[dropcap]A[/dropcap] little over a year ago, it was considered a noble deed by the All Progressives Congress and her supporters to unjustly malign the then president of Nigeria; Dr. Goodluck Ebere Jonathan. Even his wife and children were not spared.
These barrage of insult were not coming from foreigners ooo. They were not coming from unlettered almajiri kids somewhere in Zamfara State or some uneducated traders in Ogbete Main Market, Enugu. The insults were actually coming from well lettered men and women who were driven by sheer hate and are holding different public offices in this country today.
Everything about Jonathan from his hat, smile, suit, and even his steps were fully analyzed and turned into an object of caricature against the immediate past president and his family.
A highly placed chieftain of the then opposition party; the APC called him a kindergarten president.
“Useless Otueke man”, “Ogogolo-drinking president”, “Jonadaft” etc were some of the demeaning nomenclatures the APC desperadoes and their misguided #jollofeatingchildren ‘gifted’ the then president with.
Nasir El Rufai, the current Kaduna state governor called him a stupid drunk who was sponsoring Boko Haram. He went further to describe the Nigerian army as “Genocidal Jonathanian Army” that should not be respected by Nigerians.
The then first lady was tagged a “shippopotamus” and most APC members and supporters danced ‘azonto’ in celebration.
APC online supporters hailed, jubilated and jumped like toads and were busy gloating over the insult being heaped on their president and their military that was paying the ultimate price to keep them safe.
All the sacrifices of the Nigerian Army were mocked and made a matter of perspective. Nothing was spared.
During and after the election, Igbos were repeatedly maligned unjustly and called all sort of names just for choosing to vote their convictions.
People who refused to chose either of the two leading candidates were not even spared by the Buhari camp. They were bullied without mercy. Large number of Buhari supporters either unfriended or blocked some of their Facebook friends simply for refusing to support the Buhari candidacy.
We were tagged “ethnic bigots”, “haters”, “enemies of Nigeria” etc by those who supported Buhari. Our right to support any other candidate or no candidate at all was never acknowledged by these #ChildrenOfChange
Fast forward to this day, these same guys who constituted themselves into cyber terrorists, thugs and bullies not too long ago are now the ones going all preachy about how wrong it is to insult your president and the need to respect other people’s right to chose a political candidates. These are the same people who cheered when president Buhari clearly suggested he was going to punish those from the 5% region who didn’t give him their 100% votes.
“Charles, your language is too harsh”, “why do you like insulting people?”, “You have a point but you need to watch your diction and stop bullying people who voted for Buhari” etc
These are some of the things I read from these ex-torturers of mine — the same people who made their careers insulting and maligning their compatriots for no just cause some months ago???
It is not the hypocrisy of these guys that sickens me. It is the sheer audacity that accompanies it. More like the criminal audacity of an arsonist asking to be treated as the firefighter.
Even the biblical devil will be wondering why he is still being treated like the bad guy when people like these guys still exist.
For shame!
Charles Ogbu is a social media activist. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
