Carl Umegboro
By Carl Umegboro
NIGERIAN citizen, Mr. Joachim Chinakwe Iroko was recently arrested by the Ogun State Police Command and immediately charged to court over alleged attempts to cause ethno-religious violence within the division. The suspect was accused of naming and labelling his dog with “Alhaji Buhari” believably after President Muhammadu Buhari and paraded in a community largely dominated by northerners and Muslims.
The incident has generated uproars in the society with a faction condemning and accusing the presidency of civilian maladministration, deficiency of ideas and autocratic tendencies knowing that by statute, the police is under the office and control of the President, and categorically, slammed the president as a man who pursues rats when his house is in flames on account of the economy which, to admit is in a calamitous condition is affirming the reality. The court eventually granted bail to the accused, though still remanded due to inability to meet bail conditions yet……..
Unequivocally, Buhari though avidly prepared to make a change in the country’s leadership, has unconsciously threaded a wrong track by his extreme lopsided-appointments which clearly favoured the northern region with almost all key positions held by northerners and Muslims. Regrettably, this singular action, apart from working against the laid down concept of Federal Character in the nation’s grundnorm (1999 Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria), poses a great threat to the good intentions of the President to reciprocate the trust by millions of Nigerians who campaigned and made enormous commitments for his success at the polls. Insentiently, the one-sided appointment stands strappingly to frustrate the doctrine of transparency and accountability which are pivotal to eradicating corruption in the society; the President’s primary policy based on his antecedents. As a matter of fact, I still believe the President should freely appoint a team he could depend upon for impressive service-delivery on account of the havocs perpetrated on the economy by the squandermania-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governments from 1999 to 2015 with nothing to show for the years.
No doubt, the Constitution impliedly allows exercise of discretions on some positions since it didn’t specifically enlist them for application of the principle, however, its mere emphasis on ministerial appointments ought to serve as a guiding principle in all appointments by the central government putting into consideration that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic society. I thus disagree with the position of the presidency that Buhari has not violated the Federal Character principle on account that the Constitution didn’t highlight those positions. This is because, by commonsense, the Constitution wouldn’t have endorsed a situation where most of key positions of a central government of a country with diverse ethnic groups are lavished on a particular ethnic group at the detriment of others except ministers. Sadly, the utmost threat of this blunder, if unchecked, is the high probability of disintegration of the nation immediately after Buhari’s administration. This position is bolstered by the obvious temperament of the northerners who may resort to all manner of combats against a future southern President’s government rather than tolerate to wail as the southerners do presently when power eventually shifts out of the zone.
Recall that the Boko Haram Islamic terrorist sect was, by mission or commission, believably set up by political leaders of the north extraction in opposition of a southern and Christian President. As at today, millions of innocent lives and valuable properties have been lost with several millions in internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) centres across the nation.
On the economy, to say the country is in dire straits is simply stating the obvious. However, it must inarguably be noted that the present mess was a repercussion of colossal negligence and inadvertences of the past PDP-governments, unfortunately inherited by the present administration. APC’s culpability is solitarily anchored on the lopsided-appointments which deprive renowned technocrats and professionals from other geopolitical zones from contributing their quota in turning around the economic catastrophe of the nation. No government or economy grows in isolation, or essentially by enthroning mediocrity at the expense of meritocracy; hence, partisanship must be crucified for professionalism in key sectors. Apart from this, all blames should be cooperatively heaped on the PDP and its leaders who failed woefully in taking sustainable strides during the sun-shining days. Despite all the oil booms and economic experts deployed in its times, diversion of the economy from a mono-based should commonsensically, have been its principal policy rather than the indiscriminate diversion of the proceeds into private pockets, and still sold most of national assets in the guise of privatization. Eventually, oil price which was the major source of revenue crashed in the international market leaving the country in pitiable calamity. Diametrically, APC found itself in a pit, but leadership entails solving problems and not always managing good-times, hence, whatever steps it could invoke to remedy the predicaments are up to the party. Nigerians will not mortgage dividends of democracy, albeit patience is inevitably required. The comparative advantage is that by Buhari’s antecedents, though not an economist could determinedly lead and supervise a resourceful economic team to deliver.
On security, the enigmatic attacks by the Fulani herdsmen coupled with the Boko Haram Islamic sect, both from the north, against innocent citizens and now rapidly spreading all over the country are disastrous. I believe these could be controlled if the federal government is more philosophical in reflecting federal character in its appointments as the consciousness of having all key positions manned by fellow northerners and Muslims is rationally to a section, a stimulus to disregard the laws of the land knowing that majority of these folks are uneducated. Reasonably, how could average northerners submit to the laws guiding their relationships with other tribes when only their relatives respectively head the Presidency, Army, Navy, Police, Airforce, Security Adviser, Judiciary and even the Office of the Secretary of the Federation, grossly, this is a blunder, aberration and nonsequito. Above all, indistinguishable from what a British historian, Lord Acton (1834-1902) shouted against over a century ago by his quote, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The over dominance of a particular tribe in the central government invariably will send wrong signals to the average class pointing to exercise of absolute powers and create a comparable picture of “all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. If the federal government cares to save the nation from these predicaments, let the President distribute key positions across all the geopolitical zones irrespective of his discretion on appointments such that culprits will be made to squarely face the consequences of their actions irrespective of ethnicity. Until justice is done, injustice will naturally continue to triumph, hence, continued heinous attacks on helpless citizens even while asleep as are now repetitive in Enugu state and other parts of the country.
Reverting to the dog naming saga, apparently, no offence was committed by mere naming of a dog after President Buhari or any other persons. As a matter of fact, a dog that is gallant and terrifying could be named after a renowned soldier. A gentle one will in similar manner be named after a hero with such traits; a good-looking also takes after a hero in like manner. Possibly, a dog that is a no-nonsense war lord in its environment could be named after a distinguished public figure on anti-corruption like President Buhari. In other words, no harm was done to the President by the act. However, the locus situ (place of the event), inferred intentions and the manner it was done could competently make it constitute a crime in criminal law, particularly attempt to cause ethno-religious violence or breach of public peace. If the accused only named his dog ‘Buhari’ but did not tag the name and deliberately parade it in Hausa-Muslim community, his arrest by the Police would have amounted to false imprisonment, malicious prosecution and even a breach of his Freedom of Expression which is a fundamental right available to all citizens. Incidentally, the Police vested with powers to ensure a peaceful and harmonious society is under a duty to arrest and prevent anyone suspected to be involved in acts capable of creating chaos and breakdown of laws and orders. Commendably, the arrest of the suspect and largely the situation as a preventive security is a desideratum rather than the reactionary security. The police should likewise be commended for charging him to court closely rather than the usual torturing and illegal detention. Interestingly, the court is the temple of justice and the focal point of the judiciary; the last hope of the common man. Hence, if truly the president is linked to dragging the accused to the court, he still deserves no condemnation since the cardinal purpose of a court is justice and conflict resolution.
However, the President Buhari should be respectfully disassociated from the matter since it is not a civil matter. For the fact the matter was charged to the court without delay should be viewed extensively as a dividend of democracy knowing that both parties are now facing the court which has a competent jurisdiction to strike out even the President’s case if without merit. The Police believably working for the President who is their overall boss and the accused will certainly be represented by lawyers for fair-hearing which is sacrosanct. Hence, to tag the President a tyrant over a civic responsibility; dragging a citizen to the court of law, is regrettably a misnomer, rather implies the president believes in the rule of law and equality before the law which are the hallmarks of democracy. Nevertheless, citizens’ actions that could lead to anarchy should be condemned overtly and discouraged at all cost knowing too well that where the rights of one ends is where that of another starts. Anarchy does not know boundaries or relatives. It could destroy beyond imaginations. Prior to taking some reckless and aimless actions, wisdom demands they are thoroughly self-scrutinized to weigh its likely values or demerits to the society at large. This is meanderingly, a core concept of community-policing.
Umegboro, Public Affairs Analyst, Lawyer is the publisher of Pinnacle InfoGallery BLOG