In May 2018, the Nigerian airwaves were awash
with musical lyrics from Folarin Falana, popularly
called Falz. Some persons could not accept the
obvious truth in the song that there was a dent
on the image of Nigeria and by extension every
citizen of Nigeria.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in their
reaction threatened to slam a law suit on the
musician, Falz for his song titled, “This is
Nigeria; Where Everyone is a Criminal”. At first,
many people tongue lashed Falz for not being a
patriotic Nigerian despite being the son of a
frontline legal luminary, Femi Falana (SAN). They
argued that as a Nigerian, no matter the
situation, we should be patriotic even if things
are not working as expected. Ideally, being
patriotic, is a duty for every citizen to uphold
social justice, stand firm against the ills in the
land at all times.
Nigerian flag
In that regard, Falz stated the facts following the
ugly revelations in Nigeria on a daily basis.
Some of these ills range from certificate forgery,
wanton killings by herdsmen, kidnapping, police
brutality, electoral fraud and most recent being
the introduction of vote buying into our electoral
system. The alleged NYSC certificate forgery by
the Minister of Finance; Mrs. Kemi Adeosun
possibly shows how things have deteriorated.
But, this is Nigeria where majority of our
presumed leaders parade forged documents and
corruption tainted wealth. You would also recall
the pioneer Speaker of Federal House of
Representative, Buhari Salisu, and his Toronto
certificate forgery case. Good a thing, Salisu did
not have to wait to be removed in office before
resigning on the account of forgery and perjury
in 1999. His action and timely response through
his resignation speech elicited sympathy for him
from the public.
Interestingly, this is Nigeria where saying the
truth is considered a distraction to people in
government. As discerning minds wait for
Nigeria to see how the present administration
handles Mrs. Adeosun’s case, a Coalition of
Civil Society Group in Nigeria has come to her
defense, by classifying the revelation made by
Premium Times as a distraction. The coalition
group did not bother about the moral burden of
such revelation on the country. Neither did they
call for quick investigation by NYSC to ascertain
the fact with respect to enabling laws that make
it mandatory for all graduates below 30 years of
age to serve in the scheme. The integrity burden
is on the NYSC to formally respond to the
authenticity of the discharge certificate issued to
Mrs. Adeosun without further delay.
The Nigeria Police Force is another institution
that urgently needs to undergo the test
considering the overwhelming reports against it.
The recent revelation about four policemen,
attached to SARS who were exposed and
subsequently charged to court for armed
robbery, kidnapping, unlawful detention and
intimidation of a clergyman was a huge shame
of a failed security system. Nigeria police that
was entrusted with the responsibility to protect
the people now leave scars and fear in the heart
of people. The government agencies break their
own laws establishing them without looking
back as a result of corruption and moral
degradation. The 2016 report on corruption in
Nigeria by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
equally affirmed that Nigeria has an integrity
question to contend with when it listed critical
sectors of the public institution with statutory
functions to enforce laws and discipline corrupt
offenders as the most bribe takers in Nigeria.
The damming report of the NBS from the
National Survey conducted on Corruption in
Nigeria revealed that Nigerian Police Officers,
Prosecutors and Judges/Magistrates are the
most corrupt public officers in Nigeria. The
report says that 46.4 percent of the Nigerian
public have had bribery contact with the police
officers, 33 percent with prosecutors and 31
percent of the public had also have bribery
contact with judges and magistrates. This is
ridiculous because in a country where the
police, prosecutors and judges demand bribes
before doing their statutory duties, it means that
only the highest bidder gets judgment no
matter the evidence and glaring truth.
This unprecedented high rate of corruption in
our critical public sectors unwittingly fans the
current insecurity situation in Nigeria as
manifested in Fulani/farmers clashes, armed
banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and ethno-
religious conflicts. Sadly, the high rate of
unemployment has rendered majority of our
youths vulnerable and readily available tools
for criminal activities in the country.
Despite the outcry over frequent herdsmen/
farmers clashes with their attendant
consequences in the country, the Presidency
has continued to devote large percentage of
their time to glorifying its success in
management of security, as if the killings were
not part of the security responsibility of our
government. More worrisome was the comment
credited to the President Muhammadu Buhari
during his visit to Jos. He was quoted in Jos as
saying that “Nobody can say that we haven’t
done well in terms of security, we have done our
best but the way things are now, we can only
pray”. It is unfortunate the Presidency can
indirectly accept the abnormality as a way of life
by further encouraging the already traumatized
victims to accept it as their fate. No wonder, it is
said that when truth is blurred by lies and
misinformation, perception becomes a reality,
and all would be lost.
As the Nigerian government continues in their
self-praises and comparing the number of death
toll during 16 years of PDP to APC’s 3 and half
years, the UK parliament described the issue of
insecurity in Nigeria as a matter of urgency.
That Nigeria has been stagnated in her effort to
build a liberal political, economic and social
state over these years is highly regrettable in
view of the recent Ekiti State election.
President Muhammadu Buhari has told
Nigerians to continue praying. Of course we will
pray. The only problem is that, praying without
work, trust, love and faith in one another is as
good as tempting God. Until Nigerians begin to
trust and love one another, everyone will
continue to live in suspicion.
Eugene Onyeabo Aligbe, Public Affairs Analyst
resides in Lagos.
with musical lyrics from Folarin Falana, popularly
called Falz. Some persons could not accept the
obvious truth in the song that there was a dent
on the image of Nigeria and by extension every
citizen of Nigeria.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in their
reaction threatened to slam a law suit on the
musician, Falz for his song titled, “This is
Nigeria; Where Everyone is a Criminal”. At first,
many people tongue lashed Falz for not being a
patriotic Nigerian despite being the son of a
frontline legal luminary, Femi Falana (SAN). They
argued that as a Nigerian, no matter the
situation, we should be patriotic even if things
are not working as expected. Ideally, being
patriotic, is a duty for every citizen to uphold
social justice, stand firm against the ills in the
land at all times.
Nigerian flag
In that regard, Falz stated the facts following the
ugly revelations in Nigeria on a daily basis.
Some of these ills range from certificate forgery,
wanton killings by herdsmen, kidnapping, police
brutality, electoral fraud and most recent being
the introduction of vote buying into our electoral
system. The alleged NYSC certificate forgery by
the Minister of Finance; Mrs. Kemi Adeosun
possibly shows how things have deteriorated.
But, this is Nigeria where majority of our
presumed leaders parade forged documents and
corruption tainted wealth. You would also recall
the pioneer Speaker of Federal House of
Representative, Buhari Salisu, and his Toronto
certificate forgery case. Good a thing, Salisu did
not have to wait to be removed in office before
resigning on the account of forgery and perjury
in 1999. His action and timely response through
his resignation speech elicited sympathy for him
from the public.
Interestingly, this is Nigeria where saying the
truth is considered a distraction to people in
government. As discerning minds wait for
Nigeria to see how the present administration
handles Mrs. Adeosun’s case, a Coalition of
Civil Society Group in Nigeria has come to her
defense, by classifying the revelation made by
Premium Times as a distraction. The coalition
group did not bother about the moral burden of
such revelation on the country. Neither did they
call for quick investigation by NYSC to ascertain
the fact with respect to enabling laws that make
it mandatory for all graduates below 30 years of
age to serve in the scheme. The integrity burden
is on the NYSC to formally respond to the
authenticity of the discharge certificate issued to
Mrs. Adeosun without further delay.
The Nigeria Police Force is another institution
that urgently needs to undergo the test
considering the overwhelming reports against it.
The recent revelation about four policemen,
attached to SARS who were exposed and
subsequently charged to court for armed
robbery, kidnapping, unlawful detention and
intimidation of a clergyman was a huge shame
of a failed security system. Nigeria police that
was entrusted with the responsibility to protect
the people now leave scars and fear in the heart
of people. The government agencies break their
own laws establishing them without looking
back as a result of corruption and moral
degradation. The 2016 report on corruption in
Nigeria by Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS)
equally affirmed that Nigeria has an integrity
question to contend with when it listed critical
sectors of the public institution with statutory
functions to enforce laws and discipline corrupt
offenders as the most bribe takers in Nigeria.
The damming report of the NBS from the
National Survey conducted on Corruption in
Nigeria revealed that Nigerian Police Officers,
Prosecutors and Judges/Magistrates are the
most corrupt public officers in Nigeria. The
report says that 46.4 percent of the Nigerian
public have had bribery contact with the police
officers, 33 percent with prosecutors and 31
percent of the public had also have bribery
contact with judges and magistrates. This is
ridiculous because in a country where the
police, prosecutors and judges demand bribes
before doing their statutory duties, it means that
only the highest bidder gets judgment no
matter the evidence and glaring truth.
This unprecedented high rate of corruption in
our critical public sectors unwittingly fans the
current insecurity situation in Nigeria as
manifested in Fulani/farmers clashes, armed
banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and ethno-
religious conflicts. Sadly, the high rate of
unemployment has rendered majority of our
youths vulnerable and readily available tools
for criminal activities in the country.
Despite the outcry over frequent herdsmen/
farmers clashes with their attendant
consequences in the country, the Presidency
has continued to devote large percentage of
their time to glorifying its success in
management of security, as if the killings were
not part of the security responsibility of our
government. More worrisome was the comment
credited to the President Muhammadu Buhari
during his visit to Jos. He was quoted in Jos as
saying that “Nobody can say that we haven’t
done well in terms of security, we have done our
best but the way things are now, we can only
pray”. It is unfortunate the Presidency can
indirectly accept the abnormality as a way of life
by further encouraging the already traumatized
victims to accept it as their fate. No wonder, it is
said that when truth is blurred by lies and
misinformation, perception becomes a reality,
and all would be lost.
As the Nigerian government continues in their
self-praises and comparing the number of death
toll during 16 years of PDP to APC’s 3 and half
years, the UK parliament described the issue of
insecurity in Nigeria as a matter of urgency.
That Nigeria has been stagnated in her effort to
build a liberal political, economic and social
state over these years is highly regrettable in
view of the recent Ekiti State election.
President Muhammadu Buhari has told
Nigerians to continue praying. Of course we will
pray. The only problem is that, praying without
work, trust, love and faith in one another is as
good as tempting God. Until Nigerians begin to
trust and love one another, everyone will
continue to live in suspicion.
Eugene Onyeabo Aligbe, Public Affairs Analyst
resides in Lagos.