MY TIME WILL NOT COME

I engaged some individuals on twitter a few days ago on the issue of the Zaria killings. The originator of the tweet that generated conversation is a well-known social commentator and radio personality who is pretty much opinionated. It must be stated that his stance leading up to last year’s general elections was well known; he was definitely not on the side of the former president. On the Nigerian Army-Shi’ite impasse however, he is convinced that the Army committed a grievous crime against Nigerian citizens in Zaria and fears that those involved may get away with it eventually.

Part of what this individual theorized was that the killings in Zaria were a means of possibly annihilating Shi’ite Muslims by the Sunni who are by a mile the majority in Nigeria. I jumped in at the point when another individual compared the reaction of Lt. General Buratai’s guards to the non-reaction of President Jonathan’s bodyguards during a campaign rally in Kastina when he was allegedly pelted by youths chanting “Sai Buhari” and also to the events after a shoe was thrown at President George W. Bush. I asked if the shoe thrower walked away freely but the response I got was that he indeed did not walk freely without punishment but that he still had 173 of his people alive and well.

The event in Zaria and that involving Bush Jnr are definitely dissimilar as the shoe thrower most likely acted in isolation and was not a sect leader capable of motivating others to fight and defend him. The next question to me was if I thought the Army was right to have killed 173 Nigerian citizens. I still cannot answer Yes or No to that question but my tweeted response was that the Army was most likely heavy-handed and that I was more concerned about what led to a more than 12 hours conflict which resulted in loss of lives. The crux of my response was that it did not matter to me if only 10 or 1000 individuals lost their lives; whatever aggravated the conflict was more important to me in order to prevent a recurrence and to also determine the truth about that night. Scores have been lost and there is no way to bring them back; answering yes or no to what the Army did does not thoroughly address the situation.

It was at this point that I was clearly misunderstood and the On-Air personality concluded that I did not care about 173 human beings and that I should just wait for my turn. He tweeted that I should ask a former Army Chief Victor Malu about what happened to his town when Obasanjo was president and he assuredly commented that “our Army never fails. Your turn will come….” He made no further tweets thereafter prompting the second individual to take up the gauntlet and he went on about how the actions of the Army after the roadblock incident was premeditated murder and even suggested that the Shi’ite procession could have been a demonstration at a University campus. It is still disputed if the events in Odi town were ordered and/ or endorsed by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

General Buratai is said to be a Sunni Muslim and so are Governor Nasir El-Rufai and President Buhari. It seems to make sense to those who claim that the plot to wipe out the Iranian backed Shi’ite group must have been developed at the level of the presidency. Some individuals do not quite express these thoughts openly but there is a chance that they believe it strongly. A few others have simply acted to script since they will naturally gravitate towards anything they deem worthy to discredit the current president or the majority party with. If someone wanted to take down a cult, syndicate or an army; who ought to be the individual(s) to strike out? If the Army was acting a script written by Sunni Muslims, should Zakzaky still be with air in his lungs? I do not think there is any concrete information about all that happened in the more than 12 hours before Zakzaky was finally apprehended. I think it should not have taken that long for armed platoons of trained Nigerian army soldiers to take out an unarmed group of zealous members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) including women and children. We do not know what the mission of the soldiers was; it could have been to simply apprehend Zakzaky or the more complicated matter of killing everyone in sight. I believe there will be more revelations about this when the investigations are concluded. These are just my own theories and are not infallible.

The IMN has been accused of running a state within a state which is independent of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If this is true, it is logical to expect that the granulocytic cells of Nigeria (the Military) will recognize this group as an aberration and treat it as a foreign body in order to limit further damage. It is clear that Zakzaky has more inclination towards Iran based on his conversation with an Iranian representative during the standoff and an assurance of support from the Persian nation. I understand that government officials and high ranking Military officers particularly those in Kaduna have Zakzaky’s number and communicate with him as the need arises. I must have seen a photograph online where he was with President Buhari at a function with both of them standing at the high table and even exchanging pleasantries. He was pictured will Governor Nasir El-Rufai as well with the governor respectfully shaking his hands. It is difficult to accept that our government officials had a premeditated agenda against the IMN even if the comments from the president and the governor seem to suggest that both men are not in any way happy with the actions of the IMN members. Why did the Army take the risk of inciting a diplomatic crisis by not sabotaging telecommunications base stations in order to prevent Zakzaky from communicating with the outside world assuming the soldiers were sent to kill and destroy? The soldiers surely have questions to respond to like how Zakzaky got injured and the reason why he was pictured placed in a wheel barrow.

In a bid to be seen as being objective in assessing the incumbent administration, many people who did not support the return of the past president have fallen prey to the devices of the diehard supporters of that administration and fence sitters. It has become very difficult to discern genuine constructive criticism from completely useless and incoherent chatter. The fear seems to be that they are unwilling to be accused of hypocrisy when in actual fact they become victims of intellectual blackmail. It is not uncommon to see antagonists of the president make remarks about unrealistic expectations like why electricity supply is still interrupted or why the president has been travelling across the globe. I truly wonder if I would be overly thrilled about travelling the globe as a 73 years old grandfather especially if I had done same as a younger person.

The configuration of the country called Nigeria has never been acceptable to all the tribes and tongues within. Her current constitution is deemed flawed and this has accounted for the over bloated system of government we practice. A good number of people who ranted about the expensive cost of running governments suddenly turned around to accuse the government of subverting the constitution when the time for appointments came. President Buhari just had to adhere strictly to the constitutional provision that every state must produce a minister even if he thought he could weave around it. After that was done, the topic shifted to how certain ethnicities were denied top and juicy portfolios and given lowly rated posts instead. Some people have found themselves associating with others people or groups they would not naturally relate with as long as the common objective was to discredit the president.

Many will agree that the laws of the land are flawed and wish that such laws which have empowered government officials to appropriate the nation’s resources to themselves over many years are the same people advocating that those who have obviously defrauded this country be let go on bail because that is what the rule of law suggests. Some Nigerians who get other Nigerians arrested for flimsy and sometimes justifiable reasons have been known to give bribes to the arresting police officers to ensure that those arrested got denied bail or got severely punished for whatever their crime was. These same Nigerians who are opposed to the rearrests and detention of those who have facilitated the rape of Nigeria’s commonwealth will beat both confirmed and accused thieves to death instead of allowing the police to look into the matter. There is a chance that some of those who participated actively or otherwise in the murder of the ”Aluu 4” are among those screaming for the rule of law to be upheld in these cases. The kinds of things we will not accept in our private lives are what we want to continue as common practice in the country because of the rule of law caveat. I believe the law is not perfect or absolute; it is still subject to some form of moral interpretation to determine if it has been breached or not. If the law in an area says that no one should cross a barrier to wade in water and a man does so; will the man be guilty of breaking the written law even if it is discovered that he went into the water and successfully rescued a drowning person? Perhaps we should have an unwritten constitution like the British do.

The default plea in Nigerian courts is “Not guilty” and many use the innocent until proven guilty clause to manipulate the system through the help of their lawyers. I wonder why we do not hear clamor for the bail of the underwear bomber Mutallab who did not actually succeed in his mission or for the Boston marathon bomber Tsarnaev. We may not have the similitude of the patriot act in Nigeria but should we not be able to approve of moves to utilize the strong points of our laws to handle criminal cases instead of allowing crafty lawyers to exploit the loopholes? When we continuously criticize the methods utilized by our crime fighting agencies of holding unto individuals whose crimes ought to be regarded as very heinous; we undermine the efforts against criminality and indirectly endorse acts of corruption and treason. Lawyers who ought to advice their clients to take guilty pleas together with their clients are emboldened by the sympathy they know they get from Nigerians to defy common sense and reason. They readily plead not guilty and hope and pray that the evidence available does not nail them. It was before our very eyes that certain individuals obtained perpetual injunctions against prosecution and this within the confines of rule of law. I am sure that Mutallab would have been granted bail by a willing judge if he was prosecuted in Nigeria despite the severity of his crime.

The members of the IMN are no doubt Nigerian citizens by virtue of where they were born and live but they seem to be more inclined to respecting the doctrine set by their spiritual superiors outside of the country than the Nigerian constitution however justice in the Nigerian Army-IMN impasse should be ensured but what must be ensured is that the integrity and sovereignty of the nation is maintained. It is easy to say that the unfortunate event has driven a wedge between Nigeria and Iran but those who are concerned about how Iran feels in all of this should know that the Persian nation do not take it very soft with Iranians accused of espionage. There are quite a few cases of Iranians who have dual citizenship (especially the USA) who have been under prolonged house arrest, imprisoned or simply sentenced to death. We may all claim to be Nigerians but when anyone’s actions or inactions threatens the nation integrity or has caused the death of genuine Nigerians; then I think such individuals should be treated just like any serious nation would treat anyone accused of espionage. We should realize by now that the time for pettiness as citizens of Nigeria is over; we should always ask ourselves for example what the Chinese would do if they were faced with the magnitude of corruption Tsunamis headed for our senses.

“My time is not going of come” is not a quotable quote or a statement of faith. I do not think I will stand on a highway with a machete and slap the chest of an Army corporal not to talk of a general. I do not think I will be bundled into a “danfo” bus as a result of resisting arrest because I have purposed in my heart not to touch money that is not mine if I ever get opportune to serve the state in any capacity (the one and only time I got grabbed by a plain cloths policeman was after I crossed Ikorodu road at Onipanu on the day Senegal beat France in 2002 instead of using the foot bridge and I am still intact to tell the tale).  I do not think I will be looking for whom to meet bail requirements because I know that common stealing is corruption. Many Nigerians are on the edge and faced by one issue or the other. Those are critical issues we need to address in order to prevent conflict while still ensuring that justice is delivered for anyone wrongly caught up in past conflicts. Running a government is serious business and those privileged to have media platforms and a fan base must understand their limits and not misuse it.