SULEIMAN ABBA, Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police (IGP) has never been to war; he does not know lethal courage. He has not felt that proverbial rush of adrenaline that spurs a cornered soldier, outmanned and outgunned, to cock his rifle at approaching hostiles, in a final dash for honour and glory.
Such suicidal valour is frequently ascribed to an innate strength and unparalleled humanity of the courageous. It is no physical strength and very few of the world’s bravest warriors possess such gallantry that defies brawn and accentuates moral vigour. Abba obviously mistakes something else for such valour.
In his extensive career as a police officer, Abba could hardly muster sufficient heroism or notoriety to stand him out as a super cop or radical law enforcer but he still managed to get by, playing to the script and following the rule book of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). Yet by a sweeping twist of fate, Abba was favoured above eight of his superiors to be named the Acting Inspector General of Police on August 1, 2014. Thus he succeeded IGP, Mohammed Abubakar.
Having ascended through the ranks presumably by merit, few people expected Abba to morph into the character he has become to his office and the Nigerian State. Abba’s metamorphosis manifested too early into his captaincy of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF). On October 30, 2014, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, defected from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Few hours later, the IGP announced in a statement, the withdrawal of the Speaker’s security details citing provisions of Section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The statement reads: “In view of the recent defection by the Right Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, CFR, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress and having regard to the clear provision of section 68(1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, the Nigeria Police Force, has redeployed its personnel attached to his office.”
The presidency and ruling party of course applauded the IGP for his action despite widespread condemnations from the opposition party and political pundits. A widely stunned citizenry wondered why the IGP, who was supposed to be apolitical, brazenly led the police to abandon its primary responsibility “To protect and serve” to interpret the constitution thus gate-crashing the functions of the judiciary.
The implication, according to Tambuwal’s spokesperson, Imam Imam, is that the IGP singlehandedly removed Tambuwal from office. Abba is, however, no stranger to controversy.
Riotously egged on by the ruling party and the presidency, the IGP continually overreaches himself. For instance, he recently warned voters to stay off polling booths after casting their votes. This, no doubt, flouts constitutional provisions and in a swift response, Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), assured the citizenry that it is their constitutionally right to stay behind to monitor proceedings at the polling centres after casting their votes. Many pundits, including Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), also faulted the police chief on this score. Following the barrage of criticisms, the IGP, however, later made a clarification, saying he never banned voters from staying back to monitor the votes. “I didn’t ban voters from staying after voting. I advised based on Section 129 (1) of the Electoral Act, which states that voters should not loiter after voting to prevent commission of crimes. And if they must stay, they should be at least 300 metres from the polling unit for security reasons,” he said.
It is enlightening to see the purportedly dignified police officer evolve into a hatchet man for the ruling party. The illogicalities and wanton generalisations that are feverishly mustered to legitimise his oft controversial statements and actions all attest to the fact that he is in dire need of a moral code of personal and professional ethics. Despite his academic exposure – his first degree was in History after which he bagged another degree in Law; he is also an alumnus of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru (NIPPS), Jos Plateau State – Abba could do with greater tact and diplomacy.
Honour and glory are two catchwords that Abba could live by. But to live by such demanding code, he needs to imbibe and affect unusual courage; the type that flowers in the face of the impossible. Victor John, 15, showed such courage in a damning moment; thanks to John, the entire clans constituting Ungwan Sankwai, Tyekum and Ungwan Gata villages of Bondon district, Kaura LGA of Kaduna State were saved from total extermination by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
Although many of the bereaved are mourning the brutal massacre of loved ones, the survivors owed their lives to the 15-year-old who sighted the invaders marching on the community. John alerted his father and reportedly went from house to house to wake up their neighbours and warn them of imminent death. Eventually, his father evacuated some of his siblings but his mother and other siblings weren’t so lucky; they were hacked to death by the invaders.
Like the Kaduna teen, Hugh Thompson, an American army pilot, exhibited similar courage in the face of damning odds. Thompson landed his helicopter between a platoon of American soldiers and 10 terrified Vietnamese civilians during the My Lai massacre. Then he ordered his gunner to fire his M60 machine gun on the advancing U.S. soldiers if they began to shoot the villagers. For his courage, Thompson, like John, suffered repercussion; he was hounded and reviled by the American establishment.
Such is the consequence of moral courage. It begets a price. In the case of Victor John, it cost him his mother and siblings. And for being morally courageous, Thompson was vilified by the American military, the establishment attempted to conceal the massacre and court-martial him.
Moral courage thus encompasses the nerve to do the right thing and speak the truth always. It involves defying the mob as a solitary individual; to spurn the invigorating embrace of comradeship; to be disobedient to corrupt authorities, even in the face death, for a higher principle. Predictably, perpetuators of such morality are either maligned by fate or ascribed rogue status by the state. Routinely, they are accused and charged for treason. But in their touted notoriety subsists the irony of an incontrovertible metaphor; they habitually symbolise the best of mankind and civilisation in their time.
Does IGP Abba belong to such superior breed of mankind and civilisation of our time? The answer lies in his future exploits “To protect and serve” or vice versa.
