Mr President Acted In Good Faith

By Shehu Bashir Esq.

It is normal for people to hold divergent opinions when a serious situation like a coup d’etat is the topic of discussion. It often generates a louder buzz than the normal democratic transition process.

This is so because Nigeria’s experience about coup d’erat has not been a good. Whether it is bloody or bloodless, nothing in its justification is rational enough to overturn its prohibition as it stated in the letters of the constitution.

More so, the bloodiest coup d’etat we ever experienced in this country was arguably executed on the altar of bigotry and tribalism. We cannot have a repeat of such suspicion. It will be catastrophic.

It is then safe to say that the divergent opinions on the current discussion which are held on whether the situation really happened or not is expected. Some even wished it had truly happened and succeeded. Such is the mind of unpatriotic people.

Their wish is not only political but also ethically jigoistic. That kind of unholy wish is coming from the hearts of disgruntled elements whose loyalty to the country or the government is based on their direct access to government’s resources.

Government is good when they have access to power but will be bad once their names are no more on the appointment or contract list.

We cannot have eight years of a presidency headed by a northerner without even a rumour of a coup and have just two years of a southerner’s presidency and the noise of satanic wish for a coup is this loud. It is a dangerous storm chasing for anybody who understands the sensitivity and fragility of our togetherness.

Whatever the wish of anybody may be, it is not unexpected that the authority would act swiftly and accordingly, to protect our constitutional democracy. It is not necessarily about the person currently holding the position, it is about an institutional tradition that must not be derailed, not now, not later, not ever.

Therefore, it must be explained that a coup d’etat doesn’t end at the execution of the planned act, it starts from the conception of the idea and communication into the orchestration of the act. At any of those stages, it is a treason and severely punishable by law.

This is not the first time we have seen a preemptive action taken against a potential coup d’etat in the making. Abacha did not wait for Diya and co to carry out a bloody coup d’etat against him before he rounded them up. He used the intelligence in their communication to burst and round them up.

Infact, some people were even charged and imprisoned for concealment (knowing about the coup without telling the authorities). That is how sensitive the offence of suspected coup d’etat can be.

Babaginda carried out one of the most brutal enforcement of anti-coup laws in this country, by prosecuting his childhood best friend (Mammon Vatsa) for treason, executing him in the process after “finding” him guilty of plotting a coup d’etat. Many even doubted there was a coup d’etat at that time but IBB didn’t wait for anyone to redefine the statutes for him before he acted.

If you are in doubt or thinking that a president acting preemptively to curb a potential insurrection is an indication of fear, that is the demonstration of absence of intelligence on your own part. A smart leader does not act in the aftermath, he reacts before an actual action.

A police force that bursts a criminal gang in their den does not do so because it is afraid, it does so because preventive measures are always the best forms of crime management.

If this government and its intelligent networks had failed and not acted in earnest, the cynics making the noise here would be the ones castigating the “inefficiency” of the same government.

Fear cannot be the reason why a leader acts in advance to prevent a crime, it does so in order to safeguard the integrity of governance.

A president who is afraid would rather pretend that nothing happened and secretly reprimand the erring structures. Case closed! But no, this president acted like a brave man who is not afraid of what happened or what may happen at anytime.

I am not still confirming the actual occurrence of a coup, at any stage it was reported to have occurred, however, the change in the security architecture as it was just done by the C-in-C is normal and ideal.

This matter is rather esoteric. The context of its occurrence and the applicable reaction of the aftermath will only make sense to a discerning few. It is not likely going to be understood by many people with lay knowledge.

Infact, I am not sure it is meant to be understood by many. That is why many people who may be passing comments on this may be doing so from the angle of emotion, if not ignorance.

I am not speaking from angle of ignorance, I am speaking from the point of knowledge. I have had the privilege to mingling with military officers, junior and senior, to understand their psych. I have had the privilege of serving with the police to understand their thinking.

I have also had the enormous privilege to be very much around intelligence officers within the intelligence circle to understand deeply how meticulous they can be with intelligence gathering. Nothing is lost in relevance and nothing is taken for granted. All actions and utterances are considered as precursors to the main action. They utilize every piece of information for the good of the state.

It is therefore ironic that those who have been calling for a change in strategies in security management in the country are the ones now castigating the president for acting in that direction so quickly. Were they expecting a failure of intelligence so that they can vindicate themselves with “I said so” gloating? Poor them!

I have read many pernicious minds who suddenly became admirers and sympathizers of the retired service chiefs. They now suddenly see them as “victims” as though the president relieved them of their duties out of indictment.

In governance, it is not until an officer is indicted to be directly involved in a criminal infraction before a replacement can be done. Removal can be done even on the altar of mere dereliction of duty. A desk officer who is not vigilant enough to detect and raise alarm on the surbordinate’s suspicious criminal infraction may also get himself a red pen approval for removal.

It is at the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief to determine who stays and who goes and when. The conventional tenure of stay for service chiefs has always been two years. If this retirement coincidentally happened aftermath of a rumoured coup d’etat, it is immaterial.

Those who didn’t know how the president came about appointing the retired service chiefs in the first place are now asking him why he removed them. Isn’t that hilarious?

I will not be surprised when the alleged culprits in the alleged coup are prosecuted and punished for their crimes and some people will come out to query why the accused are being punished. It is the level of hypocrisy we have grown in this country.

It is sad how some political villains have resorted to blackmail, to discredit the government. It is even more disturbing that an act that could not have been displayed with a sigh just four years ago is now being touted as just simply because they are scared they can’t beat the president in the next election.

It is important to emphasize that the action of Mr. President to change the course is lawful, timely, legal, logical , smart and decent. It is even more encouraging that the newly appointed service chiefs represent capacity with national cohesive representation. Virtually all the regions are represented. This is not even a necessary sentiment but a commendable presidential discretion.

President Tinubu acted in good faith in exercising the powers conferred on him by the constitution. He cannot be faulted and queried on sentimental ground. The law did not encourage him to sleep on his right as the C-in-C simply because he may want to please the emotion of some bigots. The law only allows him to hire and fire anybody at anytime he so wishes.

Therefore, the talk about the “fear” is misplaced. The talk about the time of doing this is immaterial. The talk about the motive behind his action can never be a subject of reasonable intellectual debate.

The talk about the doubt on the true nature of the alleged coup d’etat is left to the skeptics to struggle with. This government is driving on with progressive focus so that we can have a greater Nigeria.

*GOD IS HERE*