Buhari and the house of deceit.

In the months leading up to the presidential elections, millions of gullible Nigerians took the bait line, hook and sinker about Buhari as Mr. Integrity. Sadly, there was nothing in Buhari’s past to suggest he fitted that solemn profile. Yet, fanatics chose to look only at the man and not what was behind the facade. Having been severely hypnotized and sedated by the tricks of career con artists, the APC band wagon gubbled every lie that was fed them like some freshly prepared cheesecake. Some people, so inebriated therefore failed to see the clear warning signs about a man deceit was all that swirled around him like some mid day harmattan dust. Even when discerning pundits dug up issues, they failed to listen, they failed to be saved by the truth. For instance, Buhari’s denial about not knowing how the sum of $2.8b dollars vanished and reappeared in his London bank account.

When late general Abacha was stealing Nigeria blind by literally hauling bags and bags of money out of Central Bank and shipping them off to foreign countries of choice, Buhari too was the chairman of the defunct PTF. As Abacha cleared the Central Bank, so too was Buhari clearing the PTF. It was believed that Buhari through fronts embezzled as much as N350m million naira. Yet, it is the same Buhari who swore by a piece of paper that Abacha never stole a dime. This same Buhari is now urging foreign countries to return Abacha’s stolen loot! The paradox escapes his apologists. Why is Buhari now so much interested about Abacha’s loot? Your answer is as good as mine.

If Buhari was really Mr. Integrity, why did the mere presentation of his WASC certificate become a problem? If Buhari was Mr. Clean, how would he not explain his rise as a military general without passing his Senior Staff College program? Fact of the matter is, Buhari got pushed by a convoluted military system that made it possible for the likes of Buhari not to be retired from the army when it was clear he didn’t possess the required mental and academic prerequisites to continue as a military senior level officer.

For the sake of brevity, let’s move on and fast forward the Mr. Integrity, Mr. Clean’s amazing story and the house of deceit. All through the presidential campaign Buhari was painted as a man too poor to even afford the presidential nomination forms. But at the same time his children were attending some of the most expensive universities in the UK. At that same time the Buhari family clan were living in a posh Mayfair mansion in England. At that same time Aisha Buhari’s name had featured prominently in the VP Atiku’s money laundering case in the US where a serving lawmaker was eventually indicted and prosecuted. The house of representative member from the state of Louisiania, one Jefferson was convicted and sent to jail.

Only the hypnotized and rabid fanatic of Buhari still does not wonder why Buhari, Mr. Integrity has yet to publicly declare his assets. Sadly, the mystery is still securedly trapped behind the facade of the fight against corruption meant as a grand strategy of distraction first, and second, as a cess pool of vendetta. It is only the rabid and severely inebriated fanatic of Buhari, Mr. Clean who believes Aisha Buhari actually wrote a book about beauty and made millions within days of its publication. Of course, only the severely and dangerously gullible citizen who will believe that only ghost politicians donated pennies to the first lady’s book lunch behind closed doors. Only the wicked and hopelessly maladjusted in the society would believe the first lady did the right thing by having preferrential treatment to buy forex in the sum of £22m million pounds.

In the Buhari certificate saga currently playing out in a court somewhere in Lagos, it is claimed that the judge who threw out Buhari’s suit challenging his qualifications or lack thereof, is been harassed and intimidated. Why is that so? Simply because Buhari isn’t used to playing by the rules, Buhari does not play by the rule of law. Buhari has always thought the law is an arse. If Buhari was really Mr. Integrity, Mr. Clean, he would simply have presented his original certificate to let sleeping dogs lie. If Buhari was what he and they claim he is, Buhari would’ve declared his assets publicly without the intrigues, shenanigans, the legalese and rigmarole. See, Buhari, Mr. Integrity is only a facade. What is behind is the house of deceit. Unfortunately, Nigeria bought the fraud line, hook and sinker. It is well.

No, all is not well. When pundits predicted that Buhari was a disaster waiting for Nigeria, the chants of change drowned them out. Today, that disaster is manifesting in more ways than one. Today, many think Nigeria never had it so bad, including some of Buhari’s ardent fans. Just how time flies you wonder. Yes, now we are all sucked into the Buhari’s house of deceit.

__________ Ebi B Asain