What would have been the news was if Buhari announced he wasn’t running. His announcement was no news. His recent efforts at rapprochements with Tinubu were the background works. You may ask John Oyegun!For Buhari, the jury is out. In 2015, he was protected, propped up and dressed in borrowed garbs. Above all, it was all about what he WOULD do. And not what he HAS DONE.
In 2018/19, these are the new realities:
* Buhari now has parameters that can be used to assess him vis-a-vis former leaders. The esoteric propagation of the messianic capabilities he has is been lost FOREVER!
* The contrived veil is off and the contrived myths have been broken. So no one can deceive us again about his daughter being married to Igbo man or his cook being from Ekiti State.
* Gone are the tales of a very spartan President who would prevent his family from coming close to the seat of power and abuse their privilege. The son of a poor father does not fall from a $56,000 motorbike!
* The myth of a strong-willed and no-nonsense president has also been demystified. Buhari has shown that he does not have the courage to sack erring aides or take strong decisions.
* The lies of being a father-figure have also been debunked. From his actions and appointments, he is not for nobody. He is actually for “some bodies”.
* Gone are the myths of a very intelligent president. If a leader keeps saying he is not aware it shows how much he is not in control of his regime.
* The sympathy of the media he UNFAIRLY enjoyed in 2015 is gone for good. Now, he must buy his own goodwill. And it doesn’t come cheap. There is always a crucible!
Finally, Buhari must face a debate. As the sitting President, he cannot run away like he did in 2015. He was the under-dog then. Today, he is the chief salesman of his own brand. A challenger cannot ask a sitting President for a debate and he will duck it.
Now, Buhari and his crowd will now understand the DIFFERENCE between mounting the soap box and say: “I WILL DO THIS AND THAT… ” and “I HAVE DONE THIS AND THAT…”
The former exists in the insolent realm of FANTASY while the latter operates in the stifling cosmos of REALITY.
The jury, for Candidate Buhari, is ruthlessly out. .
