[dropcap]A[/dropcap] Facebook user, Kelechi Ekezie, during the 2015 election campaigns had posted a comment on Facebook about the possible outcome of General Muhammadu Buhari winning the elections which was upcoming at the time.
Point by point, he predicted what would be the future of Nigeria under a President Buhari and warned Nigerians against the choice. Many dismissed the post which was made late 2014 as as election time “propaganda”. Even the author dismissed his writing as far-fetched and unlikely to happen. But, still, he warned Nigerians about their choices.
Guess what? It happened. And Ekezie’s Facebook note is now a reference point as Nigeria deteriorates under the leadership rulership of General Muhammadu Buhari. It’s an eerie feeling that comes upon anybody who reads this list of 22-point predictions and discover that about 10 of the predictions have come to pass.
Read the essay below:
It’s May 29th 2015. The North is aflame with celebration. So, too, is the South west. There is a mourning spirit pervading the South East and South South and parts of North Central. Except for the efulefu circles celebrating…
General Muhammadu Buhari is being sworn in as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
* Buhari, upon assumption of power announces a major probe into federal government ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, since 1999. Massive jubilations rent the North, and South West. With efulefus too… [Fulfilled]
* Buhari sacks all services chiefs and security heads. Replaces all with mostly Hausa-Fulani folks. The North hail endlessly. The South West hails too, but in a lower tone. The South South and South East are silent, save for the efulefus among them celebrating cautiously… [Fulfilled]
* Buhari orders immediate relocation of all amouries in the South back to the North, calling Obasanjo and Jonathan “outlaws” for moving amouries away from the North. Jubilation in the North, SW jubilate half heartily… efulefus celebrate nervously… [Uncertain]
* Buhari declares war on corruption. Reverses the privatization of PHCN, claiming it was fraudulently sold off. North roars in joy, South West murmur, efulefus smile about nervously… [Threatened but not done yet]
* Buhari cancels second Niger bridge project, citing it as one of Jonathan’s corruption based projects. North explodes in joy, South West scratch their heads, South East and South West mourn deeply, efulefus now confused. [Technically, done]
* Buhari suspends all upgrade work at Calabar/Onne seaports, citing corruption in the award of the contracts and also that the ports are a conduit for insurgents to bring in arms into the Niger Delta. Now the efulefus begin to grumble silently…the North rejoices… [Fulfilled – projects defunded]
* Fulani herdsmen kill thousands in night raids in the North Central. [Fulfilled] Christian militias retaliate at once. Buhari orders a nation-wide revocation of all firearms licenses, [Fulfilled] sends soldiers and police on door to door search for firearms, whether licensed or not… Observers note these raids are all in the North Central and Southern Nigeria. [In the works]
* Reports of silent killings, especially of opposition politicians keep coming in. The Buhari-led federal government denies complicity. There is terror and deep fear in the land. Anti-govt activists and groups begin to mobilize against the tyrannical govt. [Unravelling]
* AIT, Silverbird TV and Channels TV shut down by the Buhari-led government for “instigating crisis” in the polity. [Contemplated, except for Channels TV, the mouthpiece of the Buhari government]. The media houses proceed to court, the court orders their reopening at once, Buhari ignores the court orders. [Disobeying court orders fulfilled]
* 2016 population census is done: Kano alone gets a population of 35 million, all the South East states put together get barely 36 million. The South West states plus Lagos get barely 45 million. The day begins to break for the efulefus…
* Buhari bans the use of FaceBook and Twitter in Nigeria. [Contemplated] Prescribes harsh jail terms of an IP is traced to any social media site. [Social Media Bill proposed] Quarrels and disagreements spark off between Osibanjo and Buhari. Hundreds of young people are hauled into jail for Facebooking.
* MEND attacks oil pipelines, crippling oil production. Buhari orders thousands of troops to crush them.[Fulfilled, but ‘MEND’ is Niger Delta Avengers] Bitter fighting breaks out in the Niger Delta, leaders of the Niger Delta movement are arrested and executed without trial. Now the South West is silent… efulefus nowhere to be found…
* Buhari announces a major slash in fed allocation to states, citing the war in the Niger Delta. Nigerians are furious with the excruciating hard times, the federal government explains that the monumental damage done to the economy by decades of military rule plus 16 years of PDP misrule cannot be fixed in 4 years. Now the generality of Nigerians are swallowing hard… [Fulfilled]
* IBB, GEJ, OBJ etc all rally together to form a common front against Buhari’s govt. Tinubu falls out with Buhari and joins in the coalition. Buhari orders their arrest and slams them into detention. Their lawyers proceed to court to secure the freedom. All the court orders are damned by the Buhari led govt. [2nd sentence fulfilled]
* 2019 elections approach. More reports of silent killings. The opposition parties are too afraid to campaign or field a candidate against Buhari. Tinubu charges NADECO to fight on hard against the dictatorship of Buhari as they “gallantly” did against Abacha. The South East and South South laugh at him, asking him to go and tame the monster he unleashed from chain unto Nigerians himself.
* 90% of the political parties adopt Buhari as their candidate. All opposition leaders have fled the country, some missing. Militants in the Niger Delta step up operations, routing the army and advancing northwards. Thousands of volunteers join them, along with other militant groups to push Buhari’s forces off the region.
* Buhari suspends Nollywood, declaring them a “source of immorality”… Nigerians now are too afraid to resist. Many journalists are arrested and detained for writing against the government.
* Brazil and Israel announce their support for the groups fighting the federal government. They provide support and logistics. Now the Buhari-led federal government gets real jittery. Inflation spirals out of control, over 25m people displaced by the bitter fighting. Looting, rape and robbery by both citizens and military personnel become very high.
* A major mutiny occurs within the armed forces. A nation-wide state of emergency is declared. Rumours of the death of some past presidents in detention filters out. A nation-wide state of emergency is declared. No more elections. Year after year, the state of emergency on the nation is maintained. The system grinds to a halt. Buhari. Is accused of refusing to lift the emergency state so as to foist himself as president for life.
* The South East and South South declare independence from Nigeria. 14 nations recognize them. The FG calls it illegality of the highest order…
* North Central declares independence.
* The federal government calls for meeting of all “aggrieved regions” to reconcile. None is interested.
Well, well peeps, welcome to my imagination! Do you think these events lack bizarre possibilities?
Personally, I don’t believe Nigerians have so offended the universe to deserve this.
So we can only avoid such scenarios by not bringing such unto ourselves via our choices.
Think well, vote wisely…Peace.
Kelechi Ekezie
Aniefiok I. Udoabasi is a legal practitioner and Head of Practice at The Brook Chambers. He is a chartered arbitrator and public affairs analyst. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
