It is a verisimilar notion that Buhari, or at least those in his tight-knit circle are working tirelessly to make the critical mission of sanitizing our polity and public life an absolute impossibility. It is my unhindered contention that Buhari has failed Nigerians spectacularly and there are no redeeming considerations whatsoever. I feel eternally ashamed and utterly betrayed to have been part of this charade. Our once darling Buhari has now become, of his own choosing, I might add, the bête noire of the vast majority of Nigerians. Considered a mensch pre-2015 by most Nigerians, his true intentions first surfaced when he acquiesced to the PDP's quest to make Bukola Saraki the Senate President. It was there and then he and his government were compromised, and as they say, the rest is history. I have beaten myself up too many times for being a sucker and unmindful of the principle of 'caveat emptor'. He welshed on his promises to Nigerians and we are the worse for it. This government doesn't feel like, but it is, a sad continuation of the previous PDP government that was decisively defenestrated by Nigerians in 2015. Despair has replaced disappointment and hopelessness has usurped anger.
Amid the chaos that this government has become, and the wanton destruction of the hopes of Nigerians, nothing worthy of positive mention has happened, or is likely ever to happen. The cacophonies about confronting corruption head-on have morphed into whimpers of submission; the atmosphere of renewed optimism has degenerated into an ambience of resignation. What could be more dispiriting than seeing thieving politicians and shysters continuing to play significant roles in government? What could be a greater disservice to suffering Nigerians than seeing convicts and murderers at the helm of power? What could any reasonable person make of the surreptitious recall of Abdulrasheed Maina to an even more exalted role in public service? What! Are you having me on? Is this a bad dream or something? Such is the unruddered nature of this excuse of a government that Nigerians have never known it this bad since, arguably, the Civil War.
Before the gloaters and PDP apologists go into overdrive, they should be reminded that the 18 years the PDP was in power was the catalyst of Nigeria's descent into the abyss of despair. Buhari's APC has only continued along that sad trajectory. The only depressing thing is that Buhari's ineptitude and sheer disregard for the minutiae of politics, twinned with his willful abdication of common sense, have exacerbated the forlornness that is so graphically expressed on the faces of Nigerians today. Buhari is beleaguered, overwhelmed and under siege. To even remotely entertain the idea of him seeking a second term in office is preposterous (and even treacherous!) and should be discounted outright with a disdainful blow as if swatting an overzealous fly.
To say Nigerians deserve what they've got is wholly uncharitable and patently unjust. How were we to know that the egress from the PDP's trench would be the ingress into Buhari's hole? No, democracy hasn't failed us; we have failed democracy. Buhari's earlier shenanigans have now boomeranged and he has backed himself, and dragged helpless Nigerians with him, into an eerie corner that he has no clue how to get out of. The present is dire and the future is bleak; I decry my truthiness and my disavowal of it could not be more expressive.
I make no pretensions to know the way forward, and I'm not sure anyone does. The precariousness of our national being has never been starker, and the likely danger that awaits never more severe. The total disintegration of societal cohesion is not impossible, and the complete breakdown of law and order not an absolute impossibility. If nothing propitious happens, and soon, anarchy would reign supreme, the outcome of which would be indeterminable. The Nigerian Titanic is going full throttle towards an immovable iceberg of mayhem, but there's still ample time to change course to avert a calamitous careening and an almighty sinking. Failure to change course simply isn't an option. Nigerians are hurting and hungry more than ever before; we have reached the end of our tether and we're at our wits' end.
Amid the chaos that this government has become, and the wanton destruction of the hopes of Nigerians, nothing worthy of positive mention has happened, or is likely ever to happen. The cacophonies about confronting corruption head-on have morphed into whimpers of submission; the atmosphere of renewed optimism has degenerated into an ambience of resignation. What could be more dispiriting than seeing thieving politicians and shysters continuing to play significant roles in government? What could be a greater disservice to suffering Nigerians than seeing convicts and murderers at the helm of power? What could any reasonable person make of the surreptitious recall of Abdulrasheed Maina to an even more exalted role in public service? What! Are you having me on? Is this a bad dream or something? Such is the unruddered nature of this excuse of a government that Nigerians have never known it this bad since, arguably, the Civil War.
Before the gloaters and PDP apologists go into overdrive, they should be reminded that the 18 years the PDP was in power was the catalyst of Nigeria's descent into the abyss of despair. Buhari's APC has only continued along that sad trajectory. The only depressing thing is that Buhari's ineptitude and sheer disregard for the minutiae of politics, twinned with his willful abdication of common sense, have exacerbated the forlornness that is so graphically expressed on the faces of Nigerians today. Buhari is beleaguered, overwhelmed and under siege. To even remotely entertain the idea of him seeking a second term in office is preposterous (and even treacherous!) and should be discounted outright with a disdainful blow as if swatting an overzealous fly.
To say Nigerians deserve what they've got is wholly uncharitable and patently unjust. How were we to know that the egress from the PDP's trench would be the ingress into Buhari's hole? No, democracy hasn't failed us; we have failed democracy. Buhari's earlier shenanigans have now boomeranged and he has backed himself, and dragged helpless Nigerians with him, into an eerie corner that he has no clue how to get out of. The present is dire and the future is bleak; I decry my truthiness and my disavowal of it could not be more expressive.
I make no pretensions to know the way forward, and I'm not sure anyone does. The precariousness of our national being has never been starker, and the likely danger that awaits never more severe. The total disintegration of societal cohesion is not impossible, and the complete breakdown of law and order not an absolute impossibility. If nothing propitious happens, and soon, anarchy would reign supreme, the outcome of which would be indeterminable. The Nigerian Titanic is going full throttle towards an immovable iceberg of mayhem, but there's still ample time to change course to avert a calamitous careening and an almighty sinking. Failure to change course simply isn't an option. Nigerians are hurting and hungry more than ever before; we have reached the end of our tether and we're at our wits' end.
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