Voice of Emancipation: Righteousness Exalts a Nation

By Kayode Emola

The numerous talks about corruption in Nigeria are largely due to one factor: righteousness left our shores a long while ago. Many people are of the opinion that taking an oath before our local traditional deities like Sango, Ogun, Aiyelala etc, will bring back sanity to us as a nation.

However, the solution is not about oath-taking to compel us to say the truth for the sake of fulfilling our oath obligations; we need to always be radically conscious to do the right thing.

This week, we witnessed the altercation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (Nyesom Wike) and the young naval officer Yerima. Many people have written several articles regarding who is right and who is wrong. Other commentators have sided with one party or the other, depending on whose side they stand on.

In analysing the situation, there are more questions than answers, and trying to be right rather than rational may be misleading. Firstly, on ethical grounds, the FCT Minister Wike, as the person in charge of land allocation in Abuja, has every right to inspect land allocation past and present to make sure they conform to regulations.

Secondly, the naval officer attempting to prevent Minister Wike should be questioned as to whether he was on official duty, mounting guard there on that day. Were his superiors aware of his deployment to the parcel of land, and was it properly documented that he should be there, considering that this was a civil matter rather than a military affair.

That said, if we look at it from moral and ethical grounds, one will begin to falter on the fundamental problem. There is an adage in Yoruba that says, were la fin wo were, meaning we use madness to cure madness. Following from the antecedents of the FCT Minister Wike in revoking and demolishing people’s property in Abuja and subsequently re-allocating those lands to his cronies, I believe the uniform men may be justified to stand their ground.

We all know that Minister Wike is not a person who follows the rule of law and is not necessarily one person that obeys court orders. Therefore, the military personnel would be justified in standing their ground and be ready to use force if necessary.

The fact that Minister Wike also backed down very quickly shows that he knew he had not done things correctly. I do not know the full details of the case, but Wike’s action showed a man desperate to be seen as doing something rather than someone who is prepared to do the right thing.

Wike did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was sufficient evidence for the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to demolish that property on the day. He clearly did not provide evidence that there was any document to show the lands were acquired illegally and that the current occupiers needed to get the required document to regularise their ownership.

The Minister also did not demonstrate that sufficient time was given to the people to look for alternative accommodation before embarking on the journey to demolition. What transpired that day is a case of a government minister trying to bully people into submission by virtue of his position.

The bottom line is that Nigeria is not a country that particularly follows the rule of law. Righteousness left that country a long time ago, and it seems that everyone is doing what seems right in their own eyes, rather than what is actually the right thing to do.

Neither Wike nor the naval officer did the right thing on that fateful day, as neither both were supposed to be there if Nigeria had a functioning system. The Nigerian system is so riddled with corruption, and everyone works with the rule of man, rather than the rule of law.

It shows why we must make sure our Yoruba nation sets off on a righteous footing so that we don’t end up with the same mistakes as Nigeria. No nation riddled with corruption can ever develop and fulfill its potential.

There is no way workers will be paid a pittance and expected to live on miracles. For justice and equity to prevail, workers must be paid a decent living wage, and politicians alike must be paid based on the minimum wage. After all, everyone is working for the development of the country. If not, the Yoruba nation of our dream may be even worse than the Nigeria we are all running away from. If the politicians were to be paid astronomically, while the rest of the populace are left with nothing to write home about.