[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ve read people say they don’t want to sacrifice the relationships they’ve built over the years on the altar of politics. Good for them. For me, the position you take in a moment of momentous moral crisis determines whether or not I want to ever relate with you. A Buhari second term is a dire, desperate existential threat to Nigeria, and anyone who supports it is immoral and unworthy of my friendship now and forever. I have no use for dissembling moral cripples.
Most well-placed people who are promoting Buhari’s second term know for a fact that the man is mentally and physically incapacitated. Buhari doesn’t know what goes on around him. Just yesterday, someone in the Villa told me Buhari has difficulty understanding and participating in discussions around him. People have exploited his mental infirmity and made him to sign documents he does not and cannot understand.
He also has episodic bouts of depression that cause him to withdraw to himself for days on end. Mamman Daura, Buhari’s close relative, is Nigeria’s de facto president. Abba Kyari and other members of the cabal are Daura’s “boys.” In other words, with Buhari, Nigeria is and will continue to be “presidentless” and be ruled by an unelected, provincial reactionary.
The only people whose support for Buhari’s second term I can understand and tolerate are people who work for the government– or who benefit from people who work for the government. After all, self-preservation is the first law of nature. Other than that, I don’t want to ever in my life have any relationship with anyone who supports Buhari– an infirm, insentient, geriatric fraud who was a disaster even as a healthy person. I have drawn the line.
Farooq Kperogi, Ph.D. is assistant professor of Journalism and Citizen Media at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, USA. He owns a blog, Notes From Atlanta where this article was first published, and tweets from @farooqkperogi.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
