MOYO Okediji, the Nigerian-born United States-based Professor of art history at the University of Texas at Austin, may be disappointed and sad that his country, Nigeria, has sunk further into the abyss since he left its shores in 1992, but he cannot claim to have been totally surprised by the terrible encounter he had with some unscrupulous security agents when he visited the country recently. And that is because the country was already on its descent into ignominy by the time he left for the United States and that, perhaps, was even the motivation for his emigration. However, there is no doubt that the country is now dangerously manifesting the features of dysfunctionality more than ever before. The US-based professor narrated his encounter with men of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the Nigeria Police during which he claimed he was robbed of his money and even threatened with death. It can indeed be so painful for Nigerians returning home after such a long time to have that kind of nasty experience. How can innocent citizens be having near-death experiences at the hands of security agencies in their own country? The professor pointedly accused personnel of the NIS at the Seme border of Benin Republic of stealing $500 from his luggage!
The world is a global village and Okediji’s story will have been read around the world, giving Nigeria a bad image. And this, happening at a time when politicians are globe-trotting, seeking to attract much needed foreign investments into the country is most inauspicious and counterproductive. For how can people reading such stories come to Nigeria for visits, let alone invest their hard-earned resources in a country where visitors have such horrendous experience of the country’s rottenness right from its borders? For a long time, there have been reports of security agents harassing and even killing innocent Nigerians returning to the country, especially those who come in with valuables. And it is really disturbing and embarrassing that such unprofessional, and even criminal conduct are more common among the security agents at the Nigerian borders. On this score, Okediji has this to say: “Everything went well in Ghana, Togo, Benin Republic, until I stepped into Nigeria.” Very sad!
Indeed, the tale of anguish told by Okediji regarding his near-death experience in the hands of personnel of the NIS and the police is most regrettable. Such criminal conduct undermines the efforts being made in official circles to burnish the smeared image of the country. And worse still, it is an eloquent testimony to the fact that nothing works in the country again as all structures have ceased to function in their envisaged manner, with everyone choosing to do whatever pleases them at all levels even as there is no leadership to call those below to order. Would Immigration officers have violated the dignity of a traveller and insisted on invoking non-existent rules if they had not known that the victim was unlikely to have any place to complain, seek or get justice? In the same vein, the police officers in question would not have imposed their unlawful will on Professor Okediji if not for the assurance that illegality cannot be easily challenged in the country. In sum, government officials tend to persist in wrongdoing either because there is no avenue for legitimate checks on them or because those who are meant to enforce checks and balances simply look the other way since they are probably working hands in gloves with the offenders.
The bottomline is that the country, for now, does not run in any functional sense as there is a pervasiveness of illegality that starts from and is enabled and sustained at the highest level of governance in the country. The collapse of governance structures in the country is in itself a reflection of collapse at the highest level and only a change at that level can help to restore order and institute renewed respect for rules and regulations. And it is no rocket science that a change for the better at the highest level will impact the society positively. For instance, the citizenry recently witnessed a positive change in the hitherto convoluted processes of procuring international passports just because the new Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, whose ministry supervises the NIS, insisted on sticking to the rules there, ensuring that all those under him at the Immigration Department stuck to the rules, with Nigerians benefitting immensely from his patriotic stance. The unfortunate thing is that other leaders in virtually all leadership positions continue to benefit from the pervasive illegality and are not inclined to keeping the rules, leaving Nigerians with the unsavoury reality of enduring the deleterious effects of the situation as experienced by Professor Okediji.
The excesses of security agents, whether at the entry points to the country or elsewhere within, have assumed a dangerous dimension, necessitating a reevaluation of the values of the agencies and strict enforcement of the rules of engagement. Aside from the experience of Okediji, in a recent viral video, a female officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) was seen demanding N5,000 bribe from a passenger at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. Also recently, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) confirmed the arrest of its officials caught in a viral video demanding money from a female Dutch rider in Oyo State. The unpalatable and nightmarish experiences of Okediji and the two other victims mentioned here are part of the few that have been brought to the public domain: a lot more have either gone unreported or escaped the official radar. The reality is that a lot of personnel of the security agencies truly need reorientation and attitudinal shift from the current misconduct that brings the services to ridicule and demeans and de-markets the country.
The conduct of the security agents who foisted a hideous experience on Professor Okediji is, to say the least, criminal and morally reprehensible. It is damaging to the standing of the country as a member of the civilised community. It has become imperative for Nigerians to demand a change from their leaders if they are seriously interested in having a return to decency in the conduct of public affairs at all levels of governance.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
