President
Buhari accompanied by the NSA Major General Babagana Monguno walks
through the guard of honour formed by the ‘presidential flutists’
The
Indian born British journalist and author, Eric Arthur Blair popularly
known as George Orwell was possessed of a fertile mind; and a seminally
brilliant one for that matter. He wrote four books, two of which are
classics, the Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) andAnimal Farm (1945). While analysts believe that Animal Farm was aimed at the parody that were manifesting in the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin in those heady days, Nineteen Eighty-Four which in the later editions was captioned 1984 “describes official deception, surveillance and manipulation of recorded history by a totalitarian and authoritarian state.”
George
Orwell’s 1984, according to literary critics “is a dystopian novel set
in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the
superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government
surveillance and public manipulation dictated by a political system
euphemistically named English Socialism (or Ingsoc in the government’s
invented language, Newspeak) under the control of a privileged elite of the Inner Party, that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as “thoughtcrime”.
In
2016 Nigeria presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, the above
paragraph describes the milieu that Nigerians have to contend with. With
the searing propaganda engaged in by this Buhari’s administration to
shift the focus off of its incompetence, ineptitude, inertia, repeated
flouting of court orders, violation of constitution, shrouding of
corruption in government, disrespect for the rule of law, the deceit of
Nigerians on alleged victory over Boko Haram and the perpetual war
against Biafran freedom fighters, one would have thought that Orwell had
Nigeria in mind.
An example of “thoughtcrime”
as conceptualized by Orwell is the arrest and interrogation of John
Danfulani of Kaduna State University for expressing his views about the
failures of the Buhari Administration. Another example is Nnamdi Kanu
who has been arrested and continued to be detained in violation of the
Nigerian courts’ orders and Constitution. Mr. Kanu ‘s crime is his
audacity to think of independence for his people from the authorities of
Nigerian government. In Kanu’s case, every possible rule subsisting in
Nigerian context has been disrespected and disregarded. Those who are
celebrating the unlawful incarceration of Mr. Kanu are displaying
monumental ignorance. This is because you do not have to like what he
stands for before you defend his rights. An injustice to one is an
injustice to all, as posited by Martin Luther King Jr.
In this Orwell’s classic 1984,
the tyranny is epitomized by Big Brother, the Party leader who enjoys
an intense cult of personality just as Buhari currently enjoys. The
Party in Orwell’s 1984 “seeks power entirely for its own
sake; just as All Progressives Congress (APC) has just done in Nigeria.
As far as The Party is concerned “It is not interested in the good of
others; it is interested solely in power.” That the APC is in no way
different from the Orwellian Party is more than evident to Nigerians who
have non-conscripted thinking ability.
In 1984, according to
the Free Encyclopedia, “The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a
member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth (or
Minitrue in Newspeak), which is responsible for propaganda and
historical revisionism. His job is to rewrite past newspaper articles,
so that the historical record always supports the party line. The
instructions that the workers receive specify the corrections as fixing
misquotations and never as what they really are, forgeries and
falsifications. A large part of the ministry also actively destroys all
documents that have been edited and do not contain the revisions; in
this way, no proof exists that the government is lying. Smith is a
diligent and skilful worker but secretly hates the Party and dreams of
rebellion against Big Brother.”
Taking a cue from the above
paragraph, the APC and Buhari have engaged in “propaganda and historical
revisionism” since the beginning and lied to the Nigerian youth who
were not of age during the first coming of President Buhari as Military
Head of State. They also exploited the frustrations of Nigerians fed up
with the incompetence and corruption of President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan. They revised history and lied to Nigerians that Buhari was a
“Saint” who was never corrupt. They lied that he had no house in Abuja
or elsewhere in Nigeria except in Kastina. They lied that he only lived
on the farms and had no other asset outside his cows and sheep in
Kastina. They lied that he is a born-again democrat. They deceived
Nigerians that he would fight corruption and give Nigeria competent
leadership. Nigerians now know better.
In the year 1984, Nigeria was
presided over by Muhammadu Buhari. He was assisted by Brigadier Tunde
Idiagbon. Buhari’s 1984 was a period most Nigerians would not forget in a
hurry. That era was one of the most brutal dictatorships ever witnessed
in the history of Nigeria. It was the era of the “Deaf Duo.” Some
referred to them as “Dreadful Duo.” Others called them “Deadly Duo.” The
duo really brought something new to Nigeria. It was newness to
imperious impunity, vicious vendetta, subversion of the judicial system,
abuse of human rights, disregard of and for commonsense as well as
deliberate disrespect and subversion of truth. Those were the orders of
the day.
It was the first time in Nigeria’s
History when as the ruler of the country Buhari publicly made a
statement that if any journalist wrote the truth and the government did
not like that truth, the journalist would go to jail. Yes, it was a
promise made by General Buhari. It was a promise made good by sending
journalists Tunde Thompson and Ndukar Irabor to jail through the
notorious Decree 4 of 1984. It was indeed a return to the medieval
mentality of the divine rights of kings!
It was also the first and only time
in Nigeria’s History so far, when people queued for “Essential
Commodities” such as sugar and milk. Even the obnoxious Shehu Shagari
era, to which the dreadful duo put an end did not visit such opprobrium
and suffering on Nigerians. For the generality of Nigerians, it was an
era of want and need. It was an era of terror and persecution. It was an
era of agony and anguish. Nigerians were not only physically abused as
soldiers whipped grown men in the streets; they were mentally tortured
on regular basis and several Nigerians were detained without trial.
In this year 2016, the 1984 mentality has continued to subsist under the Buhari Administration. Several of the President’s cabinet members have allegations of corruption hanging on their necks, yet the administration is engaged in deceit of Nigerians about a fallacious war on corruption. The President has refused to fully declare his assets publicly despite making a promise to do so during campaign.
Nigeria not only became George Orwell’s 1984,
it also became Orwell’s Animal Farm where “All animals are equal, but
some are more equal than others.” It was an era when smuggling was a
serious crime. Yet it was during the same era when Buhari’s Aide – de-
Camp (ADC), Major Mustafa Jokolo helped the then Emir of Gwandu smuggled
53 suit cases through the Nigerian Customs. Yet it was the same era
when the Great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was arrested and sent to jail for
having in his possession $10,00.00 allowed under the subsisting law for
travel. It was an era when Buhari’s deputy, General Idiagbon took his 14
year-old son to Mecca in violation of their own rule that under age
children should not be taken on such journey.
It was a period when some were
reminded that they were second class citizens in their own country and
as such could not look forward to fair and equitable treatment. That era
of the Dreadful Duo was the first time since 1970 when Nigerians
realized that the Civil War has not ended. It was an era when the
concept of holding an assistant responsible for the actions of the boss
who mismanaged and bankrupted the company became an acceptable
practice. President Shehu Shagari got to be detained in Presidential
Guest House at Ikoyi while his hapless Vice President, Chief Ekweme got
to cool his feet at Kirikiri Prisons.
It was also the era when it was
discovered that the vanquished of the war, were not the Ndigbo alone. It
was found out that all Nigerian were vanquished too. It was an era when
your ethnic origin determined your guilt and not your crime. A
stainless Pa Adekunle Ajasin tried three times and found not guilty was
remanded at Agodi Prisons while Awwal Ibrahim arrested in London
Heathrow Airpor for money laundering was remanded in a guest house. He
was later tried and convicted of abuse of power and corruption and
barred for life from holding public office.
In
this year 2016, the 1984 mentality has continued to subsist under the
Buhari Administration. Several of the President’s cabinet members have
allegations of corruption hanging on their necks, yet the administration
is engaged in deceit of Nigerians about a fallacious war on corruption.
The President has refused to fully declare his assets publicly despite
making a promise to do so during campaign. What we have so far are
incomplete disclosures to mislead Nigerians and shut up the critics.
Nigerians do not know whether the President has paid his 25 million
naira loan that he borrowed to buy the nomination papers of his party.
The
president is reneging on so many promises he made during the campaign
and he is completely denying ever making some promises to Nigerians. Lai
Mohammed insisted that Buhari never promised to pay NGN5,000 to the
unemployed in Nigeria! The budget was padded as a means to looting the
country’s resources under the nose of the President and yet he went
ahead to present it to the National Assembly. It is a government
perplexingly engaged in permanent “propaganda and revisionism” to shroud
its incompetence, ineptitude, inertia and kleptomania.
This
is 2016. Nigeria is now a democracy. Even if it is warped somehow, it
is still a democracy. And in a democracy, everyone has the right to
express his opinion and ask questions of those who choose of their own
volition to be our leaders. So, questions we must ask and answers we
must get. Right now everything that Orwell’s 1984 seminally pointed out
as undesirable is happening in our authoritarian democracy. We have had
the massacre of innocent people in Zaria. We have had the killing of
innocent in Onitsha. We are witnessing the decimation of the Agatu
people on their land. When would Nigerians get the CHANGE they voted
for?
“In
the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted
the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not
shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.” – John F. Kennedy, in his Inaugural Address January 20, 1961
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