By Jesusegun Alagbe
Criticism is a catalyst for democratic development but there seems to be an increasing intolerance for it by the Nigerian ruling class.
It is widely believed that one of the reasons former President Goodluck Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election to President Muhammadu Buhari was that the former was severely criticised — particularly by the then-opposition party, the All Progressives Congress — to the extent that he lost the faith of most Nigerians to lead them for a second term.
The castigation of the former President was so fierce that the then-APC National Publicity Secretary (now the Minister of Information and Culture), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a point in time described the Jonathan administration as “incompetent and clueless.”
These criticisms hit the former President so hard that in August 2012, he declared himself at the 52nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association held in Abuja as “the most criticised president in the world.”
He said, “I think I am the most criticised president in the whole world, but I tell this noble audience that before I leave, I will also be the most praised president.”
Though that never happened, still, some Nigerians commended the former President for having a thick skin.
Political observers said this could not be said of President Buhari, who has at several times shown how soft his skin is for criticisms.
For instance, the President has often shown that he does not like being criticised for the poor state of the economy, which has since led to the loss of about 1.5 million jobs, as stated by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Several times that Nigerians had criticised President Buhari for hunger and unemployment, he often rebuffed, putting the blame on the former President Jonathan-led administration.
Buhari has many a time said he inherited a poor economy from his predecessor and that rather than attacking him, Nigerians should blame the former president for their woes.
In August 2016, the President even described as “unfair” the deluge of criticisms which had greeted his government in recent times.
In an article by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, titled, “In Defence of President Buhari: Is This The Change We Voted For? Yes, It Is!,” Shehu said Buhari’s critics seemed to have already forgotten the ruinous years of the Peoples Democratic Party.
He said, “When they ask the question, is this the change we voted for, the critics forget how far we have come from the scam-tainted years of the PDP rule.
“Unfair criticism of the Buhari administration, especially on account of escalating prices of foodstuff and the liberalisation of the currency exchange, needs to be challenged before it overshadows the commendable job the President has done in fighting terrorism as part of the overall effort to secure the country, reducing corruption and yes, arresting the economic slide before it sinks the nation.”
A month later, in September, the President, while addressing members of the Nigerian Institute of Management at their 2016 Annual National Management Conference in Abuja, said he did not want criticisms by Nigerian professionals, but rather their support.
Apparently, not only does the President seem to have distaste for criticisms from the media and other Nigerians, but also from his own wife, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, whose interview with the BBC Hausa in October 2016 generated a lot of controversy.
The First Lady had expressed her displeasure in her husband’s government, saying that the President did not know most of the appointees in his cabinet.
She also said that the President’s government had been hijacked by a few people, who were behind the presidential appointments and left a stern warning to her husband that she might not back him at the 2019 election should the President decide to run for a second term unless he reshuffled his cabinet.
But rather than address the critical issues Mrs. Buhari mentioned in her criticism of him, President Buhari responded by saying his wife belonged in his kitchen and that she did not have any right to question his leadership.
He said, “I don’t know which party my wife belongs to, but she belongs to my kitchen and my living room and the other room.
“I claim superior knowledge over her and the rest of the opposition, because in the end I have succeeded. It’s not easy to satisfy the whole Nigerian opposition parties or to participate in the government.”
The President has also displayed that he does not like criticism from the opposition, even though some analysts said it was on that that he rode to power when he defeated former President Jonathan.
A Lagos-based lawyer and social commentator, Mr. Segun Olaosebikan, said it was high time President Buhari allowed people to freely criticise him so as to ensure the delivery of the dividends of democracy.
He said, “Events that have taken place since President Buhari took power show that he does not like criticisms too much, unlike his predecessor. I remember how much we and the APC criticised Jonathan so much that the man lost the respect of Nigerians.
“President Buhari should know that it is in criticism that we can know the strength of a man. From every indication, he has succeeded in stifling the opposition from criticising him. Anyone of them who talks too much, he goes after them. He sends the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or the Department of State Services to haunt them. That’s not how democracy can thrive.”
Except for Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose; and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, Olaosebikan said no other member from the opposition had been able to criticise the government.
He said, “Talking about Fayose and Wike, they could talk because they have immunity as governors. Even at that, look at the way EFCC was used to go after Fayose recently. Fine, these guys could be corrupt, but are we saying they are the only corrupt governors in Nigeria?
“When you also look at people like Olisa Metuh and Femi Fani-Kayode of the PDP, they have kept quiet, though Femi still talks a bit. Are we saying ex-governors and some other officials of the APC are all saints? That couldn’t be so. I think the President just doesn’t want much noise of criticism in his ears.”
Probably this scenario was what former President Jonathan was talking about in October 2016 during the Nigerian Lawyers Association’s annual dinner and merit awards ceremony held in New York, the United States.
There, Jonathan, who spoke on the theme, “Diversity as our Bridge to Tomorrow,” said, “No matter what my critics said about me, I ensured that there was both freedom of speech and freedom after the speech.
“Under my watch, not a single Nigerian was sent to prison because of anything they wrote or said about me or the administration. Nigeria had neither political prisoners nor political exile under my administration.”
Meanwhile, President Buhari has said — at an India-Africa Summit in India in October 2015 — that he would not lose his sleep over criticisms, saying all he wanted was to be remembered as a president who fought corruption to a standstill.
“I pray his wish gets fulfilled because that’s a similar prayer Jonathan made that he would be the most praised president. I don’t think that happened,” Olaosebikan noted.
Away from President Buhari, some state governors have also, through their actions, shown how intolerant they are for criticisms, especially from journalists in their states.
In November 2016, Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Al-Makura, banned a PUNCHjournalist, Umar Muhammed, and Rabiu Omaku of the Universal Reporters from reporting activities in the Government House, Lafia.
It was said that the governor had become uncomfortable after the two journalists reported about a protest by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress over a 50 per cent deduction of workers’ salaries.
Muhammed had reported that during the protest, two civil servants were killed, while five others sustained varying degrees of injuries after being attacked by men of the Nasarawa State Police Command and the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
It was said that the governor was not pleased with the report, hence prompting the banning of the two journalists from covering the activities of his government.
As of that time, the banning of the two journalists brought to five the number of journalists that had been banned within three months from covering activities of the Nasarawa State Government.
The other three journalists affected were Mary Amirikpa of the Nasarawa Broadcasting Service; Iliya Audu of the Nigerian Newsday; and a reporter with the Television Continental, Sofia Ogaze.
In another event, police from Katsina State on September 19, 2016 arrested Jamil Mabai, a journalist, who on September 6, 2016 took to social media to criticise Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari, over the government’s distribution of 3,000 coffins to mosques while it was unable to pay civil servants their salaries.
The Katsina Police Commissioner, Usman Abdullahi, confessed that Mabai was arrested following the state government’s complaint about his tweets.
“We had to invite him to assist the police,” Abdullahi said.
When bloggers Bashir Dauda and Umar Faruq wrote about Mabai’s plight, they were also arrested on charges of “intent to cause civil disturbance” and “to expose Governor Masari to public ridicule.”
But Abdu Labaran, the governor’s spokesperson, denied that the state reported the journalists to the police.
Also on January 5, 2017, a journalist, Nsibiet John, was arrested allegedly on the directive of the Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo.
According to a human rights organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, which threatened to sue the State government over the detention of the journalist, Ekpo ordered the police to arrest John because the journalist allegedly published defamatory materials against him.
“No one should be arrested simply for criticising public institution or public figures,” SERAP said, “This action by the deputy governor and the state police authorities is contrary to both section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”
A professor of political science at the University of Lagos, Gabriel Babawale, said government at all levels should note that criticism is a catalyst for democratic development.
Without it, he said there would be no vibrant democracy, which is a work-in-progress.
He said, “In order to have a strong democracy — which in itself is a plurality of opinions — there must be criticisms. It is widely acknowledged that when you criticise a government, you are doing it a service. You want it to do better.
“Criticism is also a compliment. When you criticise, you are saying you believe the government can do better.
“Criticism also helps the government to be more efficient, responsive and transparent. So there should be criticisms to grow and develop democracy.”
However, the don said democracy could only develop if critics only came up with constructive rather than destructive criticisms that could pull down the government.
A Port Harcourt-based social commentator, Mrs. Esther Adagbon, also said it was important for journalists and Nigerians to ensure they were fair in their criticisms of the government.
“I believe freedom of expression does not mean you should malign others or destroy their personality and business. I think we all have to be sure of facts before criticising any person or body,” she said.
