Before Nigeria Becomes Police State
BR.I.P Dr. Alex Ekwueme efore I go into the topic of the day, it is only appropriate for me to pay tribute to the late Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme GCON, the first elected Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979-1983), who joined the saints triumphant on November 19, 2017, and was buried at his hometown, Oko, Anambra State on February 2, 2018.
Procrastination, is really a bad thing. I remember quite vividly, on September 18, 2017, as I was heading out of the lobby of Transcorp Hilton, Abuja to go and interview the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, I saw Professor Fidelis Oditah, QC, SAN. I stopped to say hello, and he was in the company of Dr Ekwueme and his wife. We exchanged greetings and I was quite excited because I had never actually met Dr Ekwueme before. I told him that it would indeed, be an honour for me to interview him. He agreed, and said that Professor Oditah and I should liaise and set up the interview. It took me a couple of weeks to contact Prof to discuss, he said he would revert; by the next time Prof and I spoke, sadly Dr Ekwueme had taken ill and had been flown abroad for treatment. Regrettably, I never got my interview.
Dr. Ekwueme was a highly intelligent and accomplished person, with several academic qualifications to his credit, including degrees in Architecture, City Planning, Urban Planning, Sociology, History, Philosophy and Law, unlike some of our politicians today, who lie about their academic qualifications and obtain their certificates from ‘Oluwole’. He was a rare gem. Nigeria needs more educated politicians and office holders like him. May his gentle soul rest in peace with the Lord. Amen.
Fundamental Rights What seems to be happening to some of our constitutionally given fundamental rights these days? The last time I checked, Sections 38(1) & (2), 40 and 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended)(the Constitution), guaranteed our rights to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, peaceful assembly and association, and movement. Specifically, Section 40 of the Constitution provides that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interests”.
So, you can imagine how shocked I was to see the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ (BBOG) Campaigners being surrounded by the Police, and subsequently hauled off to the Police Command in Abuja for questioning. Why? A peace loving group, who have never been associated with anything negative talk less of violence, and have done all they can to keep the matter of the kidnapped Chibok girls in world view, so that no one forgets and all hands are on deck to bring all the girls back home to their Parents? The intolerance was even worse when the “Ourmumudondo” group led by Charly Boy did their ‘Resume or Resign’ outing in Abuja last year. They were tear gassed, leading to the collapse of Charly Boy. What if Charly Boy had died as a result of the actions of the Police that day?
The most interesting contravention of the freedom of right to movement, was the Police ban on Senator Kwankwaso from visiting his home State, Kano. How ridiculous!
Section 45(1)(a) of the Constitution places a restriction on these rights to freedom in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health. So, while BBOG or Miyetti Allah or Senator Kwankwaso are guaranteed these rights, the rights can be restricted in order to protect the afore-mentioned interests. Pray tell, what dangerous thing were the BBOG people doing during their peaceful demonstration, that warranted their arrest? Or the Ourmumudondo group? Were they carrying weapons or stoning people on the road? Section 14(1)(a) of the Constitution makes the security and welfare of the people “the primary purpose of government”. Therefore, by virtue of Sections 14(1)(a) and 45(1)(a), the Fulani Herdsmen whose rights to freedom of association and movement should have been curtailed, due to their murderous activities that are inimical to public safety, are still running around killing innocent people and causing mayhem, even after they have been declared to be a Terrorist Organisation by a Global Index; they have not been rounded up, proscribed, and their rights to freedom of association etc, withdrawn.
Partiality It seems to me that, Government/ Police are extremely partial/skewed in how they make their choices as to what constitutes a danger to public safety. When the person or movement is perceived to be anti-Government, it automatically becomes an issue of public safety, while the ones like Herdsmen who have been seen to openly carry weapons and use them with gusto and aplomb, destroying crops and farms and killing innocent women and children all over the country, have been treated with little more than kid gloves! Hopefully, with the public outcry, this will change. Are there two sets of rules and laws for Nigerians, depending on which side of the divide you are? So what, if Senator Kwankwaso allegedly told his supporters to join PDP, while Kano is presently an APC State? Isn’t there freedom of association?
I find it extremely amusing when the Police sometimes gives the reason for restricting some peoples’ fundamental rights - that it is for their own safety, for example, Sheik El Zakzaky still being kept in custody, despite being granted bail - protective custody indeed! So self serving!
Even our right to freedom of expression. The other day, I was talking about the state of the nation with a friend of mine over the telephone. When we moved on to the Herdsmen issue, he started to panic, saying “Onikepo, walls have ears, don’t let us discuss this over the phone, we will talk when we see” and so on. The truth is this, you hear that type of reaction from people regularly these days. Is the expression of our discontent with how Government is handling an issue, now a crime?
Democracy v Police State My question is, are we not in a democratic dispensation? Can I not say anything I like, as long as I am not inciting anyone to violence or other negative or criminal activities? Or is Nigeria becoming a Police State?
Some of the elements of Democracy are personal freedoms, political freedoms,