The Decomposition of Nigeria -By Isa Eneye Mubarak

Isa Eneye Mubarak

I do not take seriously anyone who argues that the main problem in our country is president Muhammadu Buhari, because the logical conclusion to such an argument is that the solution to this problem, therefore, is his removal.

This kind of simplistic argument is inspired by lazy thinking deeply rooted in the kind of liberal analysis that finds expression in media, an analysis divorced from any real scientific reasoning beyond mob-psychology amplificationism and the raw impact of recency.

Have we not already witnessed the fallaciousness of such reasoning from the “change” brigade that plotted parameters for the removal of our former president? They argued, much like some people argue now, that he was the main problem in this country. Well, he was recalled and the rot still permeates our country like coiling miasma. And so we must look in retrospect and admit to ourselves that we were wrong about the problem being Goodluck Jonathan.

What many people do not understand is that even if president Muhammadu Buhari was to step down today, there would still not be a fundamental change in the conditions of native and in the death of our society, because president Buhari is not the cause, but the product, of the decomposition of Nigeria. The problem of this country is bigger than the man. Much bigger. It is rooted in a structural, institutionalised and systematic reality that is deeper than Boko Haram, the herdsmen and other recent developments that many people are so preoccupied with that they’ve elevated them to being the root of the Nigerian crisis.

Make no mistake, I am not saying the president must be exonerated from the rot. I am saying it is false consciousness to argue that he is the source of the rot. Necessarily, when we reflect upon where we are, and whether indeed ours is a dream deferred, we must analyse not where we fell, but where we slipped, or we run the risk of thinking that the problem was the obstacle on the road, as opposed to the slippery shoes that we are wearing.

And so, if history must teach us anything at this point, it is that unless we diagnose the problem correctly, we will remove the president and later, in retrospect, find ourselves having to admit, as we have before, that we were wrong about the problem being President Muhammadu Buhari.

Isa Eneye Mubarak
isamubarak66@yahoo.com
Tweets @IsaMubi