Weekend Arena - When Doing Good Becomes Dangerous In Nigeria

Those who follow news and events in Nigeria must have read the story of the military man travelling from Port Harcourt to Uyo earlier in the week. I read it with utmost disdain, and of course, concern. 

The soldier had asked for help from one man, driving alone to Uyo at Eleme in Rivers State. The Good Samaritan, as it appeared, agreed to offer him a lift, without knowing that danger was lurking by the corner. The ‘soldier’ attacked him on the way, killed him and dispossessed him of his car and other belongings, only to recline in a hotel to enjoy his booty, where he was subsequently arrested after words passed around.

He confessed to the heinous crime and only God knows the number of times he has done this and gotten away; with our system that lacks matching forensics. This is a lesson for innocent people who ordinarily would love to offer assistance to good people who are stranded on the way. They would look the other way when confronted by genuine people on the road, no matter how desperately they need their help.

It also throws light to what is left of our humanity in this part of the world and of course, who our role models should be. Some people would be quick to blame the economy and President Buhari or Desmond Elliot, but the reality remains that a criminally-minded person is who he is, and no amount of money will make him stop. On a number of occasions, it is not lack that prompts crime; it is the quest to have more, greed. The culprit in the above scenario is a serving soldier, who earns a monthly salary, who has the choice of planning his expenses to suit his income, and possibly unlock other legitimate options that could buoy him to financial freedom or something close. But he prefers it the hot and fast way. There is nothing bad about wanting it the hot and fast way, but ‘innocent blood’ must not be used to service that greed. The soldier’s blood would have been most preferable for his quest in this case.

The fact that he is a soldier makes it more disturbing. Official security agents of governments, like members of the military, police and all others wearing such toga are the physical government that the citizens see, and should not be caught in shameful acts of this nature. Those who are equipped with the paraphernalia of state power should naturally be elevated beyond the mundane in terms of conduct. It is only in a failing state that such happens. I can bet that nobody in his right senses would want to offer a lift to a soldier on a lonely road owing to this incident and loss of confidence in the state security is a worrying symptom.

It is proof to the flawed recruitment system into such agencies. How are they recruited? The evidences are everywhere that such jobs are either bought with huge sums of money or allocated to the high and mighty in the leadership rungs of the country to ‘dash’ to their political allies. In order to service their political interests, those jobs are given to their boys with the hope of using them as ‘legitimate’ thugs during elections. 

That is why the clamour for state police for me must be approached with utmost caution by making sure that laws are in place to make them as independent as possible. Looking at Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State, a man I admire so much, reeling out an arrest order on the National President of the NLC, Ayuba Waba, during the labour protest in Kaduna, what filled my mind was what he would do with a state police in our present condition of affairs. He may have overreacted on being pushed to the wall by the activities of those labour unions, but such circumstances also bring to the fore the attributes of leadership.

 The ability to absorb such pressures is very vital in leadership, because that is what set apart leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi. But who are the role models of our leaders? Mandela was human and in some of the books about him I have read, he maintained his composure in the face of provocations, save from when he was confronted by a young white reporter, who wanted to know if he had set a date to marry Samora Machel’s widow, Graca, whom he was dating then.

 He had angrily told him that it was ‘uncultured’ for a young person to ask his elder when he was getting married. Here the DSS would follow the reporter to know ‘who sent him’. The next day, EFCC and ICPC would remember his files and those of his media company. That is what you get when recruitment into such agencies is painted in the colour of bigotry.