19th April, 2018
By Omotola Babalola.
We live in an interesting time. Local and global events that occurred during the course of the previous week could shape the destinies of our nation and the world. Finally, the Nigerian president has informally declared his intention to contest for the second term, thereby putting to rest a lot of speculations. He did this before going to the United Kingdom. While in the United Kingdom, he further attributed the killings by the herdsmen to the aftermath of the Libyan war, that is, the late Gaddafi- trained fighters were responsible for the spate of killings in the Middle Belt. I am not the president, nor close to the seat of power. Therefore, I cannot judge nor fault the quality of information provided by the Nigerian intelligence agencies. However, people are not happy because of the characteristic buck-passing that is synonymous with this government. They voted this government into power to protect her citizens, and not to abscond in the days of trouble.
Another event that made me ponder was the public grilling of the owner of Facebook, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, by the American congress. As you know, he is one of the youngest billionaires in the world. When I say billionaire, I mean in dollars. So I was surprised that he was made to give accounts of his company with regards to the breach in customers’ data privacy, social media monopoly and future responsibilities of his company to the American people. While citizens of most countries in the world followed the proceedings of this great event with great interest, I doubt if concerned users of the Facebook platform in Nigeria were bothered.
Nevertheless, there were some lessons that could be learnt from this occasion by Nigerians. The lessons border on the need for proper, quality academic and political education, accurate accountability of the political leaders to their constituencies and the respect shown to the democratic arm of government by the wealthy people in the American society.
The first lesson that I learnt was the proper enlightenment of the members of the American congress. I was amazed about the quality of questions they asked Mr Zuckerberg. He was asked some relevant questions that made me wonder if we, Nigerians, have a different Facebook platform. I was captivated by the meticulous level of research that oozed out of the presentation materials and the methods of delivery used while presenting. It showed an excellent level of preparations by the senators and their aides. I can imagine the scenario if Mr Zuckerberg was questioned by the Nigerian senate. Although in Nigeria, it is highly probable that this kind of high-levelled meeting involving the business mogul would be conducted by a special inaugurated committee. Would they have the temerity to ask excellent questions that might protect the masses? Your guess is as good as mine.
Another lesson that struck my mind was my observation of the American senators referring to their constituencies in the televised program. This illustrated the fact that an average American politician is accountable to those that elected him/her into office. I marvelled at the maturity and advancement of the American democracy. Contrary to what obtains there, an average Nigerian senator act unaccountable to their electorate. Most of them are not in touch with the realities that beset their electorate. It is only towards the election that most of them leave the Federal Capital Territory to travel down to their respective constituencies. This repeatedly happens due to the poor political orientation of the masses. The electorate do not know that they have the “true” power in their hands to recall, sanction and chastise any erring politician that are not delivering the dividends of democracy in their constituencies.
Lastly, the message that resonated well in the entrails of my body was the equality before the law as shown in this televised event. I was amazed that one of the youngest billionaires in the world could be interviewed and questioned live on television by the American congress. This is a man that can pay the annual salaries of these senators without a blink. This publicly shows that nobody is above the law in America. It is rare for a very rich man to be publicly quizzed by the senators about the affairs of his company. This shows that Nigeria should aspire to be a more equitable nation where the rich and the poor are treated equal. In simpler terms, nobody that is, no one should be above the law in Nigeria. Reflecting on the above lessons would strengthen the democracy of Nigeria.
Another event that made the news was the confrontation between Russia and the United State of America over the Syrian crisis. The braggadocios and words of threats reached a crescendo when the American president tweeted about the country’s missile system. He made this remark after the Syrian government used some chemical weapons on her citizens. In response to his statement, the Russians reiterated the capabilities of their missile defence systems.
As it is widely known, the Russians are backing the Syrian government while the Americans are supporting the Syrian “rebels”. True to the American president’s words, there was a barrage of missiles targeted at the chemical weapon factories. The Russians allegedly claim to intercept those missiles from reaching the factories via their defence systems. While the Americans claimed that almost all their launched missiles hit their targets, the Russians professed otherwise.
I personally see this scenario as two elephants fighting on a grassy plain, with the grasses suffering the aftermath of the fight. The elephants in this case are the Americans and Russians while the grasses are the Syrian masses that are placed between the devil and the deep blue sea. Supporting the Russians will allow the Assad-led government to drop some chemical weapons on the Syrian citizens. Nevertheless, the actions of the Americans if successful as they claimed, will lead to the pollution of the Syrian soil as a result of the destruction of the chemical weapon factories. The United Nations should think outside the box in finding solutions to save Syria as a country before it is too late. If nothing is done, Syria will suffer the same fate that befell the Aztecs of old – desolation.