I had two other matters competing for this space today. In fact the discourses had been done with. One was a strategic view offered by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, a key northern political player, that unity in any human union is negotiable. The significance of his statement is situated in the personality of the man speaking and the thought process around him.
Kingibe is an entrenched player in national politics; he knows when things are going well and when the situation is getting very complicated and out of hand. This was why his statement became a very important subject to reexamine. The other discourse would have been on Pastor Tunde Bakare›s style of hunting with the hound and running hare. He told us President Buhari›s time is technically over, no more of his traces after 2023 polls. He promised to form a movement, good idea, the constitution must be thrown away immediately for a new one. He barely sat down when he got invitation to visit the President and he honoured it. Can he be trusted?
As you can already see those intents have been kept in abeyance for the simple reason our society is yet to attain stability with predictability that would naturally have followed most matters. We don›t have such a luxury here. If anything our entity is rather unraveling with each hour throwing up developments that question our standing as human beings. Each day lives are lost in a manner reminiscent of the animal kingdom. If it is not Boko Haram and allied insurgents doing terrible demages, it is the new group given the baptismal name, bandits. More recently, state security officials have joined, going against citizens they could easily apprehend and bring to justice, meeting them in homes, shooting and killing them outright. Some of us had mistakenly thought this level of savagery had long gone past, but there it is staring all of us in the face and tearing our hearts to pieces.
It is possible that as you are reading this, fellow unarmed country men and women including children, many of them very underaged are being mercilessly butchered and killed; many others thrown into deep trauma for no justifiable cause except the fact that a group›s vision must gain supremacy in a highly pluralistic society. Let›s steady ourselves on the matter at hand. Last weekend while a vast majority of our population stayed glued to ascertain if the main opposition People›s Democratic Party (PDP), which managed to stage a national convention, has anything to offer the country come 2023 general elections, a bunch anarchists in our midst found the time most ideal to storm the Abuja residence of Mary Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court.
The invaders came armed with a procured search warrant which had no name on it, the address too was wrong. What a funny society we are turning out to be. After feeble resistance and staccato calls across the country, the invaders retreated, while the magistrate with a Christian name who approved the obviously flawed order rescinded his order apparently from the comfort of his sitting room. In the typical Nigerian fashion, an officer in the hallowed temple of Justice who ought to throw in a letter of resignation when the journey of perfidy ended in ignominy rather came through with an after thought claim that he was misled by officials from the Federal Ministry of Justice. If he is incapable in small things, it is clear proof he ought not be trusted with big things. He is on seat to do more harm. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which has a case against Dr Peter Odili, husband to the Justice was so quick to organize media appearances for its chairman to wash his hands off this disgusting outing. So did the Police, the Directorate of State Services and the Minister of Justice himself. A case of bad not having a relation.
It is evil, everyone seems to know; a pure coup that failed, leaving behind a putrid stench. The whodunit has become a big puzzle as everyone is taking a distance. Truly, what is bad is bad. The absurdity in primitive show of power is brought out very clearly by admittance of the magistrate who buckled under the weight of iniquity and told a shocked nation that he issued a search warrant at the instance of a group of state officials who told him they were from the Ministry of Justice. Yet more than three days after the obviously well planned assault happened, a bewildered country and her millions of troubled citizens were still being told the state with all governance apparachik at its disposal could not in a matter of few hours uncover the brains behind this dastardly act including what the objective was. The Federal Government surprisingly adopted an attitude of see not, hear not. It would seem like nothing of significance happened, yet a Justice of the nation›s highest court was going through one of the worst moments in her life. This innocent lady may as well have died and it won›t mean anything since killing of citizens has become a norm.
By the time this piece was being put together the act of rigmarole and buying of time started with the police announcing arrest of possible actors, the magistrate in this company of infamy was not among those picked up over what is a grievous crime. He is free, waiting in the wings, kept there to do more harm. This adequately depicts the kind of society we have succeeded to couple together, a system that has mean men in high places of power and authority working hard to wrestle citizens and the entity called Nigeria into destruction.
All it takes for evil to start and grow wings is for good people whose consciences are alive to stand aloof, watch and do nothing. The political class, especially the opposition political parties, seem to be victims of hypnotism. The way it is today, they can›t see, let alone talk or speak with the right language, content and confidence equal to challenges at hand, neither do their concerns hit at the root of the deliberate but systematic erosion of basic freedoms available to the people. Freedom is the foundation of any progressive development. What is difficult to say would be why leaders run from talking and challenging clear abberations. It could be they are all involved in corruption. Even then the main opposition ought to circumvent this kind of trap simply by throwing up fresh and capable people to serve as the face and voice of a new order; the rest can be the feeder pipes. As it is today they are not talking. To hope or expect they will organize protest marches may be like waiting for Godot. Yet, it needs restating that this would have been the way to go a long time ago.
Much hope has been placed on the activists but all of that seems to be a misplaced expectation, except for a few. We see most of them prance about the space, do analysis on radio and television programmes, some of us who know them do point out and give them the appropriate name they deserve today, «De-feathered Eagles.» They have became captives of the very forces they used to rage against. While they ate the kings foods they got the feathers on the wings removed. This is important and should be stated. Activists, via a unique conspiracy brought the present order into being, now the heat is on and they have taken refuge in an attitude of passivity. This is terrible. The truth is that they must come out to undo the evil they brought on an otherwise peaceful society. Yes, they must come back. Like Tunde Bakare told us he would have done before he was invited to the high place, there is need to put up coalitions to confront the evil and looming danger that is right before us. Many of us are not prophets with benefit of clairvoyance, yet we have seen enough signs to suggest inevitability of far bigger calamity tomorrow.
lt is good that the people at the Supreme Court this time around offered a voice and those in Nigeria Bar Association have gone to interface with an Attorney General, whose calls appear many times very puzzling. Their jabs against oddity ought to be far higher. Lives are at stake. Disorder and impunity is gaining priority. Dictatorship is becoming emboldened.
Remember Mary Odili›s current travails is not the first in very recent times. Homes of some justice›s had been invaded in recent times in unholy hours of the night. That was clear assault on the independence of the Judiciary. Judges we hold in very high esteem were dymystified, fear crept into their hearts. We saw how that led to jurisprudence that knowing how to read is equivalent to school certificate and how a candidate who came fourth emerged winner with votes higher than registered voters.
It is repeating in more bizzare manner because it is now seen as a case of conquered people so nothing will happen. Those who push this line of action are poor students of history. If their theory stands on a solid ground, then Idi Amin, the strongman of Uganda, who died miserably in far away Saudi Arabia would still be on seat today. The assault against Mary Odili was premeditated, it was carefully thought through but badly executed. It is a poor start to Justice Onoghen tragedy. It marks the beginning of doing far greater evil in months ahead. It has something to do with succession plans, nearly exact with the case of justice Onoghene.
If God were not with the Odilis to turn the enemy counsel to foolishness and disgrace, Mary Odili, her husband and a few of those in the house would have been killed and like we see already nothing would have come out of it. It would been a simple case that bandits had entered Abuja and that would be it. Now we have some clues to the enemies, yet authorities can›t put their hands to anything.
Mrs Odili for all I know is a target. Those after her are vicious, they are in their slippery moments and would do everything to meet an expectation, so they won›t relent, this is why we should be concerned. Justice Odili will only survive if the sadists and sons of demons in our midst get to know that in law of spirituality, spirits are banned from walking through the earth in their pure forms. So if these demons walk through human agents, it is time these agents are made to know in very unmistakable terms that the majority who inhabit here are agents of light.
Light never begs darkness to live. Light must rise so that darkness will bid a natural exit. In all, Mary Odili must not die, neither should any other harassment be visited on her again under any guise. Taking chances can produce the beast in others. Finally, and this is very pertinent, it is time we see all sections of the country in commanding heights of our security structure. Absence of this is turning very costly. Mary Odili must not die. She should not be displaced.