Father forgive them, for they know not what they do

I am one of those 'unlucky' people to not have experienced Buhari's first coming as military head of state in the early 80s, but I for one, does not take history lightly even if my knowledge is simply based on the pages of books.

However, when you hear the words "a leopard cannot change its spot" and "donning a suit cannot change your real identity", you immediately realize something is definitely not right. This was what Nigerians were told about Buhari prior to heading to the polls in 2015.


President Muhammadu Buhari has had three consecutive failed attempts at becoming a democratically elected president since 2003, until for some reasons, and or a voodoo witchcraft, he was eventually handed victory in a well calculated and orchestrated campaign from powers both within and outside the country, to force out Goodluck Jonathan.

Buhari's rejection in both 2003, 2007 and 2011, by Nigerians is believed to be connected to his past records, particularly during his short stint as a military head of state in 1983.

All who managed to survive Buhari's rule at the time, lived to tell a sad tale of a man who must never be allowed to come anywhere near the seat of power.



But like Fani Kayode once said, Nigeria is like a cursed nation destined to never see good days, with the only way out of the curse being "disintegration".

It is true that we have suffered as a people who deserved better. But our predicaments only seem to get worse whenever something good is on the horizon. Just when we thought a Jonathan administration with the best cabinet and economic team was a gift from above to build the Nigeria of our dreams, the world took up arms and imposed one of our greatest fears upon us.

Asked why Buhari was overthrown as a Military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida said, they had to do it because of too much frustration in the society.




He said, "A coup or change comes about if there is frustration in the society. Just get that right. There was frustration in the society between 1984 to 1985. The ground was fertile for a coup.

He added, "It was not unusual then to hear, in the case of the democratically elected government in1983, a common phrase was ‘the worst military regime is better than this government’. So you were giving us the impetus to stage a coup. We are not dummies. If we didn’t have the support of all of you, we wouldn’t venture into it."


At the time, it took only two years for Buhari to frustrate the country enough to warrant his dethronement. Today however, Nigerians have had to deal with over 5 years of frustrations with three more to go, yet, we hear of a potential third term bid for the president.

How much more wickedness do we have to endure? Why always Buhari? Even those who forced him on us, have now turned against him.

Does it no longer matter that politicians no longer keep their promises? How else can government be held accountable when the masses are suppressed by laws designed to hang them for crying out loud? Is Nigeria's democracy different from the one we were taught in school?



How can Buhari's administration be allowed to get away with its atrocities since coming to power in 2015? Where are those who were on GEJ's throat until he had to concede defeat?

If the pains Nigerians were subjected to in 2020 alone isn't enough to bring out humanity in the current government, then there's no hope left except to wait for an uncommon miracle.

Let me end this short piece with these words from former vice president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar;

‪I reject the increased electricity tariffs. Coming out of the lockdown, Nigerians need a stimulus, not an impetuous disregard for the challenges they face. Many Nigerians have not earned an income for months, due to no fault of theirs. This increase is ill-timed and ill-advised.‬
— Atiku Abubakar

An opinion piece by William Adams. He wrote in via Critical Voices.