Daily Independent (Lagos)
5 January 2009
editorial
In a remarkable display of sensitivity and civility, Defence Headquarters has moved to minimize the nuisance and humiliation daily suffered by Nigerians on streets and highways at the hands of military and police personnel who drive in siren-blaring convoys and oftentimes employing horsewhips to force other motorists off their lanes.
Chief of Defence Staff Paul Dike has directed all military personnel to immediately discontinue the use of sirens and horsewhips and to submit themselves to the same traffic regulations observed by other road users.
The Defence Chief is alarmed at the level of intimidation, molestation and brutalization perpetrated against members of the public by uniformed security personnel along the highways and has decided to check such acts that undermine the image of the military. Recalling ugly incidents, including motor accidents resulting from the reckless show of force by horsewhip-wielding security men in convoys, he reminded military men and women that they were expected to always conduct themselves as friends, and not oppressors, of the civil populace.
The siren and horsewhip, we believe, have been properly analysed for what they are: instruments of torment and oppression that belong to a primitive order, not a civilised democratic society. For ages in this country, office-holders, notably, Heads of State/Presidents, Ministers, State Governors, service chiefs, Local Government Chairman and the rank and file of the security agencies have used siren-blaring convoys not only as means of securing easy movement through traffic, but as status symbol. The sirens, in their reckoning, set them apart as special citizens. Presently, traditional rulers and church leaders, especially in Lagos, who ought to show examples of humility and fellow feeling, have joined the oppressor class in the use of sirens.
Marshall Paul Dike deserves commendation for drawing the attention of military men to the nuisance they cause other road users through their reckless behaviour in their vehicles and for demanding sobriety and civility. Nigerian military personnel, like their counterparts in the Nigeria Police, are notorious for incivility, uncouthness and brutality, traits that they have oftentimes demonstrated even against themselves in the countless bloody military/police clashes in different parts of the country. It is reassuring that the authorities are aware of such excesses and are resolved to inculcate in soldiers, naval and Air Force personnel the proper orientation for healthy relationships with other citizens in the wider society. They are to discontinue the use of sirens and horsewhips because no law-abiding Nigerian deserves to be subjected to the kind of torment and humiliation daily occasioned by overzealous security operatives on the highways.
To the elected office-holders at the Federal and State levels, we can only point out that it is a shame for them to have lived and tolerated such aberrations as sirens and horsewhips and the associated abuses for such a long time in a democratic dispensation. With the exception of the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, all our so-called elected leaders routinely use convoys and these instruments of torment along our highways, causing panic and forcing vehicles off their lanes or to crash into one another.
The action of Defence Headquarters should signal to the civil authorities, from The Presidency to the States and Local Councils, that it is time such barbaric practices were dispensed with, if government is truly desirous of establishing a refined atmosphere for the nurturing of democratic ideals. It would be difficult to convince a visitor or tourist from the free world that we are living in a democratic society when sirens are used for purposes other than emergency by the Fire Service or ambulances.
It is our expectation that the directive by Defence Headquarters would not be treated the way orders by the Inspector General of Police are handled by men and women of the Nigeria Police. We do not want sirens and horsewhips on our highways again, just as the illegal road blocks policemen and women mount for extortion from motorists must be dismantled immediately in accordance with the directives issued months ago by the Inspector General. It is the responsibility of governments at all levels to plan and make the highways free of traffic congestion, so everyone could drive to any destination within our cities without the snarl-ups that are experienced daily. To fail in that regard and resort to sirens and horsewhips is to foster in the citizenry a mentality that accepts the use of force as normal.
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