By Lawal Ogienagbon

By his nature, President Muhammadu Buhari is not given to talking, according to his spokesman, Femi Adesina. Like every human being, it is not that the President does not talk at all, he just does not talk much. Indeed,  there are people like that who find it difficult to talk, except it is extremely necessary. When they talk, those around will look at one another, wondering what happened. What could have propelled the taciturn guy to talk? They ask no one in particular.

If Buhari were the talking type, he would have been voluble in recent times, especially over the worsening security situation in the country. But being a man who keeps to himself, he has said nothing even when there is much to talk about and people are yearning to hear from him. When it comes to talking, Buhari and his American counterpart Donald Trump are different. Trump can talk the dead to rise,  while Buhari can keep mum, no matter the din around him. The more the noise, the more he is unaffected by his surroundings. That’s him for you.

It is strange that he has not been moved to talk by the heightening insecurity,  which was brought home grimly, by the killing of some rice farmers in Zabarmari, Borno State, last November 28, by Boko Haram. The casualty figure remains conflicting till today, more than 12 days after 43 of those killed were buried. The  Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the killing, puts the figure at 78. The Senate says it is 67. Whether one or two, the truth is no life should be taking in such circumstances. It smacks of barbarism to kill people by slitting their throats. That kind of bestiality can only be seen in movies.

For that horrible show to happen in real life again and again portrays Boko Haram for what it really is: a bunch of demented bigots. The group has been killing civilians and soldiers and even kids in what the military has since described as “asymmetrical warfare”.  Whether symmetrical or asymmetrical, the citizens are not interested in whatever name the military calls the war; all they want is for Boko Haram to be defeated. They are tired of being told that Boko Haram has been “technically defeated”, a phrase first used by the President.

What is the point of such “technical defeat” when Boko Haram is still strong, as we have seen time and again, to inflict colossal damage on the country. To the public, Boko Haram was at no time “technically defeated”.  If it was, it would not still be that bold as to ambush a governor’s convoy,  attack army barracks, invade schools and farms, without let or hindrance . To put the people’s mind at rest,  the President may have to shed light on what he meant by “technical defeat” of Boko Haram when he addresses a joint session of the National Assembly today.

At times, it may be a strategy to keep quiet, but when things are turning upside down, the President cannot pretend that all is well. Things are just not right in the country right now and we all know it. Security has totally collapsed, with the people left to look after themselves. In this regard, one is not talking about Boko Haram alone. The people are more concerned about Boko Haram because of its audacious campaigns in the Northeast. With the governors raising the alarm that the group is behind the kidnapping in the Southwest, it may soon be everywhere in the country,  if not stopped now.

The solution to this security challenge is in the President’s hands. Today, he should let the lawmakers know how he plans to end the Boko Haram siege. His visit should not just be another visit; it must be meaningful because, from the look of things,  on it rests some of the answers to our problems as a nation. The lawmakers as representatives of the people are concerned with what is happening in the land because their constituents are affected. They are being killed, kidnapped or maimed and their homes destroyed. It remains for the lawmakers to use the opportunity of this meeting to convey their constituents feeling to the President. This is the essence of their invitation to the President.

It will also enable them to hear from him firsthand,  his plan for securing the nation not only from Boko Haram, but also from other criminal elements. It is a moment of truth for the executive and legislature. What does the executive need to redress the security situation? Is there any need for a special legislation to address the Boko Haram menace? The President should open up and seek the lawmakers’ help, if necessary, to get the nation out of this security bind. Things cannot continue like this. As the President, the buck stops on his table. He should take the lead in the counter-insurgency war. Five years ago, many never believed that what we are experiencing today will ever happen under a Buhari Presidency.

He too made us to believe that he had the magic wand for the Boko Haram menace. Buhari told us that six months after assuming office, he would have ridden the nation of Boko Haram and we believed him. We now know better. When Boko Haram struck in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014, and abducted over 200 schoolgirls, during the Jonathan administration, we said such would never happen under the Buhari administration and so, we voted for him in 2015. But it did. In 2018, Boko Haram invaded Dapchi and took away over 100 schoolgirls. One of those girls,  Leah Sharibu, is still in captivity.

Will the President tell the lawmakers that he has made a headway in the counter-insurgency war? Will he insist that Boko Haram has been ‘technically defeated’? If he makes that submission, can the lawmakers look him in the face and ask: how can Boko Haram be ‘technically defeated’ and still be able to hit ‘soft’ and hard targets?

Willy-nilly, Buhari must talk about his Service Chiefs, who the Senate is insisting must go. The President prefers to keep them. The people do not begrudge him that right. But they also have the right to know why he is keeping them in the face of their seeming inability to tame the Boko Haram monster. The people are not asking that the Service Chiefs be sacked because they hate the military brass’ faces, but because of their poor handling of the counter-insurgency war. Under the watch of these Service Chiefs, Boko Haram has  made a mincemeat of not only our troops, but also of civilians. This is why the people believe that they can no longer be in charge of the counter-insurgency war, if Boko Haram must be defeated.

Perhaps, we do not know what the President knows that makes it compelling for him to keep his Service Chiefs. This may come to light at his meeting with the lawmakers. One hopes that both sides will put the nation first in the collective search for a lasting solution to this scary problem.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

IT was a Black Saturday. The day broke like any other, last Saturday, without any sign of the massacre about to happen on some rice farms around the remote Koshobe, Marrabati and Hammaya villages near Zabarmari in Jere Local Government Area of Borno State. Around noon, Boko Haram insurgents invaded those communities, leaving death and destruction in their trail. Borno has always been a Boko Haram enclave. For 11 years, the sect has held the state by the throat, making life hell for the people.

Five years ago, it was a campaign issue for President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, All Progressives Congress (APC). Security was at a low ebb then, not only in Borno, but all over the country. Former President Goodluck Jonathan took all the flak for his administration’s failure to tackle the problem. Yet, he sought to return to power in 2015. It was a lost battle even before it started as the electorate wanted a ‘strong’ and not a ‘clueless’ president who could take on Boko Haram frontally. Buhari said security was on the front burner of his programmes, promising to rout Boko Haram within a few months of assuming office, if elected. That was like music to the people’s ears and they nodded their heads huhu ‘that’s the kind of president we want’. Five years after, Boko Haram is waxing stronger,  with the present administration unable to respond accordingly. The public has yet to come to terms with what is happening.

The citizenry cannot reconcile what is happening with the President’s declaration four years ago on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that Boko Haram has been “technically defeated”. Taking a cue from his Commander-in-Chief (C-i-C), the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant Gen. Tukur Buratai, said in May, last year, that the terrorist sect had been defeated. But from all indications, the sect is still as deadly as ever, striking at will and wreaking havoc on Borno and some of its contguous states.

Where it operates from remains a mystery in the wake of the  military’s celebrated destruction of the sect’s Sambisa Forest camp in 2016. The military takeover of Ground Zairo, the public was made to believe, marked the demise of Boko Haram. But the sect has refused to die despite the government’s repeated announcement of its death. In the last five years of the present administration, Boko Haram has become more daring than before. What people thought the group would never do under the administration of a war veteran and crack general like Buhari, it has done and more. Under Buhari’s watch, the sect abducted hundreds of girls from a secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018, just as it did under Jonathan in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014. Leah Sharibu, one of the girls abducted in Dapchi is still in captivity.

What Boko Haram has shown in the last five years of this administration is that it is no respecter of any personality in power, no matter their background. As a general, it was generally believed that Buhari would bring his military background to bear on the fight against insurgency. So far, this has not been the case.  What happened last Saturday at Koshobe and environ is a sad reminder that Boko Haram is far from being defeated. It keeps bubbling up whenever they say it is down and out.

Koshobe should not have happened. That it happened at all is an indictment of the armed forces. This is no time for the Service Chiefs to give excuses; it is a time for them to come out and admit their failure in the counter-insurgency war. As heads of the army, air force and navy, the Service Chiefs must know that the war goes beyond visiting the battlefront to be with their men to boost their morale, eat and drink with them. The campaign requires them to put on their thinking caps to map out the strategy for wiping out Boko Haram. The sect has troubled the nation for too long. If the military brass cannot come up with that strategy, it is certainly time for them to go, as the Senate resolved, on Tuesday, for the third time this year. That same day, the House of Representatives invited the President to brief it on the security situation. The signs are indeed ominous.

That fateful Saturday morning, some able-body farmers rose early for the day’s work. They had no inkling of danger. They had hardly settled on their farms when Boko Haram insurgents struck. Where did they come from? The nearby Maiduguri, the state capital, where soldiers are said to be virtually everywhere on the streets? How did the insurgents beat the soldiers’ checks to get to Koshobe? From reports, 43 persons were killed in the attack. They were those buried on Sunday in Zabarmari. It is believed that the casualty figure is higher than that. The Senate says it is 67. The Abubakar Shekau faction of Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the dastardly act, puts the figure at 78 on Tuesday.

The United Nations (UN), which on Sunday said 110 were killed, recanted on Monday, saying it did not have the exact figure. Why then did it rush to give out the casualty figure of 110 when it had not got its fact right? This is an issue for another day. Till today, the actual number of those killed in Koshobe remains unknown. Why is it so difficult to get the casualty figure? These are farmers who go to their farms regularly and whose records must be kept somewhere for business purpose. What happened in Koshobe was the failure of the military to do its work. Where were they when Boko Haram invaded Koshobe and rounded up the farmers who were said to have helped in arresting an insurgent a day or two earlier? That incident should have made the soldiers  to be  alert to an eventual invasion by the sect over the farmers’ action. But the farmers were abandoned and exposed to the Boko Haram danger. Their nation failed them when they needed it most.

At the point of being killed like animals,  they might have looked up for help from soldiers who are supposed to protect them, but the troops were nowhere to be found. Where were they? Which other job could be more important  than being there for the farmers? Is it true that the farmers were compelled to pay ‘tax’ to Boko Haram before they could work on their farms? The tales people are bearing in the wake of the Koshobe killings are not palatable at all. How have the Service Chiefs conducted the counter-insurgency war? They have done their best, but their best appears not good enough.

Can they still be trusted with the operation? The answer is no, going by their performance so far. This maybe why the Senate resolved that the President should “sack and replace them with new ones”. Will the President heed the call? He is not likely. On Monday, Buhari’s media aide, Garba Shehu, who drew public ire over his remark that the slain farmers did not obtain security clearance before going to their farms, said the clamour for the Service Chiefs’ sack was “out of place”.

Can things continue this way? They cannot. Is the use of mercenaries as suggested by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum the way to go? The governor’s call is not out of place. As the person facing the heat, he must have seen enough to make such pitch. I however believe that the  job can still be done by the army if it puts its heart to it. But the soldiers would only imbibe such spirit under a new leadership. This is why the Service Chiefs must go. The nation must do something about Boko Haram and the President has to lead the charge in line with his promise in 2015 to ensure security of life and property, if elected.  He was elected and he is now doing a second term but the insecurity in the land today is worse than he met it in 2015. His apologists may argue otherwise, but the facts speak for themselves. Boko Haram has got out of hand and the President must take drastic measures to curtail the sect’s excesses. Will he? Perhaps,  he will unveil his plan for addressing the problem if he honours the lawmakers’ invitation.

Lawal Ogienagbon

IN its glorious days, the Daily Times paraded some of the brightest and the best in the media. Daily Times was more than a newspaper. It was an octopoidal organisation, with tentacles in various businesses. But the paper, which first hit the newsstands in June 1926, gave it its household name. In the newspaper world, the Daily Times stood out. It eclipsed every other paper, which in their right, were no pushovers. The Daily Times so dominated the market that it became the generic name for newspapers in the country. Every paper was Daily Times in the eyes of readers.

In no time, it became a commercial success, delving into other businesses to rake in money. The conglomerate became a runaway success under Babatunde Jose, the doyen of modern Nigeria journalism, who died in 2008. Jose’s other investments brought in money for the organisation, making it the first Nigerian newspaper to be listed on the stock exchange. As Jose set up companies here and there under the Daily Times flagship, so did he invest in people. He looked for quality workers and brought them on board.

To him, only the best was fit for the Daily Times and he went all out for them, no matter the cost. He was stern to a fault and he ruled his empire, which was the Daily Times, with an iron hand. History tells us that all administrators are like that. They are ruthless and do not suffer fools gladly. All they want is result. They are not interested in stories about the efforts made. The Daily Times tradition of excellence was handed down from generation to generation. Long after the Jose years, some of his protégés were saddled with the responsibility of running the organisation at one time or the other. One of them was Professor Dayo Alao, who died on Saturday, at the age of 72.

As a journalist, he was simply known as Dayo Alao, even when he became General Manager, Times Publication Division (TPD), the powerhouse of Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) Plc. As GM, he was the overseer of all the publications in the Daily Times stable, and these were many, even when the company had fallen into hard times. By the time Alao became GM, TPD, the Daily Times Group was no longer as strong as it was in the Jose days. In the past, the subsidiaries stood on their own and could easily come to the aid of the newspaper, if need be. By the late 1990s, things were no longer rosy for many of them. They needed support to remain afloat and they turned to the TPD-controlled paper,  which was also struggling for survival.

The fortunes of the Daily Times had plummeted in the wake of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. It was a bad fall for a paper that had ruled the industry for decades. By 1996/7, the Daily Times was a shadow of itself. Those of us who were insiders, knew what the paper was going through. By then, it had stopped publishing some of its titles in order to cut cost. As GM,  TPD,  it was Alao’s lot to ensure that the Daily Times legacy was kept alive. Being a Timesman to the core, he threw himself at the job. He worked round the clock to ensure that the Daily Times and its other surviving titles came out without fail. He was a hands on boss, who denied himself the perks of office, for the sake of the paper and its workers.

His motto was: not under my watch will it be said that Daily Times did not come out for one day or that salary was not paid. Alao met a tradition at the Daily Times and he was determined to keep that tradition of excellence and enterprise  as GM. He made sacrifices for the paper to regain its glory. As an ‘indigene’, that is those who joined the Daily Times in the late sixties and early seventies, Alao knew that he could only secure his place in the pantheon of the greats if he turned around the fortunes of Daily Times. For someone like him who had seen it all in the organisation, his propelling force was making the conglomerate great again. It was not an easy task.

Alao started as a reporter. He later edited Times International, the weekly magazine in the stable. Alao was GM, Times Books Limited, for a brief period,  before he became GM, TPD. As TPD boss, he ruled the roost at Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos. Daily Times was only so in name when he became GM, TPD.  He toiled to turn the paper into a brand again. He knew that he had a major task at hand and he gave it his all. All he wanted was for Daily Times to regain its pride of place. He resumed early and closed late everyday, driving a old, rickety official car,  which he inherited. He refused to buy himself a new official car or stay in official quarters. Alao went on advert drive with the advert department to ensure the return of the good, old days.

It was unheard of that Daily Times would go begging for adverts. But it happened. A paper where people used to queue, pleading that their adverts be taken! Alao was a boss like no other. He mixed freely with workers, many of who filled his car every evening after the close of work for a ride home. After leaving the Daily Times,  Alao went into the academia, starting off at Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State, where he got his professorship. He left there for Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, where he served for four years as vice chancellor. He conquered the worlds of journalism and academic, leaving his footprints in the sand of time.

Alao died when he should be enjoying his life in retirement. My boss and former Sunday Times Editor Tunde Ipinmisho told me about Alao’s death on Saturday morning. Ipinmisho said he spoke with the deceased a few weeks ago. Alao told Ipinmisho that he returned to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on retirement,  two days before the call. Alao returned home to enjoy the bliss of retirement, but God decided to call him to the eternal home. My heart goes out to his widow and children. May he find rest in the Lord’s bosom.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

For the police, the #ENDSARS Protests were a rude reawakening. Never before had the police which style themselves as friends of the people witnessed such a challenge to their authority by some members of the society. The youths which championed the protests are a force to reckon with in any society. Whenever they rise up in arms against authority, the consequences can be dire. The people saw the raw power of youths on display during the protests.

Those, who had for long described the youths as good for nothing, ate their words as the protesters defied this profiling to push their case in a peaceful and orderly manner. They tidied up their control centres at the end of each day’s event,  fed the hungry, took care of the indisposed and raised money for the needy. All they wanted was a change of attitude from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) which they said was harassing them at will. The action was tagged: #ENDSARS,  but it was much more than that.

To show that they had nothing against the police, the protesters also demanded improved salary for the law enforcement agents. As Nigerians, we know how shabbily the police are treated. While the officers live large, the rank and file are left to fend for themselves despite the provisions in the police budget to take care of their needs. They only hear of these budgetary provisions for their uniforms, boots and other appurtenances, but do not get anything from the vote.

After the end of SARS,  a new police must emerge therefrom was the underlying message from the protesting youths. A police that will serve the people and not turn their guns on them. A police that will respect the rights of people and not embark on arbitrary arrest. The message was lost to those in power. They saw the #ENDSARS as a war against the police. Truly, the police are not pro-people. They always work against the people from whose taxes their needs are met.

If only the youths did not over play their hands, the protests might not have ended the way they did on October 20, paving the way for hoodlums to hijack the demonstration. What happened on that fateful night of 10/20 at the Lekki Toll Plaza changed the tone of the protests, but not the essence. The shootings at the plaza by soldiers sparked anger and condemnation. Anger by miscreants and condemnation from well-meaning people at home and abroad.

The miscreants resorted to looting, burning, raping, maiming and killing nationwide. These were the dark sides of the protests,  but they cannot in anyway taint the message the youths passed across through their battlecry: #ENDSARS. Policemen, their stations as well as other public and private properties were not spared in the horrendous looting and burning that happened in the last week of October. The police are still leaking their wounds from these incidents.  According to Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu, 22 policemen were killed and 205 police stations and formations destroyed.

The truth is the police and the society need each other. There cannot be the police without the society and vice versa. What happened is disheartening. Sadly, some people are rejoicing because they believe that the police got a dose of their own medicine. It will be myopic to think like that. No matter these people’s  hatred for the police, they should not forget that policemen and women are part of the larger society. They are some people’s fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts. In one word, they are flesh and blood like you and I. So, we should wish them what we wish ourselves.

That some policemen killed some people extra-judicially should not be an excuse for attacking policemen and destroying their stations. We should not practice the Mosaic law of an eye for an eye because as Ghandi pointed out that would leave everybody in the world blind. No doubt, there are bad eggs in the police, just like in every profession, but that is not enough to perceive every policeman as unworthy of his job. The point has been made with the #ENDSARS Protests.  It is time to put the incident behind us  and move forward.

To the police, what happened is still a bad dream. So, they are subtly protesting by not returning to their beats. The Police Service Commission (PSC) is siding with them. The PSC has said it could not direct them to return to work, like that, since they are human too. To do that will be inhuman really, but should that be at the expense of maintaining law and order in the society? No, it should not. No matter how bad the police may be, society still has to put up with them as they remain law enforcers.

When two people quarrel, the police are the arbiter. When there is a traffic offence, the police resolve the case. Anywhere we turn as a people, the police will always be there. We need them as much as they need us. Let them return to their jobs so that there can be sanity in and around us. My heart goes out to all the slain policemen and others who died in the #ENDSARS protests . May they find rest in the Lord’s bosom.

Biden America

SIX days ago, America’s President Donald Trump lost his reelection bid. He has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. Trump is alleging fraud in the November 3 election in the states of Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He has no proof. He has lost at the courts in those states: 0-5. Yet, he remains headstrong.

Whether he concedes or not, the American people have moved on. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are carrying on without giving a hoot about Trump’s tantrums.

The United States is a nation built on social values which would be hard for anyone, including even a sitting president,  to trample upon. Its democratic institutions are just too strong for any individual to ride roughshod over. Biden has his job cut out for him to bind his country and save it from the divisive years of Trump. The world will be a better place for all after Trump’s exit next January 20.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

Everything was done to keep the #ENDSARS Protests peaceful right from the beginning. The organisers went out of their way to ensure orderliness at the campaign’s two command centres in Alausa, Ikeja and Lekki Toll Plaza. They took that step because the protests were a test of sorts of their capacity as future leaders.

This was a set of people long derided as unserious and unworthy of public trust. The ‘good for nothing’ tag placed on them probably fired them on to prove what they were capable of doing. Sebi una say we lazy, we go show una say we nolazy.  The protests were to prove that they have come of age, that they know their rights and are ready to defend those rights even under gun threat.

The thrust of the protests was to end the brutality of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), arrest and prosecute indicted operatives,  compensate the victims of such atrocities and improve police salary. The first of their five-point demand: #ENDSARS was the battle cry across the country. This seven-letter word resonated nationwide wherever youths gathered to protest. In no time,  the public joined them and #ENDSARS became a singsong, with toddlers and the old associating with the youths. With one voice, the campaign trended, to borrow a social media term, from village to village,  town to town and city to city. The effect was felt mostly in Lagos. Swiftly,  the government responded to the protesters’ request by disbanding SARS. It promised to meet their other demands going forward.

The government followed up by releasing the names of some indicted SARS operatives. It approved about N265 million for  victims’ compensation. But the protests took a frightening dimension when the blockade of roads started. It is hard to put a finger on what informed that. It was the turning point for the protests because of the attendant traffic gridlock,  especially in Lagos and Abuja. Traffic jam comes with its own problems. It is a veritable avenue for miscreants to rob and harm motorists. This was exactly what happened when the roads were blocked. Miscreants saw an opportunity and quickly latched on to it to wreak havoc nationwide, especially in Lagos.

Monday, October 19, was particularly tough for motorists and commuters. Everywhere was virtually blocked in Lagos. Many abandoned their cars to take Okada (motorbike) to work, leaving their drivers to stew in traffic. Others simply left their cars at home and took either Okada or Marwa (tricycle) to their destinations. In some parts of the metropolis, miscreants descended on police stations and set them ablaze. It was a sign of what to come that week. The next day, which some have  described as Black Tuesday,  because of the shootings at Lekki Toll Plaza, miscreants confronted the protesters at Alausa, all in a bid to break the protest. They did not succeed as the protesters maintained their cool. But many were injured and vehicles damaged. It was the same thing in Abuja, Benin, Ibadan, Enugu, Minna and Kano, among others. That day, the nation burned from one state to the other. Curfew was immediately imposed on Edo and Lagos states by their governors. Many other states followed suit later.

Can the #ENDSARS Protests be divorced from this mayhem?  Many, especially in government are wont to blame the mayhem on the #ENDSARS Protests. They are tempted to do so on the basis that the protesters did not suspend the action after some of their demands had been met so as to pave the way for talks with the government,  which did everything, including disowning its own police,  to assuage them. As a nation, the people supported the protesters more than the police because of their age-long aversion for those in uniform. The police, army, air force and navy, among others, have never earned the people’s trust because of how they use their uniforms and weapons, which are acquired with public funds to intimidate the citizenry.

The #ENDSARS Protests, it is believed, allowed the public to pay the police back in their own coin. The police should learn a lesson from the protests. That lesson is that they must change their modus operandi. The police cannot afford to continue to operate the way they do now. To continue like that is to court another #ENDSARS Protests,  which outcome may be disastrous than the one we just witnessed. The nation cannot do without the police, though. No nation runs smoothly without them. The police occupy a key role in any society. This is why they are the closest to the people, among the law enforcement agencies. This closeness should breed love and empathy and not hatred and enmity. The relationship between the public and the police is not what it should be at present. In the aftermath of the #ENDSARS Protests, there is the need to bring the people and the police closer through the platform of the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC). They must mutually co-exist.

The #ENDSARS Protests have given the nation an opportunity to rethink the public-police relationship, despite the havoc wreaked nationwide by miscreants. In their rage, they destroyed amenities meant for the common good. When I saw the vehicles destroyed at the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) parks at Ojodu Berger and Oyingbo, I shook my head in pity because it is the poor, who have no other means of transportation,  that will bear the brunt. All destroyed government buildings will also be renovated with public funds, which should have gone into the development of other infrastructure. The nation came out of the protests worse off because of Abuja’s undue reticence.  The government could have separated the protesters from the miscreants and dealt with the latter appropriately. But it paid the government to tar both with the same brush to achieve its purpose.

The matter was  compounded that fateful Tuesday when gun wielding soldiers stormed Lekki Toll Plaza to scare the protesters who had huddled together on the floor in darkness. The shooting infuriated the whole world and from that point, the miscreants let loose, invading prisons, COVID-19 palliative warehouses, homes and businesses of some known and unknown politicians as well as prominent personalities and some police and other public properties. The level of destruction in Lagos is heartrending. What did the miscreants gain from destroying those facilties? Is that how to make their grievances known or is there more to it than meets the eyes? Why the destruction of  properties of people who suffer the same privations?

The painful thing is that the hapless people will end up suffering for all the destruction.  Our governors and their families do not take public transport. Nor do they use many of the other facilities that were also destroyed. The miscreants and their supporters allowed their anger to blind them to the point that they did not realise that they were undoing the masses by destroying those public properties.

The deed has been done. Rather than allow the ghost to be buried, Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Tukur Buratai is making hue and cry over it. The army should accept its mistake of acting hastily in deploying troops in Lekki Toll Plaza on October 20 when there was no war at the place. As army chief, Buratai should take the blame for what happened. But no, he is talking tough. To him, the #ENDSARS Protests fallout was meant to destabilise the country. Ha! Nothing can be farther from the truth. Buratai is saying this for his troops to have an opportunity to finish what they started at Lekki last week. The people will not oblige him.

According to him, not even the threat to report them to the International Criminal Court should deter them from carrying out  their duty. That duty, if I may remind him, is to defend the country’s territorial integrity when at war and not to descend on its protesting young citizens, shooting at will. The army already has its hands full. It should concentrate on the insurgency war in  the Northeast and keep off the civil populace terrain which is the preserve of the police.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

In the end, what ended the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was not one of its despicable acts for which it was notorious. It was scrapped for what it did not do, but was accused of doing by some of those familiar with its trade mark of sorrow, tears and blood as Fela Anikulapo-Kuti would put it. It was like hanging SARS with its own rope of false allegation which it is known for largely making against its victims to fleece them. The renowned novelist, Rene Lodge Brabazon Raymond, alias James Hadley Chase, would have tagged it all: The  way the cookie crumbles, the title of one of his bestsellers.

What led to the demise of SARS  began in Ughelli, Delta State, about two weeks ago, when the video of a man allegedly shot by its operative went viral. A Twitter user, who uploaded the footage on social media, claimed that the victim had died. His tweet was all that was needed to reignite the #ENDSARS campaign which has been on and off for years. Efforts by Minister of State, Labour, Festus Keyamo, who is from Ughelli, to douse tension failed. His explanation that the victim did not die and that he was not shot by SARS cut no ice with the aggrieved.

He said the victim’s brother told him that the man was in hospital. Keyamo added that the victim fell out of the vehicle of Operation Delta Safe which arrested him. Ughelli youths, many of who have had bitter experience in the hands of  SARS, trooped to the streets in protest, setting off a nationwide movement such as never seen in the land. The protesters had found something to hang SARS on at last and they were not ready to let go.

Nobody, not even those in power, gave SARS the benefit of doubt because of its notoriety. What I have been reading about the squad in the past few days on social media is mind boggling and some of the stories sound incredible.  But the narrators insist they are true. What is certain though is that SARS and other police and security operatives have been involved in extra-judicial killings nationwide for years. Some of them had even been tried and sentenced to death, but the verdicts never served as deterrent to others. Instead, they have carried on with these dastardly acts as if they are above the law.

The authorities share in the blame of how SARS, a unit that was created to tackle the menace of robbery, became the menace itself. The government and the police echelon, for long,  looked the other way amid reports of the excesses of SARS.  They can never claim that those reports never got to them.  They chose to ignore the reports as SARS was serving a purpose that suited them until the bubble burst on October 1 in Ughelli. What a significant day, the nation’s 60th Independence anniversary, for the people to free themselves from the shackles of SARS. If the government had acted long before now, the SARS monster would have been tamed and the outfit would not have gone into oblivion in this shameful way.

The failure of leadership allowed SARS atrocities to fester. With the layers of authority within the police, it is unbelievable that an outfit could be allowed to become a terror to the people it was supposed to protect. SARS’ main duty was to fight armed robbery, but it abandoned the job to look for easy money from members of  the public, especially well to do youngsters, who without proof,  it labelled Yahoo Yahoo boys in order to extort money from them. It became a crime for youths to drive exotic cars, use expensive phones or have laptops in their bags. Woe betide any youth found with any, or all, of these items.

It is the duty of the police to investigate a case before arriving at any conclusion. Sadly, the reverse became the case and despite complaints from different quarters, the police hierarchy did nothing. Will it be proper for the top officers who ran SARS to retain their jobs in the wake of this ignominious sacking of the outfit? The fish, it is said, gets rotten from the top and not the bottom. If the rank and file and the middle level officers in SARS are to be redeployed for disgracing the police, their bosses deserve a harsher punishment. These bosses knew what was going on, but shielded their boys because they were partakers in the illicit gains made in the line of duty.

Policing should be better than that. And Nigerians deserve the kind of policing that will give them rest of mind and not a heart attack whenever they see a policeman coming. The #ENDSARS protests across the country showed how bad things had become. The protesters were echoing the larger public’s disenchantment with not only SARS, but the entire police and other security agencies. Nothing depicts this more than the protesters’ outright rejection of Inspector-General Mohammed Adamu’s dissolution of SARS on Sunday. They said they would only accept President Muhammadu Buhari’s word for it and demanded an executive order to that effect.

Now, SARS is gone and it is gone for good. It has been replaced with the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT). It is not the name that matters, but the character of the people that will serve in the unit. Will they be different from their colleagues who served in SARS?  With the high crime rate in the country, we cannot discountenance the use of some special squads to combat heinous crimes. Members of these squads must play by the rules and must not use their position to make life difficult for the people. SWAT should not take a cue from SARS, otherwise it will end up in ignominy like its precursor. And that is not a curse.

SARS went beyond its brief because it believed it had an all encompassing power. The only power it had was to arrest robbers, nothing more, nothing less. It overreached itself by stopping youths on the road under the guise of looking for Yahoo Yahoo boys. Are Yahoo Yahoo boys and armed robbers the same? That was where SARS missed it. Its operatives greed for filthy lucre pushed it to the extreme and it destroyed itself in the process. The youths have stood up for their right  and won. It shows that their voice counts. Things can only get better if they channel this same energy into producing the desired leadership for the country in future.

As leaders of tomorrow,  they owe it a duty to make the country work not only now, but always. They have won the battle; but they can only rest after winning the war of saving Nigeria. This should be their next assignment.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

Today, Nigeria is 60, an age which means the world to an individual. As a milestone, it is the age which marks a turning point in a person’s life. As a worker, a man retires from public service at that age, and on the other spectrum, he joins the Senior Citizens’ Club. At 60, a man is 10 years older than he was at 50, that golden age which he enthuses about but churns inwardly that he is getting old.

For a nation, just like an individual, 60 is not just a number to celebrate, it is an ideal time for retrospection to see how far one has come. For Nigeria, the journey has been rough, but it has remained a united entity. Little wonder that the theme for the yearlong celebration of the landmark is: Together shall we be. The nation’s unity was bought at the expense of the 1967-70 civil war.  As I type this on the night of September 25, the drums of disunity are being beating. The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is still dreaming of a Biafra Republic over which the civil war was fought; while the Yoruba One Voice (YOV) has slated a Oduduwa Republic rally for today to coincide with the independence anniversary celebrations.

By now, the nation should have passed that stage. What should engage us as a people is how to make the nation great. Nigeria has a lot of potential. But its growth is not proportional to its potential. When in 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain, its people looked to the future with high hopes. The good things of life were expected to come with the freedom. The manner of independence does not matter. A nation does not need to go to war for its independence to cherish its liberty.

A nation is only respected if it can stand on its own. To do that, it should be able to husband its resources to make life meaningful for the citizenry. In its immediate area of influence in West Africa, Nigeria is seen as a giant. With its economic power, it deserves that honour, but unfortunately that does not rub off on its people. All over the country,  people live in abject poverty. They cannot fend for themselves nor send their children to good schools. Hospitals too are a write off. What about roads? Many are in a sorry state. These are issues the nation has lived with for years. They did not rear their ugly heads  yesterday. They predate the COVID-19 pandemic era in which the world now finds itself and which the government is using as an excuse for not discharging its obligations.

As far back as 1983 when the Buhari junta took over power, the coup announcer then, the late Sani Abacha, described teaching hospitals as “mere consulting clinics”. If anything has changed under the same Buhari now, 37 years after, the people are not feeling the impact. Those in government will deny this. Their denial notwithstanding, things are harder under the present administration than they were under previous administrations. The government may say it is not responsible for the rot and as it is wont to do, pass the buck to its immediate precursor, but it cannot run away from the fact that on its shoulder presently lies the arduous task of building the nation.

Yes, it cannot reinvent the wheel, and nobody expects it to do that, but what the people are saying is that it should not compound their woes, especially in this time of COVID-19. The nation  is turning 60 in an era when the world is topsyturvy because of Coronavirus, which has disrupted the largest of economies. In a time like this, countries should be more concerned about the wellbeing of their citizens and refrain from acts that will add to the people’s burden. Countries which place high premium on their people are doing just that. They have come up with stimulus packages for the people to ease their COVID-19 pains.

In Nigeria, the palliative the people are getting is an increase in electricity tariff and fuel price. What a palliative in the midst of people trying to survive the pangs of COVID-19! It is unbelievable that  the government took these measures at this time knowing the consequences of its action. On another front, some PayTV operators too are ripping off customers. DsTv and StarTimes have raised their subscription fees without consideration for what customers are going through under the prevailing economic circumstances.

Labour is spoiling for a showdown with government over the electricity and power rates’ hike. A planned nationwide strike over the issues was aborted in the early hours of Monday. Surely, the last has not been heard about the matter. Where will Nigeria be in the next 60 years? Will it still be a nation of potential or will it have realised its potential? Eventhough Rome was not built in a day, it did not take it donkey years to do so. Nigeria too does not need to attain the age of Methuselah before it becomes great. Happy anniversary, Nigeria.