By Remi Oyeyemi<\/p>\n
I have just finished reading the piece by Mr. Tunde Fagbenle with the above title. I could not resist writing this rejoinder because I found his view in the piece not just interesting but also annoying. I found it very interesting that he has come out to admit what the followers and the \u201cwater carriers\u201d of President Mohammadu Buhari have been saying behind the doors because of shame and regret while they go from door to door defending series of indefensible in the public.\u00a0I found it interesting that Mr. Fagbenle is balking at his ilk\u2019s false propagation of Buhari\u2019s sainthood \u201cso soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
They called him the \u201cmessiah\u201d and the \u201csavior\u201d of Nigeria. It is interesting that Mr. Fageble is not willing to wait till at least one year anniversary of the tragic day when President Buhari\u2019s second coming took off. It is interesting that he believed that he could take some of us for a ride \u2013 that he is just seeing the light – when this is not the case. He knows it and those who have been reading his contributions know it too.\u00a0Mr. Fagbenle is a man of letters. He is by every means a tutored man. I do not know much about him except through his writings. His writings without any doubt convey a mind that is gifted with intellect, circumspection and insight. He understands that two plus two must equal four in simple arithmetic.<\/p>\n
He also knows that when two plus two is not equal to four, then\u00a0jibiti\u00a0or 419 is involved. So, to come out with the article under reference that he is surprised about the incompetence and the concomitant collapse being manifested by President Buhari, is an insult to those who have been reading him.\u00a0The truth is that Mr. Fagbenle is part of the group who sold the idea of Buhari as President hook, line and sinker when in fact they knew he has not the intellectual wherewithal to captain the ship of Nigeria. They dressed him in deceptive drapes of adequacy, insisting that he is \u201cthe man for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
They knew that his trajectory did not justify the confidence with which he was being invested. They were aware that then candidate Buhari would not be able to do the job. When Mr. Fagbenle and his fellow travelers were supporting Buhari, they knew what they were doing but they had different calculations. So far the calculations have not worked out.<\/p>\n
It is weird that someone of Mr. Fagbenle\u2019s erudition, intellect and circumspection could not figure out that someone such as Buhari who could not produce his certificate for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) would be able to correct all the anomalies in Nigeria and save the country. It is weird that Mr. Fagebenle who is not young by any means could pretend not to know the history of Buhari during his first coming. If he did, it is weird that Mr. Fagbenle could ignore all the facts available and helped advance the falsehood of Buhari\u2019s sainthood.<\/p>\n
In an obvious contradiction, Mr. Fagbenle noted that the idea of a \u201cnew sheriff in town\u201d helped to stabilize the supply of power by the electric companies. He praised Buhari for the \u201csheer attitudinal change by the same people who have over the years without compunction frequently thrown us into darkness\u201d arising from \u2018fear\u2019 of the new Sheriff!\u201d After observing that Nigerians earlier responded to assumed \u201cpositive leadership\u201d of Buhari, he then walloped Nigerians by insisting<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem of Nigeria is Nigeria.\u201d Mr. Fagbenle awarded Buhari the marks for the \u201cattitudinal change\u201d of Nigerians but absolved him of responsibility when things turned sour after a brief period, insisting that \u201cthe problem of Nigeria is not Buhari.\u201d What a double speak!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When Nigerians thought they had honest, serious and competent leader in Buhari\u2019s first few weeks, they changed their attitude and things seemed to work as Mr. Fagbenle pointed out. But as soon as Nigerians found out that they have been sold a fake as a saint, they quickly reverted to their previous behaviors. Nigerians quickly figured out that Buhari was not the messiah they have been waiting for. Buhari proved that he has not been worthy of the trust, confidence and hope invested in him.<\/p>\n
Even, Mr. Fagbenle\u2019s friend described Buhari as a \u201clame dog that no one fears anymore and can be safely patted on its head even by strangers!\u201d\u00a0Then Mr. Fagbenle put forth the obvious that \u201cVery clearly PMB seems overwhelmed by the enormity and complexity of the problems at hand.\u201d The question here is that is Mr. Fagbenle just finding out that Nigeria\u2019s \u201cproblems\u201d are of great \u201cenormity and complexity?\u201d<\/p>\n
Did he not know this when he was singing the praises of Buhari in the days and weeks leading to the last convention of the APC where a different candidate could have been chosen to replace the hapless Goodluck Jonathan?\u00a0How could he still insist that \u201cthe problem of Nigeria is not Buhari\u201d when Nigerians have reverted to their old ways after discovering that Buhari is a toothless bulldog of a president? Why is it difficult for Mr. Fagbenle to see that Nigeria\u2019s need is really a serious and competent president with know-how in the basics of governance?<\/p>\n
He complained that the Buhari\u2019s administration is giving \u201cexcuses\u201d but he is also giving excuses for the failure of the Buhari\u2019s incompetence by rationalizing that \u201cBuhari is of the old conservative mold.\u201d Pray, what is Buhari conserving now?\u00a0There is no doubt that there exists in Nigeria in general and Yoruba land in particular a group of writers, intellectual leaders and professionals who are secret sympathizers of Tinubuism \u2013 a mercantilist political philosophy \u2013 that has as its only purpose the pursuit and attainment of political power for the sake of sundry interests cocooned as national interest.<\/p>\n
They are collaborators with the leading lights of Tinubuism to mislead the Yoruba Nation and by extension the country called Nigeria in putting forward Buhari as the president of a complex country called Nigeria.\u00a0This class of intelligentsia and the diabolical political class from Yoruba land, swept the atrocities of Buhari against the leaders of Yoruba during the Second Republic under the carpet. They allowed him to get away with it without any public apology to the Yoruba Nation. They confused, misled and miseducated the youth and sold Buhari to them as a \u201cSaint\u201d who would clean the Augean stable of corruption in Nigeria. This group consciously glossed over the corruption, incompetence, injustice, unfairness and deceit that have characterized the personal history of Buhari and deodorized him as a messiah that would clean up Nigeria.<\/p>\n
In the days leading to the last APC convention in Lagos and the 2015 Presidential Elections, it was apparent that what was happening is what Ambrose Bierce in his 1911\u00a0The Devil’s Dictionary\u00a0described as\u00a0\u201cA strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles\u201d and since Buhari took the reins of government in 2015 there is no doubt that we have been witnessing \u201cThe conduct of public affairs for private advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The APC political leaders in Yoruba land and across Nigeria as well as their collaborators who are writers, professionals, their sentries in academia, their moles in intelligentsia, literati and the glitterati began to manifest bankruptcy of character and integrity as they \u201cchange their party for the sake of their principles\u201d (if at all, they had any), while others \u201cchange their principles for the sake of their party,\u201d apology to Winston Churchill.\u00a0\u00a0Questions began to be asked as to what is going on?<\/p>\n
Critical minds saw the absence of principle and aridity of ideology as well as aggressive pursuit of odious economic gains and political power at all costs.\u00a0This group and their political collaborators knew all the atrocities of Buhari, but they did not care. They were hoping they could use Buhari to attain power and then hold him hostage to be able to achieve their diabolical objectives. The leading lights of Tinubuism were warned including the man after whom this noxious political ideology is named. Their intellectual sentries were warned. History was presented to them as guide.<\/p>\n
They were advised against making a terrible mistake that would come back to haunt Nigeria in general and the Yoruba in particular.\u00a0They were all warned and advised against choosing Buhari as the then candidate of the APC.\u00a0\u00a0But they insisted because obviously they had some secret plans. The leading lights of Tinubuism and their sentries were gallivanting all over, beating their chests and boasted as being the best \u201cpolitical strategists\u201d God ever created. They ignored history. They corralled all those who for good reasons could not publicly endorse Buhari to do so. They spread enough \u201cgood will\u201d around to win support for \u201cSai Baba.\u201d\u00a0It is not true that<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of A Sudden Nothing is working,\u201d as Mr. Fagbenle posited. The fact of the matter is that nothing ever worked since Buhari has taken the reins of power. Nigeria is in comatose. Hunger is all over the land. Food is getting costlier. Petrol is getting scarce. Schools are dysfunctional. Hospitals are slaughter slabs. People are dying. Investors have fled the country. The Naira is in free fall. Kidnapping is on the rise. Boko Haram is still a threat.\u00a0\u00a0Buhari is denying all the promises he made during his campaign. Corrupt elements filled the crannies of his government. Under his nose the 2016 budget was corruptly padded.<\/p>\n
The plan of Tinubuists and their collaborators has not worked. It has failed. Woefully too. It has backfired. All those who played a role in foisting Buhari on Nigeria must stop giving excuses for the failure of Buhari that was not unexpected. It is time they begin praying for forgiveness for knowingly leading Nigeria down this path of certain failure. They knew and still know that Buhari did not and still does not have the know-how to take Nigeria out of the present morass. When they pray, they should pray for more than forgiveness. They should indeed pray that Nigerians do not come after them for bringing the Buhari curse on the country.\u00a0So far, the Buari\u2019s administration has consolidated President Jonathan\u2019s corruption and appropriated its modalities through sheer incompetence. Nigeria is complex. Its problems are humongous, challenging and intimidating. It is not a play ground for the untutored. It is not a laboratory for the confused and the incompetent.<\/p>\n
It needs competent hands. It requires some basic know- how. It requires a man with a plan; a man with a vision and a man with determination. The earlier the die-hard supporters of Buhari recognize that Buhari\u2019s presidency is a disaster, the better for them. It is time to start making plans to end this Buhari\u2019s tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility \u2013 I welcome it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n – \u00a0John F. Kennedy,\u00a0in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961<\/p>\n Please follow me on Twitter: @OyeyemiRemi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Remi Oyeyemi I have just finished reading the piece by Mr. Tunde Fagbenle with the above title. I could not resist writing this rejoinder because I found his view…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions","category-rejoinders-editorials"],"yoast_head":"\n