I have been following the events in Rivers. The governor’s action is beyond belief! He has become power drunk, but I see why he was angry. However, in his anger, he has also disobeyed the law, yet being a lawyer, and having a judge as a wife.
I read the frustration of the governor of Lagos over the movement across the state boundaries. The desperation of people to continue to break interstate travel restrictions appears now not to be motivated by survival but more by habit. The habit is disobedience to laws and authority. The cry for palliatives (the distribution of which was fraught with disobedience of basic human equity) has now subsided, which means that to some extent, the government is working?
So, why are people still so much involved in movement across boundaries? It cannot be that they are in search of livelihood. Let us take the case of the police who have become transporters, are aiding and abetting lawlessness by collecting huge tolls at night to let people cross boundaries. Take the case of some of them who arrest people indiscriminately in order to collect hundreds of thousands for bail. If the keepers of law are lawless, where will order spring from?
As I try to understand the meaning of law, I have concluded that the law essentially trains human beings to avoid having societies in which order is maintained by brute force. In the animal kingdom, one creature has the prerogative of determining what’s law and keeping order. In human societies, by voluntarily obeying the law, societies ensure the enculturation of order. Without order, there cannot be peace. Without peace, development is an illusion. People are placed in authority to give examples of orderly conduct, and by so doing, earn the legitimacy to enforce order in community.
In Nigeria, the authority are the supreme law breakers. By giving examples of lawlessness, they socialise the rest of society in disobedience. Lawlessness is everywhere. From politicians who rig elections to judges who pervert justice; from clerics who exploit the congregation to those who promote violence; from University leaders who cheat to teachers who sleep with their students, the message is the same. The law is meaningless.
I have come to understand why obedience is one of the highest active character trait in our relationship with God. Obeying the law is akin to obeying God, because just like God, the law is impersonal but it must be personalised for it to have a controlling power over humans. Nigerians, both leadership and followership are lawless.
The strength of a person’s character is what he/she does when no one can see. When you feel you can get away with it! In public space or private places, at home in the family, we are averse to rules. Whether we are watched, in supervision or in secret, we cut corners and break laws. A people like this are strong in demanding rights but terrible in taking responsibility. They are good at criticising but poor in providing solutions. They know everything that is wrong with everyone but have no capacity to introspect and self-correct.
Everything is about advantage and every relationship is transactional. Where the capacity for obedience is lacking the majority are screamers, never stopping to listen, very arrogant in foolishness, blamers and haters who thrive in self-righteous indignation. The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing our depth of lawlessness and the stench of disobedience.
From the okada rider who does not respect traffic flow, or the taxi driver who overload to the car owner who beats the red light and drives against traffic, disobedience is right here before us. I see disobedience in everyone and everywhere. I see big men and women break the law with impunity. I am alarmed that we are breeding a generation who don’t even know that there are laws much less develop a capacity for obedience. We are socialising our children in lawlessness.
Very early, we teach them manipulation when we leg admission for them. Then they are taught stealing when we hire people to write examinations for them or buy questions for them. We denigrate hard work when we bribe to get them jobs or bypass those who are better qualified to employ them. They see us when we steal from the state to give them a life, when we tell lies and call them to witness. They are the generation of vipers that we have created. These ones even think that God is a maiguard at their service. God is to obey their every whim, answer their calls and wait on their service.
No amount of “religiosity” will save this country! Does the Bible not tell us that disobedience is a sin?? What drove our ancestors from Eden’s perfect garden?
We are riding the back of a tiger while holding its tail. Double trouble!! We will surely fall off very soon and be devoured.
