A Stand Against Bigotry
By
Tochukwu Ezukanma
maciln18@yahoo.com
Undoubtedly,
General Jeremiah Useni was part of the most corrupt and brutal
military regimes in the history of Nigeria. Like most members of those
infamous governments, he must have acquired enormous wealth under very
corrupt circumstances. He may also have been a party to some of the
murderous excesses of the Abacha government. It has been alleged that
as the Minister for the Federal Territory, he abused the land
allocation process and violated the original master plan for Abuja. It
is believed that his policies as the Minister for the Federal
Territory would have reduced the city of Abuja to just another
Nigerian city, something of an unplanned, chaotic and unlivable place.
However, irrespective of his antecedents and moral deficiencies, he
reserves the right to his own opinion.
He was quoted as
saying that the Abacha regime “was justified to have killed Saro Wiwo”
because of the gruesome killings perpetrated by his supporters at the
time. His statement has “drawn fury of both human rights activists and
politicians of the Niger Delta extraction.” Marvin Yobana, leader of
Ogoni Youths Council (OYC) on October 28 “gave Useni a seven day
ultimatum to either apologize for his reported justification of the
killing or face legal action for the murder of the late activist”.
That Useni holds a
view on the death of Saro Wiwo that is at variance with that of the
generality of the people of the Niger Delta is not wrong at all. It is
his prerogative as a Nigerian citizen to form and express his own
independent opinions on national issues. To demand an apology from him
because of his differing opinion on an issue is arrogant and
presumptuous. Actually, it is nonsense, monumental nonsense. The
people of the Niger Delta have been victims of unjust, corrupt and
brutal government policies, but that has not conferred on them the
right to gag anyone or to hold the only legitimate view on national
discourse.
The Nigerian
constitution guarantees Jeremiah Useni’s right to free speech.
Inherent in freedom of speech is the right to be right or wrong. So,
the question is not the correctness or incorrectness of Useni’s
statement. The point is that he has the right to shape and state his
independent belief on the subject. Moreover, in this context, right
or wrong lacks a précised definition. We can all choose to define them
from our different perspectives. Besides, the people of Niger Delta,
as represented by the OYC, do not have a transcendental claim to
knowledge, wisdom and morality, and therefore, do not reserve the
exclusive authority to determine our collective concept of right and
wrong. Therefore, Useni does not owe any body an apology and should
not apologize to “assuage anybody’s anger”. Those who are angered by
viewpoints that conflict with theirs are petty, low-life,
narrow-minded bigots.
Nigerians dream of
national greatness, but as a people, we are yet to imbibe the
attitudinal precondition for greatness. A precondition for national
eminence is mental and emotional discipline that engenders respect, or
at least tolerance for dissenting outlooks. There can be no progress
without innovation, and no innovation without dissent. Not
surprisingly, the Western democracies which have shown the greatest
tolerance for dissenting views are the most successful countries in
history. They do not repress individual rights to free speech in an
attempt to protect the pretensions and follies of any privileged group
or interest. The United States of America remains the most cacophonous
country in the world. Her society permits unparalleled latitude for
divergent ideas, opinions, beliefs, lifestyles, etc. Paradoxically,
she remains the wealthiest, most powerful and politically stable
country in the history of humanity.
History has
furnished the instructive precedence that the inhibition of
independent ideas and freedom of expression enthrones mediocrity,
undermines reform, retards progress and breeds elitism and inequity.
The Soviet Union is potentially richer than the USA but hamstrung by
years of diverse forms of dictatorship, totalitarianism and tyranny;
she remains a colossus of unrealized potentials. Up till the end of
the 15th century, Spain led the world in navigational
sciences. Following the Spanish Inquisition which successfully imposed
social orthodoxy and banished free thought and any form of dissent,
Spain atrophied politically, culturally and intellectually. Up till
this day, she remains the backwater of Western Europe.
Free speech can be
likened to a lobster. The lobster is a contemptible scavenger of the
sea. It voraciously devours the foulest refuse of the ocean floor.
Paradoxically, from the lobster comes the most succulent and expensive
seafood. While free speech can be noisy and unruly, intrusive and
disruptive, discordant and dissonant, caustic and acerbic, it serves
the public good. It enlightens the mind, liberates it from timidity
and fear and stimulates its creative energies. It edifies a people’s
collective mind, enlarges their horizon, nourishes their freedom and
reinforces their progress.
No one Nigerian is
more Nigerian than any other Nigerian. Every Nigeria has an
inalienable right to hold and express his view on national issues.
Nigerians cannot acquiesce to the suppression of free speech in an
attempt to pander to any one man, group or interest because that will
retard our democratic evolution, societal reformation and over all
national progress. The demand by the Niger Delta activists and
politicians that every Nigerian’s perspective on the trial and death
of Saro Wiwo must conform to theirs is an assault on freedom of
thought and expression. For our collective good, Nigerians must take a
resolute stand against that willful obscurantism.
Tochukwu Ezukanma
writes from Lagos, Nigeria
maciln18@yahoo.com
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