Sonnie Ekwowusi
13 November 2008
Lagos — Last week six naval ratings (hereinafter called musketeers for they were wielding dangerous guns, muskets and horsewhips in reminiscent of Wild Wild West movies) attached to Real Admiral Harry Arogunade ran a muck at the behest and putrid enjoyment of Arogunade and mercilessly beat up, humiliated and assaulted lady Uzoma Okere for not promptly vacating the road when she heard the sound of the siren of their convoy of vehicles cruising at top speed along Muri Okunola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The musketeers hit lady Okere several times with their gun butts, whipped her with their horsewhip before finally descending to inflict bodily injuries on her. They also gave her a red eye. As if that was not enough they striped her naked and subjected her to public mockery, odium, shame and disgrace undeserving of the dignity of womanhood. Hear lady Okere: "we were on traffic. I heard a siren behind me. One of them came out to control the traffic. I was moving to the left when he suddenly pulled me out. They dragged me into the house, tore my clothes. I was beaten up mercilessly. My head is really swollen with bruises all over me".
In its defence, the Navy pleads provocation. It alleges that lady Okere provoked the musketeers by stepping out of her car and seizing their horsewhips. Rear Admiral Arogunade complains that lady Okere was so bold to hold the uniform of the musketeers and that she should thank her stars for surviving the close shave on her life.
You can see the gutter reasoning. Assuming lady Okere truly seized the horsewhips from the musketeers, is there any law in this country that permits the army, navy, police or any member of the Force to use horsewhips to intimidate, harass, harangue the harmless members of the public or whip them into subjection or inflict injuries on them with them. Is there any law that gives Real Admiral Arogunade and his musketeers a special right of way on the highway better than that of any other citizen? Is there any law in Nigeria permitting Real Admiral Arogunade to instruct his musketeers to beat up a citizen for not promptly vacating the expressway for an Admiral? Of course the answers to these questions are in the negative.
So last week's ugly incident which has brought out Lady Okere as Nigeria's Rosa Parks should not end with the usual public condemnation. It should act as a catalyst for the enthronement of the much-vaunted sane leadership and civility in public life in Nigeria. It is edifying reading Governor Fashola of Lagos State linking Lady Okere's travail to failure of the State to protect the citizenry. The Lagos State government has gone ahead to ban the use of siren in the State. We hear that President Yar'Adua has waded into the matter. The public especially the civil rights movements in Nigeria are calling for justice for Lady Okere. We gather that Lady Okere has gone to court to seek justice.
We hope that these measures and interventions will ignite the spark leading to the positive transformation of Nigeria. When in 1955 Rosa Parks committed the defiance of not giving up her seat in a bus for the whiteman, little did she know that she was changing the course of American history. Today we know better: we can see how her defiance has not only contributed to the upsurge of modern civil rights movements in the world, but has led to the abolition of slavery and discrimination against black Americans.
If Nigeria where a country where shameful public behaviour is not condoned, the musketeers who beat up lady Okere would have been expelled from the Navy for giving the Navy a very bad name. The whole ugly story is a naked celebration of barbarism and stupidity. It is ridiculous that Rear Admiral Arogunade can be comfortably seated at the back of his luxurious Peugeot 406 car watching with relish the brutalization of a fellow human being by his musketeers. In fact the whole show of shame typifies the barbarism that held sway in the old Roman Empire: a time when the powerful Roman Emperors would seat in the gallery of Coliseum and gleefully watch the lions devour the so-called dissidents of the Roman Empire.
So the matter should go beyond public condemnation. We all, all of us, in one way or the other, are victims of sheer barbarism, arrogance and putrid display of power of our uniformed men. To be in uniform in other countries is a call to the service of humanity. But to be in any uniform in Nigeria is a call to oppression, stupidity and arrogance. One of the greatest tryannies in Nigeria is the tranny of the uniform. Anybody who is by any chance wearing a uniform in Nigeria feels on top of the world and feels that he has a right to oppress other lesser mortals not in uniform. Any wonder any moron or nonentity wearing a uniform can lay siege to the expressway and extort money from motorists and okada riders. Uniform is power.
Policemen, naval officers, soldiers in uniform believe that their uniform is a licence to oppress or molest other citizens. They believe that their uniform accords them the privilege to reap where they did not sow. That is why some soldiers and policemen can have the effrontery to board a commercial bus and refuse to pay the conductor the bus fare. Naval officers in Nigeria want the public to be afraid of them. They believe they are special human beings. In Naval residential areas you are likely to find bold inscription: "Navy: Beware". Cars of the naval officers carrying Naval car stickers are untouchable and unstoppable.
Any wonder naval car stickers have become bestsellers. Any car owner who doesn't want police wahala goes and gets a naval car sticker and for the front windscreen of his/her car. One of the first things Governor Fashola did upon assuming office as Governor of Lagos was to reprimand a naval officer arrogantly driving against the one-way traffic rule. I can't remember what transpired now, but I think immediately after that incident Governor Fashola announced that any member of the Force caught violating the traffic rules would be made to face the wrath of the law. Two years ago along Allen Avenue , Ikeja, Lagos , a naval officer killed an okada rider on the spot after pumping some live bullets in his mouth. The offence of the okada rider was that he dented the car of the naval officer.
The barbarism of last week is a reminder that human civilization is key to the growth of a nation. Oftentimes we delude ourselves into thinking that signs of progress are buying of more cars, acquiring more titles and gadgets and all that. We live in a society where anybody has "arrived" wants to make a big statement about it with the material things surrounding him/her. Just take a look around you. What do you see? Noise-making, trumpeting thunder, grandstanding, flamboyance, colours, titles.
Humility, in our clime, is a vice. Self-effacement is a scarce virtue in Nigeria. If you are a Rear Admiral is being driven along the highway, the whole world must know that you are passing. If you are a high-ranking officer, you must boast about it in public. Some even wear badges so that the society may not lose what they perceive as their real worth in public. Our affinity for titles is unprecedented. Check out newspaper adverts and advertorials.
This is Nigeria for you. But human progress goes beyond all these things. To make progress, we must learn to appreciate the dignity and intrinsic worth of our fellow citizens. We must learn to respect other human beings who are not as materially rich as we are. It beats the imagination that Nigerians are highly-intelligent people, yet this quality hardly reflects in public behaviour. We behave well abroad, but here in Nigeria we behave like animals especially on the streets of Lagos .
We lack human refinement. We abuse one another anyhow in public. Naval officers beat up civilians. Higher civilians beat up lower civilians. It is man's inhumanity to man all the way- in the streets, in the stadia, in market places, in government houses, etc. We are now celebrating Barack Obama for stunning the world and taking over the White House. Considering the way we shoot down our rising stars, can we produce a Barack Obama here in Nigeria? One thing is obvious: if we must grow as a nation, we must change our attitude to life.
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The question is this should not have happened, now that it has happened somebody should take responsibility for it, I think it should be the Admiral plus the people that done the beating. The Admiral should resign or should be sacked. This is where the Senate should be doing their job, they have been elected and part of their jobs is to look after the population so that people are protected from this type of barbaric behaviour, these people needs to know that this type of behaviour is no longer acceptable in Nigerian society.