Nigeria’s nascent democracy suffered a major embarrassment, Tuesday, August 7, as a detachment of men of the Department of State Services, acting on an “order from above”, blockaded the National Assembly thus preventing lawmakers, National Assembly staff and even journalists from gaining access to the
facility.
The apparent show of shame created temporary tension while it lasted and it resulted in the cancellation of an earlier – arranged crucial meeting of national importance scheduled for the day.
Though sanity was later restored , especially with the sack of the DSS Director General, Lawal Musa Daura, by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, the damage had already been done as the invasion, unfortunately, sent shock waves not only across the country but to the entire world.
Nigerians must prove to the world that we are ready to make our democracy work, despite our political differences and challenges. Politicians and overzealous government officials must learn that crises are better resolved through peaceful means than through cheap blackmail and show of force
The National Assembly leadership had planned to meet to discuss the 2019 General Elections budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission and later meet with the INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, on the way forward before calling off their vacation.The initial plan was, however, truncated by the overzealous DSS leadership under the disgraced
Daura.
Though conflicting reasons have been adduced for the invasion, there can never be any justification for the reckless and arrogant abuse of power by an agency of government. Nigeria is still a
democratic nation with clearly
spelt-out separation of powers among the three organs of government. More annoying is the fact that the Acting President had not been consulted before the action
was taken.
We therefore join millions of other Nigerians and the international community, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, in condemning the invasion in its entirety. It was a sad
reminder of a similar
invasion by security agents during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, when lawmakers had to scale the fence of the National Assembly
for safety.
We are of the view that no single individual, no matter the position he or she occupies, has the right to hold the country to ransom. The action of the DSS is, therefore, not only condemnable but also questionable. The international community is worried at the development, wondering if that was just a pointer to what to expect in
2019.
Nigerians must prove to the world that we are ready to make our democracy work, despite our political differences and challenges. Politicians and overzealous government officials must learn that crises are better resolved through peaceful means than through cheap blackmail and show of force.
We, however, commend the Acting President for rising to the occasion in order to save the country from total ridicule, but the onus still lies on the Muhammadu Buhari – led administration to let Nigerians know what actually led to this despicable action that created the impression that we have degenerated to a banana
}republic.
We are also glad that the newly-appointed Acting DG of the DSS, Matthew Seiyefa, has pledged to keep to the rule of law in the execution of his mandate. We believe that this is, definitely, the most
professional and honorable thing to do to sustain Nigeria’s
democracy.
This will erase the wrong impressions created by the excesses of his predecessors that we are still operating in the jungle. Long live the democratic Republic of
Nigeria.
