Political Suicide And Desperations In Obvious Quarters

They have killed him several times, yet he refused to die. They have told us he would never win, yet he won. They said that, by this time in his presidency, all Nigerians would have become Muslims. To actualize their claims, they cloned websites, including those of reputable media stations, just to prove to us that he was dead or as the lousiest among them said, “a walking corpse”. Since none of this will work, they resorted taking us back a familiar path, a military coup!

Some days after President Buhari proceeded on medical follow-up, some of our noisy neighbours came up with their usual display of ignorance once more. In compliance with section 145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the President transmitted a notice, required by the clause, to the National Assembly indicating he had handed over the governance of the country to the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Since it was clear they won’t read, they resorted to infantile criticism to a letter that cited portions of the Constitution.

After these detractors failed abysmally this time again to convince us of their intelligence, they needed something to divert public attention. They probably considered several options and settled for a coup d’état!

When I got the news that some unnamed junior military officers were planning a coup in the absence of the President, I knew there was no smoke without fire. They never denied it. In fact, one of their supporters, on Facebook (when asked if they could not wait till 2019 to acquire power through the ballot box) said the coup was necessary so they could not wait since the nation will be on fire before then. It was at that point I knew frustration had combined with the desperation which is the surest way to committing suicide!

For anyone to think of planning a coup in 21st century Nigeria, such a person must be far out of his mind. As I write, in Africa, virtually, if not all political leaders are now democratically elected. Since military takeovers are no longer celebrated in the continent, this convinces me that the era of military rulers is long gone. Africa has joined the rest of the civilized world in adopting democracy. The world, Nigeria inclusive, has and continue to condemn coups. So whoever is planning a coup in Nigeria today may just be on a misadventure. It’s the surest way to committing suicide!

By Olalekan Waheed Adigun