ABSOLUTISM

Why should laws be applied equally to all? If a small cabal has political power and the rest don’t, it is only natural that whatever is fair game for the cabal should be banned and punishable for the rest. It is only when many individuals and groups have a say in decisions and the political power to have a seat at the table that the idea that they should all be treated fairly starts making sense.  – Why Nations Fail

Democracy by its very definition is the embrace of a pluralistic society. We should not entertain absolute power as it delays development and that is why we remain a developing nation today.  We must never allow our enthusiasm or loyalty for our party to contravene the very rules which we swore to protect in a democratic setting. We must create and strengthen inclusive political institutions, which will in turn support inclusive economic institutions that will empower a broad segment of society and make for a more level political playing field.

Our democracy was not the replacement of our military dictatorship by another absolute power. It was a broad coalition made up of all of us. We rose up against absolutism and the emergence of our various political parties was a consequence of this. The RULE OF LAW, in its true sense, also emerged as a by-product of this process. With many parties at the table sharing power, it is natural to have laws and constraints applicable to all of them, lest one party start amassing too much power and ultimately undermine the very foundations of pluralism. We should take care not to throw away the good that we have established. Protecting this ideology does not mean that you are against one party or the other. It means that you are protecting the very principles that some of us have died for. Those in the midst of this melee should be mindful of this and our Nigerian Bar Association should protect the spirit of the law for all.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party, is attempting to take us down a very dark path. They seem intent in crippling the opposition by hook or by crook and making Nigeria a one-party state. A party which has an unhealthy resentment for dissenting voices is paralyzing the democracy we all labored for.  PDP politicians talk about “capturing” this state or that state, but, actually, that is exactly what the party is doing (and plans to do) with its corrupt impeachment or pardon policy.  

The PDP wants to be all-powerful and kill a healthy opposition. What then is our democracy? How do you have a premier league without opposition? Football teams need rival football teams lest they do not get any competitive games and the sport will not develop. The issue is really as simple as that. A strong healthy opposition is crucial to any democracy. If we cannot learn from developed countries, then let us use India as an example. In this year’s general election, the world’s largest democracy demonstrated the beauty of a healthy opposition clearly evident in the electorate’s voting pattern.   

Ekiti has been “captured” and a former governor who was impeached though never arraigned for fraud has been reinstalled by the PDP’s old boy network. Adamawa has been “conquered”. The governor there dared to speak up against his protector and benefactor, and worse still jumped ship and joined the opposition.  Nassarawa governor’s impeachment process has already begun. The same show of force, suppression and inducement, which was used to guarantee success in Ekiti, is in full sway in Osun ahead of the governorship election there. We know that Rivers, Oyo, Kwara, Edo, Kano and Imo are all on the radar.  Subsequent impeachments might even be messier than that which toppled Murtala Nyako. Of course, the former governor wasn’t a saint in office, but this doesn’t justify why the rule by law – not the rule of law – was deployed to remove him. 

State Houses of Assembly are being bribed into using political imbalance in favour of the ruling party. The Adamawa State House of Assembly, which, in 2013, passed a vote of confidence on the then PDP Nyako, suddenly finds him culpable of impeachable offences.  He is now found guilty of financial recklessness dating back to 2007. The House has certainly indicted itself, because, if this is true, then why did they close their eyes to it when Nyako was their son?

      

It was Nelson Mandela, after a life long struggle with the apartheid regime, that extended his hand to a former foe and declared that they needed each other as united they could build the Rainbow Nation but divided would destroy their homeland. Our leaders would do well to learn from his words.

CCTV SCAMERA

The world over, closed-circuit television (CCTV) is used to detect and resolve crimes. From petty offences such as shoplifting to acts of terror, like the Boston Marathon bombing, CCTV has been a useful tool for security agents so much so that it is regarded as the first port of call in detecting crime. It is with such efficacy in mind that Nigerians (especially those of us residing in Lagos and Abuja) welcomed plans by the federal government to install solar-powered CCTV cameras at strategic locations in the two cities.

We received this news with cautious optimism and even raised eyebrows at the fact that they had thought about power and had opted for the solar powered version. The pessimists amongst us waved it aside. To this last group, projects like this are not matched with good intention in Nigeria; therefore it was destined to fail. I remember reading editorials and op-eds of diverse reactions on the matter. Unfortunately, the nihilists carried the day because the CCTV project turns out to be nothing but a big scam – as usual!

We started spotting solar panels and cameras in Abuja and Lagos, followed by a showy display to commission the project. We thought Judgment Day had finally come for criminals, reckless drivers and traffic offenders. We thought our streets would be safer. We thought terrorists would want to think twice before attacking our cities. We were wrong. 

 

The contract our government awarded was a scam on us. We were told that 2,000 digital solar-powered cameras –1,000 each for Abuja and Lagos – would be installed. We were told that 37 switch rooms, MW backbone, 37 coalition emergency response systems, 38 video conference subsystems, 37 e-police systems, six emergency communication vehicles and 1.5 million subscriber lines would add bite to our quest for safer cities.  We were told that the project would be jointly funded by the Nigerian government and the China Export Bank to the tune of $470 million (about N77 billion). They told us that our new system would capture images 24/7 and transmit it to its base station for analysis. In 2012, they told us all was set, that the project had been completed. In 2014, our CCTV system is yet to detect just one crime – even if it is a pickpocket at Berger Roundabout in Abuja or Oju Elegba in Lagos. 

We have since had several terrorist attacks in Abuja. To what extent would a CCTV security system have helped if it were functioning? What is left of the N77billion project has been cannibalized. It is incongruous that criminals are stealing what was designed to apprehend them. These things can only happen in Nigeria. Nothing but nothing is sacrosanct. Even a measure supposedly put in place to protect life and property is not immune from the impunity of our government officials. Here it is all about me, me, me and nothing but me. Our greed has brought on amorality that is no longer conscious of what is at stake anymore. How do you correct a system that does not know that it is malfunctioning, so much that we don’t seem to care about what is at stake anymore? The survival of an infant, the future of our youth or the security of the citizenry does not matter as long as the proceeds end up in a private bank account.  

In any normal society, if 2 years after project completion these cameras were not functioning, and we are experiencing the type of terrorism, destruction and fear that we currently live under; the officials responsible would have been arraigned. Here, despite deaths being recorded daily, our leaders profit from it and still walk tall. We budget billions of naira for security each year, yet we know that our army are overwhelmed in the fight against insurgents because they lack adequate facilities and weaponry. Our education and health sectors are in shambles despite the billions we spend on them annually. A miniscule amount meant for these projects are actually applied. The bulk ends up in private pockets. Like the CCTV project, we deceive taxpayers by erecting white elephant physical structures. The idea is just an empty shell with no substance, a mirror of what we are as a people.

Yet again the government whose core responsibility is to protect and provide for us has shortchanged us. Section 14 (2b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states unequivocally that …the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. These days, that primary purpose has been to enrich a small exclusive club of not up to 3 percent of our population while the rest of us are left on our own. What are you going to do about this? Get up and make yourself heard.  

FOR US TO HAVE PEACE

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hope for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”

― John Lennon

Fear is the primary objective of every act of terror, whether it is on the World Trade Centre, a popular shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya or EMAB Plaza in Abuja.  

Insurgents, terrorists, enemies of state or whatever name they go by, should not be allowed to prevail. Yet, they seem to enjoy sending the rest of us into panic mode. We have lost count of how many bomb blasts our brothers and sisters have perished in.  These elements are growing in confidence and becoming more daring. Abuja’s EMAB/BANEX Plazas epitomize a melting pot of peoples of diverse backgrounds in the city. The ground nut and banana sellers who bore the brunt of the bomb blast, entrepreneurs, businessmen, taxi drivers and shoppers in general from all walks of life, people who have had nothing to do in offending anybody, innocent victims were maimed and killed at the popular mall.

The reality of our present state of national insecurity has been brought to the fore this year, as opposed to the insurgency affecting somewhere in the far North East of the country, far away from our comfort zone. Now, explosions are reported in almost every region.  Nor are those attacks reserved for the remote suburbs of our cities. Abuja residents who felt that Wuse II was safer than Nyanya woke up to the shocking reality that no part of the city is one hundred percent safe, CCTV cameras, armed military men and all. We are gradually pulling back from life, especially here in Abuja where we now restrict our own movement and constantly watch our backs. We busy our minds with thoughts of, “What if the man driving in front of me is going to detonate an IED?” Companies and offices have adopted bizarre and crazy security measures because we can’t just tell what area is next on the terrorists’ list.

Electronic messages are flying around warning us of impending terrorist activity. We have been advised to stay at home. Our children are now on holiday and cannot go to the mall, the cinema or the market. They are stuck at home. That is what fear does to a defeated people – but we refuse to be defeated.  It is only proper to put the plight of our fellow citizens living in the emergency states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa into perspective. If we panic this much in Abuja, the seat of power, under what condition do we think those defenceless innocent Nigerians live every day of their lives exposed to untold danger?  

In choosing love instead of fear, we have to be reassured by our government at all levels that they are capable of protecting us. It is standard practice for terrorists to want to create and play psychological mind games to instil fear in order to attract attention. This is partly why insurgents among us belittle our military by daring to attack their formations. They are making our soldiers look ordinary in the eyes of the world, so that we citizens feel more vulnerable. The first step towards redemption and reassurance is for our government to make us believe that defenders of our integrity are superior to our enemies. Such belief should be matched by action.

        

Many factors contributed to the monster we are trying to tame today. Social injustice, unemployment, poverty, corruption, indoctrination, etc are all factors. If these are not addressed, we shall continue to be confronted by the disillusioned amongst us. It doesn’t matter if we have the best military with state-of-the-art arms. No damage control mechanism, such as the new National Information Centre, has the capability to manage a crisis. We need to get to the crux of the matter, change our way of thinking and dialogue. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians should highlight to all that have sense and this is not so common, that violence and reprisals will only serve to oil the wheel of repetitious negative actions, which create more hatred and spills more innocent blood.

Our practices here are extractive and our country is ruled by law, as opposed to by the rule of law where all are equal under the law and have the same rights. This must change for us to live in harmony.

RELIGION AND COMPASSION

Judaism, Islam and Christianity are all sister religions but if I were to ask a Muslim about Christianity or Judaism and vice versa, what would each actually know about the other, apart from what they see and hear on the various news channels every day? What a very narrow view of a melee of the opinions and viewpoints of others. Is this why these religions struggle against each other? For if we look at our own faith, it will be clear that our judgment is somewhat flawed.

In all religions, paramount in their doctrines, what is given pride of place is compassion. The ability to feel with the other; to “love thy neighbor” is the true test of any religion, yet what do we see every day, people who have supposedly committed themselves to these beliefs, become quarrelsome and stupidly sectarian and use it to only divide us.

Religion is what is supposed to bring us into the presence of God, so it is not possible for one who claims to be a Muslim, Christian or Jew, a committed one of any of these faiths, to do what is hateful to them to their neighbor.  Any interpretation of any of these faiths therefore, which interpretation leads to hatred or division or contempt of the other is illegitimate. Religion is supposed to clear our minds and give us inner peace. Its aim is to suppress the ego and in guiding us asks us to look for compassion in everything that we do. Religion – every religion – preaches love and compassion and is their underlying principle. We would do well to always remember this.

What we see today in Nigeria and many other parts of the world is religion hijacked. Terrorists recite quranic verses to justify (can you believe it?) their atrocities. They do despicable things that are abhorrent to us all and carry out revenge killings and use the Quran, Islam to justify their actions. Christians sit by and judge other people. They use the scripture to argue and put other people down.

But this is not religion; it is just human greed and ego. Why because pick up your Bible, your Torah or your Quran and read it. It will become quite clear to you that what we are doing is ignoring the underlying principles of “love thy neighbor as thyself” and all over the world we are messing up something God-given that is quite wonderful and is the perfect dress rehearsal for living in harmony.

Where do we go from here? Let me suggest that perhaps the mistake that we make is that we confine our compassion to only our own group. We should have compassion for everybody. Welcome the stranger and love your perceived enemy. The Lord divided us into tribes, nations and races, so that we could know one another.

I speak of religion because it is what we use now to cloak our dagger. It is our veil. Religion is not the cause of our present situation, however where there is a regional crises, it is quite easy for religion to get sucked in, just as in football, the beautiful game, the pinnacle of which we are watching now with the World Cup can cause a riot, where people will be injured and can lose their lives, but is this football? We are capable of messing up even this wonderful game, played to bring us together and not possible without two opposing sides, who come together for the love of the game. Religion can also be affected by this violent ethos. We have come to a situation where religious illiteracy has brought us to a place where we prefer to be right rather than compassionate.

What can we do to change things? Where are we going wrong? Where is religion failing? We need global understanding. We need to know one another; we need appreciation of each other. Religion has a wide following. People want to belong; we want to be religious and should be made to be a force for change. We should simply not treat others as we would not want to be treated ourselves. We need to build networks of understanding and move beyond toleration to the appreciation of each other. We need to think about our father, mother, daughter and son, and weep for the Chibok girls and weep for those who terrorize us. This will create a bond amongst us. To do this, it is clear that we must overcome the human that we feel when under threat of our enemies, no matter how imminent we perceive this threat to be and begin to appreciate the other.

STOP THE BOMBING AND BRING BACK OUR GIRLS PLEASE.