Just like most Lagosians, I was at the bus stop as early as 5:45am (to beat the normal rush hour traffic gridlock on Lagos roads) en route the office. Not long had we taken off that we encountered a scenario which though is normal in this part of the globe gave rise to this piece.
In their characteristic manner, an 'okada' rider was trying to wriggle his way through a narrow opening beside the road (off course you are greeted with this kind of situation every day on Lagos roads) and before we knew it, his 'okada' was in the gutter without my driver even knowing let alone touching him. Pronto, the 'okada' rider went on rampage as he sprang to his feet suing for a fight with my driver and before we could say Jack Robinson, he had pulled the mufti he was wearing (he needed to disguise with mufti which further proves that he is not proud of the uniform – except of course to use it as a means to an end) just to announce to all of us that he is a policeman of the federal republic of Nigeria. One event lead to the other and before you could spell G-O-D his kinsmen in the force started arriving the scene one after the other as if they had received a distress call, one of them dangling a thick belt in his hands to deal with our driver and whoever is bold enough to challenge them. Every explanation fell on deaf ears (as if most of them are not deaf – at least figuratively) and my driver was compelled to pull out the motorcycle from the gutter which he obediently obliged defying his passengers insistence not to since in all honesty he wasn’t at fault.
This brings to the fore the reckless abandon with which most of this uniformed guys intimidate ‘civilians’ turning them into ‘villains’ in their quest to prove that they are in charge. Needless to say that many evil is perpetuated in uniform and I ask should we continue to fold our hands and watch as these guys take the law into their hands? These are guys that will not pay their fares should they enter a commercial bus all in the name of ‘staff’ – excuse me, staff of which company. They have erected illegal toll gates on almost every street where your receipt is a tally of arbitrary numbers given to the driver once he has paid his toll fee. They have neglected their primary assignment of upholding the law cum maintaining order and have over the night metamorphosed into symbols of lawlessness. I am perplexed nay flabbergasted at the rate at which these guys bend the rules just to milk innocent citizens dry and the length to which they will go to lace their pockets with miserable naira notes that can’t solve a fraction of their problems (needless to say they have loads of problems which paradoxically money can’t solve) – these guys have perfected the act of sacrificing their ultimate on the altar of immediate. What else can i say (or write or type as the case may be), that occasion further accentuated the reason several Nigerians have no jot of respect for the Nigerian police - I am not their greatest fan either.
If only they can change for the best, would Nigerians be asking for too much? I guess not for we deserve a lot more than this...YES WE DO.
In their characteristic manner, an 'okada' rider was trying to wriggle his way through a narrow opening beside the road (off course you are greeted with this kind of situation every day on Lagos roads) and before we knew it, his 'okada' was in the gutter without my driver even knowing let alone touching him. Pronto, the 'okada' rider went on rampage as he sprang to his feet suing for a fight with my driver and before we could say Jack Robinson, he had pulled the mufti he was wearing (he needed to disguise with mufti which further proves that he is not proud of the uniform – except of course to use it as a means to an end) just to announce to all of us that he is a policeman of the federal republic of Nigeria. One event lead to the other and before you could spell G-O-D his kinsmen in the force started arriving the scene one after the other as if they had received a distress call, one of them dangling a thick belt in his hands to deal with our driver and whoever is bold enough to challenge them. Every explanation fell on deaf ears (as if most of them are not deaf – at least figuratively) and my driver was compelled to pull out the motorcycle from the gutter which he obediently obliged defying his passengers insistence not to since in all honesty he wasn’t at fault.
This brings to the fore the reckless abandon with which most of this uniformed guys intimidate ‘civilians’ turning them into ‘villains’ in their quest to prove that they are in charge. Needless to say that many evil is perpetuated in uniform and I ask should we continue to fold our hands and watch as these guys take the law into their hands? These are guys that will not pay their fares should they enter a commercial bus all in the name of ‘staff’ – excuse me, staff of which company. They have erected illegal toll gates on almost every street where your receipt is a tally of arbitrary numbers given to the driver once he has paid his toll fee. They have neglected their primary assignment of upholding the law cum maintaining order and have over the night metamorphosed into symbols of lawlessness. I am perplexed nay flabbergasted at the rate at which these guys bend the rules just to milk innocent citizens dry and the length to which they will go to lace their pockets with miserable naira notes that can’t solve a fraction of their problems (needless to say they have loads of problems which paradoxically money can’t solve) – these guys have perfected the act of sacrificing their ultimate on the altar of immediate. What else can i say (or write or type as the case may be), that occasion further accentuated the reason several Nigerians have no jot of respect for the Nigerian police - I am not their greatest fan either.
If only they can change for the best, would Nigerians be asking for too much? I guess not for we deserve a lot more than this...YES WE DO.
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