By Jude Ndukwe<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitics is the art of making your selfish desires seem like thenational
\ninterest\u201d \u2013 Thomas Sowell<\/p>\n
Recently,during his address to lawyers at the 2018 Annual Conference of
\nthe Nigerian BarAssociation, NBA, in Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari had
\nalarmed not onlyNigerians but the entire world when he was quoted as
\nsaying that \u201cRule of Lawmust be subject to the supremacy of the nation\u2019s
\nsecurity and nationalinterest\u201d.<\/p>\n
The alarmbell this sounded to Nigerians would not have been so troubling
\nif the one whomade such a speech was not the President and
\nCommander-in-Chief of the ArmedForces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
\nin whose hands lie enormous powersthat allow him function almost like the
\nAlpha and Omega of our country, therebyinflicting injurious abuses on
\ncitizens and the nation as a whole.<\/p>\n
Such astatement would not have caused much chaos in the polity if the
\npresident hadbeen known to exercise his powers with restraint and not
\nunleashed them on thepeople according to his own whimsies and caprices.<\/p>\n
Whatpresident Buhari does not seem to know, and this is unfortunate
\nconsidering hisposition, is that the Rule of Law encompasses every aspect
\nof the societyincluding national interest and security. In fact, it is a
\nmonumental failureon the part of the numerous legal luminaries he has
\naccess to including theHonourable Minister of Justice and Attorney-General
\nof the Federation, MrAbubakar Malami SAN, for the president to be allowed
\nto goof big time on such amatter of national and international concern.<\/p>\n
It is thereforenot a surprise that just five days after making that
\ninfamous statementsubjecting the rule of law to national security,
\nwhatever that means, PresidentBuhari immediately capitulated, and as is
\nfamous with his administration, somersaultedbefore the visiting German
\nChancellor, Angel Merkel, telling her that he wouldalways uphold the rule
\nof law in governing the country.<\/p>\n
PresidentBuhari was quoted to have told the German chancellor and her
\ndelegation that\u201c\u2026the rule of law embodies all the rightful mechanisms for
\nconflict resolution,both within the country, and in dealing with all
\nforeign partners\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
This kind ofself-reversal is shameful, to say the least, given that the
\npresident\u2019s speechto the NBA was a deliberate one and reflected the
\nmindset and code of conductof the Buhari administration. It is the stark
\nreality of the banality of thepresident\u2019s stance, something he could
\nneither defend nor promote before thecivilized world that made him
\ncontradict himself before the German Chancellor.The question then is, why
\npropagate it in the country in the first place?<\/p>\n
It is certainthat Buhari\u2019s statement at the NBA conference was not a
\nstatement of intent butthat made to justify the many cases of gross abuse
\nof citizens\u2019 rights andflagrant disregard of court orders and persecution
\nof democratic institutions includingthe legislature from 2015 till date.
\nIt was a statement made to justify theadministration\u2019s acts of sheer
\nwickedness and brutality against the people.Like Buhari himself told
\nMerkel, without rule of law, there cannot be nationalsecurity. In fact, it
\nis in national interest to observe the rule of law asdoing otherwise
\nleaves the citizens to the rule of might of few power drunkindividuals and
\ncabals in government, and such usually lead to the breakdown oflaw and
\norder.<\/p>\n
Our nation isreplete with Buhari\u2019s gross abuse of power. As it was with
\nhim as a militaryHead of State, so it is with him now and even worse. Just
\nlast week, it wasreported that the DSS released seven Nigerians who had
\nbeen in its custody andwere held in the Services\u2019 underground cell under
\ninhuman conditions for overtwo years without trial or prosecution of any
\nform.<\/p>\n
One of them, Clinton Ohaigbofa fromEbedebiri in Ogbia Local Government
\nArea of Bayelsa State, narrated theirheartrending ordeal thus: \u201cThey
\ntreated us badly. We were held in anunderground cell. They gave us little
\nbread in the morning, little rice in theafternoon and a morsel of semovita
\nin the evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach portion of food cannot satisfy atwo-year old baby. They deprived us
\nof everything. They didn\u2019t even take us tocourt. There was no freedom to
\neven see light.\u00a0 They subjected us tosevere punishment. They kept us
\nhungry and deprived us of medication\u201d.<\/p>\n
If this is not wickedness, what else canone adjudge it to be?<\/p>\n
It is befuddling that citizens held underBuhari\u2019s warped definition of
\nnational security and interest are eventuallyreleased without any trial.
\nThe question is, when such hapless citizens arereleased at the pleasure of
\nthe president, does it mean that they have stoppedbeing security threat to
\nthe nation or someone somewhere just wanted to testthe might of his power
\non innocent and helpless citizens?<\/p>\n
Jones Abiri, a Bayelsa-based journalist wasalso recently released after
\npublic outcry against his whimsical incarcerationfor about two years in
\nDSS custody without trial. After having been subjectedto similar inhuman
\ntreatment and stripped of his dignity like an ordinaryhousefly by Buhari\u2019s
\nmen, Abiri regained his freedom with an everlastingpsychological scar to
\nhimself and his loved ones.<\/p>\n
Col Sambo Dasuki, rtd, is another victim ofthe gross abuse of the rule of
\nlaw. After having perfected his bail conditionsirrespective of their
\nstringent nature, Buhari and his men have blatantlydisregarded several
\norders of courts of competent jurisdiction to allow Dasukienjoy his bail
\nwhile his trial continued.\u00a0The man has been in illegal detention for over
\ntwo years now.<\/p>\n
The case of the leader of Islamic Movementin Nigeria, IMN, otherwise known
\nas the Shiites, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, iseven more gruesome. After men
\nand officers of the Nigerian Army killed hischildren and hundreds of his
\nfollowers in cold blood in Zaria in 2015, theBuhari administration has
\ncontinued to hold him and his wife in custody ingross disobedience of
\nmultiple court orders.<\/p>\n
The worst of government actions based onBuhari\u2019s kind of \u201cnational
\nsecurity and interest\u201d was the utterly disgustingand brutish invasion of
\nthe national assembly, an institution that symbolizesdemocracy in nations
\nworldwide, by men of the Department of State Services,DSS, on Tuesday,
\nAugust 7, 2018. That mindless invasion, perhaps reminds Nigeriansthat
\nBuhari means business when he acts in ways subjecting a universalprinciple
\nlike the rule of law to his selfish, parochial and jaundiceddefinition of
\nnational interest and security. That invasion proves to theentire world
\nthat Nigeria currently parades tyrants as leaders in Nigeria. Itwas an
\ninvasion that rubbished the well established universal principles
\nofseparation of power and checks andbalances in every civilized democratic
\ndispensation.<\/p>\n
The prevention of lawmakers and staff ofthe national assembly from gaining
\nentrance into the assembly to conduct theirlegitimate businesses as
\nprovided for by our laws, by gun-toting masked lawenforcement officers,
\nleaves no one in doubt as to the mindset and workings ofthe Buhari
\nadministration. Although Lawal Daura who was DG of the DSS as at thetime
\nthe invasion happened was eventually sacked in what a majority ofNigerians
\ndescribe as desperate efforts by government to save its face afterthe
\ninvasion planned to achieve its purpose, has since been reported to
\nhavesaid that contrary to insinuations in some quarters that he acted
\nalone, theinvasion was a \u201ccollective decision\u201d.<\/p>\n
Similar to such official politicalbrigandage was the illegal invasion of
\nthe Benue State House of Assembly thistime by policemen who prevented the
\nlawmakers from gaining access to theassembly complex for the purpose of
\ncarrying out their legitimate duties. Therampaging policemen had said
\ntheir actions were based on the usual \u201coder fromabove\u201d, a clich\u00e9 marauding
\nlaw enforcement officers on illegal duties havealways used to cover their
\natrocities.<\/p>\n
While Nigerians and their democraticinstitutions including the legislature
\nand the judiciary were being rubbishedby Buhari\u2019s executive arm in the
\nname of national interest and security, Fulaniherdsmen terrorists have
\nbeen having a field day killing innocent Nigerians intheir thousands
\nincluding women and children, sacking whole communities anddestroying
\npeople\u2019s sources of livelihood. Rather than arrest the culprits,Buhari and
\nhis \u201cnational interest and security\u201d government have been makingexcuses
\nranging from the ridiculous to the mundane for these unrelentingkillers.
\nWhat an irony! What a tragedy!<\/p>\n
Maybe it is also in national interest andsecurity that Babachir Lawal,
\nformer SGF is still walking free after beingindicted for allegedly
\ndefrauding our poorest of the poor, the IDPs. Maybe itis also in national
\ninterest and security that Kemi Adeosun, Buhari\u2019s ministerof finance is
\nstill holding on to her job two months after her reported NYSCcertificate
\nforgery scandal was exposed. Maybe it was also in national interestand
\nsecurity that the alleged pension thief, Abdulrashid Maina,
\nwasscandalously and surreptitiously recalled and promoted by this
\nadministrationuntil the whole thing was blown open. We can go on and on.<\/p>\n
Just like the Chief Justice of Nigeria,CJN, Walter Onnoghen, said on
\nTuesday, July 24, 2018, during the commissioningand official opening of an
\nultramodern Court of Appeal Complex in Calabar,\u201cwithout the rule of law,
\nthe society is doomed\u201d, Nigeria is heading for doomunder this
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
Let me conclude this piece with the goldenwords of the Supreme Court in
\nMilitary Governor of Lagos State vs OdimegwuOjukwu (2001) FWLR (part 50)
\n1779, 1802:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nigerian Constitution is founded onthe rule of law, the primary
\nmeaning of which is that everything must be doneaccording to law. Nigeria,
\nbeing one of the countries in the world whichprofesses loudly to follow
\nthe rule of law, gives no room for the rule ofself-help by force to
\noperate\u201d.<\/p>\n
I hope Buhari and his handlers heard that?<\/p>\n