By Tochukwu Ezukanma<\/p>\n
Power, not tenoned and mortised – dictatorial and tyrannical powers – is
\nhypnotic, and sometimes, deranging. Not surprisingly, history is strewn
\nwith lamentable and regrettable bombasts and blunders of despots and
\ntyrants deranged by power. Democratic power is legitimate, benign power.
\nIt derives from the ultimate repository, and the most genuine source, of
\npower: the people; it is a selfless servant of the people. It
\nappreciates that the people are not pawns in an elite power game, but
\nthe focus of the interests, concerns, policies and actions of elected
\nand appointed government officials and every institution of government.
\nConsequently, democratic power is neither hypnotic nor deranging.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian aberration is that democratically elected governments
\nroutinely degenerate to bumbling, blundering dictatorships. Therefore,
\ninstead of being selfless public servants, the Nigerian ruling elite are
\na band of over-paid, profligate, hedonistic and money-stealing
\npanjandrums. President Buhari is a dictator. He is not known for his
\noratorical flourishes, and has, consequently, not displayed the usual
\narrogant and megalomaniac bombasts of dictators. But he has dramatized
\nthe other characteristics of despots, like intolerance for political
\nopposition and repression of free speech.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he is susceptible to the hypnotic and deranging effects of
\npower. It was in the deranging effect of power that he refused to heed
\nthe message of the #EndDARS protesters. It was in the deranging effect
\nof power that he ordered the shooting and killing of peaceful protesters
\nwaving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem. The #EndSARS
\nprotest was a dirge, laden with a message from the generality of
\nNigerians for the government. The message is cogent, lucid and loud:
\nNigerians are sick and tired of the status quo. It is an unconscionable
\nstatus quo buoyed by an evil oligarchy that has, for so long, retained a
\nmonopoly grip of power, and deployed power as a ruthless enemy of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
It is a status quo that subverts a principled distribution of the
\nnational wealth by reinforcing the inordinate wealth of an elite few \u2013
\npoliticians, government officials, businessmen, super-star pastors, etc
\n– at the economic strangulation of the masses. It encourages the
\nstealing, sharing, and salting away into personal bank accounts a
\nfrightening proportion of the national commonwealth by the political and
\nbusiness elite, and consequently, consigned a preponderant number of
\nNigerians to poverty, ignorance, homelessness, disease and insecurity.<\/p>\n
It is a status quo that superintended over the destruction of the
\nNigerian educational system, and reduced our universities, once
\nintellectual powerhouses and bastions of academic distinction, to
\nfestering quarters of intellectual lassitude and academic mediocrity,
\nand cesspools of \u201csorting out\u201d, and bribe and sex for grades.
\nBattered by neglect and corruption, our health care delivery system is
\nin a disgraceful state. In their condescending indifference for the
\ncountry they supposedly serve, the political elite educate their own
\nchildren overseas, in Western universities, and get their medical
\ntreatments, even, routine medical check-ups in America, Britain, etc.<\/p>\n
That most notoriously corrupt, trigger-happy and murderous police force
\nin the world, the Nigerian Police Force, is an indispensable tool of the
\nruling elite. Its brutality and extra-judicial killings are only
\nreflective of the attitude of the ruling elite towards the people. If
\nthe corruption and brutality of the Nigerian police are not in
\nconformity with the wishes of the ruling elite, why did the government
\nrepeatedly renege on all its earlier promises to ban SARS and reform the
\npolice? In their ineffable avarice, every state governor appropriates at
\nleast five hundred million naira monthly as security vote. The use of
\nthe security vote is at the discretion of the governor and is not
\naccounted for. Still, in their outrageous wickedness, many state
\ngovernors refuse to pay the salaries of state employees. In some states,
\ncivil servants are owed up to 18 months salary. The list of the
\niniquities of this evil oligarchy is inexhaustible.<\/p>\n
In addition, Nigerians are disenchanted with a government that has
\nfailed to fulfill the most fundamental of its constitutional
\nobligations: the protection of lives and property and advancement of the
\npeoples\u2019 welfare. Skillfully packaged and presented, Nigerians were
\ncaptivated by Buhari: his lickerish electoral promises and, what we
\nthought was, his personification of the desiderata for dealing with
\nNigeria\u2019s myriad of problems: incorruptible uprightness of a moral
\ncrusader, indomitable will of a military commander and unbridled candor
\nof a devout Moslem. Unfortunately, the Buhari presidency has been a
\ndisaster.<\/p>\n
The economy is in doldrums, as the naira continues to depreciate,
\nunemployment soars to perilous heights; hunger intensifies and pervades
\nthe country; and Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world. The
\nwar on corruption has collapsed into mere trumpery; and the country
\nbecame even more corrupt. Despite the billions of dollars budgeted and
\n\u201cspent\u201d on the war on terror, Boko Haram remains a potent and
\neffective fighting force. It strikes at military and civilian targets
\nwith terrifying facility. Bandits operate with impunity, killing and
\nkidnapping, almost at will. The Buhari administration has demonstrated
\nbewildering contempt for human lives. For example, over the years, it
\nencouraged, at least, tacitly, Fulani herdsmen mass-murder of the
\ninnocent and hapless across central and southern Nigeria.<\/p>\n
It was in disenchantment for this disgustingly unjust status quo, the
\nevil oligarchy that props it up, and the downright failure of the Buhari
\nadministration, that Nigerians spoke out through the #EndSARS protest.
\nThe protesters’ demands are pertinent and legitimate: disbandment of the
\nSARS, overall police reform, and responsibility and accountability in
\ngovernance. Lamentably, the Buhari administration refused to heed these
\ndemands, and, in addition, attacked and killed the protesters.<\/p>\n
Nigerians are angry and bitter. If this smoldering anger and bitterness
\nare not assuaged by resolute, far-reaching political and economic
\nreforms, they will burst into flame. To pretend that the Nigerian
\nsituation is not edging towards a precipice, and therefore, does not
\nrequire\u00a0 immediate, determined and wide-ranging reforms is a flight into
\nfantasy, which is a symptom of the hypnotic and deranging effects of
\npower.<\/p>\n
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos, Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tochukwu Ezukanma Power, not tenoned and mortised – dictatorial and tyrannical powers – is hypnotic, and sometimes, deranging. Not surprisingly, history is strewn with lamentable and regrettable bombasts and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n