Achievements by proclamations, acclamations, affirmations, et al – Femi Adeoti Column

Advertisement

FEMI ADEOTI COLUMN

They proclaim. They acclaim. They affirm. All rolled into a disastrous
one. They shout it to high heavens. They do it with all the strength
they can possibly muster. Who does that and goes scot-free?
Theirs is a regime of affirmations, acclamations and proclamations.
And the end of these seems not in near sight. At least, not before
their expiry date, May 29, 2023.
The ugly entertainment started some odd months past. We are being
bombarded with blatant lies and empty claims.
We are dumfounded, what with the enormous energy they deploy into
their filthy game! No dull moment for them. No breathing space for us.
Great pity. We’re caught up, stranded in their cobwebs.
They score themselves high on all fronts. The shenanigans rudely
debuted on October 19, 2022. Courtesy: Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister,
Information and Culture. Who else but him!
That day in Abuja, Lai breathed heavily on us. Yes, always for the
wrong reason. He was unveiling the so-called “PMB Administration
Scorecard 2015-2023.”
He was loud and clear in his own mind: “Our achievements will leave
Nigerians breathless.” Why? His sharp response: “We have so much to
showcase.” How?
First, he shot at his imaginary critics: “In the din of politicking,
naysayers have attempted to play down the massive and unprecedented
achievements of this administration.”
He rolled up his sleeves: “Those who ride on modern trains along
Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna and Itakpe-Warri will not forget those who
made that happen.”
He reclined into the world of fantasies. He resorted ponderously to
affirmations: “And the 9.8 million schoolchildren who are fed daily,
the one million youths that have been empowered as well as the 500,000
who are undergoing trainings under the N-Power and the 1,632,480
households that have been enrolled in the conditional cash transfer
programme will not forget.”
These acclamations are never achievements. They are not successes
either. And when we interrogate their claims? They resort to
name-calling, blackmail and utter mischief.
They become angry. They churn out libellous labels. They say we’re
ingrates, ignorant, dishonest, wailers, paid criers, et al.
They pretend to forget. We are the ones to tell their success or/and
failure. We are at the receiving end of their actions and inactions.
We feel the pinch. It’s excruciating, unbearable. We are conscious of
their gross ineptitude and nepotism. The incompetence is glaring.
Their reckless arrogance, falsehood and blatant deceptions are
overwhelming. With uncanny pomposity, they turn proclamations to their
achievements. It’s their new abnormality.
This anomalousness has become our crooked cross. It’s almost a daily
routine. What a jamboree! It has its own template.
After having nightmares instead of dreams. They hurriedly assemble.
They turn their night terrors into delusions. And with a careless fiat
play God.
Arrogantly, they “call things that are not as though they are” (Romans
4:17 NIV). They flaunt them as their achievements. With funfair and
fanfare. They swear they have performed “exceedingly well.”
They are missing the point big time. The reason they keep messing up.
You don’t affirm achievement. You can’t even wish it. That’s illusion.
But you work hard for it. It’s a deliberate intention.
Theirs are mere affirmations, proclamations, acclamations, assertions.
That never held water. And it won’t now. All are efforts in futility.
Tragically for them, we keep records. We are armed with our own
scorecard. We have our indices, scales and measurements. They are at
huge variance with theirs. Poles apart, never to meet.
We refuse to be deceived. We can’t be railroaded. We knew what they
promised us in 2015. Eight odd years on, we know where we are.
We weigh them. They are light in action, heavy in inaction. They are
long on words, short in action. They never walked their talk these
past sordid years. Theirs is a government with big trust deficit.
We are in deep shit. And they keep on blabbing. We have stark
realities staring us in the face. Sampler:
National president, Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr. Bitrus Pogu, was
taken aback the other day. He wondered at Buhari’s bogus claim of
trying his best.
He saw differently. He actually spoke for us. And we deeply appreciate
him for that: “When he (Buhari) came in 2015, the dollar was
exchanging for about N197. Today, in the open market, it is exchanging
for almost N800. Prices of goods and services have gone beyond the
imagination of anybody.”
Not only that: “There is so much poverty and you can see poverty on
the faces of the majority of Nigerians. Insecurity has grown from Boko
Haram in the North-East to nationwide killings, kidnappings for ransom
and all of that.” Brave and brief.
Ken Robinson, national publicity secretary, Pan-Niger Delta Forum
(PANDEF), couldn’t agree less. He graciously added his voice:
“Buhari’s best is an abysmal failure.”
His incontestable reason: “Buhari has degraded the country in all
spheres from where it was to lower realms in terms of our ratings as
one of the fastest growing economies now to the headquarters of
poverty in the world.
“When Buhari speaks that he has done his best for Nigeria, it could be
that he is not in touch with the reality on ground. He speaks from the
position of what he is told. Perhaps, he is unaware of what is really
happening in the country.”
Robinson couldn’t be consoled: “The economy is in its worst state. The
country’s unity and cohesion are at their lowest level. The country
has not been this divided. The feelings of disaffection, exclusion and
alienation are at their peak.”
You wouldn’t want him to stop: “It is unfortunate that the President
will be making this kind of statement. It is an insult to the
sufferings and pains that Nigerians are going through.”
We reassure them. They can’t shock us anymore. We’re use to their
dirty game. They stubbornly stick to their deadly guns; saying the
same thing several times over. Pretending it to be the gospel truth.
Who has not felt this regime negatively? Stand up and be counted, if
you dare. The rich also cry. And lament bitterly too! Still, these
queer characters in government choose not to see what we see. Or feel
what we feel.
They opt to abuse. Tagging us unprintable labels. They bully, cow,
cajole endlessly. They threaten fire and brimstone. They even toy with
unleashing terror on us.
They goof forever. They fail woefully to understand. Threat and
intimidation cannot ever dissolve our resolve. Far from it.
Tell them. Our heart is up and beating. Our mind is a hard nut to
crack. We won’t give up; we won’t cave in.
We resolutely stand by our resolution: This government is a monumental
disaster. Abysmal failure.
Period!