Seun Kuti’s action on the third mainland bridge has sent rippling waves down the length and breadth of Nigeria, spiralling as discontentment, appeasement, and indifference in different homes, circles, and schools of thought.
According to Issac Newton’s third law of motion, ‘actions and reactions are equal and opposite’. Now that the present APC government is characterized by breaking and suspending laws, the recent being the violation by INEC, of its own laws, Nigerians wait with bated hope to see whether the law would be made to have its full course or not, and whether Isaac Newton’s third law of motion would also be suspended, nullified or not.
Can a person raise his hands against the gods and escape? What happened on third mainland bridge in Lagos is a taboo. It’s like raising one’s hands against the gods; or worse still, raising one’s hands against one’s father / mother. The Nigeria police is an authoritative institution in the land. On our streets, they represent the Nigerian government and whatever there is in the entity called Nigeria. Therefore, any insult meted out on them, or any of their officers is an insult to the whole nation the same way one should feel insulted and offended if one’s sibling dare slap one’s father or/ and mother even if the latter are the errant party. Anyone who doesn’t feel this way is either not a Nigerian, or outrightly unpatriotic regardless of his claims to patriotism.
Seun Kuti’s ugly slap can best be described as a slap with many meanings because of the various interpretations people gave it, and /or reasons which have been proffered. I made this conclusion after watching a viral video, in utter disgust and dismay, of Seun Kuti, slapping a policeman in uniform.
The instinctive impression after watching it is that of repulsion and annoyance because it shows arrogance and pure contempt. It’s a case of a supposed victim bullying a purported villain. Seun acted like a rabid dog that refused to be pacified or tamed either by the civility of the police officer or by the mediatorial role of his partner/wife.
As much as a vast majority of Nigerians are vexed with the Nigeria Police because of their extrajudicial actions against civilians, that does not justify taking laws into one’s hands. After all, we all canvass against jungle justice for the singular fact of not wanting to fall into the danger of miscarriage of justice or perpetrating and perpetuating injustice in the name of carrying out justice.
There are several takes in Seun Kuti’s dirty slap. It shows arrogance, pure contempt, poor upbringing/parenting, and the need for improvement of public image/perception of the Nigeria Police.
In an attempt to rationalize Seun’s crass display, some of us have tried to look at both remote and direct causes. In a defensive speech that he gave, he claimed that the officer was trying to destroy his family. In what way, one may ask? Or, is he referencing the history of police brutalization of the Ransome Kuti family for that is the nearest rational reason? The grandmother, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti was said to have been thrown out of an upstairs building by members of the Nigeria police. We also heard of the inhumane treatment meted out to his father (Fela), otherwise known as ‘abami eda’.
If his ancestors could not fight for themselves in their lifetime, is it from their graves that they will now engage in a proxy fight using him as a pun in a fight he can never win? No responsible parent will push his child into the fore of a personal battle that he or she should have fought. Now, that the ancestors have used Seun’s hands to do what they couldn’t do in this life, let’s wait and see if their hands will be able to save him.
(Even though Nigerian laws are standing on tottering grounds, they are far superior to those of the Calacutta Republic, and as such, Seun alongside other Nigerians are bound by them.)
Some of the so-called social commentators and human rights activists have suddenly gone into mute mode perhaps because it was one of them that broke the law of decency and infringed on the fundamental human rights of another person, more so a policeman. If it was someone else from the opposing or unfavoured camp, clime, or tribe, the airwaves would have been jammed with their insidious speeches and writings. Perhaps, the slapper could have been labeled as the victim and not the villain since some of us have become adept in the art of twisting facts, and turning falsehood into truth; but then, it’s a poor policeman who is at the receiving end, so all is well and cool.
Unfortunately, Seun knows that all isn’t well in Babylon where he’d spent some time cooling his heels and tempers before being released on bail in the hope that he’ll be made to face the full wrath of the law in due time barring all negative Nigerian factors.
There was no moral justification for Seun’s assault on the policeman except to conclude that “he whom the gods want to punish he makes mad”. It seems that Seun is about to be punished for some sins which he committed in the past. In His wisdom, God can use a man’s hands or mouth, or both to condemn and bring him to judgment. In this instance, Seun’s hands are his instrument of self-destruction.
Several questions lumped up as one ran through my mind when I saw the intimidating stance of Seun before the policeman. Will he do that to a stockily built policeman of towering frame, an armed MOPOL (mobile policeman), or military personnel with menacing look? It’s a case of sizing up your opponent before you strike. Oh, yes, this is characteristic of bullies everywhere in the world.
The government needs to improve the welfare of our policemen since first impressions not only matter but last long. One is ashamed to identify with policemen because of their shabby clothing, dirty ragged boots, or secondary school students’ shoes which some of them wear most of the time. Why will members of the public not disdain them, and treat them contemptuously when some of them are made to run errands like houseboys / housegirls to rich men and politicians?
The actions of corrupt, overzealous policemen lacking in self-control which crystallized in the EndSars movement are factors that could have encouraged or triggered the actions of people like Seun Kuti, thereby justifying the argument of transferred aggression that is being put forward by some people. Apart from those of us who have condemned his actions in clear unmistakable terms, two other categories of Nigerians abound in this case- those who feel indifferent and those who supported his untoward action.
By ordering his arrest, the IGP has done well, but we hope that the arrest will not later become a mere textbook exercise because those of us who are eager for the prevalence of justice and fairness in the country regardless of who broke the law(s) don’t want to be disappointed at the end of the day? Now, that the matter is in court on the orders of the IGP, we wait with crossed hands to see how Femi Falana will justify Seun’s actions through the so-called proof that he claimed to have that the said policeman was after the life of his family. Maybe the ancestors will also be part of the witnesses to be paraded during the court proceedings. We want to see how he will use legal abracadabra to overturn the damning video evidence of the outrageous ‘ancestral slaps’ that his principal gave to the policeman.
Also, we want to see how the IGP will respond to the various moves that will be made by the ‘politricians’ to bring Seun out of this self-made entanglement. Let’s see whether he will sacrifice the spirit of comradeship (Espirit De corps ) on the altar of pecuniary gains, or make the poor policeman another lamb to be slaughtered as an appeasement to the insatiable lust of the political class as the norm is in our dear country.
