LEST WE FORGET: A PERSPECTIVE ON POLITICAL HYPOCRISY AND IRONIES - BY ACHIKE CHUDE

The hypocrisies and ironies that have dogged or followed this government teach us some basic or fundamental truths of life: 

·         No condition is permanent
·         Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones
·         What you do today, might catch up with you tomorrow.

Example One: It is amusing to remember how the APC tried to convince us that there was no such thing as fuel subsidy under the Jonathan administration, insisting that it was a scam. They also urged the people to reject any increase in the pump price of fuel.  Well, circumstances changed, they came to power, argued that the hitherto non-existent subsidy now existed, and jacked up the pump price of fuel by about a whopping, unprecedented 70% and now told us that subsidy and subsidy payment had been taken care of once and for all. Lest we forget, they also told us that the refineries will work and went ahead to release money for that. Three years down the line, the refineries are not working and now we are being told we are owing fuel subsidy payments of about N1.4 trillion, much more than the Jonathan government was paying, and this is after the Buhari administration increased the pump price of fuel from N87.00 to N145.00 . How? To whom? From where?

Example Two:When President Goodluck Jonathan did a self assessment of his then government, scoring his administration well, It was an angry and undignified Lai Mohammed who told us that it was shameful that president Jonathan and his administration would take part in an examination, mark the papers themselves and score themselves. He said that it was left for the people to score their leaders and not the other way round. Three years down the line,  president Buhari and Lai Mohammed have written their own examination and, hold on!, they have marked their own papers and have scored themselves excellent.

Example Three: Lai Muhammed had railed and wailed against the previous government, chiding them on the need to respect the rule of law, press freedom, and the right of Nigerians to express themselves. President Buhari, in his recent democracy day broadcast also talked about the importance of respect for the rule of law. Good point! But what are Dasuki and El Zak Zakky still doing in detention years after legitimate courts, including the ECOWAS court ordered for their release?

During the Jonathan era, I was once invited to the federal government owned Nigeria Television Authority, where I criticised President Jonathan and his administration without being gagged. They would ask questions like "What are the strong points and weaknesses of the present administration?" Just recently I was invited to the same NTA and, before the program commenced, was told not to say anything bad about the Buhari government. They asked questions like "Can you please talk about the successes of the Buhari administration?" Of course, I told them I will not be gagged or controlled from expressing myself as I see fit. However, to preserve and save the jobs of the people in the studio, I opted for a middle of the road response in the interview. And Lai Mohammed had the guts to  to talk about freedom of expression?

Conclusion: We can almost say that the demystification of this government started almost the moment they took over from the then hugely unpopular PDP government. Apart from the disappointment of the president waiting for about 6 months to appoint his cabinet, the crisis over presiding officers in the National Assembly was an indication that the country was in for a very rough ride. Three years down the line, the little sea disturbances have assumed the proportion of a massive gale that threatens to overrun the shorelines of our country. After the elections, the APC apartchiks forgot that propaganda, a very effective tool used to destabilize, expose, and unseat Jonathan could only work within specific contexts and were more effective in war time than peace time. They perhaps failed to remember that having won the election; they needed a different kind of propaganda - the propaganda of providing social services such as jobs, healthcare, education, Security etc. In the absence of all these, the resort to blackmail, peddling of falsehood, threats against the citizens etc., became inevitable. This is why they organised an examination for themselves, wrote the examination themselves, supervised it, marked it themselves and awarded the scores to themselves. And the score? A1: Excellent. They really need to clap for themselves!

Another tear for Nigeria! 

- Achike Chude, a Nigerian contemporary author, is a good governance advocate and national affairs commentator.