MY PEOPLE

Long before President Muhammadu Buhari became the flag bearer of the APC, Femi Fani-Kayode said Boko Haram was the militant wing of the APC.

The kidnap of over 200 Chibok girls happened in early 2014 and most Nigerians got to know about this event only, days later. I was stunned and didn't believe this happened until the former president confirmed it to Nigerians during his now infamous media chat.

Some plots followed this unfortunate event and top of the list was that it was a grand conspiracy by those opposed to Jonathan's re-election bid to discredit him. The APC and therefore Buhari arranged for the disappearance of the girls. Another popular plot was that it was a made up event; a scam they said like the '419' we are used to.

Many of those who have contracted their thinking to the likes of FFK, Reno Wendell Omokri and Fayose believed these narratives and still do till tomorrow.

Just like the Chibok sign was hung on Buhari's slender neck, so were herdsmen attack and election violence. Like a modern day make-up artiste, they decorated the Fulani president and his entire race as demons solely responsible for all the woes in our country. He was at fault for everything even before he took his oath of office; even the responsibility of all the war crimes from the Nigeria-Biafra impasse were placed on him.

These are some of the things President Buhari has had to deal with. If he talks, he's in trouble and if he doesn't, he's still in trouble. Those who labeled him a dictator before May 29th, 2015, preempting how he was going to hound his political opponents and even kill them are now asking why we are being told President Jonathan shared huge sums days before the 2015 election when he should be charged to court. These same individuals more or less blamed the president for the bombings of oil installations in 2015/16. They challenged him for halting amnesty payments. It is the same individuals who form the core of those who abuse the president for ordering the investigation and arrest of corrupt judges yet they ask why no 'one' has been sentenced for corruption. They tell him to 'live' mama Peace alone with her inheritance and insist that Alison-Madueke had a platinum spoon before changing her diet to Brent crude. Some of these individuals have now become referees or ‘atikulate’ time keepers.

If we ask folks to drift mentally back in time, they'll insist on the present. Boko Haram, herdsmen-farmers' clashes, unknown gunmen attacks, Niger-Delta militancy and other local clashes did not start nor escalate with the entrance of Buhari. Some just take delight in forcing this narrative. My people don't want any security or economic failures carried over from Jonathan's time but when Buhari commissions any carried over project, they are quick to remind us of who initiated or began such.

So Buhari and his APC crew facilitated Chibok and intermittently released Chibok girls from their safe houses to pacify Nigerians especially when news headlines were bad. Let's fast forward to February 2018; over 100 female students were taken from their school in Dapchi, Yobe state about 4 years after young boys were executed and some girls taken from the federal government college Buni Yadi, Yobe state.

Those who mock the president for technically defeating Boko Haram went to town and screen to celebrate the 'fallacy' of that claim. "How on earth are schools in the zone without security...." they asked.”The president has failed...we said it." Some even asserted that Dapchi meant that the president would fail if he opted for re-election.

Mr. President eventually visited some trouble spots in the country but my people were still angry. He went to Plateau and they were angry many people poured into the streets to welcome him. He went to Benue and they rejoiced that the roads were empty. Buhari visited Yobe and they were angry that he was given a red carpet reception. "How dare him walk on a red carpet in a town were parents were sorrowful over their missing children?" Then he spoke in Hausa to the parents and they went ballistic. This was an official trip with foreign journalists on the train, he was supposed to speak in English and not speak vernacular. I wonder if interpreters have gone into extinction.

The former US foreign Secretary visited the president and then lost his job the next day; he got the notice on Twitter. Nigerians hailed Trump and blamed Buhari for the sack. One of the issues mentioned was a move to negotiate the release of the Dapchi girls but Nigerians didn't hear that part.

So Dapchi girls got released with 5 deceased (may they rest in peace) and my favorite Nigerians have been writing episodes for the upcoming season of the popular TV series '24' starring Jack Bauer as actor and Mo' Buhari as the boss.

Those who insulted the president for walking on a red carpet before parents of the formerly kidnapped girls suddenly remembered when they said that Dapchi was a scam. Those who bothered about the use of language suddenly got the vision of how the president and his party planned the "excursion" for the unwilling girls and returned them to earn the applause and votes of Nigerians. How is it possible that a similar event used to discredit the former administration has now become one to increase the approval rating of the current government? What kind of wisdom is this? Would it not have made better sense if a pursuit and overtaking of these kidnappers was done and broadcast live via a drone like the O.J. Simpson-Police chase? Would that not have earned the present more credit?

My people went on to discuss the nature of the return. They asked why security operatives didn't confront the bandits who returned the girls and they insisted that money changed hands. The funniest people are those who keep screaming what they hear on TV, "we don't negotiate with terrorists." You better wake up to reality.

Those pushing photos and videos and saying locals welcomed the terrorists and cheered them or that the girls returned with bags and goods given to them by Boko Haram, may falsehood not consume you.

I don't know why, but I'm convinced my people will be alright... one day. I had an encounter with a middle aged police woman yesterday. Phil Enwerem of Divisional headquarters Olosan Mushin. I will try to write about that event soon. That woman is the evidence of all that is wrong with Nigeria. She doesn't deserve to wear a uniform and curing this illness will require a complete eradication of probably 90.0% of the police force so we can start afresh. This may not be practical but we have to do something and I'm not talking about the primitive ethno-religious nonsense my people are fond of spitting. Good pay and hairdressers to prevent the creation of more Phil Enwerems will be a good start.

My people will be alright ‘last last.’

JOA..... [22/03/2018]