Apart from our 1999 Constitution which was patterned after the American presidential system of government, in what other ways does Nigeria aspire to be like the United States?
We share America’s ethno-religious diversity and market-driven economies. America has deeply troubling racial problems yet the country remains the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world. Nigeria has even worse ethnic issues, but our country is one of the most underdeveloped in the world.
One thing that makes Nigeria unlike America is that while America is outraged and does something earth-shaking any time its racial problems boil over, Nigerians are unmoved even as ethnic groups are massacred or marginalised.
We are untouched when under-aged girls are abducted, hidden in the palaces of emirs, forcibly converted to Islam and married off without the consent of their parents.
Citizen George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was arrested outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the USA on May 5, by police officer Derek Chauvin over an alleged fake $20 bill. A video footage of the arrest showed Chauvin kneeling on his neck while Floyd begged for air until he died.
Unlike in Nigeria where law officers regularly kill citizens without causing a stir, Americans never take the racial abuse of citizens lightly. The protests, looting and general anarchy that followed the Floyd murder led to the declaration of curfews in over 40 American cities. The power house of America – the White House – was nearly overrun by angry citizens.
In addition to Chauvin being charged with murder, police officers across racial divides took to their knees in a posture of solidarity with the protesters and a sign of apology for Floyd’s murder. The one-knee salute has become a worldwide symbol of rebuke for anti-Black racism.
But here in Nigeria, a 22-year-old undergraduate, Vera Omozuwa, was gang-raped and murdered in a church in Benin City. Another young lady, Tina Ezekwe, was killed by policemen in Lagos, while in Jigawa State, a 12- year-old minor was raped by a gang of 12 led by a 57-year-old man. These things happen almost every day and some of them merely trend on social media without justice for the victims.
In America when a grievous wrong is committed against a citizen, Americans close ranks and rush to his or her side. Evil is massively condemned by all people of goodwill. No matter the excesses of law enforcement agents and extremists, Americans demonstrate massive value for the lives of their fellow citizens.
We must emulate the American people, not just their constitution. It is only the citizens that can end bad governance and establish good governance. But we cannot achieve this if we continue to disregard the flagrant abuse of the rights of fellow Nigerians.
