Nigeria: The Rise In Police Brutality

 By Tochukwu Ezukanma

This is an Igbo saying: “Eze mua amu, ndi odibo ya e tiwa si ba isi.” It loosely translates to, “If the king laughs, his servants will become delirious with laughter.” In other words, servants are out to impress their master and prove their loyalty to him, and consequently, will carry to the extreme the master’s desires and actions. 

The Nigeria Police Force, in this context, is the servants, and President Buhari is the king. If the government respects, develops, protects and secures Nigerians, the Nigerian police, invariably, will revere and protect Nigerians. But, as the administration obviously despises Nigerian lives, what is expected of its police force – its servants – is commitment to furthering the master’s desires and preferences. It will inevitably despise Nigerian lives, and consequently, be brutal and trigger-happy. 

Nigerians: When A People Choose To Deceive Themselves

 By Tochukwu Ezukanma

A lady that called into a TV program said, “My father told me that during the colonial era, everything that works in Britain, also worked in Nigeria”. This is a fact. Yes, power, water, schools, railways, health care, law enforcement, etc. all worked in Nigeria. 

It was after our independence that, in our crudity and dishonesty and un-patriotism, we destroyed the institutions built, and standards set, by the British. And lamentably, in our self-deceit, we blame our problems on colonialism and the legacies of colonialism. 

What Is Wrong With Africans?

 By Tochukwu Ezukanma

In his Philosophy of History, the 19th Century German philosopher, Friedrich Hegel, wrote so disparagingly about Africans, “The African exhibits the natural man in his wild and untamed state; there is nothing harmonious with humanity to be found in his character”. 

And “the undervaluing of humanity among them reaches an incredible degree of intensity: cannibalism is looked upon as quite customary and proper. The devouring of human flesh is altogether consonant with the general principles of the African race.” We can disregard Hegel on the grounds that, as of the 19th Century, the Europeans’ prejudiced and inadequate knowledge of Africa could not have given an accurate and objective account of Africans.