Ever since his 29 May 2023 inauguration as the 16^th President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) has had criticisms coming at him from those who doubted his legitimacy up until the Supreme Court ruled that he was the victorious one in the 2023 General Elections.

With that squeeze dried out, an ongoing offensive and a shift are targeting President Tinubu’s policies instead, as well as the fanatics in air quote that are committed to it despite further economic suffering seen in the country. It is what has hence birthed the word BATeria which is a cunning term critics love to use to describe macroeconomic low performance since Mr Tinubu came into office eleven months ago.

The trending Bateria also describes President Bola Tinubu’s supporters coming to his defence all the time.

After two weeks away from the country on foreign trips visiting the Netherlands and then Saudi Arabia, the president is back in Nigeria.

While he was out on his international assignments, Premium Motor Spirit queues had been piling up in front of filling stations and that made people struggle the more including those who once supported him despite the problems with limited jobs, breach of security in communities and the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway disrupting business ventures.

ALSO READ: Which part of your money won’t be touched by the CBN’s cybersecurity levy?

But one thing BAT fanatics can’t stomach is the cybersecurity levy that has just been announced.

If we keep quiet on everything, the new charges by @cenbank under Cardoso is the most f000/1$h decision. How long do [you] want people [to] keep defending [you]? A [litre] of petrol currently sells between ₦900 to ₦1000 and every one of [you] in charge keeps mute is what seemed to have ignited the BATeria trolls.

This tweet was by the user Mamatii001 who was expressing that there was no excuse to keep burdening Nigerians with tax. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday 6 May instructed banks and relevant financial institutions to implement a 0.5 per cent deduction on electronic transactions.

If we keep quiet on everything, the new charges by @cenbank under Cardoso is the most f000/1$h decision. How long do u want people keep defending U? A liter of petrol currently sells between #900 to #1000 and everyone of u in charge keep mute. Increase in electricity tarif is…

— M.A.M.A.T.E.E.0.0.1 (@mamatii001) May 7, 2024

After they have been collected by the banks, the money is remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund which chimes with a provision in the Cybersecurity Act, 2024.

In the tweets that surfaced on X, the supporters of one of the opposition candidates in the 2023 Presidential Election, Peter Obi who are known as Obidients are pressing it in and pointing out mistakes they think the president’s fans probably made. BATeria is the hook making the point that needs making.

Celebrities like Seyi Law haven’t been excluded from harsh reminders of his blind support although the comedian contends with the insinuation of his outright approval of President Bola Tinubu and his policies.

Why do some id#ots think that because you support a person, you must therefore accept all his policies?, Seyi Law asks an audience. Yes, the cybersecurity level is from [an amended] act, I presume, but I don’t think this is the time for the implementation.

Why do some id#ots think that because you support a person, you must therefore accept all his policies? Yes, the cybersecurity level is from ammended act, I presume, but I don't think this is the time for the implementation. If there is anything that should be paramount to the…

— SEYILAW (@seyilaw1) May 7, 2024

In the meantime, there are only taunts for the likes of him. The scolding questions why they believed President Tinubu was any good in the first place.

The answer is supposedly their man, Peter Obi, a Labour Party candidate who came third in the presidential election last year.

Tinubu you removed subsidy we defended. You increase fuel price we defended you. Now you are taxing our money, how do you want us to defend you. My friend will you keep quiet and drink Obi Bitter. It will cure your stupidity and BATeria reads Inyanga Eze’s tweet mocking the BATified camps.

Tinubu you removed subsidy we defended. You increase fuel price we defended you. Now you are taxing our money, how do you want us to defend you. My friend will you keep quiet and drink Obi Bitter. It will cure your stupidity and BATeria. pic.twitter.com/hmmdSUBJhU

— Inyangaeze (@jeomaltd) May 8, 2024

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.