Let the opposition breathe too

Help, hackers on the prowl!

The past two or so weeks have been excruciating, traumatising. The hackers came calling. And went for my fragile jugular. They swooped on me. They squeezed me almost to the bones. I was nearly devoured but for His grace.

They gained unauthorised access into my Whatsapp account: 08033783302. Thank God it was not total. I am eternally grateful.

To you who called or sent message, I sincerely appreciate your genuine concern. The storm is not yet over. The hackers are still on the prowl. Don’t give them the luxury of rest.

Together, we can neutralise them. Yes, we can. Let’s keep watch.

Regret

This piece ought to have been published last week. But the hackers would not allow that. That’s the reason for its appearance today. Thanks for tolerating me. The piece:

It is the height of intolerance. They have zero tolerance for tolerance. Forbearance is not it either. They cannot just stand a contrary opinion. No matter how superior or inferior. They can’t swallow it. Stranger than fiction!

But they won’t want to believe or agree. It’s firmly rooted in their genes. It flows ceaselessly in their blood. And carelessly too.

They selfishly choose what to forget and what to remember. It’s their choice. No qualms. But they would not allow us to be. They won’t oblige us our rights to choose our choices. They see no reasonable reason we must do that without their express approval.

And if we dare, they annoyingly pick offence. They call it treason, felony, subversion, rebellion, disloyalty and the sordid like.

They conjure bizarre labels, tags. All from the hottest and deepest part of the pit of hell. Just to nail those they don’t want to see or hear talk. They don’t want us to talk about their tainted and chaotic yesterday.

They expect us to forget so easily their past deeds. That’s wishful thinking. We remember vividly. Their stinking shit we cleared with bare hands. Yes, we did!

We won’t indulge them that expensive luxury again. That’s why they’re desperate. They wish we let go all that. How can we? That will be a disservice to ourselves. We are in the least prepared to injure our feelings.

We vehemently resist their overtures. It’s damn too late. Forever we remember their evil deeds. And they are in legion. They not only live with them, they hunt and haunt them. All the days of their lives.

They abhor every critical appraisal of their principal. That is nauseating. The do-gooders, praise-singers, boot-leakers, attack dogs, et al. They breathe heavily on us. They are all over, occupying every space available.

Their mandate? Simple: To perceive every opposing view as “fault-finding” and not fact-finding. Their principal must not be interrogated in any way. So also everything he represents and around him.

They don’t see any sense in such an exercise. In their warped thinking, it is unpatriotic, in fact, sacrilegious. You only want to pull their government down. Nothing more. See the queer way they reason. Illogical logic!

So? You must be tried for treasonable felony. The opposition shouldn’t breathe the breath of life. In the trenches, they enjoyed it to the maximum. Now, they’re dead scared even in government.

In their heyday in opposition, they did the unthinkable. They were wild and weird. They abused, cursed, bullied, taunted and castigated. What did they not do? Nothing. And they did it in reckless excesses.

They were ferocious, fierce and deadly. They would not stop talking. Neither would they stop attacking and criticising. It was not an offence then. They were just being nationalistic. That was the vogue.

What then happened to their “courage”? It failed them woefully. The steam is gone. So soon! A turnaround has come to stay. What goes around comes around.

They have switched positions. It is their turn to feel the heat. And they’re feeling it real good, bad and ugly. They struggle to alter the old narrative.

These characters are wrongly wired. It is glaring. Their ultimate is absurd: To be in government and in opposition, all at the same time. They love privileges than responsibilities.

They like assets and hate liabilities with disdain. Theirs is to savour the “spoils” of government. Can you beat that?

There is no feat they will not attempt to attain. The greed in them will always give them out. There’s no place to hide. They want to hold both ends of the knife.

While in opposition. They pretentiously showcased themselves as democrats. They claimed they were enthroning democracy. On a sound footing for that matter. Now, rooted in government. They walk the same democracy on its head.

In their parochial view, they tag opposition as saboteurs. And they must be stopped. They flex muscles; threatening to use their maximum power. Help, their axe is about to fall on us!

They reason awkwardly. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must not be touched. Not even with a long pole. He should be accorded unfettered protection on all fronts.

They care less, whether he merits it or not. He ought to be spared. No question should be asked about him and all he stands for. What he did to others with these same characters. They don’t want him to have a feel of such.

They have made a deity, a demigod, out of him. This became more pronounced on May 29, 2023. Since then, there is no stopping them. They roar endlessly and tirelessly.

Who says one can’t confront the President? And take him to the cleaners! Nothing stops any patriot from doing that. It’s for our collective good.

These eerie species, bullying, did worse. They attacked Tinubu’s predecessors with all the strength they could possibly muster.

They grudgingly spared ex-president Muhammadu Buhari. He was the only exception. Of course, they did it with the total support of their principal.

This time around, Senator Surajudeen Ajibola Basiru opted to take the lead. It was a great risk. Yet he did. He is National Secretary, All Progressives Congress (APC). That is the party to beat.

However, he jived the other day. He missed the point with a huge gap. That was not how to be a scribe of a supposedly serious national party.

He picked on Peter Obi, 2023 presidential candidate, Labour Party (LP). He felt Obi should go underground after losing election. His contesting the election should be enough feat for him. He ought to be contended with that. Why contest the result? Basiru confused; wondered aloud.

He felt agitated. A report said Obi merely advised Tinubu “to save Nigeria and himself from what he (Obi) described as ‘protracted embarrassment and undue anxiety’ over the controversy surrounding his certificate.”

That infuriated Basiru the more. He displayed it in his response: “It’s unfortunate that Obi allow(ed) the seeming trauma that affected Mr. Atiku Abubakar (to) also affect him.”

Then, he ran aimlessly out of his bounds: “Perhaps there would be need for our school of psychiatry to begin to look at what could be traumatising some people after electoral loss.” It was hitting far below the belt.

Still, Basiru would not back down: “For Obi to say the President should come and address the country, somebody who has the mandate of the Nigerian people. I think they are descending to the arena.”

His final resolution: “It is high time the Attorney General of the Federation should look whether that act does not amount to treason.”

This Basiru urgently needs a tutorial. Let’s remind him very quickly. Buhari had made more incriminating utterances than Obi. In doubt?

Flashback: “If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” He bluntly refused to expatiate.

In case Basiru pretends to forget. That was Buhari on May 14, 2012, in Kaduna. He threatened hell on earth. Yet, heaven did not fall. Nobody dared to challenge him frontally. He was not even called to order by any security agency.

That’s why Dele Momodu didn’t allow Basiru to walk away with his utterance: “Some politicians who are now threatening fellow Nigerians for peacefully expressing their opinions have studiously forgotten our contemporary history.

“Nobody was more vocal against dictatorship than Tinubu. He gained popularity by constantly attacking President Olusegun Obasanjo and others.

“Why would anyone say Obi should be charged for treason for asking some pertinent questions? Are we moving from military tyranny to civilian dictatorship?” It baffles any reasonable mind.

We certainly need to know. And the time is now: “This type of renewed hero worship is extremely dangerous and unfortunate.”

Momodu is publisher, Ovation International. He is also a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain. He was once in the trenches. So, he wasn’t talking nonsense.

Power intoxicates. But absolute power intoxicates absolutely. Basiru aptly confirmed that. And that’s where he is pushing Tinubu.

There will always be critics. There must be critique and criticism. It was in the beginning. So it’s now. And it will be in the farthest times to come.

Tinubu deserves opposition. Every government deserves one. Basiru and his ilk should help Tinubu succeed and succeed well.

Fair is fair. It has no viable alternative. Let the opposition breathe too!

36 years on, still counting…

A journey of a thousand miles starts with just a step. So says that Chinese adage. So it was with us, my wife and I, some 36 years ago. And ours was uncommon. You rarely find its nearest duplicate. Almost unheard of, it happened all the same.

Had to believe. We took our own very first step in total darkness. October 27, 1987, was it! It was completely uncelebrated.

Though, it was supposed to be a wedding day. No drum was rolled out. No trumpet was blown. No church service, no reception, not even thanksgiving.   

It was too ordinary a day; witnessed by less than 10 people. Yet, Femi Adeoti and heartthrob, Tunrayo, nee Atolagbe, were pronounced husband and wife. Yes, just like that.

Tomorrow, it will be exactly 36 years, precisely at 11am. In that choked room, Registry, where we took the vows naively.

But today, we have sweet stories to tell. See what the good God has done for us in “just” 36 years. How times fly and in the speed of light!

We have grown tremendously. From a pair of husband and wife to a family of 12. What’s more! It is made up of wonderful children and four grandchildren. And still counting!

It couldn’t have been all roses. And it wasn’t all thorns and thistles either. We had our bright moments, so also our dull moments. There were good and bad times.

Mountains were pulled down. And valleys filled up; all for our sake. In all of these, we are more than conquerors. The reason we are where we are today. Glory be to God.

Our singsong: Tobe Chukwu, He has done it for us!