By Emmanuel Ado
“The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them.” – Chris Jammi
It’s perplexing the length that unrepentant cynics and “haters” can go,especially those who have taken their hate to crazy new heights by alleging that El-Rufai lied about his COVID-19 status so as to extort money from the Federal Government and development partners. Clearly El-Rufai’s traducers are mean, vicious and for them everything is fair in their war to demonize him. How can the fact that that he got infected with COVID-19, in the course of performing his official duties,which could and have cost him his life, deter them from their propaganda against him, when in fact they wished him dead.
Hear one of them who must remain anonymous because naming the scoundrel would dignify him: “El-Rufai hid himself in Government House Kaduna after claiming to have contracted Covid-19 while there is virtually no facility for Isolation there”. Only for “El-Rufai who claimed to be positive few days ago quickly sent photos that he is negative when the search of who to replace late Kyari began”. Clearly the sponsored attack like many others is politically motivated,the only tragedy is that in their hate they displayed their appalling ignorance about the management of COVID-19 and the larger question of leadership.
The point must be poignantly made that El-Rufai’s decision to announce his status to the good people of Kaduna State was motivated by a sense of duty expected from an elected leader who owed the people full disclosure about his medical status. Secondly he also saw the opportunity of driving home the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic is for real, especially as there are still those who doubt the reality of the virus. It’s certainly the height of wickedness and a huge question mark in the humanity of those who called El-Rufai unprintable names, due to political differences. Worse is the allusion that he lied in order to “make money”. If only the traducers of El-Rufai know that he is not a money-monger, then they wouldn’t have gone on this low lane,because clearly there is absolutely no kind of money that would make El-Rufai lie about his health or wish himself ill health.
Undoubtedly and very regrettably Nigerians have unconsciously lost their humanity, it’s a common trend all over the cyberspace for the death of political opposites to be gleefully celebrated, while looking forward to the death of their next political opponent. It’s a big shame that some haters who believe El-Rufai stands between them and their ambition wished he never recovered and though everyday that El-Rufai spent in isolation was initially prayer answered, as they increasingly saw the possibility of his death in their warped minds.
But their hopes were dashed when the news of El-Rufai’s first negative status was announced, confused they went to town with the false news that he had been moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a Lagos hospital, creating the background for their next fake news – his death, like they did shortly after the 2019 elections,when they announced his death by road/helicopter accident. Governors Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, two other governors who were equally infected like El- Rufai, self isolated in their residences without issues, same with Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister.
Clearly El-Rufai’s case is different, because the his haters are more vicious than those of Bala and Makinde, which explains why their traducers haven’t at least openly wished them dead, unlike those of El-Rufai, or harassed them on virtually every issue, from their isolation to recovery. Though El-Rufai is not the only governor to be infected, he is the only one of the three who must provide evidence that indeed he was infected and that his recovery was not prompted by his “ambition” to be Chief of Staff to the president,which had become vacant with the death of Abba Kyari.
Thankfully the lies of the Nasir El- Rufai haters are not too challenging to disprove, because in their haste they never think through the damned lies they keep pushing out into the public space. On the issue of the Chief of Staff position , how on earth would El-Rufai leave certainty (Governor of the third populous State) for uncertainty (Chief of Staff). Didn’t Goodluck Jonathan sack Mike Oghiadomhe his friend who became his Chief of Staff? Clearly El-Rufai’s traducers are politically daft, which explains why they expect El-Rufai to reason and act like them. Their constant lies and the gang ups against him are clearly an acknowledgment of his proven capacity.
But let it be said loud and clear that El-Rufai is too busy delivering on his campaign promises to the people of Kaduna State, that he has no time for frivolities or distractions. If he wanted to be either the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory or Chief of Staff, he wouldn’t have bothered running for a second term, because leaving the job midway would have amounted to a betrayal of a sacred trust of the people who stood by him.
Definitely as we move closer to 2023, the hate fueled and politically motivated attacks against El-Rufai would intensify, all in an attempt to bring him down. But if only they know that their hate rather than distract him will continue to be a fuel that propels him, they would desist. But they won’t and El-Rufai will continue to be a nightmare to them, because he is what they wish they are. For those who swallow hook, line and sinker the lies spewed by these haters I say the words of Nishan Panwar to them “rumours are carried by haters, spread by fools and accepted by idiots”.