Atiku Abubakar is grumbling, Peter Obi is wailing, Datti Baba-Ahmed is blabbing and the Obingos are barking. They have all refused to be pacified as if they were anointed to be inconsolable till the eternity comes . They choose to shun the realities on ground. The Presidential Election of February 25, 2023 would never be repeated. We may of course have a replica of it in 2027. The bad losers may come again to test their worth, but they shall once again be trounced and roasted like bush meat at the poll by the electorates.
Right now, the only assignment placed on their laps is to play the role of the opposition. The constitution says so. It is either they accept it, or they leave it. The heads of two rams cannot enter the bucket at the same time to drink water without locking horns. In the same vein, there can’t be two captains in a ship in order to avoid confusion, conflict and failure. A president has been duly elected by the people, certificated by the INEC, inaugurated by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and affirmed by the Apex Court of the land.
Any form of emotions that the sore losers may be displaying at this point are inconsequential. They can continue uttering inanities from now till God knows when, it cannot change anything. The majority of Nigerians have spoken with their thumbs, and it is loud and clear. We are a country that is guided by the constitution and not by the whims and caprices of individuals. We are not in the banana republic, therefore, there is no room for jungle justice or for people resorting to self-help. Nobody is above the law. Any attempt to put to test the willpower of the government by erring individuals will be resisted, and may probably attract severe sanctions. Enough is enough!
Even, the twelve two-third controversial verdict of the presidential election of 1979 did not set the nation on fire. Also, the 4-3 split verdict in the 2007 presidential appeal at the Supreme Court delivered on December 12, 2008 did not bring the country down. Despite the fact that late Sheu Musa Yar’adua publicly admitted that there were flaws in the election that produced him as the president, heaven did not fall. One wonders why the Atikus and the Obis of this world are this bitter, traumatized and pain struck after losing at both the polls, and of course, in the court.
It is high time we warned our noisy neighbours not to cross the red line. You cannot stop a baby from crying when a candy is taken away from him. The same way a madman can hardly be stopped from abnormal laughters because of the strange spirits controlling him. Therefore, losers are at liberty to lick their wounds and mourn their loss. But they must be conscious of the borderline. It must not be crossed. Elections are gone and a legitimate government is already in place. Tinubu played the role of the opposition leader for several years in this country. It is now the turn of Atiku and Obi to wear the toga of the watchdog by keeping PBAT and his team on their toes.
The call for insurrections, the inciting statements being made to set the country on fire, and the name-calling of the judiciary by Atiku, Obi and their agents must stop. It has become so nonsensical and disgusting seeing these characters parading themselves as the heroes of democracy, whereas, they are the real enemies of democracy.
It is quite unfortunate that the greatest beneficiaries of judicial pronouncements in the past are shamelessly coming out now to castigate the institution. If not for the forthrightness of the court, Peter Obi wouldn’t have been governor of Anambra State for one day. The landmark judgements of the courts saved him. At least, twice he was politically crucified in order not to access power, and twice he was resurrected by the courts. This is not to talk of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who was as the Vice President of Nigeria humiliated, rendered impotent and almost thrown out of the government in 2006 for falling out with his boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The judiciary saved him!
A friend recently said, but rather jocularly that it is as if these losers are psychotic instead of being patriotic. The way and manner they have been talking and behaving even after exhausting all the constitutional means available to upturn the presidential election results is quite condemnable. This is not far from being true. They are possibly suffering from acute post election trauma. Therefore, it may not be out of place to recommend them to psychotherapists for treatments bothering on depression, defects in thought processing, character disorder and many more.
Let the note of warning be sounded on them once again that all their recent actions have consequences and they know that. They should not pull down Nigeria simply because they lost an election. He who fights and runs away live to fight another day. Enough of all these shenanigans and excessive rascality. Let all hands be on deck to fix Nigeria.
B. Aderemi Ogundele
(Jagunmolu)
