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| THE ILLITERATE. |
There's a saying that "I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it". This is a time that is really testing my patience; a time I'm trying very hard to keep my cool, through sheer determination, in order to avoid or rather minimize outright distasteful language, and my targets will be those myopic Nigerians who still don't see the glaring shortcomings of President Buhari. I mean the undiscerning Nigerians, who do not read the hand writing on the wall, all thesmonths President Buhari have been dragging Nigeria through mud, and making the lives of millions of Nigerians worthless.
By: Temple Chima Ubochi.
There's a saying that "I am patient with stupidity, but not with those who are proud of it". This is a time that is really testing my patience; a time I'm trying very hard to keep my cool, through sheer determination, in order to avoid or rather minimize outright distasteful language, and my targets will be those myopic Nigerians who still don't see the glaring shortcomings of President Buhari. I mean the undiscerning Nigerians, who do not read the hand writing on the wall, all these months President Buhari have been dragging Nigeria through mud, and making the lives of millions of Nigerians worthless.
First of all, the Germans couldn't understand anything from President Buhari, as the Press over there said that the President of Nigeria cannot give any meaningful input to any discussion. Who is surprised, when Buhari's English must be translated in English, first of all, before anybody can then translate it into German?
Then, On Friday, October 14, Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, warned her husband that she may not back him at the next election, unless he shakes up his government. In an interview with BBC, Hausa services, The First lady claimed that her husband's government had been hijacked by a "few people" who are behind presidential appointments. She said that the president "does not know" most of the top officials working for him. Hear her: "The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed and I don't know them either, despite being his wife of 27 years. People who did not share the vision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), were now appointed to top posts because of the influence a "few people" wield. Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position."
First of all, it was surprising that Aisha Buhari had to wait until her husband was out of the country to say these things, and it was also more surprising that she chose to wash her "dirty linen in the public". She's the first lady; many looked up to her as a role model. Her actions are shortcoming of a wife, a mother, and a first lady here.But she said her mind on issues she can no longer bear secretly.
President Buhari then committed one of his biggest blunders by saying, in a foreign soil, on an official visit to a country a woman is leading (in answer to his wife, who openly questioned his work and said she may not support him if he runs again): "I don't know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room." The CNN wrote that "Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari did not take kindly on Friday, October 14, to the reports that his wife may not support his re-election: The first lady's place is in the kitchen, he said. Buhari's blatantly sexist remark came during a Berlin news conference with one of the world's most powerful women, German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I don't know which party my wife belongs to but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room," said the president, whose popularity at home has plummeted amid a deep recession. Buhari was responding to a BBC interview, in which his wife, Aisha, a businesswoman and activist, questioned his leadership and suggested she may not back his re-election bid unless he shakes up his government. Buhari told reporters that he can "claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition" after running for president three times and succeeding on his fourth attempt. There was no immediate reaction from Merkel, who is called a Machtfrau -- a woman of power -- in Germany for managing to reach the top as an outsider in a male-dominated world".
As if I'm a prophet, I chastised Nigerian elder statesmen, including President Buhari, in my penultimate article, when I bemoaned that old age seems to confer dishonesty instead of wisdom or sapience in Nigeria. Sorry for my wrong choice of words here; I can't understand how somebody of Buhari's age and experience should be hollow uptill now. As an old man, the president should have known that women, whether white, black, red, blue etc, are the same, with only few and insignificant different characteristics; the president, as an old man, and a man who has married twice, should have known that many women talk before thinking, and this has nothing to do with color or creed, and they can vomit out their frustration to any ear that is ready to listen, without first of all thinking of the consequences of such action. President Buhari should have known that a saying has it that "A foolish man tells a woman to stop talking, but a wise man tells her that her mouth is extremely beautiful when her lips are closed", he should have been expecting such a question in that Press Conference, since his wife granted the interview while he was in Germany, and he should have avoided it by being evasive. Words like: "we Africans do not discuss about our wives" in public, or that "his wife was misquoted", or that "due to love, that his wife was missing him, and that once he gets home, he will kiss her, and everything would be alright", would have saved him this embarrassment, and the audience would have laughed it away. Then, when he gets home, he can sort things out with his wife. But, President Buhari, with his usual non diplomatic acumen, forgot that the leader of Germany, standing beside him, is the most powerful woman in the world.
What President Buhari said was an insult to the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Although Angela Merkel looked at President Buhari, when he made that silly statement, and laughed, but, just like a typical German, she has registered it, and will never forget about it. The Associated Press reported that President Buhari's "comments to reporters in Germany prompted German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, standing at his side, to give him a short glare and then laugh. Though the president laughed before giving this bombshell, his hosts might have seen this as a bad joke. European countries are sensitive to this kind of comment. (Many have lost their jobs because of such 'harmless' comments, which were later interpreted as being sexist). The president belongs to the 60s, and this comment gave him away. He actually believes his wife should not have an overbearing influence in politics. (At least no one will say he cannot control his wife, just like some former Nigerian presidents were accused of)". The FP, on October 14, wrote: That the comment "earned him (Buhari) a grimace from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is arguably the most powerful woman in the world. Merkel later laughed".
To be honest with you, President Buhari has diminished further since he made that unfortunate statement, and if there was any little respect the Germans had for him, it has dissipated, and I doubt if he might get all the support promised to him again, due to what he said, because, the German government will see him as being unstable, and not worth doing business with. Only a first class stupid man would come to a country where a woman is a king, and insult a woman, even if such is his wife. President Buhari lost it big time in Germany, and has put all Nigerian men in that country in a very precarious and unfortunate situation. I presume things will never be the same again, as from now on.
But don't get me wrong. Just being curious: Tell me… Is being stupid a profession, or is President Buhari just gifted?
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