A modest proposal regarding El-Zakzaky and Dasuki – Why not house arrest? — 1

By Dele Sobowale

Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipotent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy” – US Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, 1856-1941, in 1928.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has flouted the law several times with regard to the failure to release the two detainees – El-Zakzaky and Dasuki – despite court orders. This is despite President Buhari’s assurances given in London on May 12, 2016, at the Anti-Corruption Summit attended by sixty Heads of State. At that conference, the Nigerian leader made this declaration to the audience in clear words.

“I am not unaware of the challenges of fighting corruption in a manner consistent with respect for human rights and rule of law. As a country that came out of prolonged military rule only seventeen years ago, it will clearly take time to change the mentality and psychology of law enforcement officers. I am committed to applying the rule of law and to respecting human rights. I also require our security agencies to do the same.”

The participants, mostly from nations where the law is supreme, believed our President. At home, the reception was mixed. Some trusted Buhari to keep his promise made openly to the global community. Others were skeptical. They know from bitter experience that skepticism is the best guide to wisdom when politicians talk. Buhari was speaking as a politician in London.

The reason for doubt is not far fetched. Buhari’s eighteen months as Military Head of State were among the most brutal in all the years of military rule. We also know that the man talking about respect for human rights had only one career and that was in the military whose contempt for human rights of “bloody civilians” was legendary. In retirement, he was a livestock farmer. Neither life as a soldier where recruits are turned into robots, nor as chief herdsman was exactly the best school for learning about respect for human rights. To the critics, the first mentality and psychology of a law enforcement officer to be changed is that of the “potent, the omnipotent teacher” of Nigerians – President Buhari. Soon, it became clear that Buhari was not totally prepared to fulfill his promise to respect human rights. He was going to be selective and by so doing set a bad example for the people he leads.

As the London conference was underway and Buhari was pleasing the audience with his assurances, three events were unfolding at home that would reveal the self-delusion involved in his statements and our collective acceptance of them as articles of faith. We were also self-deceived to have expected an old man, past seventy, to unlearn all the habits accumulated since he joined the army in 1961 at the age of 19. Perhaps we wanted to be deceived because we all know that habit is stronger than reason and not easily broken – especially at old age. The three events that would test Buhari’s sincerity were the arrests for different alleged offences of Kanu, the agitator for creation of Biafra; Dasuki, the immediate past National Security Adviser, NSA; and El-Zakzaky, the Shi’ite leader after a violent confrontation with the Nigerian Army.

Government was acting within the bounds of democratic societies by arresting people suspected of committing or planning to commit crimes – irrespective of gravity of the offences. So, the FG’s right to arrest and detain is not in question. If a bomb goes off in any democratic nation in Europe the police and security agencies cast their nets wide and drag in several individuals. All of them are presumed innocent. Nigeria also practices (or so we think) democracy. So all suspects are assumed to be innocent under our laws until tried and proved guilty. That means that the curtailment of their freedoms should be as little and short as possible. The law even stipulates the time period for detention.

Generally, it must be admitted, the Buhari administration had toed the line of decency in dealing with suspects. That is what makes the cases of the three so exceptional and unacceptable. It took a great deal of collective effort for Buhari to spring Kanu loose (and see what positive dividend it earned for the FG). That leaves two and those two keep pointing to the fact that Buhari is still not fully keeping his words.

The rule of law requires everybody – Presidents and paupers – to obey the orders of an independent judiciary. Those on the bench are the people designated to determine guilt or innocence once the Executive branch has done its own duty. They are also the people charged with deciding appropriate punishment within the confines of the laws passed by the Legislative Branch. The law in a democracy forbids the Executive to impose its own punishment on people accused but not found guilty by the courts. Buhari, while making his solemn pledge in London, might not have understood this. Law is not taught at Mons; killing people is. So he can be partly excused for ignorance – even when it is no defence in law.

Nigerians and the world expected that once arrested the two individuals would be subjected to the same legal process as everybody else – because to do otherwise would amount to discrimination. That is process corruption. They were, until various judges sitting in different courts granted them bail under sometimes bizarre conditions. Then, the real Buhari began to show. The man who advocated the change in the mentality and psychology of security agencies demonstrated that he has not changed his own. The potent, omnipotent teacher has since then been teaching his security agencies all the bad habits he preached against in London – to a great round of applause.

Inevitably, Buhari had got himself into an ethical and legal dilemma all at once. The short word for the moral dichotomy is hypocrisy. And as De La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, reminded us: “Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.” (VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTES p 96). It breaks my heart that a Nigerian President will stand before other Heads of State and say things he does not mean. What will they think of us for having such a leader? The legal dilemma is just as devastating. That one was amply summarized by Bractor, 13th Century philosopher. “The king [President himself ought not to be subject to man; but, to God and to the law because the law makes him king [President].” (VBQ p 120). There is no difference between what Bractor wrote in the 13th Century and what Brandeis delivered in the Olmstead Case in 1928 – seven hundred years after because truth is the only enduring thing. Falsehood, like a drunkard, eventually falls under its own weight.

Buhari carries additional baggage with regard to the two men. Because Buhari is a Suni Muslim; El-Zakzaky is Shi’ite. Rightly or wrongly, Buhari is perceived as using his mandate to fight a sectarian battle and drawing us closer to the bloodshed in the Arab world driven by sectarian violence. Nigerians don’t care about the schism in Islam and are not prepared to be part of the Arabian carnage.

Similarly, the refusal to release Dasuki has raised issues of revenge for Lt. Colonel Sambo Dasuki’s role in the 1985 coup which terminated Buhari’s first turn as Head of State. Here again, right or wrong, several million people perceive the detention as being motivated by vendetta. Few people outside of the government believe that it is a security matter as claimed by the Federal Government. Furthermore, the trial has been delayed for two reasons. First is failure of the security agencies to produce Dasuki in court when required and the bizarre request that government witnesses should be masked or cross-examined in camera.

The FG has removed all reasonable doubt that it is not ready to prosecute this case any time soon. That leaves Buhari in a quandary. He made a promise to the world; he must fulfill it. But, how?

BOOK DONATION REQUEST

I was in Imo State last week and spontaneously adopted a Primary and Secondary School whose Library can benefit from books donated. I will certainly set the ball rolling. Authors wanting to join the campaign, please get in touch. God will bless Nigeria and the kids who will benefit.

GREATWOOD HOTELS: BEST VALUE FOR MONEY IN OWERRI

Moving around as much as I do provides opportunity to stay in different hotels. By accident, I was in Owerri last week and discovered the greatest value for money hotel in the ancient city – GREATWOOD.

Wait for the rest..

 

 

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