kayode, a politician that recently ported back to the ruling party and was amply rewarded with discontinuation of his corruption trial. But what they fail to realise is that Fani Kayode’s ‘Janjaweed’ notes cannot stand the barest test of veracity in any court of law and consigning it to the bin is even an act of leniency on the claimant who now barefacedly cohabitates with known Boko Haram godfathers.
So, beyond making the Buhari phenomenon his regime’s biggest headache shall we now tell the president to get back to the business of running the country after the long prayer session in Jerusalem? Or has he not heard that the insurgents have annexed Mubi, chief of defence staff, Air Marshall Alex Badeh’s hometown? Or has it also been ceded to the insurgents as a condition? Shockingly, it was Badeh that announced the ceasefire and ordered his men to promptly comply. What a way to get fooled again and again!
Why want to eat your cake and have it?
Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s defection to APC may appear like a punch below the belt. And that is why the PDP is making such a huge fuse over it even though the party has been a major beneficiary of politicians’ unprincipled shuttling between parties. Only very recently did Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, the lone Labour Party’s governor, port to PDP. It was widely celebrated within the party. No one has asked the man to vacate his post. So, why is it different now that Tambuwal has defected to APC?
In a fit of vendetta the presidency, which reportedly convened a high priority meeting Wednesday not to discuss the Boko Haram capture of Mubi but Tambuwal’s defection, has ordered the withdrawal of the Speaker’s security details. Can the president and his party not be patient for the court to decide whether Tambuwal’s defection warrants abdication of his position or not before acting? This democracy of ours, surely, is a brand we must rechristen our own way.
