Hypocrisy in tackling political thuggery

…also published in Daily Trust

The growing security concern associated with the recent escalation of Kwankwaso-Ganduje political feud in Kano has re-highlighted the negative phenomenon of political thuggery particularly in northern Nigeria. I focus on northern Nigeria in this regard, because political thuggery is particularly persistent in the region.Unlike what obtains in the south where political thugs are largely part-timers hired by unscrupulous politicians to perpetrate thuggery in the run-up, during and shortly after elections then simply resume their respective hustles afterwards, it’s practically a full-time job for many in the north, which explains why it persists and isn’t likely stop in the foreseeable future.

As usual at every recurrence of political thuggery or worries over a looming recurrence, there has been intense condemnation of the phenomenon recently in Kano and across the region.  Religious scholars have preached against it on their Friday sermon pulpits. Public figures, opinion leaders and commentators on the electronic, print and social media have all condemned it and given warnings of its security implications on the already fragile social stability in the state and beyond. Interestingly, even politicians and their cronies who actually mastermind and sponsor it have publicly, albeit hypocritically, equally condemned it.

Now, as in the case with many other negative phenomena in our society, there is a stark inconsistency between the public condemnation that trails every recurrence of political thuggery or worries of its impending recurrence, on the one hand, and the amount of socio-political commitment (if any) to tackling it in reality, on the other. This raises questions over not only the already purported sincerity of the politicians who benefit from the phenomenon, but also over the sincerity of the vulnerable people who always end up particularly affected in the event of any recurrence of political thuggery in the society.

The condemnation has been so much that it may lead an unsuspecting observer who isn’t familiar enough with the circumstances surrounding the phenomenon to assume that it’s new in the society, and to also assume that there is adequate and sincere socio-political commitment to addressing it. Whereas, it’s actually one of the major characteristics of politics particularly in the region, and that it’s, in fact, widely, albeit tacitly, encouraged for that matter.

Basically, in the near absence of the culture of issue-based politicking in the country’s political arena, politicians jostle for political positions by hook or by crook, stopping at nothing in order to get what they want. Unscrupulous characters, opportunists and imbeciles who otherwise wouldn’t have the audacity to even mull over the idea of going into politics, are particularly active in it, and they, of course, hugely outnumber the few principled politicians who go into it with commitment to making life better for the people of their respective constituencies and the country at large.

In fact, political thuggery is masterminded, sponsored or, at least, tacitly allowed by even such few otherwise principled politicians as well. I believe that I do not exaggerate if I say that no politician in this country can rightly claim to be completely innocent in this regard.

Against the backdrop of the culture of impunity in the country, not only the masterminds and sponsors of political thuggery get away with their crimes, but even the actual perpetrators get away with the acts terror they unleash as well, thanks to the tacit protection they enjoy from their sponsors who occupy positions of authority in the land. Besides, many of such politicians including many, if not all, state governors, and despite the state-provided huge and, in fact, relatively disproportionate number of security personnel attached to them, yet they clandestinely maintain gangs of armed thugs and even militia ready to unleash atrocities not only against rival gangs, but also against innocent people, to ensure continued political reign and influence for their respective sponsors.

Ironically, the society also tacitly accepts the culture of thuggery in general. Though many people pretend to condemn it, but the reality is that, they condemn it only when it directly affects them or their immediate interests. After all, the thugs live within local communities, and some of them are even effectively considered heroes of sorts in their respective communities. For instance, as someone born and raised in a Kano metropolitan ward; Kofar Nassarawa, which was, and perhaps is still, particularly notorious for ‘yan daba activities, I grew up learning some “heroic tales” glorifying some ‘yan daba gang leaders in the area. And, of course, as an innocent kid then, I, admittedly, admired them as well, though, actually, I never felt impressed to the extent of wanting to try any aspect of their lifestyle, thanks to the kind of upbringing I had.

Anyway, to successfully check the phenomenon of political thuggery in our societies, there should be a sustained advocacy by all people of conscience who should constitute themselves into formidable pressure groups particularly at the grassroots level, sustain the pressure on politicians and other vested interests to refrain from supporting political and any organized thuggery in the communities, and also expose and frustrate the political ambition of whoever is reasonably suspected of supporting it or turning a blind eye to it.