Abba Kyari was able to use social media to create an image of being a ‘super cop’, the only cop in Nigeria doing his job. He was a master self-promoter, projecting himself to the stature of a celebrity that no one could touch. As a result, he kept receiving awards. First Lady, Aisha Buhari gave him an award; youth groups flocked around him, giving him numerous awards for valour. The National Assembly was not left behind, the house of representative honoured him with a standing ovation as seen in the photograph.
Yet, few months after denying the allegations by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which indicted him in an internet fraud case, claiming that his “hands are clean”; the same ‘super cop’ was declared wanted over suspected links with an international drug cartel by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and has subsequently been arrested.
The avalanche of reactions from citizens across board suggests that we are running a system that is not transparent and open. This is what you get when lack of accountability and trust deficit is prevalent.
Abba Kyari, clearly, wasn’t trying to eat with the back of a spoon. He wasn’t doing the unthinkable. He knew what gig he was in, albeit, he placed too much a premium on his ability to oil his way – his godfathers in the shadows – through the Nigerian system. A few cold calls would do the magic, he’d be freed.
Abba Kyari is not the only one involved in this. It is the way of many of our officials and law enforcement agents in Nigeria; they are deeply involved, this is obviously the consequences of poor leadership and nepotism.
Similarly, political appointees and most of the officials in government also understand the vulnerability of the system and the gullibility of the people. Backed up and supported by a small clique of the ‘owners’ of Nigeria, in connivance with the media, they begin to recklessly squander the nation’s riches and plunder resources to the advantage of their ‘promoters’ and to the benefits of the imperialist agenda.
It is, partly because of some of these reasons, that I became persuaded and believed that we may be in for a long night, complete with a few bouts of nightmares; more name dropping and jail calling. We need to get ready to have more of our reverence for some ‘national heroes’ get tossed, for good. As a nation destined for greatness, we need to begin to interrogate the motives and actual intentions of the promoters and sponsors of such incongruence.
Permit me to conclude by using one of the now famous words of Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), he had said; “When a fish is rotten, it is obviously from the head”. As a nation destined for greatness, we need to begin to address the issue of leadership appropriately and re-engineer our system.
#WeCantContinueLikeThis
Richard Odusanya, is a Social Reform Crusader and the convener of AFRICA COVENANT RESCUE INITIATIVE ACRI
