There is a lot of wisdom in pidgin-English adages, one of which says “Dog bite man, no be news, but man bite dog na news!” This means usual things aren’t newsworthy, but unusual things are. Last week, Nigerians had a taste of both. First, there was the “attack” on the presidential advance team convoy on the highway. This was a case of “dog bite man”. It was simply the usual daily occurrence faced by road users. It wasn’t an attempt on the president’s life. Under this administration, Nigerians travel by road at their peril risking robbery, kidnapping, or death by bullets.
The attack on Kuje Correctional Centre, where authorities said about 64 Boko Haram members were freed along with others, was on the other hand a case of “man bite dog”. The unusual aspects concerned the scandalous amounts of both local and foreign currencies reportedly stolen from the prison and the fact that the terrorists had enough time to pray, give a lecture, and distribute transport money to inmates confident in the knowledge that there would be no counter attack by prison security personnel or the military.
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Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode said there is cause for alarm and questions must be raised because Mallam Tukur Mamu, media aide to Sheik Ahmad Gumi, said he shared intelligence with authorities before the attack but they failed to act. Military top brass have unsurprisingly denied any prior information, and as usual, the truth will never be known. What is indisputably true is Fani-Kayode’s assertion that nothing reflects the degradation of the Nigerian state more than the fact that terrorists are capable of rescuing and freeing their own from our prisons, whilst the state is incapable of rescuing those whom terrorists have kidnapped!
It is in place to ask how come the federal government claims to have spent N4 trillion on defence in seven years including $1.9 billion on Tucano jets and attack helicopters, yet terrorists on motorcycles still terrorise Nigerians? The problem with raising such questions is that these days, despite democracy, Nigerians are far more likely to be arrested and detained by security agencies for exercising their right to freedom of speech and being truthful about high-level corruption or the nation’s dire circumstances, than they are for carrying out bombings, acts of barbarism, banditry, mass murder or insurgency! Barely 24 hours after the attack, President Buhari briefly visited Kuje, then jetted out of the country once again. This was his eleventh overseas trip this year. There is little point in re-iterating that in 2015 when seeking office, he promised to dispose of the Presidential Aircraft fleet and severely restrict foreign travels. Aware of the overwhelming condemnation against the necessity for this latest jaunt at such a perilous time, presidential spokesperson, Shehu Garba quite ludicrously said that if rather than globetrotting, President Buhari had stayed back to take control of the situation it would mean that the terrorists were “successful”. Evidently, he believes that in routinely murdering innocent Nigerians, raiding a prison in the centre of town, killing security agents, stealing humongous sums of money, freeing their colleagues, and escaping undetected, the terrorists were not successful. Perhaps, he believes that “success” is only achieved when the president is inconvenienced? He definitely needs reminding of the responsibilities attached to the appellation “Commander-in-Chief”. This is the first time in seven years our president has visited a crime or disaster scene to do a self-assessment, and he later expressed disappointment with the intelligence system. His wondering how terrorists organise, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it begs the question “Are facts being hidden from him?’ It appears as if everyone apart from our president knows that successful attacks on security installations are regular occurrences under his watch.
In a recent BBC interview, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed gave an insight into the mindset of the current leadership. He said that if Nigerians will not commend them for doing a good job, then they will commend themselves! Translated into simple English, this means that they are not the least bit concerned about adverse public opinion, but are enamoured with their egoistic opinion of themselves and delusional claims of success.
This administration has been aptly described as a “Mediocrity infested failure, which has lowered the bar for standards of leadership in Nigeria”.
Back in the day, on January 19, 2015, then candidate Buhari posted on his Twitter account asking Nigerians if they were safe to travel to any part of the country under President Jonathan and if their lives were better off than before Jonathan came to office? After seven years of his administration, all quantitative indices indicate that the standard of living in the nation has fallen drastically. Despite self-praise and their claims to success, this administration has presided over the economic catastrophe, and the lesson from the Kuje jailbreak is that they also have no solution to the pervasive insecurity. Paradoxically, the nation is adequately endowed with great men and women who if given the opportunity would make a tremendous difference. Alas, a survey of candidates for various offices in the upcoming 2023 elections indicates that mediocrity is well positioned to triumph once again. The incoming executive and National Assembly need to comprise competent, intelligent, patriotic and compassionate individuals with well thought-out acceptable solutions to the nation’s problems.
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