I have refrained from commenting about the Buhari administration for a while, not out of any contrived sense of loyalty but out of an acute sense of disappointment.
But I have no choice but to speak out about a disturbing trend of official impunity, and the lack of emphaty by the agents of this administration on one hand, and the executive branch of government, on the other.
The recent gunning down of IPOB protesters is the latest in a long line of using deadly and excessive force by the security forces against civilians. Wether it is a case of obstruction and intimidations as it was the case in Zaria against the shite group, or a peaceful protest turn violent as that of the IPOB protesters,
I am sure that the police are trained and equipped for crowd control without resort to deadly force. I know for a fact that there used to be an anti riot squad, whose sole function was to put down protests and riots with minimum force, which included the use of batons, tear gas, water canons and rubber bullets.
For those who think I am being overtly romantic and elitistically delusional, please remember that the Yoruba word for police is Olopa, the one who carries a baton.
The impunity, in my opinion, started the moment Mr. Buhari appointed Daura, a retired Security Operative to return to the DSS as it's head. It is a move that signalled the return of the Gestapo minded, a critic of my boss is an enemy of the state mindset. This set of operatives sees subversion in every sentence, treason in every voice of dissent, and anarchy in any form of protest.
Fortunately, these were the set of characters fist curtailed by Aare as director, and later weeded out by Ekpeyong when he took over.
So by bringing Daura back, Mr. Buhari created a lacuna which in my part of the country is referred to as ipadabo Abija. The return of Abija, or in a general parlance, return of the Mario.
This is not to say there were no excesses during the Obasanjo, Yaradua or Jonathan administration's, but no where near the pervading, Abachaistic level fear inducing and talomamumi mentality of the present DSS.
The same scenario is also playing out in the army where they assume they are under a commander in chief who believes in the mantra of shoot now and ask questions later. A mindset not only dangerous to our democracy, in which dissent is expected, but against the constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
The same sense of impunity also pervades the EFCC, which is now perceiving itself as the accuser, judge and jury. Holding people indefinitely and deciding which person can pay a fraction of stolen funds and go home, and those who must refund every Kobo or rot in detention.
We are all behind the President in his fight against corruption and attempts to reform the system. But truth be told, he is neither leading by example nor providing a platform for us, his supporters to stand up and defend.
Leadership is not only about fighting corruption, it is also about empathy. It is about not only ensuring justice is served, it must be seen to be served.
Neither the lopsidedness of Mr. Buhari's appointment in a country of such delicate ethnic balance, his appointees obvious contempt for the rule of law, his initial criminal silence of the rampaging Fulani Herdsmen and the extra judicial killing of civilians by agencies headed by his hand picked appointees do not give much room for cheer.
Coupled with an economy that has gone south,inflation in double digits, an executive council that is more for effect than for governance, and a general sense of executive helplessness in solving both inherited and self inflicted problems is throwing a pall over the populace.
For a man who took six months to form a cabinet and one year to meet officially with the fourth estate of the realm, it may be a while yet before it registers with him that applying a failed 1984 solution to a 2016 problem is a recipe for failure. A scenario that is unpalatable to the millions who voted for change, and millions more who see this as the last hope to rescue Nigeria from 16 years of the locusts, especially the last five characterised by barbaric looting and primitive greed.
While we do not expect to get to the promised land in one year, but we expect to get there in one piece. While we expect to get there as a united people, we must also not stand by as security forces slaughter some of our people simply because they have an opinion different from ours.
After all, this is a democracy, where the minority will have its say, and the majority will have its way.
Mr. Buhari must rise to the challenge, gather his wits about him, and call his foot soldiers to order. It is one thing to crush an insurgency and obliterate economic and environmental terrorists, it is another thing to apply maximum force to protesters and inadvertently provide a justification for them moving from noise makers to armed terrorists.
My Ten Kobo.
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