“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet…” (Matthew 24: 6).

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet…” (Matthew 24: 6).

AS Nigerians are drenched in cries of agony, so is the air also thick with rumours of a coup d’état or military take-over. Those not marching on the streets and shouting “ebi n pa wa” (We are hungry!), like the multitudes that have done so across the country, are, like my brother, Azu, who, in his latest column, complained about the heat wave and the parlous state of power supply. I sleep in a room that is naturally well aerated; still, anytime the air ceases, sleep takes a flight. To divert sleep time to work becomes impossible with no power supply. Running generators in the middle of the night is simply unconscionable and without electricity to charge the batteries, the inverter cannot work. The cost of the other alternative, solar, has shot through the roof! Like another of my PUNCH-day colleagues, Godwin Nzeakah, aka Ogbuefi, would say, it does not rain for hapless Nigerians, it pours! Yet, we saw it coming but neglected to act. Crying after the head is off, bolting the stable doors after the horse has bolted and crying after the milk has been spilled is all we are doing now. Worse are my fears that we may recourse to taking rash decisions in our habitual manner of cutting corners and adopting fire brigade approaches to matters that demand painstaking fidelity with due process.

We risk going back into the thick forest of jackboot dictatorship that we exited at great pains and sacrifice; we shall be making our situation worse should we resort to another military take-over at this point in time. The military top brass has spoken out forcefully against a coup but can we take their word for it? Are they themselves not at risk should their juniors decide to upturn the apple cart? It has been said that the antidote to military coup is good governance: Can anyone say, in good conscience, that this country has witnessed good governance since the present civilian rule began in 1999? Rather than improve, things have gone from bad to worse; the worst of all the civilian governments being that of Muhammadu Buhari. The incumbent, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is stuck in the miry clay that Buhari engineered deliberately or otherwise, leading to the immense suffering that Nigerians experience today. Unfortunately, there is no easy and fast way out of the quagmire, even though the patience of Nigerians is already running thin. Agent provocateurs are cashing in on the situation mostly to serve selfish interests. A population that worships the belly and that only knows of temporary pleasure, like biblical Esau, wears their ignorance like a badge, harassing every voice of reason and ready to cudgel every contrary opinion into submission.

If democracy teaches us anything, it is that the majority is not always right. Interestingly but also ironically, the tyranny of the majority has been one of the most damning drawbacks of democracy. So, then, did the German playwright, Henrik Ibsen, posit that the strongest man is he who stands alone. Oftentimes, we need the services of a telescope to differentiate between democracy and mob action. Strong leaders, ready to stand alone and chart the course, however unpopular, have made the most profound impact on our world. Galileo, for instance, was sent to the inquisition for affirming that the Earth was spherical and not as flat as a trencher that the authorities had claimed it to be.  Had Martin Luther not dared to be different, what would our world have been without the Reformation?  My message to Tinubu is: Dare to be different! Listen to the people but all the same chart the course that will take Nigeria out of the dark tunnel engineered by Buhari and his cabals. Speak to us more often. Explain your actions more plainly. Be more forthright in exposing the shenanigans of the past. No cover up of Buhari or anyone for that matter! On your own part – and on the part of your family members – be more sensitive to public perception of your actions. While you need to take all the precautions that need to be taken to contain the rumours of coup, don’t allow it to clip your wings.

Despite the rash of coups around us in the West African sub-region in recent times, military take-overs have generally become an aberration. In Nigeria especially, the military not only destroyed the fabrics of our society, it also overstayed its welcome. From the first military coup that was Igbo-dominated and one-sided in the political leaders and military officers it executed; to the first military government led by another Igbo-man, Gen. JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, that destroyed our federalism and instituted centralism and military-style command structure; to Yakubu Gowon whose rash decisions (together with Chukwuemeka Ojukwu’s) led to the civil war and the subsequent fritting away of our oil wealth; to Murtala Muhammed who destroyed the Civil Service with his rash “with immediate effect” dismissals and retirements; to Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration when Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) was allowed to collapse and pronto surfaced Obasanjo Farms Nigeria (OFN); to Muhammadu Buhari whose draconian rule led to retroactive  executions, the trampling of the people’s fundamental human rights and the disappearance of huge oil windfalls; to Ibrahim Babangida whose SAP began the destruction of the Naira, who introduced corruption and the settlement syndrome, and destroyed seniority and esprit de corps in the military; to the vilest of them all, Sani Abacha, who stole this country blind and who wasted MKO Abiola away in detention and, finally, to Abdulsalami Abubakar whose administration has the blood of Abiola on its hands – we have had more than enough of military rule. No more! Perish the thought of military take-over if no one wants Nigeria to perish with it!