by Tope Fasua
What haven’t we heard and seen? My only pity is for those who are still rooting for the usurpers of our commonwealth, stealers of our peace, and despoilers of our land, despite not benefiting anything from them. Those despoilers are in a final dash to loot and share whatever their hands can reach. Some of them are ready to face the music. But most have relocated abroad or are planning to do so very shortly. The guilty are afraid.
Let us think for a second or two, about the kind of campaign that is being mounted especially by the ruling party. The president - no stranger to divisive politics - talks about politicians minding their utterances but continues to lead the pack of character assassins, rash talkers and forgers of document. The main opposition even sticks to the issue better and seems better prepared for the job ahead - a great task indeed given the total emptying of the treasury. Nigeria has been stolen blind by operatives of this government and their civil-servant cohorts and instigators.
First, we were hearing about how Buhari is a Muslim bigot who is coming to convert by force, the whole Nigeria to Islam. We asked whether this is possible and whether it has been done anywhere in the world. Not even in Saudi Arabia have they forced everyone to become Muslims!
Neither can anyone also ‘Christianize’ Nigeria. But the purveyors of this bogeyman idea keep plying their trade, even preaching the same story from church pulpits around the country to date. We need to watch and listen.
Then they said the man does not have the basic school leaving certificate, even though the constitution only recommends “an equivalent”, and even Buhari has the equivalent of a Masters degree, according to legal luminary Itse Sagay (SAN), because some of the military courses he went for abroad equate to such. The man is intelligent, has always been and there is no reason to doubt his mental capabilities today. In fact, this is what the constitution says about the issue of certificate or no certificate:
“Section 131 (d) of the Constitution provides that a person shall be qualified for election to the office of the President if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent. Section 318 goes further to say that a “School Certificate or its equivalent means: a Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, or Grade II Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or education up to Secondary School Certificate level; or Primary Six School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and- service in the public or private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of ten years, and attendance at courses and training in such institutions as may be acceptable to the Independent National Electoral Commission for periods totalling up to a minimum of one year, and the ability to read, write, understand and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and any other qualification acceptable by the Independent National Electoral Commission.” - courtesy Abimbola Ojenike in The Cable
The new story is now that the good General perjured; that he lied in court that he has a school-leaving certificate, when it appears that the Principal of his primary school merely issued a letter recommending/certifying him to the Army. I should think such ‘certification’ or ‘testimonial’ by the Principal of his school, perhaps stating that indeed he was quite bright and ahead of his time, should even be a plus. Whether the man should remember exactly what happened 60 odd years ago is another question.
They weren’t done. Before then they forged a so-called report from the “Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital”, a non-existent organization; because the real hospital is called AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL. The fake report, which was circulated by Jonathan’s lovers and campaigners said that Buhari has prostate cancer. They actually got a doctor, a fraudulent one at that, to write in that ‘report’ in a manner that suggests professionalism. But it was fake. Their printer omitted UNIVERSITY on the ‘forms/letterheads’. Too bad. We now deal with people who are so desperate, they will do anything to cling to their positions and what they have. THE GUILTY ARE AFRAID. Lies, innuendoes, thefts, intimidation, character assassination, even forgery. Are these the people we voted for? The ones we hope to hand over a mandate for the next four years?
As if that was not enough, the nation awoke on Monday the 19th of January 2015, to an advert paid for by the Governor of Ekiti State, His Excellency the Rascal, Ayo Fayose, in the Punch and Sun newspapers - in fact on their front pages - in which were the photographs of Murtala Muhammad, SaniAbacha and Umaru Yaradua. General MuhammaduBuhari’s picture was the fourth, with his age, 72, written next to him. Fayose then went on to tell Nigerians not to choose death and to choose life; life here being his candidate, Goodluck Jonathan. He averred that northern leaders always died in office and that since Buhari was already 72, he was likely to die by 75 and there was no need for another state burial.
I had never seen anything so shockingly distasteful in my life. I got so angry, I called Fayose a bastard on my Facebook page, instinctively, only to later remember that President Obasanjo, who knows him much better and brought him to limelight, had called him the same thing many years ago. For me, it was that it is abominable for a Yoruba person to say such a thing - as if asking one’s father “when will you die so I can inherit your properties”. This is the stuff of people leading Nigeria today. Recall I had written on this page, that we pray that God delivers us from psychopaths, megalomaniacs and schizophrenics. Not because I loved the big words, but specifically because I think most of those ‘leading’ Nigeria, especially in the PDP today, are totally unhinged and belong in the sanatorium (mental hospital). Fayose is actually one of those. He even quoted Bible verses to support his abominable excursion.
We should only now inform him that he and his paymasters will be totally responsible even if the lizard on General Buhari’s wall in his Daura country-home suddenly falls and dies. Nothing must happen to Buhari or any of his keen supporters, myself inclusive. We didn’t know we were dealing with people like these. Despicable and disgusting!
What these people don’t know is that a revolution is already upon the land and there is no way Nigeria will not change after the upcoming February 14 elections. People are sick and tired. We hear they are doing some final looting - the ‘smart’ ones among them. They know themselves that their games lasted for too long. What will be will be. I want us to be positive-minded, to have that goal-orientation required at this time, and to never give in to any equivocation, that this government will be no more by May 29, 2015. I believe strongly that this government will be routed in the coming elections and will depart in ignominy. Many former Jonathan supporters have converted in the last few days.
We must not rest on our oars. The analogy about King Solomon, the child and the two women is apt. It is obvious who cares about Nigeria and who doesn’t. We only never knew it could be this bad; that they would do everything to try and scuttle the people’s wish for emancipation and some well-deserved peace and prosperity, including destroying the nation. But we still hold the trump card. God save Nigeria!
