By Semiloore Akinsulure
On the 1st of November, the Nigerian people were shockingly confronted with a threat that fiercely oozed out from the terrain of arguably one of the most sophisticated presidents in the world. To many, he’s perhaps the most powerful when considering the retinues of firepower stocked at his disposal, talk more of his person being full of domineering tendencies always scattered across his engagements with issue. The intervention of President Trump is therefore a one to watch out for and can’t be brushed aside not even by President Tinubu, who by the way, must have seen videos of one of his African brothers and Presidents being brutally tortured away from home in the hands of President Trump.
Very recently, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa was schooled like a baby after he was challenged with allegation of enabling White Genocide in South Africa. Trump didn’t consider the country’s traumatizing experience of Apartheid where blacks were cruelly bullied from the street of Soweto to the nook and cranny of South Africa. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn’t have it so smooth at the White House. He was thoroughly lectured to know the way of gratitude and then chased out like he really didn’t matter. After all, it is Donald Trump!
I will like to observe a bit of digression, to interrogate the position of Law, as it relates to the Donald Trump’s threatened military action in Nigeria in retaliation to what he described as mass violence against Christians. It must be noted in emphatic term that Nigeria is a sovereign state, and by implication, the country can’t be a subject of intimidation, threat, suppression and bully by any other country. This is the essence of rule of law and America is not an exception in this instance. I make recourse to Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations which expressly constrain all UN members to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. This Charter protects the territorial integrity of all members from unlawful attack or threat of force, of which both Nigeria and United State of America are part. In the case of Nicaragua v United States of America [1986] ICJ Rep 14, the Court held that If the use of force in a given case would be unlawful, the threat to use such force will likewise be unlawful.
The UN Charter however gives two valid exceptions that can warrant the invasion of a country by another and these can be found in Article 51 of the Charter. As a matter of self defense, military action can be activated or where the UN Security Council consents to the use of force for the purpose of securing international peace and harmony. Either ways, proper procedures must be followed, and no State can unilaterally unleash a military action in another State without a report being made to the Security Council or the resolution of same. Though, it can be contended that under the principle of The Responsibility to Protect, that a residential responsibility also lied with the broader community of states which can be used when a particular state is unwilling or unable to fulfill its responsibility to protect its people from terrorism or when the state is the actual enabler of the atrocities. The R2P was inspired by the Rwandan genocide and wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Away from the long digression. The Nigerian government can not take shelter from their own wrong and hide under the well popularized narrative of sovereignty. They must admit to the fact that they have failed the people. Nigeria has been undergoing serious crises of leadership since independence and despite overwhelming agitations from dissenting voices things has refused to get better. Politicians continue to see political positions and platforms as opportunity to further enrich themselves at the detriment of the people. Politics has become a mainstream business for so many people, only few are genuinely driven with the burden of leadership and the interest of the greater good. Again, I ask, what is the mindset and the reasoning of the people in power? Clearly, events has shown that what matters to them is not actual governance but the next election. This is why we keep on having the same old recycling politicians in the corridors of power. This is a serious problem that has eaten deep into the fabric of the soul of this country and it calls for a particular concern.
I have been following the press statements from the State House with keen interest, since Trump made his threat to Nigeria, and I think they have been rather disappointing and watery. Section 14(2)(B) of the Nigerian Constitution makes the security and welfare of the people the primary purpose of government. It’s a fundamental error on the part of the presidency to be appraising economic growth, that does not even exist in reality, by the way, when issues of insecurity is so raised as it is currently. How can the people eat with peace when there’s no assurance of living due to insecurity, or how can a secured people be happy to live when they can’t feed? It’s a serious insensitivity to talk about one at the detriment of the other. A government that can’t ensure the security and safety of the people lacks the moral right to talk about economic progress.
Now, like never before, it’s clear to everyone that the shambles of the people in power is no longer a secret. It has become a global show, that has subjected the reputation of the country to absolute ridicule. It’s true that America can not save Nigeria and I don’t think any other country can save Nigeria too. Nigeria can only be saved by Nigerians. The salvation of this country rests predominantly on its people and this can only be done through a deliberate effort from the people and the people in power. Power has to go back to the power. Birago Diop of Senagal must have been in the spirit when conceiving the muse for his poem ‘Vanity’ especially when he admitted that even if we cry roughly of our torments, we will have no eyes to take pity of our large mouth that has been shaped by the laughter of the big children.
This explains the rough situation of Nigeria currently. The people does not have trust in the leadership of the country, and going back to America for assistance is like a journey back to Egypt. The people are presented with the option of who to choose between the devil and the deep blue sea. The government must take this period as an opportunity to redeem themselves from bad governance and rescue the shrinking reputation of the country in the eyes of international communities. Now is the time for the people to see the dividends of governance, and this can only be done if the government decides to wake up from docility and swing into action, and move very fast with precision and decisive action.
Semiloore Akinsulure, is a Writer, and a Media Personality.
semiloreakinsulure@gmail.com
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