Those who show fanatical support for President Muhammadu Buhari and believe that he can never do anything wrong are his worst enemies as well as a threat to Nigeria’s growth and democratic development. His predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan, suffered a similar fate from sycophants and fanatical supporters.
There are two governors who have been taking actions and making pronouncements that win over even their critics: Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. Let’s just look at a little aspect of what they have done since their assumption of office on May 29, 2015.
Last week, there was a news story in the newspapers with headlines like: “I need criticism, not praise – el-Rufai tells Kaduna people;” “I need critics, not sycophants – el-Rufai tells Kaduna people.” El-Rufai was speaking at a town hall meeting in Zaria. He said among other things: “We are human beings and we are bound to make mistakes. Don’t praise us. We don’t need praises. Tell us when we are going the wrong direction so that we can take correction and do the right thing.”
One thing that makes leaders derail is blind support and praise-singing. In most Nigerian states, the state radio and TV stations play praise-singing jingles of the state governors every 30 minutes. The intersections and major roads are littered with billboards of the governors. Before some governors speak at any function, some praise-singers hail them. If the governors have to deliver a speech of one hour, the praise-singers will interrupt the speech every 10 minutes or less. To many governors, that is the way to prove to their political opponents that they are “performing” and are popular.
The people can be pardoned on this type of praise-singing because it is orchestrated by the governors themselves. But the dangerous type is when the led have the siege mentality that makes them believe that their leader should NEVER be criticised, because any form of criticism is an attack on the infallible leader. And that is a dangerous trend that many supporters of Buhari are displaying.
If Buhari smiles, he is praised as a genial and humane leader. If he chooses not to smile, he is hailed as a serious leader who does not waste precious national time on the frivolity of smiling. If he slants his cap to the left, he is praised for being stylish. If he keeps it straight, he is praised for being balanced in his dealings and thoughts. If Buhari breaks a promise he made during the campaign, these supporters ask: “Is that the most important issue facing us as a country now?” If he takes too long to make a decision, he is praised for being a cautious and thoughtful leader who does not want to make the mistakes of the past. If he takes an action that he spoke against during his campaign, these supporters remind us that Goodluck Jonathan took the same action as President or that President John Kennedy of the United States took a similar action in 1962.
In the euphoria to credit Buhari with great achievements, all manner of things are credited to him, including things that he had no input on. For example, on June 11, 2015, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced that the refineries (starting with that in Port Harcourt) would start working in July. These hardliners started praising Buhari for the feat. Common sense would have made someone to ask if the turn-around maintenance of a refinery that had gone into despair for decades could be achieved in 13 days (including weekends) – which was the length of time Buhari had spent in office then. Is a refinery a car that can be repaired in a matter of days?
Even after Buhari stated in a TV interview with Omotayo Omotosho on the NTA that it would be dishonest of him to take credit for the revamping of the refineries, these praise-singers still kept on with the claim. The same thing is happening in the areas of railway and electricity.
While the Buhari fanatics are crediting every good thing to the President and crediting every bad thing to Jonathan, the Jonathan fanatics are doing the same thing: discrediting anything Buhari and praising anything Jonathan. The attack on Buhari got so ridiculous that when Buhari visited the US recently, the anti-Buhari elements shared pictures on social media which showed President on a red carpet whose end was visible and used that to say that Buhari was so poorly treated by the US that the US even had to provide an incomplete red carpet for his welcome. Even the way Buhari stood or walked while in the US was criticised. The plan is that Buhari has to be portrayed as bad in toto.
The terrible belief of these two dangerous groups is that for Buhari to rise, Jonathan must fall, and for Jonathan to rise, Buhari must fall. This ridiculous mindset is replayed in all states where the succeeding governor is not of the same party as his predecessor, or where they are of the same party but have fallen out. It happened when Mr Peter Obi took over from Dr Chris Ngige in Anambra State, when Mr Ayodele Fayose took over from Dr Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti State, when Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau took over from Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano State, etc. One wonders, for example, if it is not possible for Ngige and Obi to be praised on areas where they did well and criticised on areas where they did poorly.
This bad precedent in our national politics was set during Jonathan’s tenure: his opponents criticised even the air he breathed, all in an effort to get him out. Every achievement he recorded was denied or lampooned, while every negative story was celebrated, including Boko Haram attacks. President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Umaru Yar’Adua were not treated like that. Unfortunately, Jonathan’s supporters are now paying Buhari and his supporters in their own coin. Nigeria loses in all this, because there is a difference between opposition politics and hate politics. One wonders if there is any person that is so bad that he does not have any drop of goodness in him.
Like el-Rufai and Ikpeazu said, Buhari does not need these fanatical trolls who make a mockery of governance by hyping even the ludicrous as feats and attacking anybody who says any non-positive thing about him. What he needs are those who will analyse his actions and plans and tell him the merits and demerits of such and point him towards success. If Buhari succeeds on social media and the mainstream media but fails in real life, it is Nigeria’s loss. If he succeeds, all Nigerians gain – including those who praise him and those who criticise him.
Like in marketing, the best friend of a brand owner is not the customer who always commends the brand or keeps quiet even when not satisfied, but the customer who complains any time he is not satisfied. That is the customer that provides the brand owner the relevant and critical feedback that helps him to reinvent his brand and stay competitive and alive. Those who praise the brand ceaselessly or keep quiet when things are not alright help to kill the brand. They are the dangerous customers that a brand owner must be wary off.
Copyright PUNCH.
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