By Chidi Omeje
Nigerians have of late been subjected to heavy and ceaseless bombardments from two formidable and ferocious entities. From left and right, these elements have sworn never to give Nigerians any respite, not a breather! On one side is the bombardments coming from a band of merciless, blood thirsty religious fiends called Book Haram, operating from the northern flanks. Almost on daily basis, reported cases of their suicide attacks, bomb let-offs, gunfire and sundry acts of extreme violence against innocent Nigerians assail our sensibilities. Their deadly onslaught on both harmless Nigerians and dutiful security agents are as dumbfounding as it is horrific. Hundreds of innocent and defenseless Nigerians have been caught down in their prime on account of this unspeakable savagery perpetrated by the Boko Haram terrorists. This is on one hand.
On the other hand is the bombardment coming from equally ferocious and mindless opposition elements, later-day radicals and self-styled liberation theologists who are relentlessly vituperating the person and government of Dr Goodluck Jonathan. In their frenzied determination to constantly raise the dust and hang on to public reckoning, this category of ‘bombers’ hardly allow the Nigerian polity any little time to catch her breath before spewing up one rancorous allegation or falsehood against the Government. They confuse their ‘saber-rattling’ with constructive criticism.
To the ‘bombers’, everything is politics, and as politicians, especially of the Nigerian hue (where morality, civility, patriotism and sense of decorum are not important attributes to worry about), there is no limit to the attacks on the President and his team; there is no need for restraint and there is certainly no compulsion to draw the lines, not even when national security is at stake.
Unlike in other climes where opposition elements operate within the framework of constructive criticisms and compelled by reason of patriotism to put aside political differences when national security is at stake, our own brand of opposition (better described as enemy forces) is not only ready to tear down the institutions of government but can go to the extent of providing support to enemies of the country, and then turn back to deride government’s ability to manage situations. To them, the role of opposition is to distract, destabilize and debase the government; to sow the seed of discord, and poison the minds of people against government, and to discredit and ridicule the elected President. It does not matter to these elements if their unguarded utterances and misguided actions are heating up the polity unnecessarily or impacting the socio-economic development efforts of the nation and her people negatively or even attracting undue odium to the corporate image and respect of the country in the eyes of the international community. They simply do not care!
A careful analysis of the content and context of recent orchestrated media attacks on the person and government of President Jonathan by the spokesman of Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr Lai Mohammed, the erstwhile Minister of the FCT, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, the former running mate to Gen Buhari and General Overseer of Later Rain Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, and other variant of cynics and disgruntled politicians, will reveal a common pattern of desperation, opportunism and self-glorification.
Take a sample of the impish demand for the President’s resignation on account of the Boko Haram menace which these elements are orchestrating. In times of severe security crisis that tasks the national security question, like the Boko Haram insurgency, does it not smack of crass irresponsibility and irrationality for the supposedly patriots and opinion shapers in the society, in the standing of these individuals, to further heat up the polity with such insane demands? In what way will Jonathan’s resignation bring about the end of Boko Haram terrorism? Or is there anything they know that we do not know?
Is it, for instance, incumbent on a preacher of the word to spew from his pulpit, words not of love (and certainly not of God because God is love) but hate? Is it in his calling to sow seed of discord and malice in the hearts and minds of his congregation, in the guise of liberation theology? Has he read the account of true men of God who stood on the path of peace and fear of God while fighting for the liberation of their people? Is his posture, utterances and disposition same as the renown liberation theologists like Bishop Thomas Beckett, Rev Ian Paisley, Bishop Cranleigh, Late Rev Martin Lurther-King or Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, even though the situation in their countries wasn’t exactly the same as ours now? Pray, how does he interpret the words in Romans 13:1-3 to his hapless and rather embarrassed congregation, and what does he expect them to do after listening to his unrestrained incitement against a constituted authority, Sunday after Sunday? Carry arms against the state? Well, let me on behalf of the ‘Later Rain Assembly’ congregation admonish this ‘fiery pastor’ (oh how he relishes this cliché!) to restrict his sermons and pontification to words that up-builds, that stir hope and promote peace and unity amongst our people. He should stop using the pulpit to distract the government and create animosity in the polity. Preacher of the word, preach the word of God!
The same exhortation goes to his accomplice, Mr Nasir El-Rufai, the former Minister of FCT who, down from his Olympian height as a member of the inner caucus of President Obasanjo’s administration (better remembered for ‘garrison politics’), found a past-time in infantile radicalism; stirring up controversy here and raising dust there, all in the name of activism. Does an El-Rufai, who regaled in impunity during his time in power, truly fit into this activist garb that he so desperately wants to adorn? Nigerians are no fools and they certainly know where they place him, his grandstanding notwithstanding. Nigerians are saying, ‘Mr Demolition’, please leave our President alone to do the work for which he was overwhelmingly voted for.
When the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) emerged as the main opposition party in the country after the 2011 general elections, Nigerians looked forward to a robust, constructive criticism which will spur healthy checks on the activities of government in power, as it’s done in other countries. It was however not long before it was dawn on Nigerians that this party represented by its Goebel, Mr Lai Mohammed indeed has another agenda, far from the altruistic but deep in fatalism. If he is not pouring invectives on government functionaries or making egregious demands, he is spewing up spurious allegations against his perceived political foes. A forth night ago, he took front pages of Nigerian dailies with a screamer that the President must fire and prosecute Dr Doyin Okupe (the recently hired Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs). Why? He just scooped from the ubiquitous ‘reliable source’ in the on-line media that Dr Okupe is being investigated by the EFCC for defrauding Benue State Government some years back. Benue State Government and the EFCC have since come out to denounce the allegation yet Mr Mohammed who never made any attempt to cross check with Benue State government or the EFCC on the veracity of that report still went viral with the disinformation and even has the effrontery to insist on Okupe’s sack and prosecution. For all intent and purposes, Mr Mohammed sees Dr Okupe as not only his nemesis but he habours the morbid fears that Okupe has the capacity and clout to silence his garrulity and wreck the propaganda machine of ACN.
In all their laughable pontification about having a Doyin Okupe as the spokesman for the President and how it will badly damage the image of our country, the ACN and its propaganda chief’s deafening silence on the gargantuan fraud perpetrated by the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Ikuforiji, the over N2 billion spent on organizing a birthday bash for Tinubu and all other shameful malfeasances going on in ACN-controlled states, flies in the face.
To Mr Mohammed and his co-travelers, maligning people’s character and integrity, making outlandish claims and heating up the polity are all veritable tools in the hands of the opposition. But Nigerians must resist this dangerous inclination if we must protect our hard-earned democracy. However, let it be very clear that nobody is begrudging the ACN and other opposition elements for criticizing the government but what is demanded of them is constructive criticism and knowing when to draw the line.
*Chidi Omeje is the Secretary General of Transformation Agenda Solidarity Forum (TASOF), an Abuja based Civil Society group.