By Abdu Rafiu
Each day, each major burning issue, raising tension in the polity! Each time, it is hot potato! Otherwise, how do we place the unfortunate public spat between the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and a young Naval Officer, Lt. A. M. Yerima? Alarmed high ranking retired officers of the military establishment rally round Yerima! Chief of Defence Staff, General Oluyede, giving him kudos for his conduct, said, “The Nigerian Defence Academy does not produce docile officers. The officer’s response reflects admirable composure and emotional intelligence-qualities that lie at the heart of military leadership training. His ability to remain calm, firm, and respectful under verbal provocation demonstrates discipline and professionalism.
“Nevertheless, it is both unfortunate and inappropriate for a federal minister to use such language towards a serving officer of the Armed Forces. Public officials should model civility and restraint, especially when addressing those in uniform who embody national service and sacrifice.
“Notwithstanding, the case is subject to my security.”
The Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, is reported to have said, “We will always protect our officer. He has done well. We won’t allow anything happen to him.”
This kind of encounter cannot go without attracting comments from well-meaning members of the public, some full-length and a few adumbrated. A public statement has reached my hands said to have been issued by a group of well-meaning Nigerians. I am interested in the import of the statements coming from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Oluyede, and a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, on the heels of a stand-off between the Minister of FCT, Mr.Nyesom Wike and Lt. Yerima. General Buratai is unsparing in his remarks, describing Wike’s conduct as reckless endangerment of national order that transcends mere misconduct of political theatrics, but it also “deliberately undermines the chain of command, disrespects the authority of the Commander-in-Chief and grievously wounds the morale of every individual who serves under the Nigerian flag.
“Such actions erode the very foundation of discipline upon which our national security apparatus stands…It represents a palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity. This action by Wike is clearly an indication of undermining the federal government’s authority.” Palpably concerned and, indeed, enraged, General Buratai says the action amounted to bashing the integrity of the Armed Forces and violation of the honour of the specific officer, that is, Naval Lt. Yerima. He says Wike’s outburst is an assault and being one on a military officer in uniform, it is an act of profound indiscipline that “strikes at the core of Nigerian command and control structure.” He pointed out that such confrontations with uniformed officers could have far-reaching implications for discipline within the Armed Forces.
The tense situation amidst controversy over US President Trump’s voiced reading of genocidal killings in our land requires careful handling with wisdom. We may wish to have some background to the ugly encounter between Minister Wike and the young officer, Naval Lt. Yerima. It is over a parcel of land belonging to the retired Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo. The FCT Administration under Nyesom Wike said the land the retired naval chief is developing has no title document and approval. Throwing light on the history of the land, the spokesman to the Minister, Lere Olayinka, said that far back in 2007, the large parcel of land was allocated to a company called Santos Estate Limited for Parks and Recreation. According to Olayinka, the area is a road corridor. The original buyer changed his mind and applied to the then minister in 2022 to convert the land from parks and recreation to commercial. In anticipation of an approval by the then minister, the proprietor of the proposed parks began to partition the land for sale. It was one of the parcels arising from the partitioning that Vice-Admiral Gambo bought. As it turned out approval for conversion was not granted by the previous minister. Gambo started developing his property. The FCT officers went there to ask that the work be stopped. In view of demolitions of houses going on in the federal capital of Abuja generally, the retired Naval chief, presumably sought to protect what he had bought, probably unaware that the sale was illegal as the land area is not for residential development. Vice-Admiral Gambo sent military men there, led by Lt. Yerima. They did not allow FCT officers access to the place. The minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike as he is wont to, then decided to take on the task himself. He went there with a retinue of his officers and policemen. He was denied access by the military men on guard and the confrontation ensued.
Wike was wrong. All he needed do on discovering that the land belongs to a retired officer of the level of Vice-Admiral Gambo, was to give him a call and explain to him that the area is not meant for residential houses, and that, in fact, he may have been scammed, employing Olayinka’s own words. Do you add to the wound of a person’s soul or help to heal it? He would also have, out of empathy, offered the Vice-Admiral alternative places to make a choice so he could allocate a new plot to him. That would have been a display of sensitivity, caringness and decency for which the Vice-Admiral would have been grateful and deeply appreciative. Does the minister know for how long the officer had striven to save what he has decided to pour into the project? Yes, Gambo needed to obtain approval; he could have thought he would regularize all that later, given all the foot-dragging in these matters in some of Nigerian public offices. If he did not want to do that, the other option was to take him to court so the court could pronounce the development illegal and it should be halted.
Following is the encounter between the Hon. Minister, Mr. Wike and Naval Officer, Naval Lt. Yerima posted to this column from a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka:
Minister: Shut up
Naval officer: I will not shut up
Minister: You are a fool
Naval officer: I am not a fool
Minister: Keep quiet
Naval officer: I will not keep quiet
Minister: You are grabbing land:
Naval officer: I have integrity. I am working on orders.
Minister; By the time I graduated, you were in primary school
Naval officer: But you cannot shut me up
Minister: You cannot develop this property
Naval officer: I am working on orders
Minister: Who gave you the orders?
Naval officer: A Three-Star General
This encounter should not have arisen at all. It is distasteful. It is appalling. Mr. Nyesom Wike is one of president Bola Tinubu’s most visible, very effective, committed and most hardworking ministers. He has brought to his assignment uncommon application to work. There are proven pieces of evidence that he delivers. He will certainly bring enheartening transformation to the face of Abuja, by the time his time is up, maybe beyond 2027. He has the drive. However, he can do with more refinement and decorum in the discharge of his assigned duties and give respect to whom respect is due. Bullying and intimidation should have no place in public service, especially at the level of a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He will certainly achieve more with polish. Refinement disarms, it does not stand in the way of firmness.
MR. TRUMP AND NIGERIA’S INSECURITY
The United States President, Mr. Donald Trump has shown deep concern about the killings in our country which he sees as having sectarian undertones. He has threatened to fly in his crack units from his troops to smoke out terrorists and bandits, and their sponsors. This has sent cold shivers down many a spine. On the surface, it may have struck alarm in our hearts, and rightly so as a nation. The zones and people under siege, under bombardment, unable to sleep, and from whose communities peace of mind and of the environment, has fled, can’t but be happy at the prospect of help, at Mr. Trump’s promise and possibility of deliverance. It is only natural. And this is what has put Nigerians at a crossroads: Should Trump come or should he not?
Mr. Trump was elected, despite his many flaws last year November because the Americans were tired of Godlessness in their lives, of the irreligiousity a great many of the citizens have largely embraced and made a way of life. The conservatives that constitute the soul of the Republicans, those Dr. Stanley Macebuh was wont to call the substantial minority, had been complaining that liberal administrations had banished God from their lives, from schools of their children, and from public institutions. The churches are empty in many areas and in many states. They said there were no longer Devotional Hours any longer in their schools, there were no prayers at public events. They felt, somehow, that they had all the material comforts alright, technology has made life even rosier, there was emptiness in their souls. They recalled what they often said about themselves and what outsiders had been saying about their land, “God’s own country.” That it is a blessed land.
America is a settler nation, founded by those who fled from the crusade in Europe from 1095, the first formed with the goal to recapture Jerusalem for Christendom. This was at the behest of Pope Urban 11. The crusade lasted several years. A scholar once wrote that it was a period of church’s war on the freedom of thought. “The real history of the church” wrote Victor Hugo in his ‘his history of free thought’ “will be read not on the pages, but between the lines of the political annals. Parnilli was whipped for declaring that stars do not fall from their appointed paths. Campland was thrown into jail 27 times for claiming and insisting that there are innumerable other worlds besides the earth plane. Harvey was tortured for the crime of proving that the blood circulates through the arteries and veins of the body. Galileo was incarcerated for claiming that the earth orbits around the sun and Christopher Columbus was imprisoned for discovering a land not mentioned by St. Paul which is America. Those fleeing from the crusade consequently had their inner beings sharpened and refined from the horrible experiences in Europe. Thus, when they got to America, with ardent longing for the ideal and turning their gaze upwards for help, with their now resultant inner radiance, they consecrated the land and the blessings of the Lord poured to cover the land. They displayed virtues,; they prospered and America became known as “God’s own country”!
The conservatives and Christian communities believed that they should return to the pristine values and make America Great Again which was the campaign slogan of Mr. Trump. They considered Trump, given his strength of character, the most appropriate person to be in the saddle in the present time to restore God into their lives. He must also take more than passing interest in where the communities of Christians are being threatened. What they had not witnessed for a long time, upon the elections results announced and he was victorious, they gathered at the Convention Centre singing in the lobby the spiritual hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” He was described as high priest of the Church of MAGA. Hence, Mr. Trump’s resolve to stop the killings. Of course, there would be material interests, oil and solid minerals being disguised by some of the powerful forces behind him. Trump considers that as secondary. His primary aim is to protect his spiritual values that others profess and share with him. It should go without saying that America must have a committed Intelligence Community in our land. Mr. Trump says he knows the cells of the sponsors of the insecurity in this country.
We cannot live in denial. The state of insecurity has been with us, with terrorists, bandits and kidnappers ravaging the land for about 16 years. Think of Chibok; more than 100 of the abducted girls are still in captivity. Some of the parents finding the experiences too nightmarish and suffocating have died. Think of Kajuru in Southern Kaduna, Benue, Jos, Nasarawa, Gombe, Zamfara, parts of Kogi–all the epicenters of insurgency and banditry, mostly in North Central, North Eastern and North-Western States. There have been reports that the insurgents have taken control of some communities and they collect tolls and taxes from them.
I am not saying, from the foregoing that Mr. Trump should invade our country. Such missions always leave the country worse than the rescuers met it. It will be recalled that when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait snuffing life out of it, the country cried out for international help. The combined forces of Mr. George Bush and Tony Blair were sent. The experiences of Kuwait and Iraq as well as those of Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan should be a lesson to us. Saddam Hussein was eliminated all right, but the country has not been the same again. The focus of the rescue missions was on oil. The answer to all this is for the leaders to be more humane, compassionate, permitting the milk of human kindness to run in their veins.
The government should take the establishment of state police much more seriously; the government can no longer afford to remain distant from possible distress calls of their citizens, how much more from those who are unceasingly under siege. It is only to be expected that if we cannot put our house in order, and outsiders feel they would be impacted, it is natural they would want to get embroiled, especially where sectarian interests are involved.
The Guardian
