Twitter Hypocrisy of Buhari’s Men

THE ALTERNATIVE

By Reno Omokri

Domestic and foreign Investigative journalists have since revealed that solid members of Buhari’s kitchen cabinet, or even his cabal, who were very vocal in supporting his impulsive knee-jerk Twitter ban have been unable to resist their Twitter addiction and have been caught Tweeting.

They include the ill-tempered Nasir El-Rufai, currently the Governor of Kaduna state that is unfortunate to have him at the helm of affairs, and Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to Buhari, and last and definitely the least, Bashir Ahmad, Personal Assistant to Buhari on New Media.

Their use of Twitter erupted into a scandal in the media, although in the case of El-Rufai, he tried to spin the news by claiming to be tweeting from abroad.

But did it matter where they were tweeting from?

Banning Twitter in Nigeria for Nigerians then going abroad to tweet is like criminalising stealing in Nigeria and travelling out to steal, making you a cross-border bandit. And using Twitter abroad after banning it in Nigeria makes you a cross-border hypocrite!

These guys should just face it. They cannot do without Twitter. Meanwhile, Twitter can do without them. They are waiting for an apology that will never come, and their frustration is causing them to relocate temporarily so they can be allocated some Twitter time.

The Bini people have a proverb that goes, ‘it is those who argue with the Oba that spend a long time kneeling down’. Lai Mohammed says their suspension of Twitter has not been lifted because Twitter has fulfilled only 10 out of 12 conditions. Meanwhile, Twitter does not care, because Nigerians access the microblogging site with a Virtual Private Network. Who is the Oba in this scenario and who is kneeling down?

Certainly, Twitter is unconcerned. Its revenue has gone up! Last month, on October 26, 2021, Twitter revealed that its revenue for the third quarter of 2021 had risen 37% from a year ago to $1.28 billion. Its number of unique visitors in Nigeria was affected for the first few days but has since returned back to normal since Nigerians discovered that Buhari is a bulldog that can be rendered toothless by a VPN. The whole thing makes Buhari look small and Twitter look like a conqueror!

Jack Dorsey is just laughing at the man who is cutting his nose to spite his face. Agbaya jati jati!
And why did Buhari ban Twitter precisely 164 days ago on June 5, 2021? Though they deny it, it was because three days earlier, Twitter had rightly deleted Buhari’s warmongering tweet threatening the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria, of whom he has barely disguised his hatred and disdain for.

It was a classic case of the witch flew last night and the baby died in the morning. Buhari threw a tantrum, like the bully he is.

And his tantrum is costing Nigeria, and he is expecting Twitter, that it has little or no effect on, to apologise. Obviously, this man is not a fit and proper person to occupy the office he is currently occupying.

And his minions, like El-Rufai, Garba Shehu, and Bashir Ahmad, know it, that is why they are flouting his childish ban the same way his own Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, defied his Cryptocurrency ban, by exposing a screenshot of his phone which inadvertently showed a cryptocurrency icon for LAToken.

What can we say? Buhari is a hypocrite, surrounded by other hypocrites. And his hypocrisy has been on full display since he assumed the office he is occupying.

He refused to shake his female ministers in November of 2015, but then went on to shake hands with the Queen of England on April 19, 2018. He told Nigerian youths that they were the best thing after sliced bread while campaigning in 2015, but when he thought the cameras were not rolling, he described Nigerian youths as lazy during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting of 2018.

He accused former President Jonathan of running a scam by paying subsidy, saying that the practice was unnecessary. Today, he is paying more than twice the subsidy amount Jonathan paid.

He campaigned that he would fight corruption, and has allowed it fester. You may also recall that on February 1, 2021, Transparency International’s most recent Corruption Perception Index revealed that Nigeria is more corrupt today than it was under the previous administration, having moved 13 places backwards in the CPI, from 136 in 2014 to 149 in 2021 (our worst performance ever).

Think Babachir Lawal, NNPC’s $25 billion worth of contracts without due process, Aisha Buhari’s ADC and his looted billions, his nephew, Sabiu Yusuf’s sudden wealth Syndrome, the Ikoyi Apartment billions, the 100 private jets that attended his son, Yusuf’s, wedding.

But most significantly, think of how he talked down and lambasted medical tourism as a Presidential aspirant, only to become the world’s biggest medical tourist as President.

And annoying, Buhari’s labour minister last week asked Nigerian doctors to show patriotism by not relocating abroad. What patriotism has Buhari shown by himself relocating to London for healthcare?

If not for fear of #HarassBuhariOutofLondon, the hypocrite would have relocated permanently! He wanted to sneak into London, but our eagle-eyed patriots kept watch and he chickened out. Ngige should give me his account number, let me send him some money to buy some courage so he can find the gumption to tell Buhari that if he wants to identify the problem of Nigeria, he should buy a mirror!

I challenge anyone in Buhari’s administration to explain the economic viability of building a $2 billion standard gauge railway in Niger Republic, when they have not even built a narrow gauge railway in Anambra.
The economy of Anambra is two times larger than the economy of Niger Republic. Research it. Niger has a Gross Domestic Product of less than $15 billion. Yet, Amaechi and Buhari are building a $2 billion railway for them when Anambra has not even smelt a railway.

And you wonder why APC lost Anambra? It makes no economic sense for Nigeria to be building that railway. It is only being prioritised because Buhari wants to leave a legacy for his father’s people. Same way he voted for a Nigerienne against a Nigerian, during an election to elect a new leader for the defunct Organisation for African Unity in 1985.

Having said that, let me seize this opportunity to congratulate Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, on his election as the Governor-elect of Anambra state. It was well deserved. May the wonders he worked at the federal level, while he was the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, be child’s play to the economic miracle he will work in Anambra, and may God bless him with wisdom and understanding, in Christ’s Name, I pray.

Reno’s Darts

Buhari claims he closed the Benin Republic-Nigeria border because of banditry. That is a lie from the mouth of Lai Mohammed. The real reason behind the closure is to pressure the Beninese government to hand over Igboho to him. There is more banditry from Niger Republic into Nigeria than there is from Benin Republic. As a matter of fact, Benin is a larger consumer of Nigerian products than Niger Republic. Yet, not only does Buhari keep our borders with Niger Republic open, he and Amaechi are also building a $2 billion railway for Niger with money borrowed in Nigeria’s name, simply because Buhari has first cousins in Niger. If nobody will talk, I, Reno Omokri, will talk!

#TableShaker #BuhariTormentor