The Limits of Incompetence

DNigeria Army v Boko Haram espite the claims of the Nigerian Army that it has annihilated and vanquished the Terrorist Group, Boko Haram, on Monday, February 5, 2018, two people in a North East village were killed in an attack by them, and another six were also killed in another attack by them in Northern Cameroon. When I heard the news report about the killings on television, I felt somewhat depressed. It is almost as if anytime the Army boasts of victory over Boko Haram, Boko Haram responds with reprisal attacks on innocent people, to show that they are still very much around. My point? The spokespeople of Government agencies should not only be more guarded in the utterances they make to the public, but be cork sure about the veracity of the statements they issue to Nigerians.

Kassim Afegbua Later that Monday, my mood changed from that of depression to one of strange jocundity (humour) mixed with discouragement, when I heard that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) had launched a man hunt for Kassim Afegbua, spokesman of General Ibrahim Babangida, former Nigerian Head of State, for allegedly issuing a false statement/report. I thought to myself in Yoruba that, “se iyen lo kan

ni sin?”( is that what is the priority now?). Considering the fact that the security agencies are also guilty of issuing false reports e.g. claiming to have defeated Boko Haram when clearly they have not, why have they not launched a man hunt to arrest themselves?!

One would imagine that with the state of insecurity in the country, and having been adjudged as the worst Police Force in the World by a Global Index, NPF would be aware that they have their work cut out for them, and busy themselves with policing instead of trading words with critics and making a mockery of themselves.

While Sections 214-216 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2010)(the Constitution) and Section 3 of the ‘outdated’ Police Act 1968 provide for the establishment of the NPF, Section 4 of the Police Act provides inter alia (among other things), that the duties of the NPF are “prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property....”.

The National Assembly gave the NPF a deadline of 14 days, to apprehend the perpetrators of the Benue killings of January 2018. Nigerians have not been informed that this deadline has been met, yet NPF is concerned about Kassim Afegbua. A case of extremely misplaced priorities, if you ask me.

By virtue of Section 215(1)(3) of the Constitution and Section 9(4) and 10(1) of the Police Act, the President is charged with the ‘operational control’ of the Police and can give directions to the Inspector General of Police (IG) ‘with respect to maintaining and securing public safety and public order’. This, President Buhari did, when he directed the IG to relocate to Benue State (I will not bother to address the issue of whether the President should have paid a condolence visit to Benue State).

Sunrise Daily Last week, I watched an episode of Sunrise Daily, which had the NPF Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, and the Chief Press Secretary to the Benue State Governor, Terver Akase, as guests. I felt thoroughly ashamed on behalf of the NPF, when Benue State accused the IG of only spending one day in their State and telling outright falsehoods about the Crisis. Mr Akase actually came to the program, armed with a sheet of paper that listed Benue State’s allegations of falsehood against the IG.

I was taken aback when, in response to Benue State’s accusations and call for the IG’s resignation, Mr Moshood said “It is irresponsible for the Governor of Benue State to call for the resignation of the IG....you don’t join issues with a drowning man....He (Ortom) should be the one to resign first, for not being able to sustain peace in his State....”. The reason for my shock, was that Mr Moshood was indirectly indicting the NPF, that not only do they not know the law that they are meant to preserve, they are ineffective. Mr Moshood, especially as the NPF PRO, should have been conversant with Section 215(4) of the Constitution and Section 10(2) of the Police Act, which makes the instructions given by a Governor to the State Commissioner of Police, subject to ratification by the President or Minister of Govern- ment who has the authority of the President to give the ratification. In plain terms, the Governor has no power or authority over the Police! Pray tell, how is a Governor then expected to sustain peace in his/ her State? With juju (black magic)? Governor Ortom should use ‘Afose’ (Command) to ‘pa ase’ (command) over the Fulani Herdsmen to disappear or make their weapons turn to water? Yes, that is how ridiculous that statement of Jimoh Moshood about Governor Ortom sustaining peace in Benue, sounded.

The NPF and other organisations will continue to have problems with their output, performance, and efficiency, as long as the selection processes for their leadership is flawed. A few weeks ago, I discussed the issue of nepotism extensively. A situation where qualified and trained people are by-passed or sacked, and someone who is yet to acquire the requisite expertise and is simply unqualified for the job, is brought from behind to take up the mantle of leadership because he/she is some “oga at the top’s” ‘favourite’, is obviously a recipe for disaster and failure.

Role of Spokespeople As for our various spokespeople, most of them need to go for proper training, so that they can understand that their roles are not to personalise and trivialise issues and hurl abuses at their critics in the process, but that a public relations/spokes person’s main role is “to represent a company (or his/her organisation) or individual in a reputable and profitable way”. Spokespeople are meant to have excellent speaking and writing skills. This is also seriously lacking, in many of the Government spokespeople that I have seen and heard via the different forms of information dissemination. For one, you do not have to be able to use grand words like Honourable Obahiagbon, but you must be able to understand the meaning of the words and phrases that you use, and use them properly and respectfully in the right context, in order to represent your organisation satisfactorily. All these various spokespeople do, is to talk condescendingly with a false sense of entitlement, try to justify the failures of their various establishments and CEOs, and make statements that end up stirring up nothing but bitterness and resentment in Nigerians. onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com onikepob@yahoo.com

“PRAY TELL, HOW IS A GOVERNOR THEN EXPECTED TO SUSTAIN PEACE IN HIS/HER STATE? WITH JUJU (BLACK MAGIC)? GOVERNOR ORTOM SHOULD USE ‘AFOSE’ (COMMAND) TO ‘PA ASE’ (COMMAND) OVER THE FULANI HERDSMEN TO DISAPPEAR OR MAKE THEIR WEAPONS TURN TO WATER? YES, THAT IS HOW RIDICULOUS THAT STATEMENT OF JIMOH MOSHOOD ABOUT GOVERNOR ORTOM SUSTAINING PEACE IN BENUE, SOUNDED”