[dropcap]I[/dropcap] made this comment on Audu Maikori’s Facebook wall earlier on and I think it speaks my feelings about the steady recants by the Buharists these days.
I think it’s quite obtuse when people say there was no alternative back in 2015 between Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and General Buhari and thus, they had to vote Buhari as the devil’s alternative. There were at least 5 other presidential candidates from other political parties and you guys should have made your votes count for one of those in protest, instead of this soggy recant of ‘whodunnits’.
Going forward, history is a leveller of narratives. History is mostly kind to even the most scorned of rulers when the prosperity index in their tenure is measured. That’s why even when Nigerians know that Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida ran a corrupt government, when they measure the prosperity index in their lives back then to succeeding governments, they are ready to forgive his infractions because he started the free market economic reforms back then. When Nigerians remember Sani Abacha, who was a despot and ran a murderous regime, they are in two minds but would reluctantly agree that the prosperity index back then compared to present levels were stable and things were not so bad. Likewise Olusegun Obasanjo and Musa Yar’Adua’s regimes.
It’s the same subconscious template people would use to judge Goodluck Jonathan and are already doing so. juxtaposed with the present government, it’s clear that the prosperity index in his time is far far ahead of the present times. And it’s not the tripe propaganda the present administration tries to sell about a laughable wrecked 16 years of democracy. It’s the empirical economic variables and visible deliverables the country experienced all those years, whether in staccato bursts or in streamlined deliveries.
The 2015 elections was a case of cutting our noses to spite our faces. ‘We go show dem’ mentality, without a recourse to asking and probing the opposition candidates. Granted, those who hated Jonathan and thought they knew him very well wanted him out at all costs but to willy nilly throw up a Buhari whom was deliberately shielded from electoral scrutiny and repackaged as a reformed despot, was a classic case of kicking the balls. The vuvuzelas screamed hoarse that he was the answer and just didn’t give a hoot, pun not intended.
So, it’s quite ingenious and laughable that when the person foisted on the country got in and started first to deliberately slow down the economy projected to grow at 6.7% in 2015, by shutting all avenues for commerce and cash flow for the first nine months with a command and control mentality, these same turncoats blessed his name as the best thing to have happened to Nigeria since Kilishi!
Quietly and systematically, in his protracted retro – political pragmatism, he carried out an economic annihilation and every one let him be. Coupled with his obvious nepotic kitchen appointments, with misfits as political appointees in crucial places, it was only a matter of time before ineptitude crashed the economy.
And it’s not only the shit which has hit the fan. ( Let’s not even talk about cow shit all over Abuja, if I digress too!)
So people would ask; what’s the solution going forward? Frankly, my personal inclinations would be to advise every young person out there to sit this one out and let the man enjoy himself for the next two and a half years before he’s voted out.
I do not believe things would change much under him but I also think it would be a disservice to the lives of the young people if they get into depression over a man who’s living out his last items on his Bucket List.
Charles Novia is an award-winning filmmaker. He is founder of November Productions and November Records. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
