“Three deadly plagues I have always despised: Donald Trump, COVID-19, and Muhammadu Buhari.” —Anthony Obi Ogbo
I am not a sadist, but all through my life, there have been three deadly plagues I have always despised: Donald Trump, COVID-19, and Muhammadu Buhari. So in 2017, I spent seven days fasting and praying, asking God directly to take away the life of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. I knew that was the right thing to do, and I will explain why along the line.
Buhari came in as president in early 2015, all mean and angry. Most surprisingly, his ignorance and total lack of competence to lead such a complex economy were exposed less than one year into his term in office. He started by using his executive powers to victimize regions he accused of not voting for him; he then went after the opposition with unfounded allegations of embezzlement. He created animosity among tribes and religions and totally ignored all the election promises he had made. He was so dumb to matters of governance that, under his watch, his economic team plagiarized a budget. The budget he presented turned out to be a carbon copy of the one made by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.
Unemployment was growing and spreading like a California wildfire, and insecurity grew out of hand as Boko Haram terrorists outnumbered the national army. Buhari exonerated thousands of apprehended Boko Haram and ISIS terrorists and recruited them into the Nigeran Army—a move that has currently crippled the country’s security intelligence. Indeed, I knew the country was headed toward total anarchy if something was not quickly done to stop this man. Impeachment was off the table, especially with the Nigerian lawmakers who are stakeholders and partakers of a fraudulent administrative structure. So, as a concerned Nigerian citizen who was equally affected by Buhari’s stupidity, I had to do something.
Impeachment was off the table, especially with the Nigerian lawmakers who are stakeholders and partakers of a fraudulent administrative structure.
He was very sick at the time and was a sorry tenant in an obscure hospital in London. He was emaciated to the bone and looked like a cornfield scarecrow; it was obvious that his life was grinding closer to a final rest. Rumors of his death had clouded social media with unsubstantiated news and analysis, and his camp was not just communicating; rather, they babbled with watery explanations about his ailment, and at some point, they claimed he was just on vacation. This was when I had to do the right thing to save millions of lives put in harm’s way through Buhari’s reckless and tyrannical governance.
I gathered my all-time spiritual warfare, including Psalms 109:8–15. Fasting for seven days was a little challenging because I had to appease my addiction to Ethiopian Sidamo coffee. It’s a wet-processed Ethiopian espresso known for its complex flavor and rich acidity.
I resumed my prayer request invoking Psalms 109:8, that his days would be few and that another man (Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, I guess) would take his place of leadership. I meant every word. I chanted verses 8–15 severally in a loud voice and ended by asking God squarely to kill this man by granting him everlasting rest from his sick bed. I did this every day with six-hour fasting. If I may confess, I fell short on the fasting part and often accidentally violated the process with my routine coffee and granola bar addictions. I asked God for forgiveness each time I mistakenly broke the fasting. I ended my prayer-and-fasting event with the same theme—kill this man and set Nigeria free.
I thought my prayers had worked for a moment, but then I could not figure out why God did not grant my request.
Exactly three days after my prayer revival, when I was already celebrating victory, the news of Buhari’s return from his medical trip radiated through the airwaves and on social media. I saw him on the video, and he looked healthier and stronger, walking without support, shaking hands, and talking. I felt like a yahoo-scam victim, then realized I did this all by myself. I thought my prayers had worked for a moment, but then I could not figure out why God did not grant my request. Could it be the coffee and granola bars that often interrupted the fasting moments? I have no clue.
Before you judge my actions, it may interest you to know that Buhari is not just an ordinary man. He is a rare creature who is never happy but whose sadness is dependent on making the lives of those he does not like miserable. In my book on how he bastardized his executive mandate, I described him as the most dangerous killer bee: one that would perch wheezing on the scrotum for a destructive sting. Punch it and smash the manhood; leave it, and he would sting one to death.
He was groomed in an uncultivated military confraternity where a constitutional system and civil liberties are taboo. All his life, as a privileged Fulani breed, he has lived through a system where mediocrity outruns excellence; this explains why, under this ugly culture, a man who has no proof of a high school certificate could rise beyond the law, his country, and the entire masses.
Currently, Buhari has about eight months left in his eight-year hellish regime. And please note that I have no regrets about my kill-Buhari prayer actions and would do it again against any leader that threatens my communal interest with ignorance of mandate, meanness, and idiocy.
♦Publisher of the Guardian News, Professor Anthony Obi Ogbo, Ph.D. is on the Editorial Board of the West African Pilot News. He is the author of the Influence of Leadership (2015) and the Maxims of Political Leadership (2019). Contact: anthony@guardiannews.us
