Buhari: The curse of Ogedengbe General Buhari’s bid to rule Nigeria one more time, this time through the ballot box, would come to naught, just like it did the other time in 2011. There’s a curse on that lean-framed general, you can quote me. And it is the curse of Ogedengbe. No, not Ogedengbe the famed Ijesha warrior of old, I talk of Ogedengbe, a 29-year old Nigerian youth who was sent to an early grave by General Muhammadu Buhari when he was military head of state. Reminds me of what’s generally regarded as the “curse of Tutankhamen”, the young Egyptian king, Tutankhamen (Tut, for short) who was believed to have been murdered by his enemies at only 19 years of age. Little is known about Tut’s vengeance, from his grave, on his enemies in their lifetime but archaeologists who disturbed his tomb centuries after his death were presumed to have been afflicted by Tut’s curse such that all manners of evil befell them one after another. Bernard Ogedengbe was one of three young men –the others were Lawal Ojuolape (30) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) – executed by firing squad under the orders of General Buhari, not for armed robbery or murder, but for being couriers of some illicit drug (cocaine or so). True, General Buhari had promulgated a decree prescribing death penalty for anyone caught drug trafficking. But that was after Bernard had committed the offence and was caught. It was bad enough that Buhari, a religious bigot if ever there was one, wanted to Sharialise the entire country, but to kill a young man for a crime that did not carry a death penalty at the time of its commission was pure murder. Everyone, every institution, religious and otherwise, in Nigeria and internationally, pleaded for the life of at least innocent (of the penalty) Bernard. Yet no plea on earth softened the heart of Buhari, or of his equally heartless deputy, Brigadier-general Idiagbon. Bernard Ogedengbe was tied to the stake and executed. And as he breathed his last, so I’m told, he cursed his murderers. I’m not one for believing in fables, curses and stuff, after all, though Idiagbon be dead, Buhari is still alive and hale, even if not too hearty. But he is hale enough to insult our senses and sensibilities by wanting to become our president, by our own vote. Truth be told, if I were a close blood relation of Bernard, I would by now have headed for the International Court of Justice to seek redress against Buhari for the murder of Bernard, if I couldn’t find justice in Nigerian courts, and I would be urging the courts to give him a dose of his own medicine, a la Sadam. The curse of Ogedengbe aside, I do not know upon what criterion or qualification Buhari wants to govern us again. What are his special skills other than the capability of immeasurable inhumanity? Other than ruling the country by force of arms, other than being in the military, what exactly has been the range and breadth of his knowledge, his exposure and his experience – be it in business, in management, in industry, in international affairs, etc. – to enable us entrust our affairs into his hands in the 21st century! In this age of the computer, the Internet, and space exploration!! Haba. Well, I guess we should tick his once being a Commissioner (Minister) of Petroleum and at another time the chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). But need we remind ourselves what he made of both instances? The messy scandals of lousy accounting if not outright poor and lopsided management? Buhari is running for president in the fourth time, no, he has no money of his, but it takes real money, hundreds of millions of it, to contemplate running for president and there are those willing to cough it out for him as often as he needs it. They believe in his uprightness, yeah? Righhhht!! There is a Latin saying: ab actu ad posse valet illation, meaning, “from the past one can infer the future”. Buhari has nothing but disdain for the press, he has contempt for democracy and democratic values. And if the curse of Ogedengbe would not stop him, then our votes should.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 21:57:46 +0000
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