CREATING FICTION & FALSIFYING HISTORY
Rejecting Myth, Infallibility and "King" of Nigeria
-Attorney Patryk Utulu**

I have always been offended by Nigerians who talk or write about recent "histories" of Nigeria as though fellow Nigerians were inattentive children, morons or dead when the events took place. One reason I came off of the political "middle" into rebuttative neutrality was frustration at the sustained falsification of history and the pile of deception that APC was arrogantly dumping on Nigerians during 2015 presidential election campaign. And just because PDP's dismissive arrogance enabled APC's fantasy tales to hook Nigerians does not imply that our democratic process did not suffer devastating injury.

As PDP collapsed under the weight of arrogance of incumbency so APC's end-justifies-every-means triumphalism is already speeding onto overdrive. Whether or not you like him, to the world President Goodluck Jonathan is now a global hero and icon of democracy. Whether or not you like him, Maj-General Buhari has won the Nigerian Presidential election of 2015. In patriotic good faith millions of Nigerians and I have congratulated our President-elect Muhammadu Buhari on his victory and political perseverance.

Congratulations is all that Buhari deserves for now. On May 29, 2015, Buhari will become my President. But he has not yet been inaugurated or sworn-in. He has yet to show up for duty for even one minute or one day. Therefore the chorus of demand to award him an "A" grade is not only comical, but also, unrealistic and unmerited. What 41-year old Maj-Gen. Buhari did as Nigeria's Military Head of State back in 1984 (31 years ago) is NOT a measure of and has no bearing on what 72-year old civilian President Buhari would or could do starting May 29, 2015. A military head of state has at his command subordinate military officers trained to follow orders without asking questions.

No Nigerian Senator or member of the Federal House of Representatives is subordinate to a civilian President. Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, SCON, are NOT employees of or subordinate to a civilian President. State Governors do not work for the president and they do not owe their positions to him. They can cooperate or obstruct the president. Civilian President Buhari would not be commanding NASS or SCON. He cannot dismiss members of NASS or SCON. President Buhari would need the Representatives and the Senators to help him move his agenda forward. But they do not answer to him and if he pisses off a sufficient number of them they can and will impeach him.

So get this straight: This is NOT 1984. This is 2015.

INFALLIBILITY (the concept that the leader can do no wrong or that the leader is above criticism) applies only to religious leaders and is limited to only those followers who accept that religious leader's infallibility. Muhammadu Buhari will be a civilian President of Nigeria. As president he is not infallible and never will be infallible. When his policies and actions are right Nigerians will support him and when he is wrong we will review his actions, criticize his polices and/or challenge him.

PERSONALITY CULT is for North Koreans and for monarchies of the ancient world. President Muhammadu Buhari is NOT and NEVER will be "King" of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Yes, thank you, it is not about Buhari personally. It is about the Nigerian Presidency and the powers that are NOT granted by our Federal Constitution. No amount of ignorance or wishful thinking or individual anger or organized rage or mouth-foaming will program or compel all Nigerians to become submissive and/or silence dutiful daily criticism of President Buhari.

I would always encourage every Nigerian to do whatever they can to help make our nation better, and that includes helping our president whether or not they voted for him. But patriotism and supporting our president is NOT the same as staying silent while mischievous partisans create myths or re-write our recent national history, and in the process infect us with their post-primitive delusions.

Recently I took to task one Mr. Rabiu Haruna who claimed that top leaders of party-PDP know "the source" of Boko Haram terrorists but that "APC cannot be implicated" in this knowledge." PLEASE NOTE: I was NOT offended that Mr. Hurana said PDP knew Boko Haram's source. It is possible. What I found truly repulsive was the implications (indirect meanings) of Mr. Haruna's claim, e.g:

(1): that Boko Haram's "source" is so unique that only PDP's leaders but not APC's top leaders would know it. Which is false because BH are Nigerians.
(2): that he ignores history: over half of the top leaders of today's APC were top leaders of PDP for over 12 years of the 16 years PDP has been in power.

For example, today's APC CHIEF CHEERLEADERS (Chief Obasanjo & Gov. Rotimi Amaechi) were president and governor, respectively, under PDP. Atiku Abubakar was an 8 year Vice President under PDP. Hundreds of today's APC top leaders (governors, senators, power brokers, etc.) were top leaders under PDP. Therefore, what is so unique about "the source" of Boko Haram that only today's PDP leaders but not the party-switching APC leaders would know of?

Mr. Haruna's claim is the sort of political fiction and deliberate re-write of the recent history of Nigeria that some Nigerians try to spoon-feed fellow Nigerians. Unchallenged lies soon begin to sound like truth. Millions of Nigerians are born every year. Thus, keeping history as accurate as possible matters. Already we are starting to see "backsliding," self-serving "clarifications" and slimy denialist equivocation on the UNEQUIVOCAL campaign promises made to Nigerians in millions of newsprint, on websites, on social-net, on TV and on videos.

Just remember: No President is a "King" of Nigeria!!!!

*****
Attorney Patryk A. Utulu
U.S.-based Attorney & Strategic Communications Specialist
Global Defense Analyst and Global Events Commentator
Executive Vice President, Nigerian Diaspora-North America
Executive Director, The Center 4 Community Empowerment & Lifeskills, Inc
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