By Bola Bolawole
Much has been said about President Muhammadu Buhari’s damning comments at this year’s Nigeria Bar Association annual convention where, as it were, he bearded the lion in its den. In the midst of lawyers, law teachers, and judges, the President told the noble profession whose members pride themselves as “learned gentlemen” that regardless, his own profession is better than theirs and must take pre-eminence. Am sure you know the president is a military man, a retired two-star general who is now Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation. In that he said national security and national interest must take precedence over the rule of law, this, exactly, is the import of his statement, which has drawn the ire of many. But many of those who commented have been sold a dummy by Buhari and his minders or handlers.
Thinking that Buhari did not know the importance of the rule of law and its pre-eminent place in a democracy, critics have opened the textbooks, quoting Dicey, John Locke and many others. But it is not the case that the ideologues of this government are not familiar with all the fine arguments about due process and the primacy of the rule of law. They know the theory of separation of powers and why one tier of government should not lord it over another. How can Buhari, who declared himself a “converted democrat” when he was campaigning the last time around for the presidency, not understand the fine points as well as hallmarks of a democracy? That they have chosen to trample all of these under foot is a careful and deliberate choice they have made. Their problem is not ignorance at all.
Some commentators have also missed the point by raising the alarm that Buhari’s statement is ominous and is, therefore, danger signal for our renascent democracy. They scream that it warns us of a return to the draconian Buhari military era of Decree 2 and Decree 4 of 1984 where the rule of law was subverted; where the fundamental human rights; liberties; and freedoms of citizens were trampled under military jackboot; and publishing the truth was criminalised once government officials felt embarrassed by it. Buhari’s military rule was full-blown dictatorship. Since 2015 that he got the long-sought after opportunity to return as civilian president, he has not tired to be nostalgic of that ignoble past and has tried many tricks to cajole the National Assembly to give him sweeping powers and where that failed, he has moved to unilaterally award same to himself.
But, again, it is not as if Buhari is just preparing the grounds for dictatorship with his statement to the NBA and the nation as a whole. In one form or another; under this or that guise, dictatorship returned the moment Buhari mounted the saddle in 2015. Look carefully and you will see the imprimatur everywhere. It was what ruined the economy that was one of the fastest growing in the world and the biggest in Africa when Buhari came on board. Dictating obnoxious, jaded, and discarded economic policies to those who are his betters in that field was how Buhari led this country into economic recession. We are yet to put the disaster and its consequences behind us. It is same in other areas of our national life. Despite widespread rejection of grazing colonies or what-have-you, Buhari continues apace with the hated project. Despite the clamour for restructuring, Buhari continues to voice opposition to the popular demand.
At the Bar convention, Buhari merely disclosed the ideological underpinning of his government. He did not just sound a note of warning concerning what he was about to do but was letting us into the philosophy of his government. It is such philosophy that justified the criminalising of IPOB that was non-violent and running Nnamdi Kanu out of town while Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen continue to be treated with kid gloves. It is this same philosophy of government of “might is right (and) we are above the law” that explains the continued incarceration of Sambo Dasuki, Zaky-Zakky and his wife and many others despite court orders to the contrary. It is the philosophy of might is mightier than reason that has empowered them to turn deaf ears to all reasonable pleas for decency and decorum to prevail in many facets of our national life. Their justification for the crass bestiality they have perpetrated and continue to perpetrate is because of their philosophy that the rule of law is under the rule of national security.
Now, consider this: Who determines national security and national interest? It is Buhari and his clan of close aides who, deliberatively and not accidentally, are of the same religion and region. Dictators amass power in their own hands and, where this is not totally possible, also in the hands of a few trusted aides and collaborators. That is what Buhari has done. He is not just about to; he has done so already and his statement to the Bar was a justification and an explanation. Critics have re-visited and titillated our memory with all manner of copious statements by learned jurists of blessed memory like Kayode Esho, Oputa etc about the delicacies and intricacies of the rule of law. These ones in power are not strange to such statements but such arguments are not the ones the savour. Just as they pick and chose which court judgments to obey, so also they chose which arguments to adopt and which to throw overboard. They have errand boys who are bright in their own rights, who give them the authorities they need to reinforce the philosophical underpinnings of their regime.
Perish the thought: Buhari made no mistakes in his statement to the Bar. He knew what he was saying and meant exactly what he said. That has been the factors underlining his actions and inactions since 2015. We can only expect more of that in the days, weeks, and months to come.
LAST WORD: By the way, when was the last time NBA had a leader in the real sense of the word? I remember Alao Aka-Bashorun of blessed memory. Bola Ajibola tried a little. Rotimi Akeredolu stirred. Olisa Agbakoba made a mark. There was Priscilla Kuye. I cannot remember any in recent time.
FEEDBACK
Yours of the 29th August (on Osinbajo) was highly commendable. A Danish proverb says he who builds to every man’s advice will have a crooked house. All of us cannot be “yes-men” Never mind the negative feedbacks. What is important is your airing the factual truth. It is a shame that many think they are justified as Christians because of where they belong; who they pay allegiance to or by sentimentally playing to the gallery against God’s word and standard. – C. Kalu, Jos.
You spoke well and truthfully to all, not just to Osinbajo, if Christians who are supposed to speak for the commoners fail to do so. If the foundation be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Are many Christian leaders different from the example of the Ushers you cited? Many in positions of authority are also looters. – 09021602130.
Please keep writing; we would not all sleep facing one direction. We would not stand by and watch all these hypocrites as they arm-twist everyone. A true press is all about saying things as they are, regardless whose ox is gored. – Kehinde Ganiyu, Lokoja.
Yours (on Osinbajo) was unbiased and apt. He has not lived up to the expectations of Christians and most Nigerians’. He now denies restructuring and even defends the nepotism and double-standards of this government. We shall correct this with our PVC.– 08182582816.
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