Between the broom and the rake (I): Why are we not all sick?

Which is as it should be; responding to the Goodluck Jonathan campaign’s smear tactics, funny claims, misrepresentations, innuendoes, and even outright lies would be very easy to do, but would risk bringing people to its pathetic level. Everyone should be focusing on what it has done, or failed to do, over the last six years; […]

Which is as it should be; responding to the Goodluck Jonathan campaign’s smear tactics, funny claims, misrepresentations, innuendoes, and even outright lies would be very easy to do, but would risk bringing people to its pathetic level. Everyone should be focusing on what it has done, or failed to do, over the last six years; and whether or not he deserves another four.
Some of the misinformation would need to be addressed however, even if to clear the space for proper public discourse. I shall focus on two that dominated all the papers last weekend, or at least all those papers that could be “persuaded” to carry the obviously planted stories. One is that Buhari is so sick that he has been flown to the U.S. for medical treatment. The other was that he should account for some N25 billion said to have “disappeared” from the PTF, the task force he chaired for four years to provide some needed social and physical infrastructure from the additional N3 per litre of petrol introduced by the Sani Abacha regime.
I am no doctor, but for a 72 year old to cover an average of two states per day campaigning, I would say that the man is strong and fit enough to rule this country, if leadership is all that is required.  If we were looking for a footballer, a boxer or a construction worker, then not even a single PDP chap in the Villa today would qualify. In any case, I watched him live on Channels TV last Saturday campaigning in Lafia, Nasarawa State. I am also aware that he met for about an hour on Sunday afternoon with some Nigerians, when he joined them in a lively exchange about the future of this country. After the meeting, he went out and met with the press, holding copies of the day’s papers that reported he had been flown out for medical treatment. Buhari’s media aides could have responded to these obviously planted rumours with a demand that the Jonathan side be asked to explain the President’s many trips to a hospital in Germany; but I was told that the General would frown at such gutter tactics.
There is a sense, however, that I could agree with them that Buhari is sick; sick and tired, like the rest of us. Vitus Ozoke, a U.S.-based lawyer and professor of conflict analysis and dispute resolution puts it better and I quote him here extensively:
I wake up this morning and what I see all over social media is some poor taste, childish diagnosis of Major General Buhari as being sick. Well, I agree. I agree that Buhari is sick. I am sick, too.  Any Nigerian who is not sick is not sick because he or she is incurably sick. We are all sick. And we should be sick. So, yes, Buhari is sick of the monumental corruption that has become institutionalized in Nigeria. Buhari is sick of the incompetence of a government that cannot protect the lives and properties of its citizens; Buhari is sick of the lack of a sense of urgency in the circles of government in Nigeria. Buhari is sick of a country that has placed itself on permanent reverse gear. Buhari is sick of a country that has left itself naked as it is raped dry by vagabonds in power. Buhari is sick of a youth population without jobs. Buhari is sick of a country where university education has become comparable to 8th grade competence in advanced civilizations. Buhari is sick of a country where roads are death traps. Buhari is sick of a country where people go into political offices near poor, but turn stupendously wealthy overnight. Buhari is sick of a country where education is priced beyond the reach of the common masses.
Buhari is sick of a country where $20 Billion (possibly $40 Billion) of public fund develops legs and walks away, its whereabouts knowingly unknown.
Buhari is sick of watching the country he loves ranked at the bottom of corruption index by Transparency International. Buhari is sick of a country that earns billions of dollars in oil revenue, yet has not a single functional oil refinery. Buhari is sick of a country where government has bowed to the dictates of power generator cabals in a conspiracy that ensures perpetual darkness. Buhari is sick of a country where senators and congressmen earn more than the president of the United States of America. Buhari is sick of a country where soldiers are so demoralized to confront a ragtag Boko Haram terror sect. Buhari is sick of a country where convicted looters are pardoned and fast tracked for senate positions. Buhari is sick of a country where life expectancy is among the lowest in the world.  Buhari is sick of a country that is on international news for all the wrong reasons. So, yes, Buhari is sick; and so am I. The big Question is, why is Jonathan not sick as well? Why has Jonathan remained healthy in the face of all the above-listed filth and diseases? The Question is why is not every Nigerian sick of all the social maladies and existential outbreaks? It is a time to be sick, my friends. Buhari is; I am. Are you? Let’s all get sick of where and how Nigeria is! Let’s get real sick!! And the sicker we are, the healthier we are going to be. Let’s schedule a doctor’s visit on February 14. Let’s not forget our health insurance card (voter card) as we go for this February appointment. We need to feel better. But until February 14, let’s feel sick. Real sick!
Till next week when we shall examine allegations of the “missing” N25 billion, which have been around since 2002, and which even OBJ found to be baseless enough that he disregarded it when he himself was campaigning against Buhari.