INTRODUCTION
A time there was when former president Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe
Jonathan was the whipping child. Many Nigerians flogged him by
the bare buttocks, with koboko or bulala, for allegedly allowing
Boko Haram fester in the North East. They mocked him. One
leading APC leader derisively described him as the “drunken
Ijaw man”. He laughed all off, with smiles and affability.
Occasionally with humour and guffaw.
THE TECHNICALITY OF A DEFEAT
This government had claimed since 2016, severally, that Boko
Haram had been “technically defeated”; “badly degraded”. All
that remained, prided the spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, was
mere mop-up operations in the Sambisa forests. The government
adulated itself; back-slapped one another and vilified Jonathan.
They had mouthed lies and inanities that Boko Haram had taken
over more than 7 LGAs in Borno state, planted their flags, and
refused people passage. Pro-APC and those who bayed for
Jonathan’s calm blood did not stop for a moment to consider the
plausibility of this theory. Was it sensible?
THE FALSE CONSPIRACY THEORIES
They could not do simple logical analysis or reasoning, to wonder
how the presidential election of February, 2015, could still take
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place in the North East, especially in Borno State, with “land-
slide” and “moon-slide” victories for the then APC Presidential
candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, if Boko Haram had
indeed so ravaged the North East that it was unreachable.
Reason vacated its seat. Vain gloriousness and falsehood sat on
the chair of sanity. Imperiously. Like a proud peacock!
The propagandists were not interested in the truth. What mattered
then was that president Jonathan must be hounded out of power
at all cost- by hook or crook. What mattered was that Messiah
Buhari was coming in, like the lamb of God who “taketh away
the sins of the world” (John 1.29). Buhari had promised
Nigerians during his electioneering campaigns that economy,
corruption, and insecurity would be his principal tripodial concern.
He would deal them a death blow. On insecurity, he promised to
“lead from the front”. Of course, Nigerians believed him. Why
would Nigerians not believe him? Afterall, he was a retired
General who had fought during the 3 year bloody Nigerian-Biafran
civil war. Why not, when a “bloody civilian”; like Jonathan, could
not “tame” the Boko Haram menace that was scorching dear
North. Did Nigerians who suffered historical amnesia remember
that Buhari once bemoaned the killing of Boko Haram insurgents
which he likened to killing “Northern Moslems”?
GOODLUCK JONATHAN: THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB
So, Nigerians were misled, deceived and hood-winked
hypnotically, sumnabulistically, to literally kick out Jonathan from
office. Jonathan became the sacrificial lamb on the altar of
bacchanalian gods and goddesses.
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The affable, easy-going “I-had-no-shoes-to-wear-at-the-age-of-
10” President quietly conceded defeat even while the votes were
still being counted to satiate their over bloated ego. He insisted
that his “ambition was not worth the drop of any Nigerian’s
blood”. He was ridicled, derided, spat on and even attacked in
some parts of Northern States (like Bauchi), where he had gone
to campaign. He simply smiled and left, without uttering one word.
Here was the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria being stoned at campaign rallies. Not
that he did not know. He did. He swallowed it
On December 30, 2014, President Jonathan had received a
delegation of Traditional Rulers and leaders of thought from
Bayelsa State. Led by the then State Governor, Seriake Dickson,
Jonathan had prophetically warned Nigerians thus
(premiumtimesng.comnews):
“When I leave office, you will all remember me for
the total freedom you enjoyed during my
government”.
Then in a picture he posted on August 24, 2017, more than 2
years after Nigerians had been subjected to the most harrowing
and asphyxiating experience of grinding poverty, escalated
insecurity and mounting corruption (recovered loots were being
relooted), Jonathan weighed in again (www.legit.ng):
“I am the most abused and insulted president in the
world, but when I leave office you will all remember
me for the total freedom you enjoyed under my
government”.
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Though President Jonathan said he will continue to do his best in
solving Nigeria’s challenges, he however said he did not expect
praise while still in office; but that his then actions and
achievements will only be justified and applauded after he had left
office. Has Jonathan not been proved right? Have events not
vindicated him? Where are the historical revisionists, bootlickers,
grovelers and fawners in this government now, the Buharists and
Buharideens. Compare the GEJ era with the PMB era, and tell
Nigerians honestly, which is better. Can any Nigerian take up the
Holy Bible, Holy Quran or iron, and swear by God, Allah or Ogun,
that his life is better today than he was in 2014?
THE CHANGING TIMES
An alleged mere blockade of the Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur
Buratai passage in Zaria on December 12, 2015, by rallying
Shites Islamic group, which led to a gridlock of his convoy, had
promptly met with over 348 hundred in cold graves, laden with
crimson blood of butchered unarmed and secretly buried
Nigerians. Sheik Zakzaky and his wife were promptly arrested.
They have been in detention since then, inspite of several court
orders for their release. (en.m.wikipedia.org.www.cnn.com).
History is good. It exhumes the ugly entrails of the past and
splatters your face with them. Today, the story of Boko Haram is
painfully worse. The historical revisionists have reached the end
of their game of chicanery of mass propaganda that made Adolf
Hitler’s Goebbel green with envy in his cold grave. The chicken
has finally come home to roost.
The Pandora box has been broken. The dirty skeletons in the
white sepulcher have been unearthed and thrown up.
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Suddenly, the truth, always as slow as the tortoise and snail, has
finally overtaken shear falsehood and multi-layered lies that
always run as fast as Hussein Bolt and Ben Johnson combined.
Before Buhari’s government, Nigerians contended mostly with
Boko Haram and kidnapping. Today, armed banditry, terrorizing
AK-47 wielding herdsmen, rampaging kidnappers, blood-thirsty
murderers and other demonic vampirious elements have since
taken over the Nigerian space.
THE FINAL REVERSE
Now, the Federal Government has reversed itself. It wines,
cringes, swallows now its vomit. Lai Mohammed has suddenly
admitted that Nigeria is yet to defeat Boko Haram.
(www.premiumtimesng.com). Reacting to the gruesome slaughter
of 110 farmers by the terrorist group in Borno, Lai said that the
federal government’s counter-terrorism efforts are being
hamstrung by insufficient military hardware. Oh, really?
The Minister lamented that Nigeria’s entreaties to its foreign
partners for assistance to upgrade its weaponry has not yielded
results, hence the country may remain at the mercy of the
dreaded jihadist group, which according to him, gets global
funding: I thought elements of this same government once
prevailed on the international community not to supply arms to the
Jonathan government to fight the terrorists.
Lai lamented further:
“Nigeria has made an attempt to acquire a better and more
effective platform to deal with terrorists but for one reason or
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the other we have been denied this platform — these
weapons”.
He added: “Without adequate weapons or platforms, we
remain at the mercy of terrorists.” But a former United States
envoy to Nigeria, James Entwistle, had earlier disclosed that the
U.S refused to sell arms to troubled Nigeria due to serious human
rights infractions perpetrated by Nigerian troops, an allegation Lai
has expectedly denied.
THE CHANGING TUNES
Now, those who shouted “hosanna” for Buhari, and “crucify
Jonathan” to GEJ less than 6 years ago, are today singing a new
song. The time for pretext is over. The time for historical
revisionism is over. Now is the time for hard truth and soul-
searching. Conscience, said Usman Dan Fodio, is “an open
wound”; only truth can heal it”.
Yes! This was why the former two-term Governor of Borno State,
Kashim Shettima, prodded by the gruesome beheading tens of
Borno citizens, finally spilled the beans, in a motion he moved at
the Plenary Session of the senate on 1 st December, 2020. He
said over 40 thousand people had been killed in 10 years, with
over 2.5 million displaced, by the Boko Haram insurgents. He
faulted the Federal Governments position that Boko Haram had
been defeated-or-degraded, whether “technically”, militarily,
physically, spiritually, psychologically, or otherwise.
Hear him:
“Last weekend’s beheading happened about 20
kilometres away from Maiduguri. From the 1 st of
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January to this day, we have had 2,800 attacks in
Borno State, Boko Haram are virtually ruling all our
rural areas. They kill and abduct people at will. They
are targeting farmers in the North.
Government officials keep saying Boko Haram has
been technically defeated. This cliam is not true.
The primary responsibility of government is to
protect lives and property of the people. Any
government that has failed in doing this has lost
the legitimacy of the people.
If we allow terrorists to take over North East, that is
capable of metamorphosing into something larger
Shettima said”
The Senator representing President Buhari’s constituency,
Ahmed Baba Kaita, in his contribution, jabbed at his kinsman. He
said actions of president Buhari have not produced any results so
far. He said if something was not done, insurgents may overrun
the country. Listen to him:
“The time of truth has come. The situation is no longer
acceptable to any Nigerian. We can’t be mourning our
citizens in and out every day. We can’t accept the
explanation from those who should do the right thing
whenever there is attack. If the statement from Garba Shehu
is true (blaming the slain farmers for not getting clearance
from troops before going to field), that’s very irresponsible.
“I believe that the situation is facing us eyeball to eyeball. We
have to sit down and access the situation in the North East.
Something is wrong here. If we allow this to go, we should be
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ready for another attack soon”. (To be continued). Next week,
we shall see to how the Senate tackled this delicate issue.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“Every person in this country is suffering because of bad
governance”. (Arvind Kejriwal).
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