By Kayode Emola
The last two years have been a trying time for nearly everyone in the world, as the global pandemic has wreaked havoc across many countries. Whilst several were able to mitigate the challenges it brought; governments of other countries used the opportunity to garner for themselves new emergency powers.
One such country that brought in new legislation was the United Kingdom, which saw police given extra powers to hand out fines for social gatherings and other offences related to these new COVID -19 laws. Many people lost loved ones and were unable to say a proper goodbye due to these new rules. I cannot begin to imagine the pain many are going through right now, seeing their loved ones go into hospital, and then being left with only their ash remains in a box.
Indeed, many people acted sensibly, doing everything they could to minimise the loss of life until a vaccine could be developed. Yet in these very circumstances, the Prime Minister of Britain allowed over 17 mass gatherings in 10 Downing Street, in what is now being referred to as work parties. Had it been a single gathering, perhaps it may have been brushed aside as oversight by those making the rules. However, given the number of these events, it is difficult to see how these will withstand the scrutiny to be deemed necessary events.
These events have made me question the so-called ‘civilisation’ that the colonial masters handed down to us in Africa. Before the Europeans came, we practised our own set of laws, refining and perfecting them to build great civilisations. However, it seems that we need to reconsider that which we practised before, compared to what we inherited.
It cannot be denied that, for thousands of years across Africa, we have seen monarchical systems of governance where “the king can do no wrong” and “no one dared question the king,” “Kábíyèsí”. However, the Yoruba people developed for themselves a system where not even the king was above the law. For if a king was no longer wanted by his people, they opened a calabash for him, meaning that, as the king cannot abdicate the throne, he had to take his own life.
This rule of law meant that everyone’s actions were scrutinized, including those of the king, to ensure that no one was above the law. However, in Nigeria today, we are witnessing the very worst depravity being exhibited by the government, whose officials behave as if the law does not apply to them.
The successive Nigerian governments are notorious for flagrantly disobeying the rule of law. Even where judgements have been passed against them in a competent court of law, our leaders openly disregard it. To me, this demonstrates a system that has been designed purposefully to elevate some people above the law in order to benefit their paymasters.
That been said, it is clear that a nation that does not uphold the rule of law cannot stand the test of time. It is the reason every government institution in Nigeria is plagued with endemic corruption that has then robbed off on the wider society. Private organisations are not immune either and are often also caught up in this web of corruption. For instance, Vodafone refused to do business in Nigeria because some people in the Nigerian government were demanding huge bribes. The same issue was encountered by Virgin International; and as a result, the country has been denied the much-needed foreign investment that these companies could otherwise have brought directly to us.
Nigeria has now become a menace in the eyes of the international community, perceived as a nation that does not follow through on its domestic and international obligations because its leaders believe they are above the law. We see political job hunters switching from their various political parties to that of the President, they do this for fear of being prosecuted from the proceeds of their stolen wealth; monies that were meant for the development of their constituents. In the light of this, one may safely say that this system of democracy – that was handed to us by the British – was not meant for the sustenance of a moral society, but of one where the king and kingmakers live above the law.
To rebuild the high moral values that formed such sure foundations for the Yoruba kingdoms of the past, we need to break our bonds with the contraption Nigeria. Nigeria at its founding was not designed as a nation, therefore trying to run it as one was always going to be fraught with problems.
The northern oligarchs in power favour the Almajiri system, wherein basic education for children has not been deemed a priority, and there is no way that any southern politician would be able to convince them otherwise. But if education, which is fundamental to the intellectual development of any society, is being denied to millions of children in the north, it is only a matter of time before this becomes a nationwide catastrophe, as resources allocated to education are ever-increasingly diminished.
The Yoruba people cannot afford to waste any more energy trying to rebuild the lost glory of Nigeria. In fact, I would contend that Nigeria did not ever have any glory – any that was presented to the global community was that of the Yorubas co-opted by Nigeria. It was Yoruba money that was used to develop the north, from education to every northern industry anyone can name.
It was Yoruba money that was used to pay off six million pounds of British war debt after the First World War when this was allocated to Nigeria as her own share of the burden. It was also Yoruba money that was used to pay the interest of thirty-six million pounds of the debt. When Nigeria claimed the glory of building the first radio and TV station in Africa, at a time when even most European countries had not yet dreamt of it, it was the Yorubas who achieved this momentous accomplishment, and their glory that Nigeria claimed as her own.
It is therefore my solemn appeal to our Yoruba people that we should no longer seek glory in being a Nigerian citizen, as such glory does not exist. We had our splendour before we were forced into this union of debt and deprivation. We do not need Nigeria to either survive or succeed; conversely, it is Nigeria that needs the Yoruba people. With the wanton killings committed daily in Nigeria by the militia, we cannot continue to pretend that all is well with this ailing giant – this giant who has for several decades been asleep, if not unconscious.
Nigeria can never be great, regardless of what people think. It doesn’t matter who is President, as the system was designed integrally to have men and women positioned above the law. Unless this system is entirely deconstructed, the constituent nations that make up Nigeria will never be able to experience the peace and prosperity that they deserve.
The only way to break this cycle of having a select caste outside the law is for the Yoruba people to revert back to our ancestors’ system and renounce that which we inherited from the British. Indeed, it is only when the king can be called to account when he is going astray that we can truly build a successful nation. Therefore, I implore everyone to continue to do everything within their ability as we strive toward the rebirth of our new Yoruba nation.
