A Governor's immunity does not accord him/her divinity or a permanent hold on the pillars of the universe. No! A Governor is not an omnipotent or omnipresent being, he/she is not one who cannot die by a mistakenly discharged bullet, fired during a senseless confrontation with armed security officials carrying out their constitutional functions. A Governor is still a man, a mere mortal, and a citizen eternally answerable both to the laws of Nigeria and that of nature.

The way certain Governors operate in Nigeria is really a serious source of worry to me as well as other deep thinking Nigerians. Has it come to the point where a serving Governor would mobilise thugs in the middle of the night to physically resist the Department of State Security (DSS) from carrying out an arrest for which they had dully sought and obtained a search warrant for? Is it not a direct slap on the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for another serving Governor to march down with his loyalists to obstruct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating an alleged crime? What is really happening in our country?

And this is coming at a time when so many voices are singing the sweet song of State Policing. In this utopian melody of true federalism, many think that there would be improved security and better police - citizen relationship, if States run their independent police outfits, same way it is done in the United States of America (USA). Their argument is derived from the fact that only a grassroot police force can solve the prevailing insecurity in Nigeria. In all fairness, state policing is good, but Nigeria will burn in less than 30 days if it is introduced in these times of Goliathic-Governors.

It seems to me that certain State Governors are now standing in the way of justice. I mean, if any State Governor is so angry and deeply concerned over the inappropriate manner by which a certain security agency handled the investigation or arrest of a criminal suspect, maybe an ally, then it behoves on that Governor, through the State's legal apparatus, to approach a court of competent jurisdiction in order to punish whoever abused due process. That is the right and legal thing to do and not to resort to physical confrontation with armed federal security officials. No law empowers a State Governor to interfere, resist or even slow down the process of investigation or arrest of a criminal suspect. None!

So what should the young man who lives in Port Harcourt do when the police comes for the arrest of his brother who has been accused of armed robbery? Should the boy violently resist the police from arresting his brother, or should the young lad calmly ask for a dully signed search or arrest warrant and allow the police to do their job? What are these Governors who are now behaving like 'egbe-wejas', teaching our kids?

Years ago, I posited in so many fora that the level of violence in a society is directly proportional to the level of hate speeches and violent politics therein. Today, I still maintain this view. These Governors are tutoring a particular section of the society that is now commensurately responding back in kind through kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, secession and general insecurity. And yet they talk about attracting foreign investors? Whossai!

To think that foreign investors would leave their shores where the police is on constant surveillance and arrest of suspected criminal elements without intrusion or obstruction from a serving Governor, and swim into Nigeria, a country where a State Governor can illegally arrogate to himself the position of Chief Obstructionist of Justice (COF), is to perpetually live in a pathetic limbo. We can travel to China or other waxing economies for economic summits and bilateral meetings round the clock, but we might end up not attracting any massive and impactful foreign investment into our ailing economy. Nobody will invest in a country where Governors are absolutely and abnormally immune from the law. A country of rascals!

President Muhammadu Buhari seems to be without any definite plan to keep these governors in check. There seems to be a connivance between some sections of the President's inner circle and these erring governors. Sincerely, I don't know what is happening again. I am afraid for the future of Nigeria because while these governors are breeding instability and lawlessness in the land, the President appears to be too silent and highly inactive to effect the protection of the integrity and unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in this regard.

~ Solomon Okocha
solomon.okocha@gmail.com
okocha_info

Ok

Ehh am still reading