Right now, there’s commotion everywhere in Nigeria. The polity is heated up as if another general election is fast approaching. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja through the security agencies, have been probing, arresting and prosecuting alleged corrupt gladiators of the opposition’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Those being prosecuted are accused of mismanaging funds meant for the purchase of Arms when they held the motif of power, an action which I support.
However, almost eight months the incumbent administration in Abuja got the baton, the people of Nigeria are still waiting to see its mission statement. The economy is scary. Unemployment is on the boost. Jobs are being lost on daily basis. It is epileptic power supply everywhere. Pipe borne water is now gold in a country surrounded by water. Naira is gradually becoming the most worthless currency on the continent of Africa.
Federal Highways are now death traps. The supporters of the directionless central government have been grandstanding about anti-corruption crusade while the infrastructures are left howling. The hospitals are now mere consulting clinics. The economic policy is mysterious. The education policy is unheard of. The agriculture policy is nameless. The health policy is anonymous.
Only the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has told Nigerians in clearer terms, what his programs are. But what is happening in the works and power sectors? Zero! The hitherto semi-stable power supply is now retrogressing. I now pay for what I do not enjoy. As I write, no contractor is working on any federal road in Nigeria. Julius Berger and RCC have disappeared from Lagos-Ibadan express way that is under construction. Work abandoned. Where the immediate past administration left the busiest road in Nigeria is where it is at the moment. The nation is in danger.
Asides the economy and infrastructures that are in bondage, today, there’s scarcity of fuel. Since November 2015, Nigerians have been living in agony caused by acute dearth of fuel. What we now have in the country is deregulation and regulation of downstream oil sector, causing confusion. Government removed fuel subsidy and yet fixed oil price for marketers. The official pump price is N86.50kobo but aside at NNPC mega stations and major oil marketers, fuel is sold for N100 and above per liter by independent oil marketers. Transport fares have skyrocketed. Prices of goods have also increased maximally. The masses are fuming. The downtrodden are sniveling. There’s abject poverty in the land. Banks and other financial institutions are hemorrhaging.
Away from the foregoing analysis on the state of Nigeria economy and infrastructures, one very alarming case that is presently causing ripples in the nation is the ferocious attack on the Judiciary by the executive arm led by President Mohamadu Buhari.
Mr. President had during his maiden presidential chat on Tuesday 29 December 2015 told the world that he would not obey court orders on the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and leader of Radio Biafra, Nnamadi Kanu.
For the records, Justices Ademola Adeniyi and Gabiel Kolawole of the Federal High Courts sitting in Abuja had in three different rulings granted bail to Dasuki and equally granted the accused permission to travel for medical treatment. Till date, the orders have not been obeyed. Temples of justice have been subjected to public derision.
Mr. President has tyrannically turned the executive to accuser, investigator, prosecutor and jailer. The constitution which Buhari swear to protect is now under siege. Two court rulings that Dasuki be released on bail have been floated. A ruling that Dasuki be allowed to travel abroad for treatment has been mystically disregarded.
Twice, the Department of State Security Services (DSS) have arrested and rearrested Dasuki in flagrant disregard of court orders. To Buhari, Dasuki shouldn’t have been granted bail when the constitution states that the offenses allegedly committed by the accused are bail-able.
During the electioneering, Buhari promised to obey democratic rules if elected. For 12 years, Mr. President sought people’s votes without victory. Nigerians gave him a trial the fourth time but today, what we have is a president who sees democracy as an unholy system of government expedited to Nigeria and imposed on him.
Buhari did not hide his disdain for democracy and letters of the constitution during his last presidential chat. In the case of Kanu, Buhari surreptitiously and ignorantly told the world thus “Do you know this man has the passports of two countries? He has been preaching hate campaign about his country. We will not release such a person.” This is appalling. I wonder when it has become a crime for a citizen to be in possession of two international passports. For three months, the central government has not been able to produce any incriminating material against Kanu in court.
Lastly, I join other well-meaning Nigerians to put the international community on notice that the judiciary is under threat in Nigeria. I want to declare unmistakably that a court order must be obeyed at all time no matter how ridiculous such an order may sound after all, there’s right to an appeal. We must ensure that a bad precedent is not created for successive government and generation coming behind.
Whether they call us wailing wailers or noise makers, those of us without skeleton in our cupboard will continue to speak out. I urge Nigerians to rise up and defend the judiciary before it is voraciously and rapaciously suppressed by a dictator in civilian uniform
Adeleye writes from Magodo, Lagos
@maxwelladeleye on twitter
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