On the 29th of May, 2015, the Goodluck Jonathan led PDP government formally handed over to the Muhammadu Buhari led APC government. While it was a selfless and commendable act on one hand, it was also an inevitable move forced by the Nigerian people who preferred the latter to the former. Their reasons are well documented: falling foreign reserves, perceived monumental corruption, inability to change the status quo with regards to power availability despite the commissioning of many power projects, rising unemployment, falling educational standards and the inability to stamp out the terrorist Boko Haram sect, amongst others.

Considering such grievances, any alternative was bound to be better. This was why, in spite of some calls for rationality by the now tagged "Wailing Wailers", some were ready to shout themselves hoarse in support of the biggest alternative, the APC. These supporters were prepared to go any length in slandering anyone who as much as whispered anything in support of Goodluck Jonathan. He was to be unanimously seen as inefficient, corrupt, evil-minded and backward. He was to be seen as the sole reason behind all that ailed the Nigerian nation; bad roads, bad bridges, poor drainage systems, terrible sanitary conditions, lack of street lights, housing deficit, hike in the fees of State owned institutions of higher learning, striking lecturers, even the refusal by some state governments to pay workers' salaries for many months while indulging in opulent lifestyles of gargantuan proportions; it just had to be Goodluck's fault. Sensing the acceptance of this perspective by the general populace, some shameless APC Governors never missed an opportunity to remind the electorate that their unbridled ineptitude was caused by that one all-knowing and all-powerful man, Goodluck Jonathan. Of course, derogatory terms ascribed to him soon trended. The frustration and fury had always been there, but now they had a ready target, a lamb set for the slaughter lab.

The purpose was strong, the unity of this was sufficient to glue even the strangest of bedfellows; Federal power had to be secured at all cost, at this clarion call they all marched. So great was this unity that vast sums were soon pooled, and the message was preached on all fronts, that great message of CHANGE. Some were however sceptical about this, yours sincerely one of them, I wondered how such puritan views could be aired by such obviously tarnished reputations. I saw a divide between two wolves, and opted for the one NOT in sheep's clothing. It was as simple as that.

Eights months after, against my earnest wishes, my fears seem gradually justified; but like Japhet Omojuwa wrote, some Buharists still live in self-denial. They are still unable to accept that the APC isn't as puritan as they had initially thought. Like the Snowball/Napoleon divide of the fabled Animal Farm, they now act like brainwashed "Zombies", a retaliatory ascription coined by some Wailers.

But the truth, no matter how hard you try, cannot be suppressed forever; this is why some Zombies are finally swallowing the bitter pill of decrying the state we have degenerated to under an administration that was supposed to improve our fortunes; this why many of them have joined the bandwagon of punching holes in the most recent misdoing, the 2016 budget.

It is however painful to note (which is the purpose of this write-up) that the Zombies are still not ready to call a spade a spade. Japhet Omojuwa is, most pitiably, one of these. In typical deflective fashion, he has chosen to pen down his criticism of the 2016 budget under the mask of diatribes at the person of Goodluck Jonathan and his government. This man left power May 29, 2015, must we still ascribe the deliberate misdoings of the Buhari led government to him? And what is it with the puppetary inclination to detach the person of Buhari from his government's many failings while ensuring to attach every malaise of the Jonathan's government to his person? Or is Mr Omojuwa stylishly corroborating the stale argument that Buhari is too old to lead Nigeria? Is he agreeing with those who said his education was too limited for him to understand the intricacies of modern governance? Could it be that the President wasn't meticulous enough to go through the budget before its presentation or was he too weak and feeble minded to challenge the power brokers behind the scene?

I hope Buhari ends up surprising the Wailers, which will be positive for all. I hope he's able to carry out a sincere, all-embracing fight against corruption(irrespective of party affiliations), which he isn't doing at the moment; but if the way he's been managing the Boko Haram fight, the Economy and most recently the 2016 Budget is the way things will continue, then I wonder who the Zombies will blame come 2019...


Lalasticlala...