by Linus Charles
Bishop Mike Okonkwo in his recent interview said he has not regretted voting for Buhari during the last presidential election in Nigeria and that’s alright by him.
As we all know an expression of regret is always a function of disappointment. I’m quite sure President Muhammadu Buhari is dealing with Nigeria exactly in the way and manner Okonkwo had anticipated before voting for Buhari and that it seems justifies his public confession of no regret. He is so excited that he can not conceal his feelings and so has to go public.
Okonkwo is pleased with the state of the nation, the directionless and purposeless government led by Buhari/APC, the crashing economy, the exacerbated ethnic tension and divisiveness, prevailing and pervasive sense of insecurity everywhere in the country, the rampaging and unrestrained fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, kidnappers, armed robbers and cultists, the gloom, despair and hopelessness hanging over the country and the attendant unmitigated suffering of Nigerians, torrents of fiery lies, dishonesty, incompetence, insensitivity and total lack of transparency in the dealings of Buhari/APC-led government, prolonged nation-wide fuel scarcity, scarcity of forex, Buhari’s full blown tyranny and lawlessness and his use security operatives to settle old scores, arrest, torture and humiliate perceived enemies and political opposition and many more.
These are very ugly, unpleasant and frightful developments in our country that every Nigerian should feel highly regrettable about, irrespective of party affiliations, irrespective of who one supported during the elections. Except for those that suffer depravity, everyone that contributed to the enthronement of this terrible disaster on Nigeria should be contrite and ashamed.
Buhari has ruined Nigeria but to Okonkwo it is a development that elicits his excitement and confidence in Buhari.
In the said interview our esteemed Bishop lost his bearing, condescended and got submerged in the realm of hypocrisy and sycophancy and evidently became vituperative in his comments accusing the last administration of corruption, exhibiting reckless impunity and turning Nigeria into a banana republic while praising Buhari/APC for being incorruptible and purposeful.
According to Okonkwo, Buhari has stopped the impunity and has established a sense of orderliness. With due respect to our revered Bishop, in view of Buhari’s very obvious endless fumblings and stumblings like a blind bat, obstinacy and imperviousness to reason, tyranny coupled with the raging anger in the land and complete disapproval of Buhari’s handlings of the affair of the nation, except Bishop Okonkwo is on commission, he should have kept his excitement, acute confidence and sense of security in Buhari to himself or celebrated it with his gullible congregation.
The Bishop’s comments apart from running contrary to common sense and the reality on the ground, insult the sensibilities of Nigerians. Strikingly what Okonkwo shares in common with Buhari are insensitivity and insincerity. Given the same opportunity there is a very serious doubt if Okonkwo would treat Nigerians differently.
With all of these in mind it is saver to draw a conclusion that Bishop Okonkwo’s case is beyond repentance. May be Okonkwo is yet to feel the impact of Buhari’s misrule but sooner or later it will surely get at him. He should be told that thousands of families and millions of lives have either been destroyed or spurn out of balance emotionally, spiritually and materially.
Bishop Okonkwo should remember Ezra in the Bible, who though was living in the king’s presence and enjoying all the coziness of palace in Babylon, wept when he heard about the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezra tore his garment, fasted and prayed to God after which he went to the king and pleaded for the release of Israelites and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He did call for patience while praising the king for the captivity of the Israelites and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Linus Charles is a social media activist. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those in the article.
