So, Bayo Onanuga has removed the veil from the face of official dictatorship. He just retweeted a statement from the Comptroller-General of NIS, Kemi Nandap saying government would be arresting Nigerians living abroad who are alleged sponsors of the riot, the burning and looting on the streets of Nigeria’s major cities.
As a victim of government watchlist for the past 14 years, victim of my own writing, this is like crossing the head of a suspect with a sharp sword. It is sad that failed regimes always look elsewhere for their own faults instead of introspecting on how their politics and policies affect the majority of Nigerians.
The way I interpret this message is that the Tinubu administration wants to borrow another page from the Abacha rule-book (read a bit of that in my column today). It would like not to be challenged in any way and for whatever hardship it inflicts on the nation. Tinubu who benefitted from criticism of bad governance now wants to turn around to tackle critics, especially those that live outside the shores of Nigeria. Nigeria would not let him.
Looking at the almajirai in Kano or elsewhere in the north calling on the military or Russia to take over, there is nobody living in the democratic global North that would be sponsoring such a call. The area boys in the south don’t need foreign sponsors to loot their neighbours or people they believe to be foreigners in their own locale. The First Family’s past politics and the post-electoral politics has already set the stage for that.
No Nigerian living abroad wants to be seen as supporting the destabilization of his homeland. The reason is simple – to keep your status (except you are a citizen) you have to show that you are democratically inclined. That you have not and are not subscribed to anything or any movement that is against democratic ideals.
This is NOT just paper declaration, most countries of the Global North have the capacity to fact-check this and to ensure that those who violate these credo are brought to book and sent out of the land.
While I am NOT surprised at this turn of events, it is pretty shameful that Tinubu, who is supposedly a victim of this type of stereotyping of citizens would come out in his full colour barely a year into his presidency. The sponsors of violence before these riots are pretty well known. Most of them would not return home except they are kidnapped or crated home.
It would be most unfortunate if Nigerians living abroad no longer have the freedom to return home just because they naturally criticize the shitstem in their country. Wherever we are, we must not be derived of our inalienable right as Nigerians to
a) criticize our government
b) contributing to changing bad governance
c) right to visit or return home whenever the need arises.
Many of us have citizenships of other nations and other passports. This is covered by the constitution and the laws of our country. Our foreign passports implicitly state Nigeria as our country of birth. We may not live in Nigeria, that we are out does not insulate us from goings on in our country and by jove we reserve the rights to visit or return and Tinubu would have to be accountable to international laws for which Nigeria is signatory if they start making people disappear from the airports in their quest to determine who is sponsoring riots or supporting looting.
This obsession with native foreigners is becoming a lame excuse for a regime that is failing its duty to the people. The other day, it was about some civil servants who left for ‘the abroad’ while still collecting salaries at home. This regime did NOT provide a shred of evidence or explain how much it is losing to these ghost workers. It did not provide any clues as to how many are these people and where they live in the Global North.
Your problem, Mr. President is not caused by foreign instigators, no sir. The problem is that the policies you inherited and proudly adhere to is making life and living impossible for the MAJORITY of Nigerians. The enlightened ones among them are protesting to draw your attention to this. And the antidote is simple – reverse these misanthropic rules. If you fix Nigeria, as you promised; many of the unusual suspects you are fishing for would return home and contribute their quota towards the development of their motherland.
Personally, I don’t feel threatened because I don’t make enough to feed or take care of my family and obligations to spare money for the destabilization of Nigeria. These shenanigans should stop. Tinubu has spent 38 years (according to his biographers) to get to Aso Rock. He is there now, he should do the best to change the trajectory and stop fishing in shallow waters for sharks. There are no usurpers of democracy anywhere outside Nigeria. The worst usurper of democracy is insecurity, hunger, unemployment, social dislocation and despair. Fix these issues and Nigeria will RISE again. Keep making excuses for your sloppiness and you might wake up to the disintegration of a potentially great country.
As for Ms Nandap, this is NOT the best way to inscribe your name into Nigeria’s history books or respect for leadership. Don’t bite the bait!
