Every corridor of power is strewn with its own peculiar coterie of grovellers. They may come under various designations – Special Assistant, Press Secretary, Special Adviser, Commissioner or some other official nomenclature – what unites them is their blind and unthinking resort to extra-legal measures in defence of their principals.
Some public officials who don’t know any better, actually enjoy having a gang of attack dogs to do battle against real and imagined foes. But check throughout history, such lickspittles usually bring their principals to grief, especially when they take liberties with dispensing punishment to their boss’s perceived traducers. So many corporate and political reputations have been ruined on the altar of intolerance orchestrated by overbearing aides.
Flashback
One of the oft-referenced instances of the above occupational disease is the case of dehumanisation of a journalist by the underling of a military governor 52 years ago. The case continues to be referenced because its subject matter is of abiding relevance to governance, human rights and the limits of the deployment of brawn in place of brain.
Journalist Minere Amakiri’s article on the teachers’ strike of 1973 had been published by the Nigerian Observer on Military Governor Alfred Diete-Spiff’s birthday. What temerity! On His Excellency’s birthday! The governor’s aides decided to teach the intrepid journalist a lesson he would never forget. They arrested and detained him and shaved his head like a common criminal before administering 33 lashes of the cane on him. It was a bloodied, shaven, traumatised Amakiri that emerged from detention following high profile protests by members of the fourth estate of the realm.
The battle shifted to the courts with the late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, appearing for the plaintiff. In his Statement of Claim, Amakiri stated that at 3.15 p.m. on July 30, 1973, the defendant, ASP Michael Iwowari, who was an aide to Governor Diete-Spiff, came to his residence and invited him to the State House where he (Iwowari) questioned him about publications in the Nigerian Observer concerning the Rivers State teachers’ protest.
He said ASP Iwowari unlawfully imprisoned him in the said Government House after the whole of his hair had first been shaved and he was subjected to severe beating. He was detained from 4 p.m. on July 30, 1973, until 7 pm on July 31, 1973, without any food or refreshment.
The court found the defendant, ASP Ralph Michael Iwowari guilty for the detention, assault and battery of Minere Amakiri. Giving a breakdown of the monetary compensation awarded, Justice Ambrose Allagoa said N200 was for each of the 33 strokes of cane received by Amakiri; N2,600 for being detained illegally and N2,600 for the unsolicited shave and pain he was subjected to by the defendant and his sidekicks. Total damages worth N10,000 were awarded in favour of Minere Amakiri, a tidy sum in those good old days.
Landmark
Since that time, Amakiri’s name regularly pops up whenever the issue of executive recklessness and human rights infringement perpetrated by sycophantic underlings in the corridors of power, is being discussed.
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, dodged that bullet recently when she bluntly refused to be sucked into a ready-made controversy which would have cast her in the mould of a petty abuser of power.
Whereas, Amakiri’s brutalisation happened in the analogue days when there was no social media, the recent matter which could have brought out the worst in Mrs Tinubu was all over the digital media and was feasted on by the major news and gossip networks and platforms.
Health Initiative
Mrs Tinubu was in Delta State to further the cause of her Renewed Hope Initiative Health Programme. At the occasion, 10,000 professional kits were distributed to midwives in the South-South geopolitical zone.
As is usual with the grovelling sycophancy that attends such events, the Master of Ceremony introduced Senator Tinubu as the mother of all through a chant: “Na our Mama be dis o eh; na our Mama be dis o, we no get another one…”
The response was supposed to be “Na our Mama be dis o eh”
But the audience, the overwhelming proportion of which comprised students, chorused instead: “Na your Mama be dis o, eh…”
If she was embarrassed by the rejection of her ‘mothership’, the First Lady did not show it. Subsequently, however, one Osato Edobor, a student of the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences, Agbor, published a video of the event on TikTok, showing the nursing students gleefully rejecting Mrs. Tinubu as their mother.
The provost of the nursing institution, Mrs. Rita Ogonne Evbodaghe, promptly did the typically Nigerian thing – she issued a query to Ms Edobor, accusing her of engaging in a “malicious act” by recording herself singing and posting an “unofficial response” to a song during the First Lady’s arrival at the Dome Event Centre in Asaba.
The matter refused to leave the front pages and many were looking forward to the drama that would follow its expected escalation. Human rights activist and politician, Omoyele Sowore, swiftly announced his support for the beleaguered nursing student: “We will be providing backing to this lady with all our physical and legal might to ensure the authorities at Delta State College of Nursing Sciences do not perpetrate this egregious act of injustice, as an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Mrs Tinubu sidestepped what would surely have been a public relations trap with a press statement issued in the first person, thereby establishing her ownership of the sentiments expressed therein:
Re: Students’ Expression During First Lady Of Nigeria’s Visit To Delta State
“My attention has been drawn to a video circulating on social media, showcasing the warm reception I received during my recent visit to Delta State. I’m deeply grateful for the enthusiasm displayed by the people of Delta State, nurses, midwives, women groups, and student nurses at the event.
“The Renewed Hope Initiative’s donation of 10,000 Professional Kits to Midwives in the South-South zone was a huge success, and I’m thrilled to have played a part in motivating midwives across the nation. Our goal is to reduce infant and maternal mortality, and morbidity in Nigeria, and events like these bring us closer to achieving that.
“However, I’ve been made aware that some students from the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences have been issued a query regarding their participation in a playful welcome chant. While I respect the institution’s right to maintain discipline, I also believe that students should feel safe to express themselves in a light-hearted manner.
“As the First Lady of Nigeria, I hope that educational institutions will foster an environment that balances discipline with free expression, allowing students to thrive and grow. I trust that the Delta State College of Nursing Sciences will handle this matter with understanding and fairness.
“Thank you again to the people of Delta State for your warm welcome, and to the students, nurses, and midwives who made the event so unforgettable.”
I say, Bravo! Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by the way, is a product of Great Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) where she must have imbibed the spirit of activism. But then, the lesson we must not permit ourselves to miss is that a tigress does not necessarily have to proclaim its tigritude to show its dominion.
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