Our president, Bola Tinubu, is working very hard to occupy a prominent position in the book of infamy. He does unbelievable things. Sometimes unimaginable. Whenever this happens, the people cringe in amazement. They wonder at the strange possibility the president is foisting on the Nigerian landscape. But there is always a quick but sophistical interjection from the president’s men. They hardly understand the fact that it is not every contrary position that constitutes a defence. Their intervention, whenever the president flounders, is usually tailored towards a dismissive approach, which is: offer an explanation, no matter how senseless, and let the people believe or think whatever they like.
This cavalier disposition of the Presidency was at play the other week over the absurdity that the president enacted in Plateau State. The state had, as always, witnessed a gruesome massacre in one of its volatile communities. This one took place in a locality called Angwan Rukuba. Terrorists had swooped on the sleepy community, leaving in their wake blood and sorrow. Over 30 people were reported dead in the attack with many others critically injured.
Our president, no doubt, had no plans to visit Plateau to see for himself what had taken place. But because everything in Nigeria, including the death of innocent citizens, has been reduced to politics, the president decided to present us with a facade of a presidential condolence visit. At first we were taken in by the grand deceit. We thought that the president actually visited the survivors in the hospital where they lay sick. Little did we know that the president had instructed Governor Caleb Mutfwang to ferret the critically injured and the grieving families to Jos Airport to see him (the president).
Nothing can be stranger than this. It sounds unreal. It reads like a story from the book world. The scenario is an enactment of a show of shame. It
smacks of lack of empathy. It is an assault on the memory of the dead and a mockery of the injured. No leader in Nigerian history has shown this level of insensitivity in the midst of the agony of its people.
But was the president under any compunction to travel to Plateau to condole with the people? No. The president didn’t have to visit Plateau. But if he must, then the proper thing should have been done. But he had to visit for the sake of it. He wanted to look politically correct. He did not want the opposition to criticize him for non appearance. So, he decided to play to the gallery. What we got in the end is the scandal of a presidential visit that never was.
But why did the president shy away from riding into or walking on the Plateau? Many Nigerians believe that he was afraid for his life. He couldn’t be sure of what the terrorists could do should he venture into their territory. And so, he fought shy. The contrary explanation from the Presidency was sheer balderdash. Then you wonder: if the president can be so afraid of the land, what then becomes of the helpless citizenry?
The president’s assurances to the people of Plateau were, in themselves, another source of scandal. Obviously bereft of any substantial thing to say to the people, he promised them thus: this will never happen again. The distraught people needed a soothing balm. The president’s words seemed to convey some to them . That was why they chorused and clapped. The president also promised them that cameras would be deployed, thenceforth, to monitor and track the activities of terrorists. What emptiness. There was no intention to match words with action. The president just said those things for saying sake.
Indeed, to prove to the world that the president was just entertaining the people with fanciful declarations, the terrorists whom he said would never be given a chance to strike again dared him almost immediately. They struck the next day in Jos South, killing three. Since then, the killings in Plateau have continued almost on a daily basis. But Plateau is not an isolated case. The killings are going on everywhere in the country. Only last week, the United States asked its embassy staff to leave Nigeria. This was in reaction to widespread kidnappings and killings. The Nigerian government, so far, has been demonstrating helplessness. It has taken no concrete step that could stem the tide of violent extremism in the country.
While gallivanting from Plateau to Ogun and Lagos, and then to Bayelsa state, the president left no one in doubt that he has no solution to the country’s problems. While in Bayelsa state to commission some laudable projects completed by the state government, Tinubu told his audience that Nigeria was not worse in the ongoing energy crisis. He acknowledged the sufferings of Nigerians occasioned by the spike in the prices of petroleum products. But his message said nothing about how the country he governs can get out of the woods. Rather, he wanted Nigerians to know and appreciate the fact that citizens of some other countries are suffering more than Nigerians. For the president therefore, Nigerians have not suffered enough to warrant any intervention from his government.
What rankles the most in the face of all this is the president’s suffocation of the political space. A misgoverned people, anywhere in the world, have the right to choose who should govern them. But Tinubu and his goons are foreclosing the right of Nigerians in this regard. They want the people to continue to grovel. That is why the president and the electoral commission which is supposed to midwife the coming transition programme do not want the opposition to breathe. They are working hard to ensure that the opposition withers away so that the people of Nigeria will be stuck with the Tinubu disorder. The battle for the soul of Nigeria is going on at moment along this line. Armed with a biased and shameless electoral umpire, the president is behaving as if Nigerians are a captured people who have no right or choice and cannot have any over anything.
It is ultimately scandalous that the man who is taking Nigeria through this blind alley was once one of the strident voices who used to make so much noise about democracy. For over three decades, Tinubu postured tirelessly about democracy. Many thought he was real and believed him. Today, they are convinced beyond doubt that the man was only a pretender to the throne of democracy. Having fooled the people, he now wants to also deny them the right to hold any contrary view. Indeed, the Tinubu deception is the challenge that Nigeria is faced with at moment. Surmounting it is a task that must be accomplished if Nigerians must get to understand the real stuff that the president is made of.
QUOTE:
“Why did the president shy away from riding into or walking on the Plateau? Many Nigerians believe that he was afraid for his life. He couldn’t be sure of what the terrorists could do should he venture into their territory.”
