Retired Colonel Hameed Ali, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian
Customs Service, is a proud and stubborn man. His disdain for others and
insufferable arrogance is not only vexatious to the spirit but also
downright nauseating.
Someone should remind him that the Holy Bible says “the Lord resists the
proud and exalts the humble”. Another should tell him that, according to
Greek mythology, nemesis always follows hubris. If he doubts that he
should find out what happened to a character called Icarus.
Clearly this obnoxious and canterkerous little man needs to be brought
down a peg or two and pulled off his high horse.
I say this because I cannot but wonder how any reasonable, right-thinking
and responsible person can refuse to wear the uniform of an agency that he
heads and leads.
This is especially so when the Nigerian Senate has, for the second time,
asked him to do so when appearing before them.
The first time he apologised and promised to do so and the second time he
stubbornly refused and was consequently and appropiately thrown out of the
Senate Chamber.
There may be no law in our statute books that constrains or compels him to
wear his uniform but humility, good manners, morality, wisdom, custom and
decency most certainly do.
How does he and those that support him expect those working under him in
the Nigerian
Customs Service to feel when he refuses to wear their uniform?
Is he not indirectly telling them that he is superior to them and that he
is too good for them? This is a sevice that they have dedicated their
lives and careers to. I wonder how that affects their morale?
And in any case what signal is he sending to the Nigerian people and to
the rest of the world? Such a thing has never happened before and the
truth is that such open and obvious contempt being displayed by a senior
government official and the head of a paramilitary organisation and
government parastatal towards his underlings and the agency that he heads
is rarely seen.
Ali has contempt for his Minister who he is meant to report to. He has
contempt for the government agency that he purportedly leads. He has
contempt for the people that work under him in that agency.
He has contempt for the Nigerian Senate. He has contempt for the
government that he serves and finally he has contempt for the Nigerian
people.
By his open defiance what he is really saying is the following:
“You people just don’t get it. I belong to the small circle of those who
OWN Nigeria and you people and your customs, rules, regulations,
practices, conventions and norms do not matter”.
He is saying,
“You are nothing before us and you can shout and scream as much as you
like. At the end of the day, whether you like it or not, we are in power,
we were born to rule and we OWN you all so just shut up and sit down!”
That is his mindset and it is simply appauling. And with him this has
always been the case. If anyone doubts that they should find out a little
more about his antecedents and what he stands for. They should find out
about his history and record in and outside of the military.
They should do the research and find out what he did as Military Governor
of Kaduna state during the regime of General Sani Abacha and later Sec.
Gen. of the Arewa Consultative Forum.
They should read the derogatory and incendiary statements he made about
the south, the Middle Belt and all those that opposed the agenda of the
ACF at the time.
To say that he was arrogant, overbearing, racist and tribalist and that he
is a bigot would be an understatement.
And worst still he is a total and complete creation of President Muhammadu
Buhari. He was his Chief of Staff during numerous presidential campaigns
and the President loves him as if he were his own son.
That, together with a streak of sadism, explains Ali’s sheer impudence and
supreme confidence on this and so many other issue.
He is reported to have said that he will not wear the customs uniform
because he is a retired officer of the Nigerian Army and the only uniform
he will ever wear again is the military one.
Does this man have a brain?
One wonders what infantile nonsense this is? What misplaced arrogance and
childish verbiage? What absurd and good old fashioned gobbledygook? I
really don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
If Ali was not prepared to honor and respect the conventions and norms of
the Nigerian Customs Service why did he accept the job?
Since when did things degenerate to this level in our country? Has Nigeria
turned into a land of misfits, comedians and Tolkien-like orcs and goblins
or are we still a nation of serious-minded and sensible human beings and
precious souls?
Are we a giant army barracks where only senior military officers and
commanders are respected or a sovereign and independent nation-state where
the will of the people holds sway at all times and in all matters.
Are we a zoo that is populated by wild animals and ravenous beasts or a
land of honorable men and respected mortals?
Does Ali not know that military rule ended in Nigeria 18 years ago in 1999
and that the Nigerian people are not interested in it EVER coming back or
of being reminded about its traumatising and barbaric excesses?
Does he, like a small handful of other hard-line, ultra-conservative, core
northern retired army officers, see Nigeria as nothing but a vassal state
and subjugated colony that was conquered by his forefathers, elders,
leaders, mentors and seniors in the military after the “northern officers
revenge coup” of January 29th 1966?
If this is the case then he is still living in the distant past and he is
certainly in urgent need of psychiatric attention. He also needs a series
of powerful all-night prayer sessions for deliverance from the malevolent
demons that control him.
His attitude and disposition certainly throws up a lot of questions?
Amongst them are as follows:
Firstly does Nigeria live for the military or does the military live for
Nigeria?
Secondly if he had come from the southern or Middle Belt zone of the
country would he have dared to pull this stunt and, if so, would he have
got away with it?
If he had not been from the core north and a member of the President’s
inner circle of untouchables would Buhari have tolerated his irresponsible
behaviour and his sheer indiscipline.
If he had not been Buhari’s soul-mate and kinsman would the President have
endorsed his not so subtle refusal to bow before civilian institutions and
to submit to civilian authority.
In any case who the hell does Ali really think he is? Does he believe that
he is the reincarnation of Usman Dan Fodio of the Fulani Caliphate or the
living manifestation of Salahudeen Yusuf of Egypt and Syria?
He was retired as a colonel in the military many years ago and there was
nothing that was particularly distinguished about his career. He was
certainly not a blue-blooded, swashbuckling, gallant, courageous,
good-looking, principled and polo-playing Col. Abubakar ‘Dangiwa’ Umar.
And neither can he compare himself to the great Major-General Hananiya who
retired as a Major-General in the Nigerian Army and yet who proudly wore
the uniform of the Federal Road Safety Commision after being appointed as
the head of that agency?
Whatever misplaced, vain and inconceivable notions that he has ought to be
kept to himself and if I had been his Minister I would have insisted that
he not only wore his uniform to all official functions and meetings but
also during office hours.
.
The man is really very strange. He has what I would describe as the
“Cassius look”. Like the character Cassius in Shakespeare’s ‘Julius
Caesar’ he is lean, mean, spartan, silent, hungry and dangerous. This is
a cold man with a dark soul: a man that is as hard as nails and who finds
it difficult to smile.
He is what the British refer to as a “strange fish”. He is reticent,
reclusive, nocturnal, limited in knowledge, stunted in intelligence, very
thuggish and, worst of all, he sees and says “AREWA” before anything else.
My friend and brother, Oloye Yinka Odumakin, the spokesman of Afenifere
and a leading columnist and writer in Nigeria, wrote the following as part
of his contribution to the debate. He said,
“Ali answers to the Comptroller General of Customs title. He lives in the
official residence. He takes the pay. He uses the official cars and takes
ALL the privileges of the office. But he rejects ONLY the uniform!”
This is a pertinent observation. Odumakin has hit the nail on the head.
In his own contribution Bashorun Akin Osuntokun, one of the most respected
and courageous columnists in the country and a formidable historian and
veteran politician, said:
“One problem of our people is exasperating political naivety and lack of
strategic thinking. This Ali man was the most truculent secretary of Arewa
Consultative Forum. His recent behavior is a typical manifestation of the
northern hegemony syndrome hence a strategic enemy of our vision of an
egalitarian Nigeria. And here is an opportunity to advance this objective
– and what do we do with it?”
How right Osuntokun is. And for the benefit of those that are defending
Ali on the specious grounds that the law does not compel him to wear the
uniform he went on to ask:
“Is there any law that says we must rise when the President enters a
gathering? Or is there any law that says we must play the National Anthem
at official functions?”
Osuntokun’s point is well served and well taken. These are pertinent
questions that he has asked. Both he and Odumakin have done justice to the
matter.
Their words appropiately and adequately reflect the sheer arrogance and
impunity of Hameed Ali and the ignorance and naivety of those that are
encouraging, defending and supporting him.
Osuntokun’s earlier point particularly reflects the fact that there is a
terrible weakness and a lack of fortitude and courage coupled with a deep
and grave affliction buried deep in the souls of those that truly crave
for a just and egalitarian society in Nigeria yet who, when they see a man
like Ali beating his chest like an alpha male gorilla, either openly
support him in his scandalous tomfoolery or they remain silent in awe and
trepidation of him.
Nothing is more shocking and disappointing than the disposition and
behaviour of such people, many of whom ought to know better.
Essentially the problem here is that many that have been turned into
slaves in our country do not even know that they are slaves anymore
because they have gotten used to it and they see it as the norm. This,
surely, is the worse form of bondage and servitude.
Permit me to share an example of such a twisted and warped mindset and
disposition with you here.
During the American civil war you actually had some black slaves fighting
for the southern Confederate forces of Dixie despite the fact that those
same forces were fighting to perpetuate the institution of slavery.
That is how I view those that constantly support and encourage the
arrogant hegemonist monsters that live amongst us and those who cannot
comprehend the damage that they are doing to our collective cause and
pysche by doing so.
That is how I see those that are quick to endorse and applaud the shameful
challenge and affront of Hameed Ali to the Senate and to the Nigerian
people.
They are the tragedy of Nigeria and without their support conflicted
personalities like Ali would not get away with the kind of things that
they are getting away with.
May the Lord deliver us from power-mad and arrogant men who attempt to
play God, whose time is short and whose clock is ticking fast. Shalom.