TODAY’s edition is the second instalment of the conversation with the above headline. I assert again that our country is currently witnessing a barbarian invasion.
As a student of strategic intelligence, I construe a barbarian invasion as a siege laid to a people or group of peoples with distinct, thriving cultures in their territory by armed bands of stateless peoples without culture.
It can be seen that parts of Nigeria that were once the nuclei of flourishing empires of yore, like Borno, which was part of the famed Kanem-Bornu Empire, parts of the North-West and North-Central, which were parts of the Hausa Bakwai and later the Sokoto Caliphate, and the South-West, which was home to the Oyo Empire and Benin Kingdoms are currently experiencing swarms, like locusts, of peoples fleeing the twin effects of climate change in their domains and terrorist activities by militias of ISWAP, which we all now know is determined to acquire territory in the Sahel. The Holy Bible tells us in John 10:10 that “the thief cometh not but to steal, kill, and destroy.” To that extent and full import of these sacred words, what we have been experiencing is stealing, killing and destruction, wrought in the main by these invaders from the Sahel. I have also warned that if we do not do something about them, they will DO something about us whenever they feel they have garnered enough strength to do it at a time of their choosing.
What is worrisome, and as an individual, giving me sleepless nights is the seeming inability of many in the corridors of power to identify this existential threat and devise solutions before it becomes a dragon that will eat us all up as it clears a path for itself. Why is it difficult to register motorcycle riders? It is easy for anyone to see that unregistered motorcycles are all over the place, and they are the ones being used by these invaders from the Sahel. It is an alarming development that many state governments cannot ensure that people riding motorcycles register them.
Apart from denying government of revenue that should come through registration, they constitute a potent security risk as motorcycles used to commit crimes can not be traced. The transport unions, which make money by collecting dues and levies from them are also beginning to see that they are dealing with monsters as these Sahelian okada riders have organised themselves and are refusing to pay levies to the union collectors. They are now insisting that they will levy themselves, collect, and remit what they see fit to the union collectors. This has the makings of looming anarchy and bloodshed in the transport sector. I therefore implore elected and appointed officials of state in charge of security to see this threat as real, and take clear, decisive steps to curtail it.
The barbarian invasion of Nigeria is two-pronged. Apart from invaders from the Sahel who are wreaking havoc in our homeland, we now have to contend with another type of barbarian, and this is the home-grown type. I speak of the monsters that we have incubated over the years in the realm. The Third Estate of the Realm is the Judiciary, but since return to civil rule in 1999, we have steadily tinkered with the DNA of our judiciary, which once boasted of legal giants. Our judiciary was so respected that we were exporting our learned judges to other countries.
Notable Nigerian jurists respected worldwide include Chile Eboe-Osuji who served as President of the International Criminal Court, ICC, and as a senior judge in the Appeals Division of the ICC; Taslim Olawale Elias who served as a Judge at the International Court of Justice; and Timothy Akinola Aguda who served as Chief Justice of Botswana, making him the first indigenous African to hold that position. Other jurists include Justice Charles Daddy Onyeama who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and was the first Nigerian judge at the International Court of Justice; Justice Emmanuel Ayoola who served as a judge at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. More include Sir Louis Mbanefo, Prince Bola Adesumbo Ajibola, and Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, and Stella Anukam who served as a member of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. I remember jurists like Kayode Esho, Chukwudifu Oputa, Udoma Udoma, Antony Aniagolu, and Andrew Otutu Obaseki, just to mention a few.
With the barbarian invasion of our judiciary now complete, it is unlikely that the judiciary, in Nigeria, can still be the fabled last hope of the common man.
The power elite is to blame for this, irrespective of which faction is currently holding the reins of power. They are the ones who generate resources to buy judgements to favour themselves, and after getting political power and populating the executive, use same executive power to splice andconjugate the DNA of the judiciary such that judgements favourable only to those in the corridors of power can be delivered. What we now have is a transactional judicial format that can do us no good.
If in doubt, I commend readers to seek out a book that we serialised in Vanguard this week that just ended. The title is The Selectorate, with a rider: When Judges topple the People. It is a seminal work written by Anselm Chidi Odinkalu, a Professor of Law. So we now have two types of barbarians invading Nigeria — those from the Sahel, who have compounded our security woes, and the ones we grew at home that have invaded the judiciary. By the time these two sets of barbarians are done with us, God help us if we still have a country left. TGIF.
The post The Barbarian invasion of Nigeria (2), by Adekunle Adekoya appeared first on Vanguard News.
