By Bala Ibrahim
The altercation between the minister of the Federal capital territory Abuja, Nigeria, Barrister Nyesom Wike and Naval officer, Lieutenant Yarima, has opened a new chapter in the place of principles, power and pride. Yes, each has a seat, and they need to sit where they should sit. When power, which by definition, stands for the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way, particularly the kind of power that is utilised with pride and arrogance, comes in collusion with a principled personality, the outcome would result in Sir Newton’s third law of motion, which states that, for every action, there would be an equal but opposite reaction.
In other words, when power is poorly paraded with pride, on a person that has principles, he would react proportionally, in a manner that would neutralize the paraded brigandage. And exactly that’s what happened in Abuja on Tuesday. As a result, everything in the chain and command machinery of Nigeria’s Security system, is now undergoing a reset, it seems. It is also the ambition of this article, to see a change in the political setting of the system.
I’ve seen video clips of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, making an unambiguous statement, to the effect that, the police must desist from engaging in unlawful activities, including escorting people to settle land-related maters or disputes. I don’t know what prompted those remarks, but when juxtaposed against the circumstances of the Wike/Yarima drama, the statement can only be called, apt. We all know that it is the duty of the police to police the society, for our collective comfort, and in the discharge of that responsibility, some people in power, are assigned police personnel, for protection and the smooth execution of their legal duties. But sometimes, inferiority complex comes to play amongst those to whom the police are attached.They use the police wrongly, thereby making them, knowingly or unknowingly, accomplices in the commission of such crimes.
Public servants are people employed by the government, either through election or appointment, to perform public duties, including political appointees, security agents and career civil servants. They are paid to work for the public and are responsible for serving the interests of the public, rather than humiliating or intimidating them. But when such people come to power with an exaggerated sense of purpose, they become arrogant or too proud, to the extent that they always look down on others. With time, a new sense of entitlement comes in, to make them develop the feeling of excessive self-importance or superiority over everyone.
If care is not taken, pursuant to this self developed sense of self worth, or abilities to do wonders, they can begin undermining the principal, in order for them to be on the throne, rather than serving the man on the throne. Yes, science has since established that, through justifiable research. Because of their feeling of excessive self pride, the word fool, will become a permanent resident in their mouth. At the slightest feeling of insecurity, they would call you a fool. When in actual sense, the reverse is the case. In his song, Foolish pride, Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican reggae and soul musician, called them the selfish people with foolish pride:
Foolish pride will bring you helpless.
Foolish pride, will bring you emptiness.
Foolish pride, is only play and just,
Your small mind, you will find or you incline.
Foolish pride can bring you stormy day. Foolish pride, can eat our heart away. Foolish pride can lead your heart astray. suffer you, wake you up and make you cry. Selfishness, is what you′re thinking of. But it’s all foolishness, just to glorify, glorify, glorify self. Foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish, foolish pride.
It is however heartening, to hear and see the national unanimity in defence of the displayed behaviour of young naval officer Yarima, including the volume of gifts that are coming to him from good samaritans. I am particularly happy with the position of the military high command, which has also commended the officer for doing that which he was trained to do. The government is today facing multifaceted challenges, with poor public perception as the major one. The critics would always want to see a glass half full from the position of half empty.
As supporters of the government, our task is to help in correcting these misinterpretations, by highlighting the good sides of the efforts being done, and where necessary, calling on the government to make the kind of changes that will remove from the system, those people whose nuisance value, by far outweighs their political value. Because, it may be the case of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Equally important, with respect to the displayed discipline by the young officer Yarima, is the need to rejig our conscience, in order to position properly, the place of power, principles and pride.