Those who show fanatical support for President Muhammadu Buhari and believe that he can never do anything wrong are his worst enemies as well as a threat to Nigeria’s growth and democratic development. His predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan, suffered a similar fate from sycophants and fanatical supporters.
There are two governors who have been taking actions and making pronouncements that win over even their critics: Mallam Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. Let’s just look at a little aspect of what they have done since their assumption of office on May 29, 2015.
Last week, there was a news story in the newspapers with headlines like: “I need criticism, not praise – el-Rufai tells Kaduna people;” “I need critics, not sycophants – el-Rufai tells Kaduna people.” El-Rufai was speaking at a town hall meeting in Zaria. He said among other things: “We are human beings and we are bound to make mistakes. Don’t praise us. We don’t need praises. Tell us when we are going the wrong direction so that we can take correction and do the right thing.”
In Abia State, among the first pronouncements Ikpeazu made upon his inauguration on May 29, 2015 was to inform the state that he should not be addressed as the “Executive Governor” but simply as “Governor”, and that he should not be addressed as “His Excellency” but as “Dr Ikpeazu.” In addition, he directed that all praise-singing songs on radio, TV and CDs be discontinued, and that those involved in such should channel their energies to ventures that would add value to the state.
One thing that makes leaders derail is blind support and praise-singing. In most Nigerian states, the state radio and TV stations play praise-singing jingles of the state governors every 30 minutes. The intersections and major roads are littered with billboards of the governors. Before some governors speak at any function, some praise-singers hail them. If the governors have to deliver a speech of one hour, the praise-singers will interrupt the speech every 10 minutes or less. To many governors, that is the way to prove to their political opponents that they are “performing” and are popular.
The people can be pardoned on this type of praise-singing because it is orchestrated by the governors themselves. But the dangerous type is when the led have the siege mentality that makes them believe that their leader should NEVER be criticised, because any form of criticism is an attack on the infallible leader. And that is a dangerous trend that many supporters of Buhari are displaying.
If Buhari smiles, he is praised as a genial and humane leader. If he chooses not to smile, he is hailed as a serious leader who does not waste precious national time on the frivolity of smiling. If he slants his cap to the left, he is praised for being stylish. If he keeps it straight, he is praised for being balanced in his dealings and thoughts. If Buhari breaks a promise he made during the campaign, these supporters ask: “Is that the most important issue facing us as a country now?” If he takes too long to make a decision, he is praised for being a cautious and thoughtful leader who does not want to make the mistakes of the past. If he takes an action that he spoke against during his campaign, these supporters remind us that Goodluck Jonathan took the same action as President or that President John Kennedy of the United States took a similar action in 1962.
In the euphoria to credit Buhari with great achievements, all manner of things are credited to him, including things that he had no input on. For example, on June 11, 2015, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced that the refineries (starting with that in Port Harcourt) would start working in July. These hardliners started praising Buhari for the feat. Common sense would have made someone to ask if the turn-around maintenance of a refinery that had gone into despair for decades could be achieved in 13 days (including weekends) – which was the length of time Buhari had spent in office then. Is a refinery a car that can be repaired in a matter of days?
Advertisement


Even after Buhari stated in a TV interview with Omotayo Omotosho on the NTA that it would be dishonest of him to take credit for the revamping of the refineries, these praise-singers still kept on with the claim. The same thing is happening in the areas of railway and electricity.
While the Buhari fanatics are crediting every good thing to the President and crediting every bad thing to Jonathan, the Jonathan fanatics are doing the same thing: discrediting anything Buhari and praising anything Jonathan. The attack on Buhari got so ridiculous that when Buhari visited the US recently, the anti-Buhari elements shared pictures on social media which showed President on a red carpet whose end was visible and used that to say that Buhari was so poorly treated by the US that the US even had to provide an incomplete red carpet for his welcome. Even the way Buhari stood or walked while in the US was criticised. The plan is that Buhari has to be portrayed as bad in toto.
The terrible belief of these two dangerous groups is that for Buhari to rise, Jonathan must fall, and for Jonathan to rise, Buhari must fall. This ridiculous mindset is replayed in all states where the succeeding governor is not of the same party as his predecessor, or where they are of the same party but have fallen out. It happened when Mr Peter Obi took over from Dr Chris Ngige in Anambra State, when Mr Ayodele Fayose took over from Dr Kayode Fayemi in Ekiti State, when Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau took over from Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano State, etc. One wonders, for example, if it is not possible for Ngige and Obi to be praised on areas where they did well and criticised on areas where they did poorly.
This bad precedent in our national politics was set during Jonathan’s tenure: his opponents criticised even the air he breathed, all in an effort to get him out. Every achievement he recorded was denied or lampooned, while every negative story was celebrated, including Boko Haram attacks. President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Umaru Yar’Adua were not treated like that. Unfortunately, Jonathan’s supporters are now paying Buhari and his supporters in their own coin. Nigeria loses in all this, because there is a difference between opposition politics and hate politics. One wonders if there is any person that is so bad that he does not have any drop of goodness in him.
Like el-Rufai and Ikpeazu said, Buhari does not need these fanatical trolls who make a mockery of governance by hyping even the ludicrous as feats and attacking anybody who says any non-positive thing about him. What he needs are those who will analyse his actions and plans and tell him the merits and demerits of such and point him towards success. If Buhari succeeds on social media and the mainstream media but fails in real life, it is Nigeria’s loss. If he succeeds, all Nigerians gain – including those who praise him and those who criticise him.
Like in marketing, the best friend of a brand owner is not the customer who always commends the brand or keeps quiet even when not satisfied, but the customer who complains any time he is not satisfied. That is the customer that provides the brand owner the relevant and critical feedback that helps him to reinvent his brand and stay competitive and alive. Those who praise the brand ceaselessly or keep quiet when things are not alright help to kill the brand. They are the dangerous customers that a brand owner must be wary off.

http://www.today.ng/blog/08116229-may-god-save-buhari-from-praise-singers/?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter

And all the WW.

Amen and Amen

While the writer tried to weigh a balance by taking a faceted swipe at GEJ supporters, he still went on to show his bias against Buhari's supporters.

The writer did not point out to Nigerians that it is far too early to start criticising Buhari's every step. It took at least 2 years plus for people to start criticising GEJ's government. In fact, GEJ caused his own downfall based on his body language towards corruption that hampered even the fight against insurgency.

On the issue of refineries, electricity etc, can the writer please tell us if nothing significantly changed in these sectors relating to attitude towards work, sabotage without punishment etc which all lacked during GEJ's tenure?

How come EFCC seems to have grown balls to pursue corrupt political criminals? How come pipeline "vandalism" immediately stopped after handover? How come electricity improved immediately handover? Does this not prove to us that our heads of government agencies are directly involved in sabotaging efforts of government without consequence? Immediately a new sherif came to town, everyone sits up all of a sudden, no more lies and betrayal, they know the new sheriff doesn't tolerate nonsense!

Sanity came back to Nigeria immediately Buhari took charge, simple! He deserves all the credit

Another wailer on the loose make una catch am

Yoruba people say, "yini yini k'eni se imi." I will always praise Buhari. In my lifetime I could stay a week without making use of my generator.

With d way pro buharis are fanatical about him even when he is yet to commence properly,one can only imagine d mental frenziness dat will erupt whn real governance starts n major achievements recorded.nothing is happening yet but every where is agog wt praise singing.wat wil happen if naira eventually equates dollar,unemployed gets paid,fuel price drops,power stabilizes.pls lets stop Ds distraction already n remind him of his campaign promises else we will b taken Fr granted.@socialmediaman,pls calm down.u r always as jumpy as a typical arsenal fan in d beginning of every premiership

Ama80:
With d way pro buharis are fanatical about him even when he is yet to commence properly,one can only imagine d mental frenziness dat will erupt whn real governance starts n major achievements recorded.nothing is happening yet but every where is agog wt praise singing.wat wil happen if naira eventually equates dollar,unemployed gets paid,fuel price drops,power stabilizes.pls lets stop Ds distraction already n remind him of his campaign promises else we will b taken Fr granted.@socialmediaman,pls calm down.u r always as jumpy as a typical arsenal fan in d beginning of every premiership

If I didn't like the way he's going so far, I wouldn't still be here or maybe I would've withdrawn my support. I want corrupt people brought to book. I'm passionate about this because I've watched people suffer and even qualified persons unemployed due to impunity and lack of empathy of the previous governments. I wanna see political criminals suffer like the suffering Nigerians. Many of them need to rot in the dirtiest part of jail for what they did to this country, to our youths, to the future of this nation, especially those who didn't do anything significant but looted so much, but some will need pardon and mercy if they did very good and looted little. I wanna see it all, and I'm not ready to see Buhari get distracted or pinned to a corner by critics. They need fire the way they promised it this government. Once Buhari starts rolling out his good plans for this nation, I'll retire with gladness and conclude a victory achieved. That's my take.

Perhaps Nigerians who praise PMB are confounded that a govt can achieve in 2months what many said were impossible and what one clown couldn't achieve in all his 6years of govt.
If these 2months of PMB's govt is an indication of what his first 4yrs would be,then the praise singing has not even started,Nigerians are just rehearsing for the thunderous claps that will soon come his way.

socialmediaman:


If I didn't like the way he's going so far, I wouldn't still be here or maybe I would've withdrawn my support. I want corrupt people brought to book. I'm passionate about this because I've watched people suffer and even qualified persons unemployed due to impunity and lack of empathy of the previous governments. I wanna see political criminals suffer like the suffering Nigerians. Many of them need to rot in the dirtiest part of jail for what they did to this country, to our youths, to the future of this nation, especially those who didn't do anything significant but looted so much, but some will need pardon and mercy if they did very good and looted little. I wanna see it all, and I'm not ready to see Buhari get distracted or pinned to a corner by critics. They need fire the way they promised it this government. Once Buhari starts rolling out his good plans for this nation, I'll retire with gladness and conclude a victory achieved. That's my take.

I feel ur passion.my concern is for his campaign promises to come to fruition n he shud spread his tentacles in fighting d corruption else it will appear as a witch hunt.

Ama80:
I feel ur passion.my concern is for his campaign promises to come to fruition n he shud spread his tentacles in fighting d corruption else it will appear as a witch hunt.

The EFCC officials are the ones making it feel like witch haunt, wait till a suitable replacement is found for that compromised and toothless EFCC chair. Organizations are undergoing reform, just watch and see, even the police will not be spared, impunity is much in this country

Ama80:
I feel ur passion.my concern is for his campaign promises to come to fruition n he shud spread his tentacles in fighting d corruption else it will appear as a witch hunt.

How exactly does the identity of those prosecuted matter in the war against corruption? It should not even be a matter of contention among any persons that possess integrity that ANYONE who is duly investigated and indicted for corruption, should be prosecuted and punished for their crimes.

All the rhetoric about PMB going after a set of people, are nothing but a load of unneeded sentiments.