THE NEW RELIGION CALLED “CHANGE” AND THE PROPHET BUHARI

By Comrade Phils

In just 11 months, a country that only had its major security issue in the core North East now has major security issues in every regions. Fulani herdsmen now invade communities in the middle-belt and South East killing dozens, Niger Delta Avengers – a new militant group – just blew up the Chevron pipeline leading to Warri and Kaduna, Lagos is witnessing ethnic clashes between the Hausa and Yoruba tribes, states have lost faith in the federal security, they are now setting up state owned security groups as seen in the case of Abia where the Bakassi Boys have been approved to resume activities…

In just one year, Nigeria is more divided than ever. Everyone now sings to a level of bias and ethnicity. Even the social media space is dominated with statements of bias. Nigerians in the diaspora who are supposed to be at a near neutral point are also polarized.

The reason is that an old general was elected and he decided to rule a 21st century Nigeria in an 18th century manner. Little wonder, we are getting 18th century results like the budget taking almost 5 months late to be signed because there were no effective forms of communications and the palace messengers had to travel miles on camels to deliver and re-deliver the pre-padded, padded and post-padded versions to NASS and fro etc.

When selfish politicians and marauding power mongers sold an expired army general under the cover of “change ambassadors” to Nigerians, only the foresighted could have resisted such promising temptations in the face of an administration that was tactfully branded a total failure by a repeated propaganda scheme. It was common for young Nigerians unaware of their history to spring in support for the man to deliver Nigeria and transform it into a creation that reflects the rising towers of Dubai, the huge economic strength of the US and the booming market of China was contesting. Who would not buy that? Who would not want to support a mission to make the feeble naira equal to the almighty dollar? It was a temptation that only an informed mind with foresight could ignore. Sadly, we are a nation of hearsay where young people hardly read of the present talk more of the past. A nation where a street thief is considered far more dangerous than the one who steals our future with his pen from the comfort of his office.
This is the only kind of nation that could have bought such a well package lie for a movement of change.

But sadly, It worked! Buhari is president. He will be president for four years, three more years on the way. And in less than one-quarter of his reign the “change” seems to be reeling more of negative results. A litre of petrol now sells for N300 against official rate of N87, a sack of pure water is now N20 against the N10 sold before this administration, a dollar now exchanges for N319, Over 200,000 jobs have been lost in 11 months and investors are leaving the country yet electricity tariff has increased and banks now impose undue charges on customers without notice, import and export business is now dwindling because of stiff and unproductive FX policies, any goods including food stuffs sells for almost 70% increment of the rate it was sold before the onset of this administration.

At this point, he still has fans who have eventually become soothsayers telling everyone who dares to challenge the dwindling trends that there is to come a utopian Nigeria that only Buhari can bring to be and that will come only and only if we are patient and endure the prevailing present hardship. That is the kind of epistle preached by people who should be sorry for what they did.

They want us to have faith and believe in the new religion called change and headed by the prophet Buhari.

“Have faith, things will be better”

We hear this only in the churches, we believe and most times it works. Why then can’t we believe it when Buhari and his supporters say so? They too may be a subset of another religion; Buhari, another prophet.

Sometimes, for such to work, one has to go into fasting. In this case, we don’t need a fast announced. With the number of jobs lost and hardship experienced by families in the past 11 months, a natural fast has begun in all Nigerian families. The new religion has a systematic way of bringing us all to conformity.

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