CAN NIGERIA ABIDE BY THE RULE OF LAW?
Nigerian
is a fascinating place and Nigerians are a fascinating people. The place and
people are fascinating in the sense that they are mesmerizing, enthralling,
captivating, and absorbing all for the
wrong reason; there is the absence of the rule of law. That Nigerians are a lawless bunch is not
debatable; no exaggeration or pun is intended. The law of the jungle operates
in Naija. In Nigeria, you can break any
law, take the law into your own hands, and dish out judgment as you see fit.
Breaking
the law is a tantalizing entertainment. You can’t resist saying “Shit”. It appears
that lawlessness plays a significant role in a conundrum in reference to a
riddle whose answer is a pun, a paradox, in a Nigerian political crisis whose
answer is uncertain. For example, a group of rascals, the Arewa boys rose from
a meeting and promulgated a jungle law that Anyamirins (the Igbos) residing in
the North must vacate the area and return to the South.
Although
members of the Arewa have no
legislative, judicial or executive powers , and although they are an unemployed , uneducated deplorable
group from which riff raffs and Fulani
cattle herders are recruited, equipped with incendiary materials, plus some
powerful AK-47’s, and drawn in a taskforce whose primary function is to create
disturbances . The Arewa boys are lawless people whose only aim is violation of
rights of persons considered as infidels .
Because they are lawless and lack
respectability, Arewaens could promulgate
jungle laws, meaning they do broadcast, propagate, spread, arrogantly
disseminate, transmit, or publicize the anti-Igbo statements with a total disregard
for the rule of law. To deny Nigeria’s lawlessness as most of our corrupt
politicians and I-don’t- care fellow citizens do or to defiantly ask “what
about other countries like US and UK” is to dream that, in the flush of dawn,
Nigerian sky glowed with empyreal beauty without a trace of corruption.
In
Nigeria, although the law is in the books, it is bent so much that it appears
either to be an afterthought, or forgotten at the Government printing shop. It
is more likely than not that the rule of law is incomprehensible to the people
of Arewa; jungle law has replaced legitimate law in the Arewa kingdom of
Nigeria.
In the
United States, the law reigns supreme; no one is above the law. In Nigeria, criminal cowards like the Arewa thrive
in connivance with the bellicose Muslims and belligerent Islamists to turn the Nigerian law upside
down in order to have legitimacy. In Nigeria, everyone seems to ride high above
the law, including not just The Arewa boys, but also every hoodlums
(kidnappers and highway robbers).
Who
can’t be above the law when respectable lawmakers and judges have their own Arewa
Club. A true Arawe-minded person flaunt
any Nigerian law holding Nigeria together as a nation or does something the
Constitution forbids and see what happens to the idiotic Arewean. If nothing
happens to the Araweans,, they believe they are above the law, and therefore the
law does not apply to Arewa boys. Flaunt the law in Araweland and nothing
happens to the flaunterer who is considered a superhero.
On
the other hand, try to flaunt an American traffic laws, such that you fail to yield
right of way, or you speed through
a traffic light, and see what the police would do to your stupid ass. And if you
refuse to sign a violation form, you are in trouble. Telling the police your father is the Oba of
Arewaland would land your ass in hot water in America. Dropping the name of
your Nigerian family would not only free you from culpability or
blameworthiness if you break a Nigerian law but it would earn you some
respectability.
Telling the same stupid story to police in Washington
DC or Atlanta, Georgia, about your
lawless Nigerian father being the Emir of Gwagwalada, would not prevent the
police from placing metal handcuff on your hands after beating your head down to the
granite road. That is how the law is enforced in America. Nobody is above the
American law.
Every
one in America, even the former United States President Obama operated under
the ambit of established law. Obama could not be above the law or do things the
law prohibited. Obama simply completed
his second term as the law dictated and hurriedly left the scene as fast his
two Kenyan legs could carry him .
Didn’t
President Obama swear at his inauguration ceremony to uphold the Constitution,
to encourage enforcement of the law, and to see that the law applied to everyone
across the land regardless of one’s position in life? Every U S President is
responsible for ensuring that everyone is respectful of and in obedience to the
law.
Considering
Nigerian ailing President Buhari, how many Fulani cattle herders beheaders of Christians
have you heard have been brought to the
book? If you are a Muslim and you break the jungle law, you are practically
unimpeachable; you are above reproach, or y0u are considered faultless,
blameless, irreproachable, unassailable, and free to go.
President
Obama could be impeached and removed from office as assuredly as President-elect
Hillary Clinton if she had won. So could the newly minted Republican President
and billionaire Donald Trump. Any
American can be arrested and hauled away to jail if he/she willfully
contravenes the law.
Can
we say the same thing about Buhari? Obasanjo? Obiano? Surely, the same American
law applies to any Nigerian American as
well as to the U S members of Congress
and judiciary. Can we say the same thing about Nigerian laws and their
application to all Nigerians, including the politicians, judges, or employees
manning our ports and oil refineries?
The U
S law is absolute, superlative, extreme, and placed on the highest pedal of
honor. For example, Bill Clinton, former United States President, was faced
with investigation and possible indictment for trespassing against certain
ethical standards.
Wrong
application of rules has consequences far more reaching and devastating than we
can imagine. The effect of the American law is regarded as being dire,
portentous, terrible, or horrible, isn’t it ? The American law is expected to
protect and safeguard life and property.
If you are a Nigerian governor known to steal
and stash 2 billion dollars of public money in Swiss account, what punitive consequences
would follow you in Naija, America, Europe or Britain? In Nigeria,
what follows you is absolute nothing, zilch, naught, or nonentity in order to
encourage more corruption. In countries outside Nigeria, a criminal stealing
Nigeria’s wealth and bringing the same overseas receives a slap in the palm to
send the message ”it is alright to rob your nation, but it is wrong to rob us
the Britons, Germans, or Americans.”
Nothing
would happen to a big-time Nigerian governor carrying millions in a
Ghana-must-go sack to overseas because
the world knows that the rule of law does not exist in the neck of wood the
governor comes from, in the jungle known
as wild Ni geria.
The
sitting Nigerian President’s Government
would look the other way when a jungle law is broken. Townspeople may come to
the house of the law breaking/robber governor to congratulate him and dance
owambe and sweet Mother. They would eat bowls of fried rice and drink Heinekens.
Breaking jungle laws is like eating foo-foo with ofe manu and ofe onugbu (oily
soup and bitterleaf soup); the food is
sweet and has sweet consequences.
What prevents a secondary school principal
from embezzling the entire school fees the students have paid? Managers of the
Ports Authority would overcharge customers in addition to seizing property of
those refusing to pay the overcharge.
Police
manning our Nigerian checkpoints would demand bribes from conductors and kill
those who refuse to pay. Prices of garri at Ogbete, Lagos, or Port Harcourt market would rise sharply when merchants
conclude that “government is eating all out money, and we’re getting nothing.”
You
are a Nigerian legislator and you have joined the syndicate of celebrated
thieves raiding your country’s treasury and looting pension funds . Aren’t you aware that the money you
are stealing is beautifying other people’s land while the local constituency you
are elected to represent in Koji or Enugu State is decaying and riddled with ndi ori (armed robbers)?
There
is ukpa ( extreme poverty), ugani ( severe starvation), and oyia (infectious diseases? In many Nigerian communities, since we are
sure no one is there to enforce the law.
No one cares where there is no enforcement of the law. No law means jungle law.
Everyone knows the feeling of guilty conscience, a sense of right and wrong,
or the fear of being penalized for transgressing against a code of conduct. The
American law is said to have matchless
supremacy. Words used to describe good, equitable laws include: without equal,
beyond compare, unparalleled, unrivaled, incomparable, perfect, unique,
inimitable.
Does the rule of law exist in Nigeria? Yes, it
absolutely does exist. Is the Nigerian
law enforced and applied evenly across the board? The answer is emphatic no. The
stark tragedy in the Nigerian context is in the application of the law.
You
could wager or gamble all the dollars you have in the Bank Of America,
including the Naira you have been saving at Equatorial Bank, Lagos, that most citizens in Naija know when they contravene or are in
breach of laws criminalizing certain
behaviors, such as, bribery, stealing by the taking of property of another or
killing by the taking of life of a neighbor, for example.
Unfortunately, very regrettably, most Nigerians
refuse to acknowledge the rules of law, We Nigerians have not been indoctrinated
for we refuse to be indoctrinated into obeying rules. To be indoctrinated is to
be trained, coached, instructed, made aware of, or programmed to do certain
acts.
Nigerians
have not been encouraged to assert their legal rights under the law after being
intimidated by brutal leaders under military and so-called democratic
administrations from the Day One that the law has escape routes and therefore
can be subverted.
We
Nigerian are awash in Jungle Law. Very regrettably, most Nigerians often notice
that the laws promulgated precisely to govern them do not apply equally to each
and every citizen just the same.
The
Nigerian law has incomparable futility or ineffectuality, meaning it is regarded
as being inconsequential. It can be stomped under feet in the dust with shameless impunity and reckless
abandon. The law can be battered with the fists of bribery and unabashed feet
of effrontery or impudence, meaning
rudeness, disrespect, or audacity.
My
country Nigeria has all the good laws on the book, and Nigerian law schools
produce o good number of men and women wearing brown mops on their heads as
lawyers, judges, and legislators.
Alas,
unfortunately, just regrettably, it takes more than being on the book and
marching around with dark suits and mops on head to have a stable civil society.
We need obedience to and respect for our laws to escape being called “jungle
people.”
Was Chief Obasanjo under the law? Is he was,
why did he attempt to seek (nay, usurp) the 3rd term? Is Buhari
under the law? If he is, why does he look the other way when Christians are being
slaughtered by bad Boko boys? Didn’t the boko boys gain ascendancy or
pre-eminence and notoriety after General Buhari lost the elections to the Ijaw
man?
Were
Igbo governors, such as Peter Obi and
Chris Ngige, acting under the rule of
law when giving out “dash” to promote church schools to the detriment of public
education? Haven’t Muslim governors of
far North been lawless when they use government monies to establish sharia law
systems where women are stoned to death
for alleged, self-styled adultery.
Quoranic
schools are such that secondary school students have continuously scored at
the bottom of every West African School
Certificate Examinations because education is considered to be evil (hence boko
harram).
Why must anyone, such as Nnamdi Kalu, be arrested , detained, and
denied constitutional rights without a
speedy trial? Why do some Muslims arrogate to themselves the vicious temerity to
attempt to convert Nigeria to a Sharia Law state when the country is 50 percent
Christians and 50 percent Muslims? Their attempt to intimidate Nigeria into becoming
a member of the Islamic League without holding
a referendum is the worst demonstration of utmost disregard of the rule
of law.
Is
Babangida hiding from the law and did he respect the law while he was a leader?
Did Jonathan get up from sleep one morning and decided to sign an edict
instituting a laissez faire attitude toward national insecurity or whatever
sentiment he dreamed of the night before? Do members of the Nigerian Senate and
House of Representatives pass laws that apply to Nigerians with the exception
of their own persons?
The
current Nigerian law seems to be what the individual negotiates. What law
enabled a Nigerian policeman to order a lorry conductor who refused to give a
N100 bribery to alight from the bus and then proceeded to shoot the hapless
soul to death in full view of terrified passengers? We can safely say that Nigeria
operates under the Law of the Jungle.
A few years ago, while this writer was teaching
graduate programs at a state university in a southeastern American city, he came
face to face with what most, if not all Nigerians in the United States can
understand to be the interplay of running and being pursued.
A
Nigerian male had committed a crime involving drugs and shootout with police, and
was being sought by law enforcement. He ran to our city in southeast United
States to hide from the law. He sought refuge or sanctuary and was harbored in
the house of another Nigerian friend.
The
alleged criminal was not just running away; he was doing more than the Olympic
hop-step-and-jump. He galloped out of
sight in no small fear, refusing to venture out even to purchase his favorite
beer.
He
was dreadful, terrified, petrified, and scared stiff. He was nervous whenever his friend drove in
front of, beside, or behind a police vehicle. Looking behind or sideways at the
approaching police vehicle, that criminally minded Nigerian would complain:” Why are these ndi uwe oji (police in black uniforms)
following us?”
His
complaints were insistent and consistent
with behavior of one who knew one had done a bad thing and was evading
punishment. That Nigerian criminal’s complaints were adamant and persevering even
when the U S police officers were obviously busy minding their mundane or
humdrum business of maintaining law and order. This proves that Nigerians fear the
U S American laws but trash the laws of their country. What a tragedy!
Living
in the United States brings every citizen, including every Nigerian-American,
within the ambit of the law. Ambit of
the law is the realm, domain, field, territory, or influence of the law. Good citizenship implies awareness of the sphere
of influence the law has on citizens’ lives and what lessons are to be learned from awesomeness of the concept of law.
That
we respect the law, fear the law, live in conformity with applicable rules, is
evident in the daily lives of our law-abiding neighbors from Nigeria, living in
America and other foreign lands. Why
can’t they have the same respect for our country’s laws?
The
fear that this writer could be stopped by the police and taken to jail for
driving under the influence of alcohol, for example, should strike fear into the heart of this
writer and the hearts of most law-abiding
citizens to observe DDAAD (“don’t drink
alcohol and drive”.
Yet,
the fear of police and laws of the land should teach us about our own rights. Fear
of the almighty law invariably confers or bestows certain advantages on
law-abiding citizens. For example, you can sue and win monetary damages for
false imprisonment.
Recently,
a traffic policeman issued this writer a ticket for allegedly exceeding the
posted speed limit of 65mph. The ticket alleged the writer was travelling at
81mph, in a 65mph zone. In Nigeria, the police would arrest the writer and
extract a bribe that would set him free to go after payment. In America, the writer can elect to pay a fine at the
court before court date in lieu of appearing in person. This writer chose to go
to traffic court to challenge the traffic citation and argue his case.
There
are a few possible lines of argument this writer could proffer in his
culpability defense. First, Officer was
mistaken in his determination of the writer’s speed. Checking speed by radar is
not faultless since the radar might be inaccurately calibrated. The radar can malfunction
without warning while being used.
Next argument is that exceeding speed limit
was justified during the morning writer was ticketed for speeding because
motorists were rushing to the work on that pleasant mid-morning sunlight, and
writer was driving following the flow of traffic. Slowing down was risky and could
cause a ghastly accident. Finally, Officer mistook writer’s car for another
after spotting a vehicle that looked like writer’s. He could be spotting a man
who looked my age or who was driving in a manner that resembled mine.
It is up to the Judge to make impartial
determination of my guilt or innocence. I would submit to the punishment an
impartial judge recommends. In Nigeria, I would have as much chance as a
snowball in hell to defend myself before a Judge who may not be uncontaminated
by untoward influences (such as tribe, money, politics, etc).
Almost every US citizen, including any Nigerian-American,
knows his/her rights under the law. We constantly talk about suing someone for
infringing upon our rights under the law, and we are apt to fight to defend those
rights. The American law applies equally to you and me. Neither of us is above
the law. We pay a fine or go to jail if we break the law.
We
are encouraged to assert our rights and defend them in the courts of competent
jurisdiction in the United States to the fullest extent o the law. The most bothersome
aspect of most Nigerian laws is their ambiguity or vagueness. The laws in Nigeria are not clear.
The
Nigerian laws can be and are often circumvented with the impunity of a one-eyed
bandit. That one belongs to a certain Nigerian tribe or has a certain amount of
Naira at FCMB does influence the outcome of
a trial. Success at trial in Nigerian courts can be sold to the highest
bidder.
We don’t fear good laws nowadays in America because a good law is our
friend when we comply with its terms. It
gives us courage. Let the police stop you on the highway. You will almost shove
your driver’s license and insurance card in his face. Then, you would almost stab
a warning finger at the police’s chest and
sneer: “Officer, why are you now stopping me?
What probable cause? What law have I broken now?”
Perhaps, you have made an illegal u-turn, fail to change lanes properly,
or forget to buckle up. The penalty is a fine which you would promptly pay before
the court date, or you could go before the Judge. Breaking the law wastes valuable
time. It takes money from your pockets. It inconveniences you and takes you away
from attending to other more pressing tasks. Therefore, it is to our advantage
and peace of mind to obey the law no matter how unfair we deem it to be.
The
situation is different in my dear country Nigeria, isn’t it? I hear Nigerians
with money or powerful political connections do feel or see themselves as being
untouchable. They seem to live above the law with peculiar aggrandizement.
That’s
why a man can go to his village, and pay
a policeman the sum of N50,000 (the equivalent
of 110 dollars) to place a man he
consider s to be a threat in a slammer
house for a few weeks until the briber is able to leave the village.
Unfortunately,
a man caught red handed in the very act of killing his wife with a machete or
taking someone else’s land will talk back at accusers. “So, what will you do
about it?”
He has no remorse or guilt because, according
to him (1) “The law does not apply to me
since it doesn’t apply to the police or the president;” and (2) “I can bribe the police or judge and be
declared guiltless.” The Nigerian criminal can even stand before omnipotent God and declare in his right mind: “ Heavenly
Judge, I’m not guilty of breaking this law like other law beakers.”
Just
consider former governor James Ibori ‘s innocence in Nigerian courts and guilt on
every count in a London court. This gives me a sinister idea: if you do me
wrong overseas and if I catch you at home, I will bribe a policeman/kotma/ndi
uwe oji to lock you up on trumped-up charges until I am ready to release you or
after I have kicked you hard many times
on your ass. Sometimes, I think the law of the jungle has some sinister benefits.
Call them the JA’s, the Jungle
Advantages.
But
the rule of law facilitates my peace of mind. When the law rules I sleep
better, drive better, move around better, and talk to my friends better. I’ll
have no need to build my house in Nigeria and enclose it within the protection of high
walls fortified with broken bottles or pointed jagged metals.
There
would be no need to pay a dibia (witch doctor) a lot of money to provide me
with some magical concoctions or drinks that would enable me to avoid being
poisoned or taken hostage. There would be no need to seek a witch doctor to
inject a mixture of water and powdered roots into my veins to protect me
against gun shots.
When
laws are good and evenly applied across the board, I will not have to give N100
to every thug that throws old tire and dirt across the road inside the Lagos market
to prevent my exit until I give a bribe
to avoid being kidnapped . Why must I pay the official N200 road toll at a Lagos
checkpoint at the mouth of the market and then illegal N100 illegal bribe to
the head of a hideous robbery team inside the dusty market, who claims to be a
market security?
The
market has Mr. Barawo, the dusty checkpoint man! But, when I poked my face out
of the window into the dusty air and bellow at that Barawo Checkpoint thief: “Oya,
I wan make I go. I beg-o take those stupid dirt out of my way. Driver, make we
go.” The barawo would smile, pointing a dirty finger at his mouth and stomach
and saying: “Oga, I wan make I chop small.” He was the perfect picture of a hungry/starving thief
seeking food. God, forgive me for being uncharitable.
My
heart would melt out of pity for that man, one of God’s wretched sons. “Driver,
here, give-am N100 and make we go.” Then
, I wanted to slap the driver who kept reminding me, “Oga, dis no be America.
Na Naija you de. You go give this people
something.” He is encouraging me to give bribes to a self-appointed traffic
control thief. I am still upset about giving too many backhanders/bribes
already.
I am
still angry with my friend named Felix who is attempting to convince me that
“In Nigeria, you have to give this people some bribes if you want anyone to
work for you.” Shiege! So giving bribes and breaking the law are rights de passage
demanded by force? The role of
lawlessness in Nigerian crisis is obvious. Everyone expects breaking the law through bribery.
Bad
laws make me lose sleep and hard-earned money as you can see. I had given N500
gratuity to a bank teller in Lagos to look up my bank number and account balance.
I became impatient at a roundabout delay as night was falling. I beckoned the
starving officer to approach the taxi I was riding in. I then slapped his hand
and left dirty N100 in his clammy, greasy palm so my taxi would be allowed to move on.
I had
accompanied my friend Felix to NEPA office to pay for his overdue 2-or-3 months
electric bill of N7,000. Felix and I walked behind the NEPA building to say a
few words to a famished/hungry clerk. Felix handed the clerk N200 bribe, and
Felix was issued a N2,000 receipt. We used the N5000 left over from the
original N7,000 bill to purchase a quantity of fuel for our Toyota and kerosene for the generator.
Felix also bought a few bottles of
Heinekens. Shit!
The
Jungle Law in my ancestral home can be so overpowering and frustrating
particularly when you are dealing with a lawless people like Nigerians who know
how to take undue advantage of the law meant to protect. My home in lawless
society where citizens are always ignoring, bending, or circumventing the law
promulgated to protect them.
Breaking
the law is a tantalizing entertainment. You can’t resist saying “Shit”. It appears
that lawlessness plays a significant role in a conundrum in reference to a
riddle whose answer is a pun, a paradox, in a Nigerian crisis whose answer is
uncertain.
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