Speaker Abass and that Counter-Subversion Bill
The bill should never have seen the light of day…
Nigeria’s best showing at the Paris 2024 Olympics was during the opening and closing ceremonies when our renowned steeze was in display. One of my French friends sent me a message, “why do Nigerian sports outfits always go so hard man? It’s crazy”. This person isn’t given to sarcasm, so I knew he meant the message literally. If I had sent such a message, it’d be to sarcastically point out that at least you are shining at something other than winning medals. Steeze is subjective, gold isn’t.
We travelled with our largest contingent to the Olympics and matched our worst record; zero medal. My last entry on this page showed some of the reasons why Nigeria consistently misses out on the medals table. However, the statement of a Nigerian Olympian brings it home in terms of our national choices, and priorities. Nigerian cyclist, Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye, speaking to CyclingNews after the games, said, “One of the most expensive sports venues in the world is in Nigeria, which has a beautiful wooden velodrome. But since it’s rented out for religious services and other activities for most of the year, bikers are not permitted to train there”. I saw a cartoon where Nigeria was offering the closing prayers at the Olympics having missed out on medal placement. Fitting.
You would expect the National Assembly, especially the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas to lead the inquisition behind our woeful outing in Paris. They’d get a medal for their silence, so far, on that front. The Bill, introduced by the Speaker on July 23 was done in the wake of the August 1 protest agitations. Instead of dealing with that in a way that’d help to address and focus the issues appropriately, they are instead going about it in the most predicable way; criminalise civil disobedience.
I’ll share two short stories. A private citizen got a chance to feed into a national programme. One of their most critical contributions was that the programme must be kept away from a particular ministry because according to them, the ministry would make a mess of it. Time passed; the citizen becomes minister at that ministry. One of the biggest battles they advanced was doing everything they could to house that same programme in their ministry. The very same ministry they suggested the programme design must avoid.
When we make laws or make suggestions, we have a responsibility first to the future before we do to ourselves. Because whilst we know where we are today, we know not where we will be tomorrow. That is why we must ensure laws that protect us, as we used to be, as we are and as we may, as life turns, become.
We must advance laws that serve the interest of the people, irrespective of their position or political leaning. So, we do not end up like the government officials that procured spying equipment that ended up being used to spy on them after they left office. As we have come to see, soja go soja come soja come soja go, no one is permanent. One Permanent Secretary just got stepped down for sexual harassment. No position is permanent, even when the portfolio suggests so.
In a free country, citizens should reserve the right to recite or not recite the national anthem. Looking to make that a criminal act negates the essence of freedom and human rights — values Nigeria aspires to even if it doesn’t often meet. Seek external counsel if your advisers don’t have the agency to let you know this. You cannot legislate patriotism. When you win Olympic medals for instance, patriotism rises.
If you must create a law to force your citizens into singing the national anthem, are you also going to legislate for them to love the country? Lawmakers need to draw up a list of their priorities and ensure their intentions align with that of the citizens and overall development of the country. I know legislators are meant to legislate, but if carpenters hammered down everything because they have a hammer in their hands, they’d ultimately destroy even themselves.
There are expectations, norms and responsibilities. Citizens are expected to recite/sing the national pledge and anthem. Those who choose not to should be within their right. This is not a Banana Republic and there is no incentive to go in that direction. I hope so.
Once, it was fair to kill fellow humans. Then it wasn’t. Then it was legal to enslave entire populations, then it wasn’t. Colonialism was the norm, legal, now it isn’t. That you can make something into law doesn’t make it right or in the interest of the people.
Most Nigerians will recite the national anthem anyway. And that’s enough. That there are those who will not is not enough to advance laws against the majority. We can’t force patriotism, we nurture it. Every time the government, including the National Assembly, advances causes that promote collective development, prosperity and the advancement of opportunities for all, they are in essence creating incentives for more patriotic acts. When the National Assembly is seen to push for privileges and unwholesome allowances, laws will not prevent the consequences of such acts.
Take the new national anthem. How much empowerment has the NASS given to the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to push its adoption? The NOA was appropriated about N220m for national orientation for 2024. That’s about N1 for the orientation of each citizen. You don’t have the capacity to empower the people to adopt the new anthem, the people do not have the motivation, a new law will force it?
The bill advances, “a fine of N4 million or two years imprisonment for a person convicted for castigating, denigrating, embarrassing or bringing to disrepute the leadership of a community, religion, lawful group, local government, state or federal government,” get a grip. Citizens have the right to criticise and castigate their leaders. Those who do not want to be should not aspire to leadership. Let’s be serious, please.
PS: The bill has since been withdrawn. This piece was sent to THISDAY newspapers for publication today 16 August.
