The role of a vibrant opposition in a democracy is unambiguous: To keep government on its toes through constructive criticisms. But where criticism becomes dysfunctional and destructive, it is a recipe for distraction, chaos and misleading the public.
It can be beneficial to receive constructive criticisms from those who have your best interests. In effect, while constructive criticism is the lubricant of any targeted public policy, crude or blind criticism is a snag and distraction to a performing government.
Worse still, is a situation where criticism becomes a ploy in the sinister agenda of the enemies of the state/government. For instance, in the last few weeks, there has been an increase in the flurry of criticisms by the mercenaries and foot soldiers of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and other unscrupulous elements targeted at President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration.
These aimless criticisms wouldn’t have elicited concerns if they were not targeted at misleading patriotic Nigerians who have, for the umpteenth time, demonstrated their resilience to stand by and sustain the nation building policies of the current administration.
On the flip side, the reason for the escalating angst of the opposition PDP and their rapacious agents against President Buhari and his government is not far-fetched: to lie and mislead noble Nigerians in a bid to water down the strong approval rating of the president among Nigerians.
Who cares? They can continue with their stock-in-trade, while Nigerians lineup behind President Buhari as he toils day and night to repair the 16 years of PDP’s damage on our social and economic lives. As the bestselling American author, John Mason, once noted, “Stones and sticks are only thrown at fruit bearing trees.” They are angry because President Buhari’s government is doing within a short space of time what they were unable to achieve in 16 wasted years.
People with momentum all share one trait; they attract criticisms. How you respond to criticism will determine the rate of your momentum. Mason agreed that “Great men or great work attracts great criticisms” because mischief makers will in any circumstance, real or phantom, criticise what ought to be applauded.
The PDP and its agents are already in the mud and are seeking those to join them. Their opinion is not worth more than tissue paper, neither is President Buhari or Nigerians having an iota of respect for their tainted opinions. That explains why Edward Gibbon said: “I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinion I have no respect.”
Penultimate week, against the PDP’s tradition of trying to subvert constitutional will to seek ‘Third Term,’ President Buhari came out boldly to say he will quit in 2023. All things being equal, this statement ought to be celebrated. Statements such as this helps to add impetus to the fact that Nigeria has become a stable democratic state, hence, by implication boosting Nigeria’s global democratic credentials. But for the fact that something is fundamentally wrong with the PDP’s idea of what is good, or it could be suffering personality abnormality or dementia, instead of applauding him for not repeating PDP’s gimmicks, their proxies went to town with all manner of lame and pedestal arguments to whittle down the import of this bold declaration.
Are Nigerians suffering acute collective amnesia to forget so soon in history how the PDP wasted their resources in ‘Ghana Must Go’ bribes and largesse for lawmakers to approve President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term bid?
We were all witness to PDP’s tantrums recently when it, out of ignorance of the law, queried the signing of the amended Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Bill into law in London by President Buhari, while on vacation. They went further to describe it as “inexcusable and insulting.” What could be more ridiculous than for a political party that once prided itself as the largest in Africa and has ruled Nigeria, the giant of Africa, for 16 years to engage in such a macabre?
Like a bull in a china shop, PDP has since 2015, when it was chased out of power, been behaving like a spoilt child, whose feeding bottle has dried up. For instance, the president’s 2019 Independence Day speech which Nigerians of pure intention see as a lifeline was carpeted by the PDP. The opposition party behaves as if the best way to play the role of opposition effectively is to stand truth on its head in all cases?
The PDP had described the broadcast as empty and lacking in knack for nation building, insensitive and disconnected from the people. This obviously came from a political party that is sinking because the people they are talking about will re-elect President Buhari a hundred times over, if it was constitutional.
As the PDP continues to dance naked in the market square, it recently took its new found hunger for relevance to the president’s family by advising President Buhari to put his house in order, insisting that cabals were holding sway in Aso Rock. PDP’s character here depicts the style of a hyena who offers to cure others of diarrhea while it defecates every second. Is it not public knowledge that under the PDP, First Ladies held sway?
Is it not an open secret that under the PDP, brutally greedy men held sway? Is it not then that party big wigs were given contracts without visiting the site of the so called projects? Government under the PDP was a ‘fat cow’ held down for the few privileged class to milk, unlike now that all government functionaries are held to account for their actions and inactions.
In the words of John Mason, “It is a thousand times easier to criticise than to create. That is why critics are never problem solvers.” Another celebrated author, Dale Carnegie, admonished, “Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain….”
Push or pull, media propaganda notwithstanding, President Buhari is already etching his name in gold and the verdict of history, no matter how twisted, will always vindicate the just. Between President Buhari and his traducers, the direction of the judgment of history is certainly predictable.
Time shall tell!
– Ibrahim is Director, Communication and Strategic Planning, of the Presidential Support Committee
