Chris Biose is former Deputy Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Edo State Chapter. In this interview, he reviews the mid-term performance of President Bola Tinubu, especially in the area of human rights record. The activist concludes that his performance is poor, he also berates political leaders for intentionally failing to address the security challenges in the country, among others. JOY ANIGBOGU brings the excerpts:
What can you say about President Tinubu’s two years in office?
There are so many reports documented by the Human Rights Status Association of unnecessary detention of journalists, their arrests, and detention in dungeons, underground detentions and unnecessary invitations by police. If you look at the world ranking of human rights in Nigeria, it has not improved. Nigeria is ranked 120 out of 140, which is far below average. And I think, one of the most outstanding cases of the excesses of the Tinubu’s administration was the abduction of well-known human rights lawyer in Lagos, Dele Farotimi, in December last year, and detention for 21 days under the so-called Cybercrime Act. Another was the manner in which the police authorities treated the #Endbad Governance protesters, particularly the arrest and detention of juveniles and infants, I mean underage people, and even detaining them in facilities meant for adults. Charging underage people, not supposed to be charged in court, for treason. It was excessive. So, I think on the whole, it’s an abysmal record for somebody who professes to be a progressive.
So do you feel that human rights abuses are even taken seriously enough in Nigeria, where our memories tend to be short, and the political landscape tends to be volatile, with landmines of different nations going off every week? How better can human rights violations be addressed?
The disturbing situation in Nigeria, affecting human rights, and particularly the right to life, which is primarily fundamental, is that the authorities don’t seem to recognise the enormity of the problem. I think I read a report recently, in which a minister was trying to acclaim the record that there was no journalist in detention in the administration of President Tinubu, but we know very well that every day, people are being killed in various parts of the country. Those who are killing these people are not being brought to book. The lives of Nigerian citizens are being squeezed out by non-state agents and there is no recourse. So that is the problem. The government doesn’t seem to recognise the enormity of the problem. It’s an institutional problem that is deep-rooted, and the surgical operation that is required in the security services, particularly the police and the military, to solve this problem is not being addressed by the current administration.
Now you’ve touched on the excesses that we’ve seen when it comes to detention or abduction, like you mentioned with the case of Dele Farotimi, and now you’ve just made a very significant point that the government doesn’t seem to recognise the enormity of the problem of insecurity. Based on that, are you concerned about the progress that we’re failing to make when it comes to tackling insecurity? What would you like to say in terms of addressing insecurity in Nigeria?
The problem in Nigeria: insecurity, economic, social, it is not that there is a problem. The issue is not that there is a problem, because there are problems everywhere. The main problem is that the leaders and those in charge refuse to recognise the problem. There is a fundamental problem, some sections of the Nigerian state don’t have allegiance to the Nigerian state. And this is why we have Jihadism, ethnic militia having full reign in the country, and the authorities are denying, acting as if these problems don’t exist. It’s difficult to see how the present administration, the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, having regard to its tradition in the past 10 years, to the record it has established in the past 10 years, it’s difficult to see how these leaders who have been debased by the system can change the system that they’ve debased. It is difficult to see. And that is why a lot of people are thinking that the only solution to the Nigerian problem, since the leadership doesn’t recognise the problem, and are not willing to address it, the fundamental thing that is required is that any system or any leadership that is not serving the needs of the people, the people have a right and a duty to alter that administration. And that is the solution to the problem in the short and longer run. That’s my own view.
And what advice do you have for the leader of this administration concerning these issues that we’ve addressed in the last few minutes?
These are attitudinal problems. It’s very difficult to see how a 70-year-old can change the habits that they have formed in the past 70 years of their life and the type of people they have around them. Look at what is happening in Rivers State. These are very intelligent people. We cannot assume that they’re ignorant. I think it’s the type of system that they have decided to run, a repressive and oppressive system. And I think that Nigerians have a duty to see exactly what these people are doing and decide that they have had enough of this kind of administration, change and alter it by democratic means. I don’t think that they’re amiable to advice because the issues that pertain to insecurity in the country are already in the public domain. Let’s take the example of Jihadism. Senator Shehu Sani, at the beginning of insecurity in Nigeria, wrote an article entitled Boko Haram, History of Ideas and Revolts. This problem of Jihadism cannot be solved by paying them. It’s ideological, it’s a fundamental way of life that they believe. Nigeria is faced with an existential challenge in which people refuse to pay allegiance to the Nigerian state. And there’s a point of view that leaders are not prepared to act. For example, at the beginning of the insecurity, I think it was T.Y. Danjuma wrote to Somalia, if you kill all the terrorists, he said, in the next day, more will come. Where are they coming from? It shows that we’re not addressing the fundamental problems. And I think it was Kunle Olawunmi who made us understand that the centre of gravity of the problem of insecurity in Nigeria lies with the Federal Government.
They know the sponsors. He made us understand that even the security agencies know the sponsors of insecurity and they’re not prepared to address it. So what alternative do Nigerians have? The answer is in the air. The Nigerian people have a duty to institute a government that will attend to their needs. That’s our own view.
Saying here that there’s a perspective from the terrorists that leaders are not prepared to take action. You’ve also stated that the Federal Government and security agencies know the sponsors. And you mentioned earlier that the authorities are denying that these problems exist. Based on all these very important points that you’ve noticed, I’d like to ask, but why is there a denial that this exists?
There was an article written by Professor Omo Omori during the time of President Obasanjo. President Obasanjo attended the summit of Islamic State of the OIC. And Omo Omori read the article and appealed to Obasanjo, Nigeria, neither Christian nor Islamic. The issue is that the feudal mindset is geared to Islamization of Nigeria, or what Obasanjo himself later called the Fulanization of Nigeria, West African Fulanization. In his keynote address in May 2019, to the Anglican Synod, the issue is that the leaders are not prepared to address it. There are fundamental problems. Look at our National Assembly. They say they’re prepared to address. They’re not prepared to address the fundamental question. How do you build a nation? You don’t build a nation by having leaders who are denying the issues. I think it was Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Minister of Defence of the UAE, in an article titled Intellectual Battle with ISIS. The problem is not that you have handed over guns to people. It’s an intellectual and ideological problem. And because some of the leaders are glued to this problem, they’re unable to address it. He gave recommendations. So we have a system that needs to be dismantled and replaced by a system that cares for Nigerians.