Further away from democracy

In the North Eastern part of the country, Bornu State in particular, the killing of Nigerian citizens by terrorists has become an acceptable way of life. Newspaper reports have it that over 1,000 communities have been displaced in the state, among them Agapalagu, Ashigashir, Chikide, Dushwale, Gavva and Ngowshe, in addition to more than 109 […]

In the North Eastern part of the country, Bornu State in particular, the killing of Nigerian citizens by terrorists has become an acceptable way of life. Newspaper reports have it that over 1,000 communities have been displaced in the state, among them Agapalagu, Ashigashir, Chikide, Dushwale, Gavva and Ngowshe, in addition to more than 109 people already killed in four villages around Gwoza. The week before, the Emir of Gwoza himself, Alhaji Idris Timta was killed in an ambush of him and two other Emirs at Tashan Alade, along the road to Biu, while they were travelling to Gombe to attend the funeral of the late Emir of Gombe, Alhaji Abubakar Shehu. The two – the Emir of Askira, Alhaji Abdullahi Ibn Muhammadu Askirama and the Emir of Uba, Alhaji Ali Ibn Ismaila Mamza, were lucky as they managed to run away on their feet.
In addition to the continuing deaths in the North East and elsewhere, there have been dire warnings that henceforth, free speech, freedom of assembly and peaceful protests, all of them touted as “dividends of democracy”, are about to be withdrawn by the government and its agents.
On Monday, 2nnd June, 2014, the Commissioner of Police in Abuja, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, in his carry over attitude from repressive policing in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, announced a ban on peaceful protests by campaigners under the banner #Bring Back Our Girls, which had been held daily in the national capital since the abduction of over 200 school girls from their school dormitories in Chibok, Bornu State, 57 days ago. Shortly before this, some strange persons in bus loads had smashed their way into the Fountain Square base of the #Bring Back Our Girls group, snatching phones, beating the protestors and breaking their chairs. Subsequently, strange people began to cook and sell wares, at the Square, and I asked where the officials of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board were?
Announcing the ban, Mbu said, disdainfully: “As the FCT (Federal Capital Territory) police boss, I cannot fold my hands and watch this lawlessness”, adding, “information reaching us is that too soon, dangerous elements will join groups under the guise of protest and detonate explosives aimed at embarrassing the government.”
Blimey! The problem with the Nigerian security elements and their civilian collaborators is that they know where the danger comes from but they wouldn’t do anything to ward it off. Do you just ban peaceful protests because of the fear of “dangerous elements”? Or do you, Police, infiltrate the “dangerous elements” and counter them since you’ve known them and their motives? No, the Nigerian Police or rather Mbu, would prefer to do the simple, unprofessional thing of banning a legitimate, rightful protest over such an international issue of more than 200 stolen girls whose fate hangs in the balance almost two months into their capture, in deference to “dangerous elements”? That’s how not to police a country!
Another sad development is the statement credited to Marilyn Ogar, the spokeswoman of the Nigerian State Secret Services (SSS) to the effect that “We will henceforth apply zero tolerance to those who insult President Goodluck Jonathan”. It is not part of the brief of the SSS to have zero or one hundred per cent tolerance for people who “insult President Goodluck Jonathan”. The real duty of SSS in these troubling times is to go after terrorists and nip their hideous plans in the bud well before they explode their bombs and shoot the innocent. Not long ago, the Ombatse cult was fingered in the massacre of SSS operatives and instead of bringing their members to justice, the Director General said he had forgiven them, just like that! My advice to SSS is to allow President Jonathan’s state paid spokesmen to reply to insults against him, instead of dabbling into these matters.
But by far the most harrowing experience and real assault on free speech in our so-called democracy are the confiscation of newspapers and harassment of vendors around the country by our military. The Director of Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, had charged that newspaper distribution channels and agents had been so treated upon receipt of “intelligence reports indicating movement of material with grave security implications across the country, using the channel of newsprint related consignments”. Suffice it to say that no such material with “grave security implications” has been discovered yet in these “newsprint related consignments” and citizens are wondering at the real motive for this assault on civil liberty.
The Presidency, through Dr Doyin Okupe, issued a statement denying giving anyone any order “capable of hampering the smooth running of any media organisation or harass media practitioners”. So, the soldiers are doing things on their own and there is nothing the Presidency could do to check them? Are we still in a democracy?
The action of the military has deservedly been condemned by professional bodies, civil society organisations and prominent individuals. The President of the Guild of Editors, Mr Femi Adesina, among many others, has correctly pointed out that “the media do not bear arms; rather we bear information, which sheds light on darkness”.
The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had previously issued its own warning to broadcast media prohibiting “inciting, provocative and highly divisive comments”. It followed this with its own ban on some programmes aired by some media organisations, including Idon Mikiya, broadcast by Vision FM. Are we still in a democracy?