According to available records,
there are over 350 tribes in Nigeria. But have you ever thought of one salient
fact; that when the political class decide to loot the common patrimony, they
forget about tribe and religion but whenever they are caught they claim they
are being persecuted because of their tribe and religion?
Sadly, the youths,
with their fanatic tendencies and inclination to hasty generalization, will
ignorantly take to the street to protest the ‘persecution’ of their kinsmen.
The hard truth is that there are
only two tribes in Nigeria – the rich and poor. The sooner we realise this
bitter truth the better for us. The biggest problems we have in Nigeria today
are religion and ethnicity. These were exacerbated during the 2015 elections
when the fault lines were further widened.
In Nigeria, performance or the lack
of it does not determine the outcome of elections. People vote for their own
irrespective of his performance in office. For instance, if President Muhammadu
Buhari likes let him finish the East-West road and complete the 2nd Niger
Bridge, he still will not win the South-South and South East regions in 2019.
That is the truth.
Majority of the people in the region
have a mind-set that is tainted against the president and nothing can change
that. On the other hand, even if Buhari fails to initiate or complete any
federal project in the North East and North West, he would still win by a
landslide in the two regions. The North Cental and South West are the swing
states.
The poor and the have-nots need to
start borrowing brains, according to the coinage in our local parlance. Where
have they seen the children of the rich campaigning on the streets for their
parents or burning tires and vandalizing vehicles when their parents lose out
in elections? Besides, there seem to be two different laws in the country: one
for the rich and the poor. Take Senator Dino Melaye’s case for an example.
After initial denials from Melaye’s camp that he didn’t jump out of Police
vehicle, it is now confirmed that the Senator actually attempted a fake stunt
of James Bond by jumping out of a moving vehicle.
His colleague, Senator Ben
Murray-Bruce confirmed it in a tweet when he said Melaye had to jump out of the
Police vehicle to save his life. The Bayelsa lawmaker who visited Melaye at the
hospital claimed that the Police tear gassed Melaye two times in the vehicle
and when the Senator could no longer breathe because he is asthmatic he had to
jump out of the vehicle to save his life.
Imagine a situation where it was not
Melaye, a Senator of the federal republic that jumped out of a moving Police
vehicle. We would have been reading about the obituary of the person by now. I
have read and heard about policemen shooting people for refusing to give them
bribe. If it was an ordinary citizen that tried to jump out of a Police
vehicle, the trigger happy policemen would have shot the person for evading arrest.
Like I said in an earlier article,
it doesn’t matter if Dino is being witch-hunted or witches are following him
from his village; evading arrest is a serious crime. When Senator Shehu Sani
was invited by the Police in Kaduna, he went and defended himself and was
granted bail on self-recognition. There was no drama or theatrics; that is how
a distinguished Senator should behave.
The National Hospital Abuja where
Dino is admitted became a Mecca of some sort where the leadership of the
National Assembly and lawmakers troop in to see their colleague. To them, the
thought of even the Police arresting any of their colleagues irrespective of
the offence he or she is alleged to have committed is an affront on the
legislature. Even if it is granted that the conduct of the Police in the
whole Melaye arrest saga has been unprofessional and embarrassing, it wouldn’t
take away the fact that the Senator has not conducted himself well either- a
classic case of ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’.
That Senators are lawmakers does not
mean they are above the law. Sadly, lawmakers in our own clime act as if they
are above the law and can do anything and get away with it. What stopped Melaye
from honoring Police invitation and answer to allegations leveled against him?
Why jump out of a moving car? I don’t think the Police are that reckless to
shoot a serving Senator.
Have we ever wondered why some of
our politicians develop one ailment or the other whenever they are called to
account for their sins? All of a sudden, they develop cancer, heart disease and
some other unnamed ailments. The truth is that they are fretting about the
judicial moves that might be in store for them, especially after they leave
office.
The world over, a growing school of
thought is challenging the idea that political folks should be deemed “more
equal than others” before the law. The argument that some crimes merit no
immunity is almost a century old. But in Nigeria, the poor or less privileged
always rush to the social media to defend the rich who don’t care about them.
The politicians have a way of reconciling with themselves when the right time
comes after most of their supporters must have killed and died on their behalf.
Let it be stated categorically here
that a poor man has no right in Nigeria. The Police will not protect him. He is
left to defend himself from criminals and thugs created by the elite. Oliver
Goldsmith had Nigeria in mind when he contended that “Law grinds the poor, and
rich men rule the law”. It is on this note that I challenge the poor, less
privileged and masses in Nigeria to look into the mirror and say “our mumu don
do” we have to be wise and strong. our leaders are taking us for a fool
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