By Ochereome Nnanna
YOU must have heard about the publication of the official portraits of the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) and his Deputy, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (should we say PYO?). Talking about portraits, have you heard what some evil-minded people did to those of President Goodluck Jonathan in Kano and some other parts of the North? Even before the man is out of office, some office rats removed his portraits, and no one seems to have raised their voices against such an ignoble and unpatriotic act that could promote politics of bitterness among Nigerians.

The security agents have not arrested or held anyone to account. Where shall we be if the recently published official portraits of Buhari are refused their rightful places in government offices in South East and South-South? Why should some people continue to commit unspeakable acts of barbarism and lack of regard for people from some parts of the country and we all carry on as if they do not matter, simply because the other side does not retaliate? The security agencies must restore President Jonathan’s portraits in Kano and maintain them in all government offices nationwide, and anyone who tampers with them or condones the act before the morning of May 29th 2015 must be made to face the full wrath of the law!

Meanwhile, we are waiting for the dawn of a supposed new era, when our new president will take charge after the brief ceremonies of May 29th. A quick look at the new portrait of Buhari, and you will know that the “change” the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer promised is already taking place, right before our naked eyes.

During the campaigns, Buhari was accorded the most sophisticated branding we have ever seen in the annals of our history. Perhaps, the information and computer technology (ICT) age leveraged on the impetus of the Internet is to “blame”.

You have to give it to a superior media strategy conceived by the APC team, which put its rivals, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the shade. During the campaigns, Buhari was branded as a religious messiah in the Muslim North. He told the Arewa rabble that he would implement the “ideologies” of the Islamic religion. Ask anyone who cares to tell the truth in the North, and he would confess to you that religion, coupled with the ravages of Boko Haram, were the primary ingredients that turned the opinion of Arewa North against Jonathan and in favour of Buhari. The lie that Jonathan was behind the Boko Haram scourge was successfully sold to the Arewa voter.

But down South, Buhari was branded totally in different raiment and colours. To seduce the Southern youth, he was dressed in a black dinner suit, white shirt and black bow tie, and shown smiling. With his handsome gapped teeth displayed for maximum effect, he stood like a benevolent chief executive in an office with Nigeria’s flag standing nearby. For the Yoruba voter, he was dressed in agbada with a matching cap.

And for the Igbo, he was dressed in a typical Anambra traditional chieftain, with their long red cap to match, not forgetting the alluring smile. All the wrinkles that adorn his septuagenarian visage were airbrushed to make him look younger, unlike the much older man his PDP opponents said he was. He was expertly packaged to seduce those born less than thirty years ago, which should be more than half the 170 million people of Nigeria, especially those who are restlessly looking for a better, more functional and less corrupt country.

With the publication of his official portrait, you will see that the difference is clear. The “change” is rather dramatic! GMB has already started assuming his real element. Don’t get me wrong. I do not subscribe to the use of “Baba One Chance” (as some internet worms or “infestations” have been doing) to characterise this change. I am only saying that our in-coming president is transiting from the fantasy of electioneering campaigns to the reality of presenting himself in his true colours.

He will no longer be seen in suit and tie, agbada or Igbo chief regalia. He will be dressed as he has always been: in babanriga or kaftan with the Arewa cap to match. He will stare down the wall at everyone in every office without his campaign smiles. He will be businesslike, stern and watchful through his nerdy spectacles.

And he will no longer be called General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB). That would remind us of his dark military past, especially dictatorship days that elicited PDP’s “hate” documentaries on AIT and NTA. He won’t be called a “Mr” – since when! Too Western, anyway. He won be referred to as “Alhaji” or “Malam”. That would play into the hands of his traducers who love to brand him as a “religious fanatic”. He would walk a safe middle ground and be referred to simply as Muhammadu Buhari, President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The bottom line is that when Buhari assumed power, we are going to see many things totally different from what his branders presented to us. He is going to have to smile a lot less to bring about the change we need.

He is going to fight tough wars: war on Boko Haram insurgency, pipelines vandals, oil thieves, including those in the armed forces, petroleum cabals creating artificial scarcity, economic saboteurs; looters, especially those who will feel entitled to steal having funded his campaign and carry out brutal cut-down in the size of government. He will have running battles with forces in his party, the National Assembly, the opposition, former military colleagues such as Olusegun Obasanjo and TY Danjuma, as well as entrenched prebendarians masquerading as ethnic “elders” and “youths”.

If Muhammadu Buhari (MB) fight the good fight, those who dressed up this masquerade will be the first to experience the “change” he will dish out!