By Onyiorah Paschal
Chiduluemije
The foregoing remark credited to and drawn from the speech delivered by
President Muhammadu Buhari during the launch of the National Re-orientation
Campaign tagged Change Begins With Me, on Thursday, September 8, 2016, is, to
say the least, quite unbecoming of the President. Indeed, the man who is now a
proverbial tortoise that once upon a time assured all animals at the beginning
of their journey, of an existing promised land, like an Eldorado, and only for
it (the same tortoise) to announce in the course of the journey, and to the
chagrin of all animals, that the so-called promised land which they had all set
out to behold and possess was the same as the land they had just left in search
of milk and honey (thus obviating the need for their journey).
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| *President Buhari and Lai Mohammed |
But
unlike what obtained in the old (and abandoned) land, all animals were now
individually saddled with the responsibilities of tracing and accessing the new
Kingdom through the different paths apparently leading to it, basically because
the main entrance to the promised land was practically unknown. This tale in a
nutshell, aptly illustrates the analogous (abrupt) paradigm shift in the APC’s
and/or President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘change
slogan’ afterthought called Change Begins With Me.
Of course, it is almost
unbelievable that the same man who – with hindsight – apparently tricked the
electorate into voting him into power with an unmistakable promise of a
positive change in the living standard of all, is today squarely pontificating
about a clearly diversionary tactic called Change Begins With Me, and, as it
were, almost patronising both the hungry and the angry for “failing” to first
of all ask themselves what they have done to change their ways before expecting
the government to change their lives.
As it were, many an APC supporter would have by now definitely found it
extremely difficult to fathom the essence of this seemingly derogatory remark
against the people made by no less a person than President Muhammadu Buhari,
which, critically viewed, ought not to have arisen in the very first place. And
the reason for this thinking is not far-fetched. For one, a campaign promise of
change made to the people remains a campaign promise, and so it does not
necessarily follow in a thriving democracy that the people must be willing to
dance to the tune and/or comply with the dictates, wishful thinking, whims and
caprices of their elected representatives, before the latter could be
reasonable enough to bring to fruition all that had been promised during the
electioneering. Therefore, it makes no sense at all for anybody, be that Mr.
President or whoever, to begin to impress it on the masses to alter their ways
as a condition precedent for being “entitled” to demand, inter alia, that the
APC-led government accomplish its campaign promises.
Ironically, though, the
same President who now appears to be patronising Nigerians and scoffing at
their increasing demand for a positive change to take effect as promised by the
All Progressives Congress, is yet to repent of his own old ways or, better
still, renounce his ethnic and religious preferences and inclination towards
people and issues of national importance. Evidently, there is no gainsaying
that his glaringly lopsided appointments so far still reek of and speak volumes
about facts associated with his unpalatable past.
