The Audacity Of Uniform

Traveling is part of my job. Since 2006, I have done, on the average, about 200,000 miles a year. It appears to me that I do more air travel than road. No gainsaying that I enjoy international air travel.   
Some airports impact on me more than others, leaving lasting impressions. It has dawned on me that, like human beings, airports have their unique characters. Just like the vibrations between one person and the other may clash leading to disharmony, I find that the same is true of airports and individuals.

I love Schipol Airport, although I start sneezing any time I arrive at the airport. Sometimes the security agents at the airport ask questions that test your patience, especially if you are boarding a flight to the United States. Charles De Gaulle Airport turned me off the first day I set foot on it on a rainy morning sometime in 1997. The impression of smelly toilets has stayed with me since then. I love to hang out at Heathrow Airport but don’t really care for Gatwick. Many other airports around the world don’t really stand out for me.

Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMA), Lagos is a beehive of activities. I have friends who would rather die than travel through MMA. They describe it as an embodiment of the madness of Lagos streets. 

I enjoy traveling out of MMA but I do not like to come back through it. Yes, there are always long queues and the departure hall is usually packed with people. Yet, I enjoy traveling through MMA. Ironically, since 1993 when I relocated from Lagos, I rarely venture into the streets of Lagos. 

The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja is nothing close to MMA in terms of chaos, especially, during departure. The place is quiet, almost serene; passengers and airline officials conduct themselves in very respectful fashion. 

Traveling into Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is a totally different ball game. The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport stands out as the only airport I know where the nationals spend more time to get into the country than foreigners. It is also the only airport I know which has separate lines for diplomats and international conference attendees. I took time to check at the airports in Amsterdam and Detroit a few days ago. 

In many ways, the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport is a true reflection of the Abuja society: superficial and out of tune with the rest of Nigeria. People throw their weight around and Nigerian government officials flout with impunity the same laws they are sworn to protect. This syndrome can be described as the audacity of uniform.

On June 10, I flew into the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport from London. As we waited in line to go through Immigration and Security checks, I saw some policemen, customs officers and even Nigerian immigration personnel take passengers and walk them through the entire procedure in a matter of seconds. A police inspector walked up to a woman a few feet behind me. He prostrated, saluted and invited the woman to follow him. The woman and another teenager followed the Inspector and they strolled through our borders. 

On the diplomats’ line, people were passing through as Nigerian officials smiled and saluted. I thought I was the only one who was concerned about this until other passengers started shouting and raining abuses on the Nigerian government officials at the airport. When it was my turn to present my passport I told the immigration officer that I was disappointed with their shameful behaviour. “Oga, it is not our fault. It is you big men that cause the problem. Did you see me on that queue? It is you guys that arrange with your friends to come and pick you from the line and the foreigners know it’s the Nigerian system and they have joined too,” he responded. 

I cannot recall seeing any governor, deputy governor, senator, minister or member of the House of Representatives waiting in line to present their documents to Nigerian officials. Instead, they are whisked away as soon as they set foot on Nigerian soil by overzealous aides. If they are too good to stand in line with us ordinary people is it any wonder that they have no idea what the desires and aspirations of the common man is?

The decay of the Nigerian state and the stench in our system is immediately obvious to a first time visitor crossing our borders. Nigerian officials and their collaborators will march on the heads of their fellow citizens just to help a foreigner break our laws for a few dollars or whatever currency the foreigner may be carrying.   

This worship of ‘tin gods’ have reached such ridiculous levels that gun wielding security men follow their bosses into restaurants. I have seen the Deputy Governor of Imo State flanked on both sides by security agents as she checked out food on the buffet tables at the Bukka, Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

Captains of industry are not left out of this march of the absurd. CBN governor drives in a long convoy. Same for chief executives of some government agencies. Cecilia Ibru of Oceanic Bank is said to move about in long convoys. I hear Tony Elumelu of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) has his own convoy too. This is not only ludicrous, it is against the law. But who cares, Nigerian laws are not made for these folks, it is only for the common folks.

It is ironic that Nigerian government officials and their corporate counterparts connive with foreigners to perpetrate crimes against their own people, disrespect and humiliate the common man and yet expect to be respected by the people. This is one of the few places in the world where the rich and powerful expect respect because of their wardrobe and the plaque on their doors. The other place I know where that happens is Columbia. Go figure!

Wetin person fit do?

I just pray this poster won't travel by road to the nearest benin

if that happens then you will see the real thing

as for me, Murtala Mohameeedd Airport is perfect for travelling (apart from hajj time)

@manuch

Nice observation!  The problem you describe is an accurate one and there have been many outcries for many decades on this pervasive problem. In indigenous African culture people had the power to depose a King. Indeed many tyrannical Kings were deposed, forced to commit suicide or sent into exile by his subjects. So what has happened, who took this power away from the people?  The colonial powers did!  They claim that we were uncivilized. Quite the contrary, they were uncivilized. 

In Europe, the King had an all authority rule over his subjects wherever they may be and this supremacy of power is what led to the revolutionary war against United Kingdom and freed USA from the hold of its colonial ruler. In Africa we assimilated to their ways and adopted the legacies of their brutalities and lack of compassion or regard for the people on behalf of whom they hold the trust of office.  After independence and uptil today, that legacy has never changed, it has gotten worse with more brutalities and unaccountability.  It is not our natural heritage to behave in such manners but it is a legacy that we inherited from the white man.