When late last year General Muhammadu Buhari emerged as the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress, I tweeted that he must be ready to stand under the harsh spotlight which public figures are constantly subjected to and which has been focused for a long time on President Goodluck Jonathan. I tweeted that because knowing the prevailing mentality of the APC and its supporters, demagoguery is an usual practice.
When yesterday I tweeted “Imagine GEJ had divorced a wife who’s now dead and her children abandoned by him. Now imagine it is Buhari but it is actually true.”
Imagine GEJ had divorced a wife who's now dead and her children abandoned by him.
Now imagine it is Buhari but it is actually true.
— 'Demola Olarewaju (@DemolaRewaju) March 16, 2015
I knew I had ruffled the hornet’s nest and I was bound to get stung. The APC reaction was immediate as their attack dogs led by one of their most irascible trained their keyboard missiles on me and fired away. Of course I am sure that some people may find that tweet offensive and to them I apologise as to offend was not my aim in tweeting that but to draw a very important lesson: that Buhari is often subjected to a different standard than his opponent which conclusion can easily be drawn from my first reference to Goodluck Jonathan.
The argument made sometimes is that Buhari is not yet the president and so cannot be subjected to the same spotlight but that would be to claim that there is no chance that Buhari will ever become president. If Buhari is a contender in this race and may one day become my president, I have a right, no, a duty to examine certain areas of his life as closely as a citizen can. Where then do we draw the line?
Political operatives divide the life of a candidate into two: private and public. The former is kept away from political operations but the latter is thoroughly examined. With the former, there is also a key distinguishing factor: private acts that are considered an indication of public behaviour, potentially embarrassing or below rational human standards are to be exposed. Monica Lewinsky as a consenting adult went on her knees and took Bill Clinton’s phallus into her mouth – a private act which became public, over which Clinton would later perjure himself. Western Presidents sleeping with prostitutes makes the news because their private lives are an indication of the kind of leader that their people will get.
It is a fact of history that General Muhammadu Buhari divorced his wife – it is a sad commentary that no discussion of it is permitted anywhere and not wishing to offend the sensibilities of anyone further, I prefer to let the issue lie or be raised by any other.
Ironically, Hajiya Safinatu Buhari died of diabetes and one her children for General Buhari, Zulaiha set up Hajiya Safinatu Buhari Foundation, for People Living with Diabetes in her memory. This foundation is the only known charity programme that bears the name ‘Buhari’. Zulaiha, herself, unfortunately died of sickle cell complications and was a dear person to many people.
I have friends who support General Buhari and hurting them is never my intention. One thing must be made clear going forward: we may not agree on anything at all but we must protect the right of anyone to say anything within the law. The young man who led the attacks on me crossed a line, not me. He was the same guy who tweeted a picture of Nigeria without three whole states, claiming that Goodluck Jonathan had ceded the entire territory to Boko Haram. This was an exaggeration at best and a blatant lie at worst. We have told them before and we say it again: do not lie about PDP and we will not reveal the truth about APC. Having lied and continuing to lie, revealing the truth about APC remains a noble task to which I am committed.
So help me God.
Have a wonderful Tuesday dear friends.
Demola Rewaju is a super blogger and a writer who manages Demola Rewaju Daily.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
