by Harry Slim Omoakhia
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Its not mere extremism that makes folks at the fringes so troubling; it’s extremism
wedded to false beliefs. Humans have long been dupes, easily gulled by rumors and flat-out lies.
~Jeffrey Kluger
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The political extremist just like the religious counterpart is an interesting fellow. He is irrational, self conceited, crude, a liar, uncompromising, emotionally subjective and an irredeemable hypocrite. You must view opinions from the narrow prism of his affiliation or you become the enemy. His political god/party is the alpha and omega and you must bow to their whims and caprices. Any divergent view about him or his tin god must be strongly resisted and condemned. A “fatwa” is immediately passed on you if you call his political god out to scrutiny. Outright lies and propaganda’s are used to promote his political god image and also rubbish the opposing camp.
A regular and observant user of the social media especially in the last few years will notice the emergence of this new brand of cyber extremist. However, between the extremes are a group of objective and patriotic Nigerians who say the truth no matter whose ox is gored nor the political divide they belong. However, the extremist continue to devise means especially subtle blackmail and mind games to draw members of this group to their camp. Before the inauguration of this new government, I already knew the change direction in the social media. The “defend anything the government does” extremist will change to “criticize anything the government does” and vice versa.
I expected celebration of mediocrity which is consistent with many political extremists in Nigeria. I was shocked when those who were very vocal against celebrating mediocrity suddenly turned to champions of mediocrity. I was disappointed when I saw friends who set high standards for politicians, now pointing to frivolities for us to celebrate: Partisanship is an ass. I believe the most stupid thing I have seen so far was the use of Jonathan’s antecedents (good and bad) to justify Buhari’s decision in government especially by those who called the last administration clueless, corrupt, inept and a disaster. Walahi! Hypocrisy is a Nigerian.
At the twilight of the Jonathan administration, the nation suffered epileptic power supply and nationwide fuel scarcity. The epileptic power supply was attributed to drop in power generation due to sabotage of facilities while the fuel scarcity was due to oil marketers holding the nation to ransom over non-payment of forex balance on fuel subsidy. Few weeks after the new government was inaugurated, there was increase in power supply in most parts of the country. The NNPC also announced that two of Nigeria’s refineries will begin operation in July.
The news broke the Nigeria sphere of internet. The political extremist had a field day celebrating/defending/rationalizing/undermining the new development according to political divide. The Buhari supporters attributed the changes to the new government while the Jonathan’s supporters countered the claims that how can a government who claimed they met an empty treasury, yet to form a cabinet nor approved any contract to buy even spanner take credit for increased power and our crude oil refinery coming back to life.
They attributed the changes to Jonathan’s transformation legacy in the petroleum sector and gains of power privatization. The Buhari supporters again countered these claims wondering why the changes are manifesting after Jonathan left office hence attributing the changes to Buhari’s Body Language. Interestingly the ruling APC has adopted the Body Language Theory. You dare not ask why the body language and legacies phenomenon is only effective in areas where there is positive outcome but blame shifted when the outcome is negative.
Two news item caught my attention this week. Warri refinery shut down due to lack of maintenance and vandalism. In another news, power generation reduced by over 1000 megawatts due to maintenance, vandalism and shut down of some power plants. And guess what? The Body Language and Transformation Legacies ambassadors are nowhere to be found. If Body Language and legacies were responsible for increased power supply and revival of our refinery, what then is responsible for the shutdown of Warri refinery and decrease in power generation?
Political extremist are the greatest enemies to their principals, they tell lies and spread propaganda which will later catch up with their principals, they create unnecessary enemies for their principal by their disgusting behavior and extreme views and make governance look like a child’s play by making headlines and hyping so called achievements of their principal. Governance will continue to look like a joke if they continue to hold sway, the nation will continue to be on a jolly ride to nowhere as long as they continue to to have the ears of their principal.
Only the unblemished truth can set a people free and bring true change. It is high time men of reason, truth and those who have the nation at heart picked the gauntlet and determine the narratives especially in the social media and send the extremist to oblivion. If you doubt me, engage the political extremist in an intellectual discourse and be vigilant not to be lured into his pig fight, he will get bored and scamper tail between his legs.
Harry Slim Omoakhia is a social commentator.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
