We are Getting There Gradual by Gradually By Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba

The Igbo expression “nwayo, nwayoo” means slowly or gradually. My late uncle in order to make the English expression sound like the Igbo version preferred to translate the expression as “gradual by gradually.” That was as much as his 2nd grade education had allowed. Nigeria is getting to disintegrating gradual by gradually.


EFCC Arrests Fani-Kayodes Wife and 8 Months Old Son A Commentary
Read more at http://huhuonline.com/hunew/index.php/huhuonline-more-news/8565-efcc-arrests-fani-kayode-s-wife-4-months-old-son#WmJY7HZu4wBtrCuY.99

The arrest and detention of Mrs. Patience Chikwendu Fani-Kayode is another example in successive law enforcement incidents recently. The successive events I have in mind are the lawlessness of the current President Buhari’s government leading some to suspect that PMB is eyeing dictatorship as a better alternative to democratic government. This could be because he is getting frustrated by the snail speed of his war on corruption. He needs to be told that Nigeria had tried dictatorship before and rejected it. And would reject it again and again.

Mrs. Fani-Kayode went to a bank to withdraw some money. It turned out that her account had been frozen by EFCC. This simple matter could have been resolved by simply denying the withdrawal request with the explanation that the Nigerian Government had place a hold on all transactions from this account. Mrs. Fani-Kayode would have been let out to pursue the matter with the Nigerian government. Instead the madam was detained by the bank along with an 8-month baby crying for food. Mrs. Fani-Kayode was not an armed robber and made no threatening remarks. Banks do not have any legal authority to arrest or detain anybody especially their customers. But an overzealous EFCC conferred on the bank the authority the constitution did not give banks. Governor Fayose was called and he stormed the bank and freed the captive.

One recalls the case in Port Harcourt, Rivers State where the Administration sent Department of State Security Services officers to the house of a court judge at the middle of the night with arms to arrest the judge. DSS officers are not charged with fighting corruption and are not police officers with the responsibility. The Governor of Rivers Mr. Wilke state was summoned. He like his brother Fayose stormed the residence and freed the surrounded court judge.

Everything that could be wrong in these situations went wrong. And have serious consequences both now and in future. There was displays of ignorance or arrogance in these incidents:

1. Banks should know the limits of their powers and should refuse orders to break any laws. They are not and should not be involved in arrests and detentions. They are not equipped to do these kinds of things. In any case their loyalties ought to be to their customers first.

2. EFCC ought to know that arresting someone who wants to withdraw money from her account amounts to excessive use of powers. It is something paper work could solve and was solved when the bank refused the withdrawal.

3. The governor should not be placed in a position to give contrary orders to the banks and should not have done so. This is much more complex than the two points above. Should the governor sit around and allow injustice to take place?

The heart of the matter is that the relationship between the state and the federal government is ill defined or misunderstood. It appears that the chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General of Nigeria (AGN) does not understand the basics of his job or is not advising his government properly
Nigeria needs the Sovereign National Conference to restructure the country very quickly.

The situation where the federal government gives one order and the state government gives a counter order will result in chaos.

As the army says: order, counter order, disorder

We are getting to this disorder gradual by gradually. Nwayo nwayoo

Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba

Boston, Massachusetts

October 18, 2016