The hypocrisies and
ironies that have dogged or followed this government teach us some basic or
fundamental truths of life:
·
No condition is permanent
· Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
· What you do today, might catch up with you tomorrow.
· Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
· What you do today, might catch up with you tomorrow.
Example One: It is amusing to
remember how the APC tried to convince us that there was no such thing as fuel
subsidy under the Jonathan administration, insisting that it was a scam. They
also urged the people to reject any increase in the pump price of fuel.
Well, circumstances changed, they came to power, argued that the hitherto
non-existent subsidy now existed, and jacked up the pump price of fuel by about
a whopping, unprecedented 70% and now told us that subsidy and subsidy payment had
been taken care of once and for all. Lest we forget, they also told us that the
refineries will work and went ahead to release money for that. Three years down
the line, the refineries are not working and now we are being told we are owing
fuel subsidy payments of about N1.4 trillion, much more than the Jonathan
government was paying, and this is after the Buhari administration increased
the pump price of fuel from N87.00 to N145.00 . How? To whom? From where?
Example
Two:
When President Goodluck Jonathan did a self assessment of his then government,
scoring his administration well, It was an angry and undignified Lai Mohammed
who told us that it was shameful that president Jonathan and his administration
would take part in an examination, mark the papers themselves and score
themselves. He said that it was left for the people to score their leaders and
not the other way round. Three years down the line, president Buhari and
Lai Mohammed have written their own examination and, hold on!, they have marked
their own papers and have scored themselves excellent.
Example
Three: Lai Muhammed had railed and wailed against the
previous government, chiding them on the need to respect the rule of law, press
freedom, and the right of Nigerians to express themselves. President Buhari, in
his recent democracy day broadcast also talked about the importance of respect
for the rule of law. Good point! But what are Dasuki and El Zak Zakky still
doing in detention years after legitimate courts, including the ECOWAS court ordered
for their release?
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During the Jonathan era, I
was once invited to the federal government owned Nigeria Television Authority,
where I criticised President Jonathan and his administration without being
gagged. They would ask questions like "What are the strong points and
weaknesses of the present administration?" Just recently I was invited to
the same NTA and, before the program commenced, was told not to say anything
bad about the Buhari government. They asked questions like "Can you please
talk about the successes of the Buhari administration?" Of course, I told
them I will not be gagged or controlled from expressing myself as I see fit.
However, to preserve and save the jobs of the people in the studio, I opted for
a middle of the road response in the interview. And Lai Mohammed had the guts
to to talk about freedom of expression?
Conclusion: We
can almost say that the demystification of this government started almost the
moment they took over from the then hugely unpopular PDP government. Apart from
the disappointment of the president waiting for about 6 months to appoint his
cabinet, the crisis over presiding officers in the National Assembly was an
indication that the country was in for a very rough ride. Three years down the
line, the little sea disturbances have assumed the proportion of a massive gale
that threatens to overrun the shorelines of our country. After the elections,
the APC apartchiks forgot that
propaganda, a very effective tool used to destabilize, expose, and unseat
Jonathan could only work within specific contexts and were more effective in
war time than peace time. They perhaps failed to remember that having won the election;
they needed a different kind of propaganda - the propaganda of providing social
services such as jobs, healthcare, education, Security etc. In the absence of
all these, the resort to blackmail, peddling of falsehood, threats against the
citizens etc., became inevitable. This is why they organised an examination for
themselves, wrote the examination themselves, supervised it, marked it
themselves and awarded the scores to themselves. And the score? A1: Excellent.
They really need to clap for themselves!
Another tear for Nigeria!
- Achike Chude, a Nigerian contemporary author, is a good
governance advocate and national affairs commentator.
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