President Jonathan, in recent times you have increasingly called for the<\/p>\n
respect of human rights in our young democracy, given the painful history
\nof attacks on the press by some past administrations, especially by the
\nmilitary who took a largely hostile view of the press.<\/p>\n
Time after time, you have expressed that the Nigerian government and
\nofficials should show full respect for freedom of press and speech, as you
\nhave made it your sacred duty to steadfastly entrench our growing
\ndemocracy with various freedoms.<\/p>\n
But here is Mr. Joseph Mbu, a high level police officer at the nation\u2019s
\ncapital and just elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspector-General, who
\nappears to be openly defying your crucial call for the respect of freedom
\nof the press and speech.<\/p>\n
For some reason, this man who, unfortunately, represents your government
\nbefore the eyes of the free world, appears to enjoy a life of provocation,
\nbullishness, controversy, attack mode, self- boastfulness, and hostile
\ndispositions.<\/p>\n
Mr. President, on this period of celebrating our Independence and
\ngradually moving towards the line of growing democratic freedoms, Joseph
\nMbu, reportedly ordered the detention of an AIT senior journalist,
\nAmaechi Anakwe, for describing him as \u201ccontroversial\u201d on a program aired
\nby the station.<\/p>\n
For this journalist to be brought into the police premises for his
\nopinion, first as a human being and, second, as a press communicator, is
\na dishonor to the continuing efforts of our nation\u2019s people toward
\nstrengthening our independence and leaving behind forced control and
\ndomination.<\/p>\n
No matter the outcome of this breach of human rights incident, Mr. Mbu\u2019s
\napparent show of negativity and fighting behavior, at least verbally, does
\nnot bode well for a government like that of Nigeria, a government that is
\nbeing watched by the world at this critical time of security and economic
\nchallenges.<\/p>\n
Mr. President, in our current state of affairs, why would a man like Mr.
\nMbu with many lives, both private and public, depending on him in the
\nnation\u2019s capital, suddenly appear to be possessed with an obsession for
\ndo-or-die power?<\/p>\n
The long standing psychological problems of Nigerian police officials is
\nwell known in the nation, and to this very day, there remains a lack of
\nadequate professional psychological services for both trainees and exiting
\nor serving officers such as Mr. Mbu.<\/p>\n
How do we know if this man is not possibly suffering from negative and
\nunhealthy mental processes? There appears to be something wrong with Mr.
\nMbu, as his attitude, as it is being reported, leaves journalists more
\nfearful and uncomfortable in public and in private under security agents
\nlike himself.<\/p>\n
Who will be his next victim of verbal threats, such as this journalist has
\nexperienced?<\/p>\n
Mr. President, the fact that this journalist was even called or \u201cinvited\u201d
\nto a security premises like that of the Nigerian police force endangers
\nthe protection of free speech and press.<\/p>\n
Mr. Mbu\u2019s reported behavior towards the Nigerian free press is nothing
\nshort of a strong-arm tactic for silencing media organizations and their
\nrepresentatives across the country.<\/p>\n
Sir, it is immaterial at this time how this case ends or whether he faces
\ninternal query by his supervisors who hopefully are not intimidated by
\nhim.<\/p>\n
This man\u2019s act has brought shame and a slap to your presidency, to the
\npolice profession, and above all, to the personal safety and security of
\njournalists.<\/p>\n
The Jonathan administration cannot allow this sort of behavior to go
\nunpunished, especially from a man who appears to hate dissenting opinions,
\ndisrespects basic human rights and takes pleasure in overusing and abusing
\nhis power.<\/p>\n
Currently, the position of the Nigerian Police Force as recently outlined
\nby Mr. Suleiman Abba, the new Inspector General of Police, is to heighten
\nthe image of professionalism in the force. Therefore, for the good of the
\nentire police community that wishes to distance itself from its old
\nreputation as a violator of human rights, an excessively antagonistic
\nofficer like Mr. Mbu should be forced to retire, or face immediate
\ndismissal, in addition to being strongly encouraged to seek some form of
\nself-help as a civilian on matters of personal reflection and respect for
\nthe Nigerian Constitution.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan, remember you do not need the United States of America
\nto keep reminding your administration to ensure freedom of the press. You
\nyourself have personally made it clear that one sacred way to honor God
\nand the people of Nigeria is to steadfastly show respect for each other as
\nentrenchment in our culture, constitution and country.<\/p>\n
Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi is a Forensic and Clinical Psychologist and a
\nformer Secretary-General of the Nigeria Psychological Association.
\nJos5930458@aol.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Jonathan, in recent times you have increasingly called for the respect of human rights in our young democracy, given the painful history of attacks on the press by some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n