By Sylvester Udemezue
We are to blame for Abba Kyari’s Travails. And Many More Would Follow Until We Borrow Some Sense
By Sylvester Udemezue
I read the piece by Martins Oloja, titled “Abba Kyari and collapse of public Service” published on 20 February 2022 in LawAndSociety Magazine. Without delving into the body of that article, below was my response to the title.
Public service collapses because clannishness sectionalism religious bigotry and ethnic jingoism are the deciding factors for who gets appointed into which public position or office in Nigeria. The result in Nigeria is this: “Corrupt government… run by corrupt politicians that run corrupt law enforcement agencies,” as said by Steve Magee.
Che Guevara put it this way: “Cruel leaders are replaced only to have new leaders turn cruel.”
Until we begin to emphasize institutions and to deemphasize the role of persons, individuals, and personalities, Nigeria would remain down and stagnant. Rigoberta Menchú said, _”Without strong institutions, impunity becomes the very foundation upon which systems of corruption are built. And if impunity is not demolished, all efforts to bring an end to corruption are in vain.”
We had elevated ABBA KYARI to the status of a semi-God. WE overlooked all his failings and frailties, ignored the atrocities he perpetrated in the name of policing. This was why he began seeing himself, and behaving, as God who is all-powerful and flawless. Books were even written in his honour. A mere police officer.
Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is an observation that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. The statement itself was made by Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. So, if you give a man too much power, without any check, misbehavior is the inevitable result.
Obafemi Awolowo put it this way, _“power enslaves and absolute power enslaves absolutely.”
We are the reason for Abba Kyari’s fall from grace to grass. We’re to blame for his travails. Many more individuals we have elevated to the status is semi-gods, will still come down crashing. And there would be no improvement in governance in Nigeria — yes, not until we put aside clannishness sectionalism, parochialism, egoism, and pettiness, and imbibe/embrace broad-mindedness, altruism, inclusiveness, and merit as our governance creeds. And not until we focus on building strong and enduring institutions rather than on building strong leaders.
Nigeria is a struggling country of thoroughly confused, misguided, and clueless leaders. We can’t make progress because we love regression and stagnancy over and above sanity and progress. We want to be like others but we don’t want to do what others did to be where they’re.
ABBA KYARI (our socalled super cop) has been pulled down by us — by our ineptitude and parochial. We did the same to Ibrahim Magu whom we began referring to (for no justifiable reasons) as the Anti-corruption Czar
And many more will follow, until we change our ugly style in order to get out of the doldrums.
We have corrupted, thwarted, ruined, and desecrated all known indices and conditions for good governance and progress. And as David Hume said: “the corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst”.
The beautiful ones are not yet on the saddle in Nigeria. But the Nigeria of our dream is possible!
Respectfully,
Sylvester Udemezue (Udems)
