11/27/2018
Two months to Nigeria's presidential election, no one is talking about programs from more than 50 candidates. All that is in treading in the blogosphere is about Muhammed Buhari and Abubakar Atiku. Rather talk about programs for voters consideration, the ruling party has tagged the opposition candidate ridiculously as a thief, as if a court of law has tried and convicted Atiku, relying on Olusegun Obasanjo's criticism of Atiku about why Atiku cannot visit the U.S. Yet, Obasanjo is one of the ardent supporters of Atiku. Obasanjo is undoubtedly in a difficult position. Today, he has abandoned Buhari, who he helped made a president to unseat Goodluck Jonathan. Today, Obasanjo wants to unseat Buhari, but his words of yesterday has become a hard wall between him and his ambition to unseat Buhari. There is no way of knowing the truth in Obasanjo's words against. It might be just a political fire-bomb to stop his second-in-command aspiration capable of elevating Atiku above him. Today, those words have become evidence by Atiku's opponents against him. Silently, Obasanjo will wish he has never spoken those words, especially now that he has chosen to support Atiku. It is a reminder about the warning by elders for people to watch their words, and in today's world of social media frenzy that careless words are capable of rendering anyone fond of using words carelessly into the oblivion. The problem is not much for Atiku, who has not been tried and convicted by any court of law, but for Obasanjo who has been playing God over Nigeria's political affairs. Of course, Buhari has benefited from Obasanjo's deityship. It is part of the problem with Nigeria - individuals turning themselves into God and believing they can determine the direction of life in the enclave. The same way that Obasanjo has turned homself into a deity that Buhari has done to capture majority of Nigeria's consciousness as "Mr.Clean", when the truth may be different. The question is about why former military leaders in Nigeria like to God. It has something to do with the of their training as soldiers, whose only sense of understanding is obedience to superiors. No matter who wins the next election, Nigeria may remain the woods until such a time when a forceful hands of resistance these gods cannot discontenance confront them. They don't understand the culture of civility or modern democracy. All they know is themselves and themselves alone.
