writing this Rejoinder, I must make clear that I
have no intention of joining issues on twitter with
Mr. Japhet Omojuwa other than to clear certain
misunderstandings in his piece which may be
deliberate or inadvertent. We can then perhaps
spark off a deeper understanding of positions
across camps towards ending the silliness of a
divided youth base.
In referring to those who support former President
Goodluck Jonathan as “Wailing Wailers”, Japhet
submits to the divisive thinking promoted by this
administration in order to keep the camp of Buhari
supporters united. This appellation was first used
derogatively by Femi Adesina who speaks on
behalf of Mr. President and he again repeated it on
Christmas Day.
Those of us on this side have embraced it but in
referring to those who support President
Muhammadu Buhari as Buharists, not Lying Liars
as we choose to describe them in equal derogatory
retaliation, Japhet betrays his sentiments and it is
well understood.
Subsequent parts of his article show however that
he has taken a step from the left of the political
divide where he used to be blatantly and
sometimes abusively anti-government to embrace
or make an attempt to embrace a more moderate
position at least on the budget. His criticism of
this document is spot on and one finds no major
point to disagree with him on that.
While one is grateful that there are no allusions to
pigs or ineffectual buffoons about the incumbent
President:our President, he again betrays an
inability to avoid continual denigration of former
President Goodluck Jonathan and this is where and
why it is important to clarify things a bit so that
those who would like to shift positions can fully
understand the position of those of us who
seemed pro-government at this time last year.
In a nation of millions of people, was Goodluck
Jonathan the best man to be President? Many
would answer a resounding ‘no’ and that includes a
lot of Wailers. But was General Muhammadu
Buhari the best option and alternative to him? This
was where our ‘no’ was emphatic because that
negative answer was echoed not just by Wailing
Wailers but by many other Nigerians who simply
refused to believe in the repackaged product.
Those who recalled the Economic crises of 1984
and 1985 due to his inability to understand the
Economy also said ‘no’. Those who genuinely
could not see how #Change could be a regression
to a past of failed leadership which had somehow
been glorified and recast as Nigeria’s golden age
also said ‘no’ with us. These people said ‘no’ not
because they loved Goodluck Jonathan but
because for them it was a case of jumping from
frying pan to fire – if there would be a change of
leadership (and not a change of systems), it
simply could not be a change from Jonathan to
Buhari.
These people were over 12 million in number and
so when the likes of Adesina or Omojuwa refer to
them as “Wailing Wailers”, it is obvious that they
do not understand that many people were indeed
unconvinced about the ability of the incumbent
President to do differently, without being
beneficiaries of the immediate past President.
Sadly like Omojuwa stylishly admits: the President
is confirming our worst fears about Buhari.
For a President who was elected on a sense of
urgency; one who claimed to have leadership
experience and one who had contested election
three times in the past, the inability of President
Buhari to form the Federal Executive Council for
about five months has become the foundation of
our socio-economic crises as Nigeria wasted time
which the “Jonathan Must Go Even If A Pig Is The
Alternative” claim we never had. One of the
offshoots of that indecisiveness is a budget
prepared largely without ministerial interjections
except to inflate costs – Prof. Anthony Anwuka the
minister of state for education admitted just this
week to the senate that he was not aware of how
salaries and emoluments of ministry staff jumped
up by over NGN10bn from the 2015 budget.
By presenting a ministerial list of more of the
same kind of politicians, some very obvious
downgrade from the GEJ cabinet and persons
whose only claim to office is that they had been
his longterm aides and cronies, President Buhari
sent a clear signal into the polity: “this is business
as usual but this time, my own friends will be
rewarded” and we ended up with the likes of Hadi
Sirika, Adamu Adamu, Adebayo Shittu, Abubakar
Malami, Abdulrahman Dambazzau and several
others as ministers while Hamid Alli was drafted
to the Nigerian Customs Service and Lawal Daura
recalled from retirement to come and head the DSS
– clear indications of Appointment By Nepotism.
Cronies of governors who were close Buhari
associates also made the list: that’s how we
ended up with Kemi Adeosun as Finance Minister
– a close friend of Gov. Ibikunle Amosun who had
been a member of the ANPP at the same time as
Buhari.
And you also have an Amaechi as Minister: Gov.
Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi at a reception for the man
admitted that about 80% of campaign funding
came from Rotimi Amaechi who at the time of the
campaign was the Governor of Rivers State and we
must not be simpleminded to assume that the
money he spent on the campaign was left as
inheritance for him by his ancestors.
As Omojuwa now sees: there was no #Change in
the true sense of what Nigerians expected – the
only change that took place on March the 28th of
last year was a change of leadership and a change
of cronies of leadership. Some of us envisaged
this and we are only surprised that this Government
is not even pretending to represent Change in any
way by making an initial show of it, such as
expunging spurious provisions from the national
budget for instance.
In many instances in fact, the sums have been
increased to outrageous levels: Dambazzau’s
ministry wants to spend over half a billion on
repairs and rehabilitation of office buildings – a
2500% increase from what was allocated in 2015.
But here is where I help those who are becoming
increasingly politically conscious to understand our
position, as Wailing Wailers (as they call us and
we now embrace) or as PDP supporters: we admit
now and ever that Goodluck Jonathan was not the
ideal President for Nigeria but the alternative WAS
NOT A CONSIDERABLE OPTION or an improvement
on Goodluck Jonathan.
We insisted then that the man to replace Jonathan
could only be one who had demonstrated an ability
to grapple with Nigeria’s multifaceted problems
either with visible footsteps at the state level or in
private business – but let’s not rehash the pre-
election arguments: we are now where we are.
Where we are is a Government that is struggling to
keep up and we understand that, wholeheartedly.
Where we are is a crowd of 15 million (as against
12 million), many of whom took a chance on
voting Buhari for Change but now see Buhari
without the promised Change. Some may be
pained that Goodluck Jonathan is no longer in
power but personally and for many whom I know,
it was rarely about Jonathan as a person and so
there is no pain here.
I have been to Abuja on the invitation of PDP more
times since March 28, 2015 than since 1999. I
have been in ‘opposition’ in Lagos as a PDP
member since before the 2011 election so I am
used to it, I like many I know have never been
beneficiaries of the PDP set up and so we are
used to ‘opposition’.
Why then do we Wail?
We wail because the likes of Omojuwa have now
lost the moral credibility to lead the charge against
the same Government they told us would lead us
to Eldorado, Utopia and the Elysian Fields. We wail
because we warned that this President did not in
any way represent Change and as Prophets of that
Truth, we continue to point the way out.
We wail because those who used to tell us that it
was wrong for Jonathan to godto Oba Odulana’s
birthday in Ibadan 24 hours after a Boko Haram
attack have lost their voice as President Buhari
went to Ogun State in aso-ebi to celebrate after his
citizens were killed in Dalori. We wail because
those who used to tell us about foreign exchange
rates falling under Jonathan now tell us that the
worst exchange rates ever in Nigeria’s history are
suddenly a thing of joy.
We wail because the Rule of Law suddenly does
not matter. We wail because people on the streets
are beginning to wail as prices of essential
commodities continue to climb higher. we wail
because although we understand the challenges of
Governance, the failure of yesterday’s wailers to
speak up in defence of certain ideals can no longer
speak.
We wail because we have a right to do so, and
more because we saw this coming, we insisted
that this Change was fraudulent while admitting the
status quo ante was not the ideal. We wail
because we can.
We wail because we must. We wail because you
cannot wail anymore.
We wail because we too are Nigerians.
On other aspects of Omojuwa’s article, I have no
marked disagreements – I concur with him that the
2016 Budget is disgraceful: to Mr. President’s
vaunted austere lifestyle and ascetism, to those
like Omojuwa who sold him to youths on social
media and to those who dared to believe that this
one would be different.
We have moved on (maybe not all but most of us)
and we appreciate the difficulties that this
Government is experiencing at the moment with
meeting the ideals set for the previous
government. Rather than submit however to the
wishes of the ruling class as embodied in this
present government to keep us divided along false
political lines, we insist that youths must demand
better from government.
When those who defend the same things they once
castigated equally understand our position as we
understand theirs, there can be a unified push for
better governance. As long as they keep painting
us as less patriotic tha they: na here we go dey.



ynaija.com/413678-2demola-rewaju-rejoinder-wailing-wailers-buharists-and-that-disgraceful-2016-budget/

Wailing Wailers!I jst L♥√e dats name

What exactly is demola ranting about? He agrees with Omojuwa's criticism of the budget but feels he lacks the moral right to criticise the president as only the wailers have that right. What a joke of a logic.

That Omojuwa supported Buhari during the election doesn't reduce his moral obligation as a citizen to constructively criticise the PMB government. In fact, the idea of always supporting all the policies and decisions of a president based on party affiliation is why we are in the present economic mess. If only PDP sycophants like Demola had told GEJ the truth about his mismanagement of the country back then, maybe his government wouldn't have failed so woefully.

seunmsg:
What exactly is demola ranting about? He agrees with Omojuwa's criticism of the budget but feels he lacks the moral right to criticise the president as only the wailers have that right. What a joke of a logic.

That Omojuwa supported Buhari during the election doesn't reduce his moral obligation as a citizen to constructively criticise the PMB government. In fact, the idea of always supporting all the policies and decisions of a president based on party affiliation is why we are in the present economic mess. If only PDP sycophants like Demola had told GEJ the truth about his mismanagement of the country back then, maybe his government wouldn't have failed so woefully.

sorry sir, do we have destructive criticism??

Carmal90:


sorry sir, do we have destructive criticism??

Yes, that is what you see wailers do here on daily basis.

seunmsg:


Yes, that is what you see wailers do here on daily basis.

OK, it Is destructive to call president attention to a scam budget,it is destructive to condemn pmb for going to ogun when boko haram attacked dalori. if you said all those are destructive, sorry Nigeria is heading somewhere

Nice one Demola

Carmal90:



OK, it Is destructive to call president attention to a scam budget,it is destructive to condemn pmb for going to ogun when boko haram attacked dalori. if you said all those are destructive, sorry Nigeria is heading somewhere

Go back to my initial post that you quoted and try understand my position. Omojuwa criticised the budget, demola agreed with his criticism but still went ahead to say Omojuwa has no moral credibility to criticise the government simply because he supported Buhari during the election. Demola's hypocrisy is what I condemned. His rejoinder is baseless and makes no sense.

Buhari was the better candidate of the two and Nigerians rightly settled that argument. What Buhari does with that mandate does not make the Nigerians who voted him the wrong party. If doing the right thing eventually results in a bad thing happening, you do not regret doing the right thing.

But Nigeria is bigger than the so called Wailing Wailers, Nigerians already proved that on March 28, 2015.

following.
those who condemned actions of GEJ in d past ar now supporting d same actions pepetrated by buari. yet they say they want change. u call going to ogun to celebrate n dance shoki just when over 100 pipul lost their lives in dalori terrorist attack a change dis is hypocrisy of d highest oder.
good one from demola. those of us who knew buari for wat he is knew dat he was never an option. bad product na bad product no matter ho it is repackaged.

seunmsg:


Go back to my initial post that you quoted and try understand my position. Omojuwa criticised the budget, demola agreed with his criticism but still went ahead to say Omojuwa has no moral credibility to criticise the government simply because he supported Buhari during the election. Demola's hypocrisy is what I condemned. His rejoinder is baseless and makes no sense.

as your lordship pleases,the lying lier

Just in case

seunmsg:


Yes, that is what you see wailers do here on daily basis.

There cannot be in Nigeria history again, the type of destructive campaign the Janja.weed orchestrated against the government of Goodluck Jonathan.

There is nobody in Nigeria that is destroying the image of Buhari's government and the economy than Buhari himself who sent foreign inventors packing with his unfriendly economic policies and the worst is his crusade against his own country where the President comfortably tells the international community that all politicians, businesses, judiciary including agencies of government are all corrupt except himself.

Who will invest in the type of country Buhari painted her picture to the international community?

In terms of governance, Buhari has no slightest clue on how 21st century democracy works let alone manage the economy. Let him continue shout GEJ and what inheritance he denied him as if Fashola and Amaechi APC State governments left bounty purse for their predecessors.

LadyExcellency:


There cannot be in Nigeria history again, the type of destructive campaign the Janja.weed orchestrated against the government of Goodluck Jonathan.

There is nobody in Nigeria that is destroying the image of Buhari's government and the economy than Buhari himself who sent foreign inventors packing with his unfriendly economic policies and the worst is his crusade against his own country where the President comfortably tells the international community that all politicians, businesses, judiciary and every others agencies of government are all corrupt except himself.

Who will invest in the type of country Buhari painted her picture to the international community?

no mind dem. small time dem go shout destructive criticism. dem forget say na d same criticism dem APC used to outs GEJ. wat is good for d goose is also good for d gander.

Aufbauh:
Buhari was the better candidate of the two and Nigerians rightly settled that argument. What Buhari does with that mandate does not make the Nigerians who voted him the wrong party. If doing the right thing eventually results in a bad thing happening, you do not regret doing the right thing.

But Nigeria is bigger than the so called Wailing Wailers, Nigerians already proved that on March 28, 2015.

The way you keep repeating yourself you must be...
Dj Aufbazz.. .and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record

Carmal90:


sorry sir, do we have destructive criticism??

yes! Like what u saTANist wailers, and ipod are doing right now

Jesusloveyou:
yes! Like what u saTANist wailers, and ipod are doing right now

sorry for you, we wail that the budget was scam you claimed it was budget of change, the rest is history
we wail buhariis clueless on governance you said he is the best, the man that said kanu must be jailed told the whole world he will grant amnesty to REAL boko haram, Buhari said he has defeated boko haram technically, boko haram killed Nigerians in hundreds in DALORI, he watched and even backed the military as they killed close to a thousand Shiites members, he accused everybody that collected a dime from arms deal as corrupt but he quickly defended himself when dasuki mention his name... pls how much is dollar to naira now?

seunmsg:


Go back to my initial post that you quoted and try understand my position. Omojuwa criticised the budget, demola agreed with his criticism but still went ahead to say Omojuwa has no moral credibility to criticise the government simply because he supported Buhari during the election. Demola's hypocrisy is what I condemned. His rejoinder is baseless and makes no sense.

is not only damola that ishypocrite, it is in d DNA of all wailers especially ben bruce, they just finish what they accuse others that have not even start d same act they just finish doing, their hypocrisy fear saTAN himself

Carmal90:


sorry for you, we wail that the budget was scam you claimed it was budget of change, the rest is history
we wail buhariis clueless on governance you said he is the best, the man that said kanu must be jailed told the whole world he will grant amnesty to REAL boko haram, Buhari said he has defeated boko haram technically, boko haram killed Nigerians in hundreds in DALORI, he watched and even backed the military as they killed close to a thousand Shiites members, he accused everybody that collected a dime from arms deal as corrupt but he quickly defended himself when dasuki mention his name... pls how much is dollar to naira now?

tell ur ineffectual buffoon or corrupt baboon to bring out our dollars that he share among his saTANist cronies, and we must recover all by all means in order to bring down d value of dollar, very soon dollar wil be 100naira

Jesusloveyou:
tell ur ineffectual buffoon or corrupt baboon to bring out our dollars that he share among his saTANist cronies, and we must recover all by all means in order to bring down d value of dollar, very soon dollar wil be 100naira

see what pmb has turned a sane mind to.... lying lier

Hmmmm,really? Self professed monitor like you should know better that my repeated postings are deliberate.
Somehow to reecho and taunt those concerned.

BushidoBlue:



The way you keep repeating yourself you must be...
Dj Aufbazz.. .and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record
..and his broken record

Nice one