The recent controversial editorial by The Punch newspaper titled Buhari’s Recklessness: Our Stand, in which it decided to henceforth refer to President Muhammadu Buhari as Major General, his military title, is long overdue and the paper should be commended for calling the head of state and government and administration to order.
So many actions and inactions, which are violations of the rule of the law enumerated by the paper, have left many wondering if we are actually in a democratic dispensation or not.
Despite the government’s claim to being law abiding, the country has witnessed a gradual slide into disregard for the fundamental human rights of the citizens guaranteed by the Constitution which the president and others officials swore to uphold.
The refusal of the Department of State Services (DSS) to release the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, and his co-accused after meeting the stringent bail conditions granted them by the court until it was forced, based on another pronouncement and fine was indeed the height of lawlessness by a government agency behaving as if it is above the law of the land.
Apparently emboldened that it had not been called to order, men of the DSS stormed the court less than 24 hours after reluctantly releasing Sowore to arrest him.
Despite available video of the shameless court drama where Sowore was almost openly abducted, the organisation and other government officials have been denying what is obvious to all.
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It took the disclosure of the lead counsel to Sowore, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, that the DSS has apologised for invading the court to stop the agency from holding on to its initial denial.
Thankfully, the national assembly has decided to investigate the matter and the truth of what really should not have happened will be known to us.
I hope the agency will be honourable enough to apologise to the public for not being truthful over the matter.
There is nothing wrong with the DSS charging Sowore or any other citizen for any alleged offence, especially bordering on the security of the country, but to seek to do so in violation of the law is not acceptable under a civilian administration.
What The Punch sought to achieve with its editorial is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution which empowers the media to hold the government accountable to the citizens.
The media is supposed to be the voice of the people, especially when they are been ignored by the government as it is in this case, when human rights abuse at various levels have become rampant and no one is sure who will be the next victim.
Beyond the debate over the appropriateness of the symbolism of the use of the prefix of Major General for Buhari, the editorial and the discussion that have followed it is an opportunity for the government to engage in an honest soul searching about what it is not doing right.
For a government that used to enjoy the goodwill of the people and promised a change from the past years of mis-governance, it cannot afford to take the people for granted.
Respect for the rule of law is one of the cardinal considerations in assessing how democratic a government is and the Buhari administration has a lot to do on this to redeem its image.
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