On Buhari’s cult of Personality and its potential consequences by Carence Onyekwere

Last week, I tried to write about some negative effects of a cult of personality on a relatively fragile democracy like ours (see herehttps://medium.com/@clarenceonyekwere/on-the-cult-of-personality-and-its-consequences-2016-version-d310aa58de7d#.5bn775jf4 ).

I felt compelled to write it because of what I see as the deplorable state of policy discourse on mainstream media ,social media and other outlets. It is not uncommon to see respectable writers, speakers an activist approach issues of policy or human rights from a “how can I show them that Buhari is right?” angle rather than a “what is best for Nigeria” angle.

A very clear example of this is the fiasco at Zaria where a number of civilians were killed. This case should at the very least led to a call for a proper investigation into such a case and at a deeper level, it should have led to a full discussion about our Military’s human rights record, its role in internal policing and the extent of religious rights. Instead of this, social media was awash with premature defence of the incidence, rationalization of the killings + hasty burials and demonization of the victims.
While in this case, I will not support a premature condemnation of the military, I could not help but notice that a lot of these rationalizations seemed to come from a need to remove blame from the army (and by extension Buhari) than from a desire for justice or a knowledge of the facts. (There was also the angle of inter-sect hatred towards the victims, but this article doesn’t seek to delve into that bit).

This same need to “prove Buhari right” or “Blame anyone else but Buhari” has permeated discourse at every level. Even discussions about possible causes and solution to the present recession are deeply obscured by the fact that some commentators would rather not talk about anything that would cast Buhari in a bad light. This has gone from being benign to becoming a malignant issue that often derails any meaningful discourse.

It is sad that many who fought for good governance have decided to die on the rock of “personality politics”. I have continued to watch in consternation, while people who used to stand for something contort themselves to defend some actions that they’d usually denounce. Some of the reasons why these people have decided to tow this path include:

a. Gain: Some of these “activist” now benefit or stand the chance to benefit from the new government. They have perfected the art of callin a cow its uncle for milk and would even go as far as producing a birth certificate that shows the cow is indeed a relative just to ensure their access to milk, sauces and position remain intact.

b. Ethnic Agenda: Some believe that their man or people are in power and as such, any criticism of the administration’s action is an attack against the tribe. This is sad as Nigeria’s current woes are not very tribe discriminatory

c: A feeling of investment: This can be best expressed as “because I voted in X, I want X to be seen as a success at all times. Criticizing X or having a different policy view from X in any matter will mean that I voted wrong. I must justify my vote”. To these people I say, you do not have to justify your vote. You exercised your civil right and had a limited view or control of the future. Your job in this part of the process is ensure that Nigeria gets the best possible deal it can from Buhari. You are to demand the transparency, competence and results. You are to pay your tax like everyone else and do your best to ensure that all levels of government deliver on their duties.

I believe that Nigeria is at a crucial juncture, we could either mess up and become a backwater of the world or get up and set ourselves on the way to becoming a productive, progressive super economy. It will require a lot of work and a lot of change, but I think it is possible. It will not be possible however,, if we become a docile citizenry that doesn’t demand the best of ourselves and our government at all levels. It is ok to wish Buhari well, we must however know when to put Nigeria first.

In conclusion, it would be nice to get public policy discourse back to a productive place where we try to solve our many problems (which range from environmental pollution to poorly planned socialism) and hold government at all levels to account.