Jubril From Sudan To Tunde From Benin – life is unbearable in Nigeria. Sufferings and hopelessness brag.
During the reign of Muhammadu Buhari, at a point, there was a fallback pretext that shielded Nigerians from oblivion, or at least, kept reality at arm’s length.
Such pretext is needed now, more than ever, because sufferings have quadrupled. Buhari set the precedent, and President Tinubu followed intactly – the trajectory of decline seems embedded in the country’s nature, even in all artifificial spheres.
When Jonathan lost his reelection bid, few analysts juxtaposed the cons and pros correctly. The cons analysed that Nigeria got rid of its predicament by rejecting Goodluck Jonathan while pros knew that Nigerians were in for a tough and rough ride.
It was a case of experience versus expectation. Those that witnessed the rule of Buhari during the dark history of military rule knew the man was a calamity, while younger Nigerians saw a flawless and poor man that had no interest in material things. They chose expectation over experience, a choice that cost them dearly.
The current administration championed by President Bola Amed Tinubu has heaped much of the blame on Buhari his predecessor. It’s a norm in Nigeria to shift blames on the past governments, because nobody is ready to take responsibility.
Buhari did wonderfully when shifting blames, reminding Nigerians that PDP years of misrule destroyed Nigeria. He was bold enough to say the pump price that was at 95 Naira skyrocting to hundreds of Naira was the making of PDP. It was hard for him to accept his policies were responsible for the deteriorated state of the country then.
Nigerians soon began to take a hit from reality until Buhari took significant ill. He had to be flown abroad and hurried back home. On boarding and getting off the presidential aircraft, he was nearly blown away by the wind. It shows the severity of his ill health, it was serious to the point his critics thought he won’t make it back.
His long stay abroad for treatment invoked the memories of ex-President Umaru Musa, who died of illness in a foreign hospital. Oppositions waited for Buhari’s corpse, but the President made it alive. Even though he was hurried back.
Gallant and rejuvenated, propaganda sold by the leader of IPOB took over the social media space. The IPOB leader alleged the man that was brought back was Jubril From Sudan, not Muhammadu Buhari. He consistently pushed the narrative, with members of IPOB painting and circulating it until it festered.
While the frivolous and trivial claim was meant to disrupt the country’s Internet space and chase clout, it soon became a fallback pretext that aided Nigerians.
When the going got tougher, people looked back and motivated themselves with the fact that their President had died and a vacant seat was occupied by a look-alike or robot.
It was a source of motivation, giving them hope that by the time a new President takes over, Jubril from Sudan would run back to his country and everything would be fine.
Buhari spent the rest of his time at the helm bearing Jubril on the internet. It was a comic experience, but entirely a relief lever for most Nigerians. They temporarily got detached from reality, and that lifted their hope – when a real President finally takes over, Jubril would run away and Nigeria would be better.
With President Tinubu, reality is hitting Nigerians and there is no escape or pretext that draws hope. There is no hope of a better Nigeria with fuel sold at highest price in the country’s history. Naira collapsed to the lowest in the country’s history. Inflation biting hardest in the country’s history.
Nigerians need a pretext, a detachment from reality. If Jubril from Sudan is gone, someone should please bring Tunde from Benin. Tunde from Benin deserves to be there because Nigerians don’t want to believe a Nigerian is leading the destruction of Nigeria.
By Invitation > Ifeanyi Chijioke.
