" For men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse." 
- Niccolò Machiavelli

The above quote, which undoubtedly captures present realities in Nigeria, was from the book titled "The Prince" written by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1505.

Nigerians, it seems, have been duped with the promise of utopia through lies and propaganda by the Buhari APC-led government. No sooner had they taken over the reins of government than Nigerians began to realise that they had been hoodwinked by sweet and vain words.

All they wanted was the exit from office of former President Goodluck Jonathan whom the opposition succeeded in demonising. However, since 29th May 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office, he has sufficiently demonstrated that he is never going to be a better alternative to Goodluck Jonathan.

Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a rare breed politician who, by Nigerian standards, can be described as an abnormality. The former President is a true Democrat. Perhaps, that was why he lost the last elections.

I am not sure Nigeria ever had a President who was so maligned as Goodluck Jonathan. In the guise of criticising his government, they called him all manner of names. The opposition leaders and their agents not only abused and spread so many hurtful lies about him, the Presidency, under him, was also desecrated by them. They labelled him all manner of appellations : "clueless","buffoon" and many other derogatory nomenclature. 

The All Progressive Congress, which was the opposition party, spun lies on a daily basis back then about the Jonathan administration. Like a Lamb being led to the slaughter, Goodluck Jonathan did not utter a single word against his opponents nor used the machinery of state to harass them because he knew their criticism were ad-hominem: seeking to destroy him as a person rather than condemn his policies. 

Even now the lies persist : " A billion Dollars has been recovered from ex-ministers of Jonathan and another Jonathan aide returns a Trillion Naira" etc. Yet, with so much money recovered from supposed looters, President Buhari has curiously gone seeking loans to fund the 2016 budget. From inauguration, the Buhari administration not only put the wrong foot forward, it has evidenced a "leaner" approach to governance. 
In celebrating Buhari's first year in office, what are his noticeable achievements ? Perhaps his signing the 2016 budget ? Should the hue and cry about it be considered an achievement? 

If one is to be honest, the All Progressive Congress government, though in power, is still on the default opposition mode blaming the past administration after a year gone. They were aware of the problems besetting the country before the 2015 elections and told us they can sort them out. It was even reported of the present minister of Power, who stated then that it ought not take a government that knew its Onions more than six months to fix the power situation. Alas! He himself has been in charge for a year now and the only noticeable "achievement" has been the increased charges for electricity consumers despite the worsened power supply.

You can vehemently disagree with someone over an issue or his politics. However, to attack their character and integrity at every opportunity is a quite cowardly. The opposition had a field day because Goodluck Jonathan was a democrat. I doubt if the present resident at Aso Rock will suffer the opposition gladly like his predecessor did. If there was anything the Otuoke-born politician did wrong, it was allowing the APC deceive Nigerians.

The former President respected the Rule of Law. He never interfered with the judiciary. State machinery were not used against perceived enemies or to persecute the opposition. Elections were conducted under him and when the opposition won, he was usually the first to congratulate them. Under this new dispensation, no election has been successfully conducted. A new phenomenon has been introduced into the nation's electoral vocabulary : " inconclusive elections" mostly when the opposition were in the lead. In the days of Goodluck Jonathan, elections were conducted with reasonable degree of efficiency. Now, one year down the line, Nigerians look back with nostalgia at the recent past.  

In the areas of the Economy, Agriculture, Power, education and infrastructure development, the former President left a mark which his detractors will find difficult to belittle no matter how hard they try.  
The then opposition used the power of the media, assembled men and women who, before then, were held in high esteem to mobilise the poor, illiterate, jobless and disgruntled youth to stage protests against Jonathan at the Freedom Park in Lagos and Abuja. Where are these men today ? Where are the Wole Soyinkas, the Femi Falanas and many others who were always throwing jibes at Goodluck Jonathan ? Or is today's Nigeria the Nigeria of their dreams ? Is it now not obvious that the protests against Jonathan, mostly in Lagos then, were sponsored ? If what Nigerians have been through from the inception of this administration is anything to go by, there should have been civil disorder by now. Particularly the increase in pump price of Petrol : Buhari's one-year anniversary gift to Nigerians.  

On President Buhari's endless trips abroad : They argued that the President had to travel a lot to repair Nigeria's battered image. Question is : Who were those responsible for the country's poor image abroad in the first place? Was it not the ruling party when they were in opposition? Are they not the ones who went to foreign countries telling lies about Goodluck Jonathan? Ironically, what they themselves damaged is what President Buhari is ostensibly seeking to repair. 

A former president, at a time, once claimed that he had some intelligence about President Goodluck Jonathan training snipers to cut down political opponents. These were blatant lies from the mouth of a person who should be regarded as a father of the Nation.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will be ranked as one of the best Presidents Nigeria ever had when posterity judges. The man is a true Democrat. If anybody who worked under him abused his trust, such person(s) should be dealt with in deference to the rule of law. Let it not be that the man, Jonathan, is to blame for everything that has gone awry in Nigeria as if the country was a haven of bliss before he became president.

If anyone is hoping Nigeria will make headway during this administration, such a person is stretching his faith beyond reasonable limits. You cannot gain power through deceit, lies, high level propaganda, maintain it through same and hope to succeed. The reality is that Nigerians will have to suffer the next four years for being so gullible.  

Omolere Omoetan is a social commentator resident in Ibadan.
Omolereomoetan@gmail.com