Psychoanalyzing dishonest, low-IQ Buhari apologists
It was Sigmund Freud who first put forward a psychological concept called “projection.” It’s an ego defense mechanism, which disposes certain people to attribute to others the unconscious negative(and sometimes positive) traits and emotions that dwell in them.
So people who are compulsive liars always suspect that others are lying. People who have no capacity for altruism, who are self-serving narcissists, can’t understand that anyone can criticize an incompetent, clueless, bungling, unprepared, lying, propagandistic government without ulterior motives. They project their immorality, ethical deficiencies, ethno-regional and religious anxieties onto others.
They project all of their inadequacies onto to others because they lack the internal moral resources to appreciate truth, justice, and fair play without the burden of their own moral frailty. They are victims of what psychoanalysts call “projection of a severe conscience,” which causes some people to, without evidence, make false accusations against others and to impute negative emotions to other people’s actions.
First, the morally bankrupt and psychologically insecure Buharist mob said I criticize Buhari because I’m pained that I didn’t get an appointment from him. I’ve denied this since 2015, but they never stop
Provocation is simply an action or event that makes someone angry or upset. A provoker’s speech or action is usually intended to insult a person or group. The holy Qur’an strongly discourages the hurting of others’ sensitivities regardless of whether it is done with or without a valid reason. Islam enjoins believers to be sensitive to the feelings of others through self-restraint; a virtue that involvesforgiveness, patience, good speech and benevolence.
As a consequence of provocation, a fight broke out last week at the new Panteka market along the NnamdiAzikiwe bypass in Kaduna when an Igbo man allegedly named his dog Muhammad. But before naming the dog Muhammad, another man had named his dog after the Igbo man.
Eye witness sources said trouble started when one Muhammad bought a dog and allegedly named it Ibere after an Igbo trader. Soon after the dog was named Ibere, the Igbo trader had warned Muhammad on several occasions to rename the dog to repeat it.
I never desired a job with Buhari’s government. Not for a split second. I find complete fulfilment in what I do now, and want no other job. Nigerian elites’ ultimate goal in life is to visit the West for vacation, for medical tourism, and to send their children to school there. Our president is one great example. Well, I live there. At the risk of sounding arrogant, taking a job with a Nigerian government would represent a material demotion for me and my family.
In an April 14, 2015 column titled, “After the Euphoria, What President-Elect Buhari Needs to Know,” <http://www.farooqkperogi. com/2015/04/after-euphoria-whatpresident-elect.html> I wrote: “Columnists like me will excoriate [Buhari], not because we hate him, but because we care, and because we know that to perform well and be in touch with the masses of people who elected him, we need to help hold his feet to the fire.” No sane person who desired a job would put his prospective benefactor on notice that he would “excoriate” him.
Then they said my criticisms were inspired by an agenda to pave the way for aBukolaSaraki presidency in 2019. When I came down hard on Saraki in a recent column and called him the vilest anathema to afflict Kwara State, they were confused.
Then they said, “Oh, it is actually but Muhammad who owns the pet refused. Ibere thus felt provoked and decided to buy a dog and thereafter named it Muhammad. It was because of this tit-for-tat action that “hell was let loose” at the market. The fight which quicklytook ethnic dimensions led to the closure of the market by police authorities. It became a fight between Hausa and Igbo traders at the market. Pantekais a major spare parts center which plays hosts many auto-mechanic garages in Kaduna.
Ibere’s reaction was prompted by the blameworthy action of Muhammad who named a dog after Ibere. Whatever Ibere did was a reaction to the insensitivebehavior of Muhammad. There is little or no difference between Muhammad and an ignorant Muslim who thinks the best way to express hatred to followers of other religions is to insult them by abusingtheir revered leaders, sacred books, places or events. Islam forbids this in order to forestall a situation in which a non-Muslim would react violently to the insensitivity of a Muslim. A AtikuAbubakar who is sponsoring him.”That’s another classic projection. They are paid 250,000 monthly to slander government critics, and imagine that everyone else writes because they are paid to do so.
Well, let me say it here that Atiku, to me, is one of the most despicable politicians to ever walk the corridors of power in Nigeria. I would rather be dead than campaign forthis barely literate man who delighted in mocking Nigeria’s public education that he helped to kill, and who is weighed down by numerous ponderous ethical burdens. An Atiku presidency would be like jumping out of the Buhari frying pan into the fire.
They also said I’m “sponsored” by the PDP. But which PDP? Makarfi’s PDP or Sherriff’s PDP? And did APC or its precursors also“sponsor” me when I consistently and brutally criticized PDP in my columns since 2005? It’s clear that severely low IQ and mind-numbing dimwittedness are qualifications to be a Buhari defender.
They also say I am a Shia who can’t forgive Buhari for countenancing the mass murder of Shia Muslims in Zaria. Again, that’s false. I’ve stated many times that I’m Sunni. I’m not Shia, although there is nothing wrong with being one. It’s a choice. No Shia Muslim I know denies being one. I condemned the barbarous mass slaughter of Shia provoked non-Muslim could react by abusing prophets or messengers of Islam. Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 6:108 “Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance…”It is for this same reason that Muslims are discouraged from engaging nonMuslims in arguments “except in the most kindly manner” because they are likely to, out of ignorance, insult the sensibilities of Muslims and that could possibly lead to hot quarrels and fight. Only people who detest peace provoke others. Provokers are enemies of peace.
Muhammad should not have named a dog after Ibere because, even as a non-Muslim, the latter deserved to enjoy respect from Muhammad in the light of human dignity. The Islamic viewpoint on the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is summarized in Qur’an 60:8 wherein Allah (SWT) states “Allah forbids you not , with regards to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for Allah loves Muslims because they are first of all human beings before they are anything else.
There is absolutely no ulterior motive behind my criticisms of Buhari’s inept, clannish, and directionless government. My only motives are truth, justice, fair play, the national interest, and the plight of weak, poor, vulnerable, voiceless, and defenseless Nigerians who are daily being crushed by the government. No more, no less.
No one in the world is rich enough to buy my conscience. None at all! It’s not because I am rich; it’s because I treasure my independence and cherish integrity.
In a tragic irony, it took Buhari’s sickness for Nigeria to get a chance at some health. It also took his absence for the country to feel some presence of leadership. Why did it take the ascendancy of Osinbajo to the acting presidency for this to happen? The answer is simple: symbolic presence.
Buhari lacked symbolic presence in the 20 months he was in charge. His presence was barely felt in the country. Nor was his voice heard. It took him six months to appoint ministers. AttahiruJega notified him of the impending expiration of his tenure months in advance, but the president didn’t act, and caused a needless bureaucratic kerfuffle at INEC. A minister died in a car crash several months ago, and he hasn’t been replaced up to now. Another minister resigned to take up an international job. She hasn’t been replaced up to now. The Supreme Court had an acting Chief Justice for months. It took Osinbajo’s acting presidency to forward his name to the Senate for confirmation.
Boards of several government agencies haven’t been constituted up to now, meaning government agencies, which are the engine those who are just”. Muhammad’s action thus contravenes the teaching of Islam that guarantees kindness and protection to nonMuslims including the Igbo trader, Ibere. Qur’an 60:8 thus permits friendly association with peaceloving non-Muslims who have not declared war against Muslims.
Muslims are thereforeexhorted by Islam to relate with nonMuslimsgood-naturedly. The only time a non-Muslim loses his right to kindness from Muslims is when he becomes hostile or drives Muslims out of their homes. Allah (SWT) mentions in Qur’an 60:9 “Allah only forbids you with regard to those who fight you for (your) faith, and drive you out of your homes, and support others in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection). It is those that turn to them (in these circumstances) that do wrong”.
Friendliness with nonhostile non-Muslims is enjoined in Islam. Although Islam has been misinterpreted to suggest otherwise, many classical commentators of the Qur’an attest to the permissibility of kindness to non-aggressive non-Muslims. The Prophet (SAW)was openly friendly to non-Muslims such that he allowed them into his mosque in order to enter into pacts or alliances with them and also to resolve issues amicably. If all non-Muslims were enemies to Muslims by default, rooms of government, can’t take decisions since they can’t constitutionally bypass their boards in their decision making. I can go on, but the point is that the problem of Buhari’s government isn’t so much misgovernance as it is ungovernance. He simply isn’t there.
In online pedagogy, there’s a concept called social presence. It’s the idea that when you teach people with whom you don’t share physical co-presence you need to simulate some sort of presence through periodic electronic communication (such as an active online profile, comments, emails, instructor-learner interactions, etc.) to compensate for physical absence.
In government, leaders also need constant symbolic presence to reassure the people they govern that they are there, that they care, that they are working-in addition to actually working. Buhari visited more countries in the world than he visited states in Nigeria. He spoke to more foreign media outlets and journalists than he spoke to the Nigerian news media and journalists. He comes across as exceedingly contemptuous of Nigerians, the very people that put him in power, and obsequious to, even desperately desirous of the approval of, foreigners. That is why his presence in and absence from Nigeria are practically indistinguishable.
Osinbajo reversed this. He had social, symbolic, and political presence. I hope Buhari learns from this. It isn’t “16 years of PDP misrule” that is responsible for the stagnation, hopelessness, and worsening of living conditions in Nigeria now; it is largely Buhari’s lack of interest-or capacity- in governance, even symbolic governance. The needless dramaof Magu’s confirmation as substantive head of the EFCC is the latest example. the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) would not have sat with them in his mosque to discuss issues. Islam considers every human life as sacred and therefore requires that every person, irrespective of faith, is respected and treated kindly. Muhammad who named a dog Ibere at the Panteka market was unfriendly to the Igbo trader who answered that name.
Even when a Muslim suffers provocation from a non-Muslim, he or she is advised to exercise self-restraint in reacting to theincitement or affront.The holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), as a perfect model, was insulted to his face but never retaliated. The Qur’an records that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was referred to as crazy andcalled a liar. Yet, he never called upon anyone to attack these people who labeled him with offensive nicknames.
Muslims who derive “Pleasure” from insulting other Muslims as well as non-Muslims in words or in action are actually ignorant of Islam.Peace is, and should be, precious to every sensible person. Scholars and leaders have a duty to educate their audience about Islam’s standpointon how nonviolent non-Muslims should be treated. May Allah (SWT) guide s to understandand practice Islam as revealed by the creator of the heavens and the earth and as taught by the Prophet (SAW), amin.