A wise man once told me: “Nigerians are
mules, everyone who can, kicks at them.”
The thing is, the more things change, the
more they feel the same. In 1984, Major-
General Muhamadu Buhari as military tyrant
diagnosed “indiscipline” as Nigeria’s national
malaise.
The sexy power word in those days was
“summarily.” Buhari promised that the
military government of which he was head
would “summarily” deal with any Nigerian
who was found wanting in “discipline.” He
quickly launched a “War Against
Indiscipline.” It caught on fire.
Nigerians were pressed to “behave.” They
began to queue for buses and other services
in places like Lagos, notorious for jumping
queues. That was the greatest achievement
of WAI: Nigerians learnt to queue. Military
governors sometimes arrived the gates of
government secretariats very early, and
waited for government workers who arrived
late.
Late-coming civil servants were humiliated,
made to kneel down irrespective of their
office or positions, or age, and frog-jumped
as punishment for coming late to work. In
some cases, they were “summarily
dismissed.” Buhari’s government authorized
armed soldiers to raid warehouses, and
seize the goods of traders accused of
“hoarding essential commodities.” That was
in a period, of course, when “ESSENCO”was
very scarce. Buhari’s War Against
Indiscipline, stemmed from his genuine
convictions that Nigerians were an
undisciplined lot, and had to be forced to
obey the simple laws of the land, and of
courtesy.
Recent evidence suggests that Buhari
continues to believe this as a fundamental
problem with the Nigerian character. Last
week, our friends, Dr. Barry and Claire Mauer
had us all over for a party for Claire’s
birthday at their College Park, Orlando,
home. We were all going at it, with a little
wine and sherry, and that good stuff, when
Shanti, another friend of ours said, “I hear
your president say all you Nigerians are
unruly, and you need to stop being unruly!” I
too had heard that the previous day on the
BBC.
It was big news for the BBC that president
Buhari’s Independence Day message to
Nigerians was that Nigerians were “unruly.”
It triggered their fancy so much that they
made such an event of it. They brought a
Nigerian, whose name I do not now recall,
and Ghana’s Elizabeth Ohene, to talk about
the “unruliness” of Nigerians as claimed by a
president who increasingly seems really
disconnected from the Nigerian reality. In
the symbolic moment of Nigeria’s 55th
anniversary as an Independent nation, more
sober considerations should have been
made regarding the trajectory of Nigeria’s
journey, the transitions that have been
made, and the true reasons for the failures
of Nigeria.
We should rather celebrate the hardiness
and resilience of Nigerians in the face of a
terribly confused administration as Buhari’s
is turning out to be.Ordinary Nigerians must
not be made to carry the can for failed
political leadership this past fifty-five years,
of which Buhari has been a distinct part.
The President had not much to say to
Nigerians except that Nigerians are unruly
and discourteous, and must change, in order
to achieve development. Actually, this is the
worst Independence Day speech I have
heard of any Nigerian president. It had no
concrete facts. It simply was high on the
weed of self-indulgence. On such a symbolic
day, President Buhari should have
celebrated Nigeria, and offered it hope.
There are ordinary Nigerians laboring
heroically to turn the disadvantages of being
Nigerian into something hopeful, and
meaningful. Nigerians are not unruly. The
Nigerian child I know is taught, right from
the home, to be courteous, and respectful of
people, especially, older people. Nigerians
know to “throway salute” when they meet
you. They say, “Afternoon, sir!” “Enlee ma!”
“I boola chi e!” and so on. Nigerians are not,
by their very nature, or even by
acculturation, unruly or discourteous.
Our political leaders have been unruly and
discourteous. Those are the real culprits and
makers of our national malaise. They have
very little regard or respect for the civil and
economic rights of Nigerians. Anyone who
suddenly arrives at political office, begins
immediately to see the rest Nigerians as
adversaries and enemies; people who must
be contained and repressed, and garrisoned.
Nigerians are constantly infantilized in the
minds of the men and women who arrive at
power. That is the true meaning of
unruliness: to ride rough-shod on your
county men because you have the privilege
of the protections of public office.
It is unruly of public office holders to
capture the road on a hot, uncomfortable,
tropical day, with sirens and a long convoy,
and horse-whip people to the sideways, and
travel freely while the rest must deal with
congested traffic. It is unruly to shield
political power holders behind the barricade
of high walls inside government buildings,
while the rest of Nigerians are left to the
vagaries of crime. I think President Buhari
must first, look inward.
As president, propriety demands that he be
accompanied by no more than his police
orderly in public, while the secret service
organize his security with unseen and
invisible agents, who mingle with the crowd,
without harassing Nigerians with an
overwhelming image of armed power. It is
the image of overwhelming force, especially
modeled by the military that has created the
psychological crisis that has reduced
Nigerians to its current social miasma.
Nigerians, subjected to force rather than
governance, since 1966, are suffering from
the trauma of social violence, and are
reproducing that violence. They know
nothing else but the unruliness modeled by
the makers of the public system: the
government, and political leadership. It will
not do merely to preach order, curtsey in
society, when the conditions in which
Nigerians live make it possible.
If there was a well-organized public
transport system, Nigerians would have no
need to “rush.” But in a city like Lagos, with
a population over fifteen million, to have
only one means of moving that population is
madness in itself. It is nightmarish, and the
social pressure of moving about in Lagos
which ought to, like cities even half its size,
have an underground system, a surface
metro system, a water transport system, as
well as well-kept roads that do not clog up
movement, makes courtesy difficult, and
unruliness only a means of survival.
A man who has no access to clean public
toilets, must defecate, and if he cannot find
any will be forced to the indignity of relieving
himself in public. To prevent that, it is
incumbent on governments to provide clean
public toilets in strategic places, to prevent
such unruliness. The government itself must
model the meaning of courtesy, by treating
the public with the highest respect in public.
A government officer, like a policeman or
soldier or tax collector, who harasses any
member of the public is modeling
unruliness; a government who keeps armed
soldiers and police on the highways and
streets where they harass Nigerians, is an
unruly administration, and will reproduce an
unruly nation.
A government that offers, not work, but
whips to Nigerians, will create the kind of
social pressure that will make civilized
conduct impossible. So, President Buhari
should for a moment, get off the back of
Nigerians. Nigerians did not elect him merely
to preach, they elected him to act. So, to
make Nigerians more courteous, the
government should begin a work program,
strengthen internal regulations and
enforcement codes in the public service,
provide public infrastructure, enough to
make an aggressive search for it redundant.
That will reduce the kind of social pressures
that make Nigerians unruly.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/buhari-my-people-are-useless-my-people-are-senseless-my-people-are-indiscipline/

k

Our politicians and bloggers give us bad name.



Nice one@OP,

Booari is a f*cking retard!

Soke!!!

It takes only Magic to attract iron. (Law of Attraction)

PMB, please check yourself well you will discover that you are worst than "your people" & equally know that it is your APC people that are "Useless, & Senseless"

Your new titles (Dullard, Baba go slow, 1 chance, Kwarruption, president of the norther, etc just add others


You still get mouth to talk.

APC need some sense from God because they are "senseless"

“I would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE. Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.

The article is nothing but the expression of a man with so much prejudice and hatred.

I had to go back to read the speech again to see the context that statement was made. The quoted is the penultimate paragraph of that speech, and it is obvious the president was not just referring to ordinary Nigerians. He included himself, public officials (the bolded) and everyone else.

Whether we choose to admit it or not, Nigerians are unruly - govt officials, security officers, lecturers, students, civil servants, etc. The president did the right thing to call for a change of attitude from everyone.

The president's speech had at least 21 paragraphs and all the writer could pick up is the "unruly" part which he mischievously tried to interpret it out of context.

ok oh

And your a dullard @mbuhari

I dont believe in this. Buhari cannot be so foolish to call his people all sort of names