Nigeria: Is This Country Ours? -By Barr. Evans Ufeli

The arrest and subsequent unlawful detention of Omoyele Sowore by the men of the State Security Services has cast again, a huge darkness on the face of a nation and so we are forced to ask whether this nation is ours. It is quite unimaginable that under a democratic government the tenets and principles of civil engagement can be willfully undermined by government who vehemently seek to entrench incivility, thereby turning the atmosphere of the rule of law into some shameful arena absurdity. 

The Nigerian government under Buhari is laying a dangerous precedent by repressing the voice of her citizens and their fundamental rights. Using the police to intimidate the citizen and turning the atmosphere into one of outright brutality is to say the least, most unfortunate. The rights of the citizens to peaceful assemblage and expression is sacred and more so it’s a sacrosanct disposition from where the citizens derive their sense of belonging. It is, however, the duty of government to protect these rights and not the other way round. 

It’s therefore disconcerting to see the government clamping down on these rights with impunity. This is a government that has no strategy to harness the potential of this country to guarantee the basic needs of the citizens. Is the country ours? This is a country where her leaders cannot tell how many we are let alone plan and develop policy the will deliver on the promises of democracy. Nigeria is a country of over 250 tribes with rich and diverse culture but her leaders are at lost on how to manage this strength. No policy direction on power, housing, economy, public health, education and agriculture.

The security architecture has collapsed under the Nigerian contradiction and when a group of youths led by Sowore decide to protest against bad governance the government came hard to violate the right of citizens protesting peacefully for a better deal. The government, having disrupted the protest arrested Sowore like they have credible evidence against him for the offence they alleged he has committed. The government created the offense of treasonable felony and treason without really looking at the law graphically. This is a government that is allergic to the plurality of voices and critical minds. This government has shown crass deficiency and irreparable illogicality in its approach to issues as simple as addressing the basic needs of the citizens.

While the citizens are constantly being killed by Fulani herdsmen coupled with the rising growth of kidnapping and banditry, the Nigerian State is stranded and the least a responsible government will do in the circumstance is to address the issues and deal with it and not to attack the citizens with all kinds of intimidation and the threat to kill.

We hereby use this opportunity to call on the government to restrain itself from further abuse of the citizen’s rights and privileges as a man’s right to swing his hands ends where another man’s right to defend his nose begins. The government’s act is taking a toll on the Nigerian economy as investor can perceive that there’s no internal democracy in the country and therefore the country cannot guarantee bankability for foreign and local investors. The Nigerian government must reevaluate its role and define properly its policy direction on investment and trade, employment and education, productivity and labour, social and economic integration and the host of others.

Most importantly release Sowore! 

Until then, this country is not for us.