The Nigerian history book will certainly not forget Monday, April 8, 2024. On that day the nation’s democracy was dealt yet another hammer-blow. Just like the pains felt by Christians a fortnight ago, when the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was being replicated on Good Friday, the pains and shock of the nailing of democracy to the wall, is unimaginable to lovers of democracy in Nigeria and around the world, by that very disastrous outing.

From the outset, let us say that we at Whirlwindnews.com.ng, have followed the twists and turns of this story, flinching and wincing at the sheer intolerance and impunity of Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State.

We have been shocked beyond words at how much he could descend in his manifestation of sheer pettiness, narrow-mindedness, impulsiveness, if not outright childishness in his handling of his dispute with Philip Shaibu, his erstwhile deputy, whose only offence on record, was that he dared go against his wish by offering himself to be the next governor of the state, in the September 21 governorship election, a clearly legitimate ambition he has absolute right to.

Before the turn of events with the declaration of his ambition, the pair, had maintained themselves as chummy – happy good buddies in public. All that suddenly disappeared into thing air. Having so tracked the sequence of the events from beginning to this sad end, we do not hesitate to pronounce the governor the guilty party in this matter. What a sad story! What a sad day!

Advertisement

It becomes sadder still when we consider that Obaseki, is one of the most educated and high-profile governors in Nigeria today in terms of content and exposure. To this extent, his conducts in terms of public behaviour, official and private activities and more importantly, democratic credentials ought to be topnotch consistent with his high attainment.

But what did we see in the case in question? Nothing different from his counterparts, who found themselves into office out of thuggery or other manners of political brigandage and malfeasance replete in Nigeria’s political space. He clearly has not lived up to his billing.

There is no telling the fact that the Dennis Osadebey House in Benin would be swarming at the moment with all manner of political hounds, cheerleaders, praise-singers and goons, including the members of the state House of Assembly, who executed the odious project.

There will be celebration, no doubt. The fatlings reserved for this special occasion would have since been slaughtered and used to prepare exquisite cuisines. There would be surplus of choice wines which would go with other delicacies, soft and loud music and other concomitant accessories accompanying the backslapping and merrymaking.

In the end, Obaseki would have won the ego war. Even friends of Shaibu, who had egged him on in the war every Nigerian outside the imbecilic realm knew from the outset he would lose, would have returned to pledge their loyalty to the governor and denigrate his former righthand man in every manner.

Advertisement

But that is where it would end. From henceforth the governor would have lost any claim to democratic identity. For the simple reason that he has soiled his name, so disastrously, whenever those who helped Nigeria’s democracy are called to mount the rostrum, Godwin Obaseki, would be missing on that list, unless prepared by equally decadent, insipid and or deficient individuals lacking democratic ethos.

In the end, what did he gain? Perhaps, a well-oiled and massaged ego and nothing more! Shaibu, would certainly be the winner in the long run. Like others before him he has approached the courts to intervene in the matter and because as is wont in other cases, like the child sent by the father to steal, those who prosecuted the project, would naturally have been tempted to break the doors with their legs, by discountenancing due process, including valid court orders, in their bid to please the governor. In other words, the impeachment is most likely going to be set aside.

Obaseki-Shaibu

Yes! He would not have served out his term, but if the benefit of hindsight is anything to go by, if the impeachment is quashed at the end of the day by the courts and all the benefits accruing to him therefrom, paid and in the eyes of the law, he is returned to his original position as if nothing happened, what then?

So, why embark on a project with such a fleeting, phantom and temporally gains? Why lose everything, just to enjoy such a short-lived bliss? Indeed, what Obaseki did is not peculiar to him. Instead, he would be joining the special class currently occupied by President Bola Tinubu, who as governor of Lagos State, had the record of supervising the impeachment of two deputies, Isah Yuguda of Bauchi, Sullivan Chime in Enugu, the late Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Seyi Makinde of Oyo, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara and Yahaya Bello of Kogi.

Advertisement

Except Tinubu, who managed to wangle himself to the Presidency, where are the others today? Some of them have fizzled out, while others have at one time or the other become victims of the obsessive and excessive powers, they had used in dealing with their deputies.

Who knows? The day might come when the same Obaseki, might face the same monster that he unleashed against Shaibu. Hopefully, if and when that day comes, he would look back and remember what April 8, 2024, looked like in Edo, when he held the levers of power and used it to determine political life and death. Today, he has established himself as not only a dictator but the Emperor of Dennis Osadebey. What a sad ending of a blistering public image!

Nigerians woke up on Monday to another shocking story – a damning narrative of how Nadeem Anjarwalla, Executive Manager of Binance for the African region, escaped from the guest house, where he was being detained in the care of the Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA), currently being manned by Nuhu Ribadu.

As usual, it is another regaling narrative in the series of pure, but bizarre episodes that have continued to shock the world even as they provide some sort of comic relief to them at the same time, with the consistency that could only be likened to movie scenes.

After all, is this not the country where monkeys cart away catches of currency notes and snakes swallow millions of public funds? While those in saner climes, one of them derisively describing Nigeria as a fantastically corrupt country, wonder what specie of homo sapiens inhabit our space, while sharing tea or quaffing beer in the club, we, especially our leaders have continued to supply them with more salacious ingredients to do so from our seemingly endless reservoir.

Unfortunately, we never seem to be in short supply of the most outlandish tales or quiver at their obvious nonsensicality and absurdity. It never occurs to us that we live in the comity of nations where our behaviours count and are counted against us. We simply carry on as if nothing matters.

Advertisement

The case of Nadeem Anjarwalla, presents no less in illogical and ridiculous to say the least. This was a man the Federal Government, had taken in for high economic crimes, such as money laundering and terrorism financing transactions – crimes, which outcomes have led to sorrow, tears and blood – through which hundreds of people have been sent to their early graves due to hunger, poverty and want and others from in the bushes as victims of kidnappings and mindless carnages.

PREMIUM TIMES, which broke the story on Monday, narrated how the 38-year-old Binance executive, made good his escape on Friday, 23 March, from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers “in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast.” It was from there that he bolted out of the country aboard Middle East airliner, the report said.

In confirmation, Zakari Mijinyawa, spokesman of the ONSA, who continued the story, in a statement, on Monday, added: “Until his escape, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds British and Kenyan nationalities and serves as Binance’s Africa regional manager, was being tried by Nigerian courts. The suspect escaped while under a 14-day remand order by a court in Nigeria, and was scheduled to appear before the court again on April 4, 2024.

“The Office of the National Security Adviser confirms that Nadeem Anjarwalla, a suspect in the ongoing criminal probe into the activities of Binance in Nigeria escaped from lawful custody on Friday, March 22, 2024. Upon receiving this report, this office took immediate steps, in conjunction with relevant security agencies, MDAs, as well as the international community, to apprehend the suspect.

“Security agencies are working with Interpol for an international arrest warrant on Nadeem Anjarwalla. Preliminary investigation shows that Anjarwalla fled Nigeria using a smuggled passport. The personnel responsible for the custody of the suspect have been arrested, and a thorough investigation is ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to his escape from lawful detention.”

Advertisement

Any informed Nigerian and those watching from elsewhere would have known the implication of this watery, infantile, obtuse and asinine tale. It is an open and short case. The matter has ended! Cul-de-sac, simplicita! From now on, politics takes over. The next stage is the Government Magic the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti spoke about in one of his epics. Soon there would be an order from the Presidency for the immediate rearrest and a threat to deal with those involved in the incident.

This will be followed with trading of blames, then media interviews, where political stalwarts, will attempt to shift the blames away from the key players with direct roles in the saga, make excuses and cite other countries where criminals similarly escaped from custodies and finally blame opposition for trying to politicise the issue, when they should join hands in solving the problem. Curtain falls!

Indeed, who would be surprised, knowing the country we are in, hearing tomorrow that a panel has been set up to “investigate” this shameful incident? Of course, the move in the main would be a ploy to ending the current public outcry rather than any worthwhile attempt to arrive at the truth? Who would be surprised if billions of Naira are approved and brand-new vehicles purchased for the members of that would-be panel, naturally made of up party officials and their cronies? Who would be surprised that the end of this saga would probably be a report submitted at another grand ceremony, which would end up on top of those already gathering dust on the shelve for years?

Else, who has been held responsible for that freakish tale of a snake swallowing millions of Naira? Or did it not happen in Nigeria? Has anyone heard anything about the Betta Edu saga again? Naturally, the hullaballoo against the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Services, that suffused the entire Nigerian firmament only a few weeks ago have disappeared in the winds. Are the key figures mentioned in that odious affair, including her ministerial colleague, whose company was used to salt away the funds meant for humanitarian purposes, not prancing about in the corridors of power yet?

One thing that is as sure as death is that Anjarwalla, did not just escape. He was probably led out of the country leisurely and effortlessly through a well-oiled protocol. No one should also discountenance the involvement of very powerful people in high places. Otherwise, the puerile account that there is no alternative to removal of petrol subsidy, and it was in the interest of Nigeria, rather than vested interests, should be accorded the same credibility.

Advertisement

What should be in issue is why? Was Anjarwalla led out of the country, because he induced his collaborators with money, which he must have had plenty of, given the level of his supposed crimes? Was it for religious reasons, given the part it plays in Nigeria? Or was it to ensure that what happened in Vegas remains in Vegas – in other words to buy his silence so that he does not name his collaborators in the high crimes when and if the matter finally ends in court? Find answers to these questions, solve the mystery behind this disgraceful saga.

Come to think of it, is there any other country in the world where a shipload of stolen crude oil is arrested and rather than use it as evidence against the culprits involved, it is set ablaze to destroy the same evidence, as constantly happens in Nigeria?

Is there any other country in the world, outside those officially in war, where hundreds of students or citizens are corralled into the forest and millions demanded in ransom only for some of them who are lucky to be “rescued” just like that without consequences to the culprits, as happens in Nigeria constantly and consistently? Any other country with such infantile tales?

Is there any other country in the world where a government official would so brazenly raise a memo for N1.5billion or equivalent just to inaugurate a 37-man committee to fix the salaries of citizens and remains in the same position an hour after?

Where else in the world have four refineries built with the sweat and blood of citizens simply gone kaput and the same citizens are made to suffer the ugly fate of high oil prices as a consequence of importation, as in Nigeria for decades now? Where else in oil producing countries across the world has it been reported that proceeds from crude production end up in private pockets more than get into public till as Nigeria has suffered these past years?

Advertisement

Indeed, which other country across the globe has presented the kind and type of sordid stories the world has been regaled with from Nigeria? Will there be more? Just wait! If not in days, in weeks! Soon, the Anjarwalla tale will give way! Soon another more funnier, odder, and weirder episode will come. Just wait!

On July 30, 2009, President Barak Obama, had a swing of beer with James Crowley, then a Sergeant at the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) in Massachusetts at the White House Rose Garden, a serene enclave bordering the Oval Office at the West Wing of the White House in Washington DC, the US seat of power.

That event, dubbed The Beer Summit, was to seal the end of the fence-mending procedure initiated to soothe frayed nerves between the President, his guest and the officers and men of the CPD that began on July 16, 2009, over the Harvard University professor saga, then raging across the country.

What happened? Henry Louis Gates Jr. a Professor with the US-based world’s prestigious institution was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home by local police officer Crowley, a white police officer, who claimed to have received a call that somebody was trying to break into a house, but who on arrival, was confronted by the supposed offender, who claimed ownership to the facility.

Soon, the matter, was to spark off a national debate, when the university don, claiming inappropriate behaviour towards him by the said white officer, who went ahead to arrest him, regardless on a charge of disorderly conduct, linked it with racial profiling heightened with the waves it generated spreading across the country.

Advertisement

Obama practically exacerbated the debate when he was quoted as stating that Crowley “acted stupidly,” with the CPD union, calling him out over the statement, with Steve Killian, President of the Cambridge police patrol officers’ association, who debunked that race was a factor in the incident demanding an apology from Obama and Deval Patrick, the African-American governor, who also described the arrest as “every black man’s nightmare.”

Buckling against the backlash his comment attracted, Obama had to practically eat his words, first, admitting that he could have chosen his words more carefully, said: “Because this has been ratcheting up and I helped to contribute to ratcheting it up, I want to make it clear that in my choice of words I unfortunately gave the impression I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sergeant Crowley and I could have calibrated those words differently.”

If that statement, from the POTUS, leader of the most powerful country in the world, was not a straight apology, the beer summit, with Obama, Crowley and Gates, as well as Joe Biden, then Vice President, now the current helmsman, watching, was a clear euphemism for it.

Now, what does this mean? The clear answer is that, that the job of that police officer is so protected that not even the President has any power outside what the constitution of the United States bestows on him to make any snide comments about him, not to talk about any form of punishment, including sacking him.

In fact, given the scenario that played out, Obama’s job was more threatened and at risk than any hint of the officer losing his. Any suggestion from the POTUS of further action against him could constitute an impeachment offence, because it could be construed as attacking the police formation, a major institution of state, and therefore, gross misconduct, punishable by removal. That was how serious it was for him to beat a retreat and call for truce.

Advertisement

Now, juxtapose that with the scenario in Nigeria. Imagine that it was a Nigerian President that made that comment credited to Obama. That same policeman, a mere Sergeant, would have been thanking his stars if the matter ended with just losing his job within minutes, simply on the strength of that obvious displeasure of the number one citizen.

A whole President chiding a police officer? Most of his colleagues would probably have been clamped into detention where they could be forgotten even without the President taking any further action. Their superiors would have since stepped in to ensure maximum punishment.

Else, what could have given rise to the funny incident last week in the arrest and detention of Julius Abure, National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), by the authorities of the Zone 5 command of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), if the police in Nigeria, just like many organisations, is an independent institution, with loyalty to the people rather than some vested interests pulling the strings from outside?

Listen to Tijani Momoh, spokesman of the command: “I wish to confirm the arrest of the factional chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure and four others. It has to do with a written petition that was endorsed by the AIG Zone 5 from the office of the Inspector General of Police. There are video clips, recordings of the petitioner being assaulted, being beaten when he came home last year to conduct ward matters.

“It is a case of attempted murder, conspiracy, illegal possession of arms and other related offences. They were also in possession of firearms; a short gun and three rounds of ammunition. Investigation is ongoing. They were just arrested today. More details will be provided later.”

Advertisement

Now, assuming that the same petition was written against Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), what are the police likely to do? Will they as much as acknowledge the paper it was written on? Would they order him to sit on the floor or drag him while sitting on the floor, as was seen in the video capturing Abure’s treatment in their hands?

But not even an imbecile needed to be goaded in believing the incident had much to do with politics as officials of the LP allege, than it is connected to crime. In other words, what was at play in that odious episode, is likened to the biblical hand of Esau and voice of Jacob.

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party in last year’s election captured the oddity more succinctly, writing on his X platform: “My stance on this matter remains unwavering but does not explain watching the distressing image of our National Chairman lying on the ground in the name of arrest. This act is undesirable, demeaning and unequivocally intolerable and must be condemned by any decent and civilized mind within the context of our present civic landscape in Nigeria. These deplorable actions epitomize the pinnacle of rascality and serve to egregiously tarnish the already regrettable perception of our nation as one plagued by lawlessness. Such behaviour must not only be denounced but also actively addressed to uphold the principles of justice and respect for the dignity of the individual within our society.

“Regarding the circumstances surrounding Mr. Abure’s arrest, it is crucial to emphasize that while constitutional authorities must be allowed to execute their statutory functions, officers must adhere to due process, civility, decency and established arrest procedures, embody civility, decorum, respect for the dignity and rights of citizens, and, above all, the presumption of innocence before the law. It is crucial to emphasize that as a leader within the Labour Party, Mr. Abure represents, both personally and statutorily, as the incumbent Chairman of the LP, the face of political opposition in Nigeria. Most importantly, political Parties are institutions of democratic statehood and ought to that extent be accorded due respect.”

Come to think of it, at what point in the Nigerian sad story, were the police as an institution or individually not a major contributor or enabler. Was it in the humiliation and brutalisation of political opponents such as attributed to the case of Abure, or policemen running away with ballot boxes as was the case in the last elections, as captured in Rivers State or suppression of even killing of citizens during civil protests that arise from discontent over election heists?

Advertisement

The question, then is, at what point would the police in Nigeria come to terms with the reality that even as enablers of the sorry state in Nigeria, they are equally victims. At what point will they realise that in being alive to their duty to the state rather than powerful individuals and groups, they will ultimately free themselves from bondage. Who, indeed will save the police in Nigeria?