There have been criticisms of Kemi Badenoch by different people, especially individuals who are currently affiliated with the Nigerian government or have been in the past. Some of their criticisms are relatively well-founded because Kemi’s deep-cutting words are believed to be unfair as it dents the image of Nigeria (or maybe not). While her critiques do have their points, some of us are not bothered by the rhetoric of Kemi, but about a bigger issue that must be fixed.
Kemi is Free to tell her Story
For some of us, Kemi Badenoch has the right to narrate her experiences in the hands of Nigeria Police, provided she’s telling the truth. If members of the Nigeria Police did steal her brother’s wristwatch and his shoes, then we can’t tell her to just shut up and ‘soldier’ on like nothing happened or expect her to be ‘patriotic’ to Nigeria as a British politician. Some of her critics have even gone far when they accused her of pandering to the UK Rightwing. First, our concern should not be in whether she is taking a politically unintelligent move by ‘pandering’ to the Rightwing. It’s her political decision and whatever outcome she gets are hers, and hers alone. She’s not there to represent Nigeria or some constituencies from another country. She’s playing politics and the results are for her to reap like other politicians. The most important thing to know is that she has all the rights in the world to narrate her ordeal, and in whatever capacity or through any medium about her experiences in the hands of Nigeria Police as long as she’s truthful.
The bad Eggs
Like other countries including the United Kingdom where more than 70 police officers were once fired for sexual offences, we clearly have bad eggs in the police and Nigerians are well aware of this. We have complained, too, as ordinary Nigerians. The question then is why is the complaint by Kemi carrying more weight? The answer to this is very clear. What some Nigerians find threatening is the position she occupies; how when she speaks, she has millions of listeners. They are afraid she portrays a negative image of our very rich country even when they secretly know that she’s probably right for the most part.
As we speak, someone somewhere in Nigeria is probably facing injustice from people who are paid to protect them. Someone somewhere is probably getting asked to pay for an otherwise free service by members of the Nigeria Police or others in similar capacities. Like those who may have stolen from Kemi’s brother, those who abuse their position of authority are the bad eggs.
The Bigger Issue to be Fixed
The Nigeria Police and others in similar capacities need to investigate the damaging claims by Kemi. We need to see if and when she made any formal complaints about the said theft by members of the police. For the political leaders that are worried about her rhetoric, an investigation may be more of a ‘PR’ than engaging in verbal wars with her or asking for a smile in the face of a perceived injustice as indicated by those who define patriotism as verbally projecting a positive image at all times.
As we know, there are millions of Nigerians who are dissatisfied with the corruption in the system. We know this, too. The Police Authority are also trying to sanitise the system because they know it’s dirty – littered with bad eggs and malodorous practices.
Èéfín ni ìwà; kò ṣeé fi pamọ́
If we are unwilling to change, then we should be ready to have our dirty linens washed out in the open. For some of us, patriotism is not keeping mum in the face of real injustice. An individual who has been offended has the right to voice out and Kemi is no exception.
If you’re offended because Kemi Badenoch said something that may be truthful but you consider negative about Nigeria, then, we need to fix our institutional mess, albeit, the UK is no paradise and their police officers are no angels. As individuals with varying levels of social influence, we can also narrate our negative experiences in the United Kingdom independent of Kemi’s dissatisfaction with Nigeria. Individual experiences aside, there are also bad eggs within the British Police. Andrew Talbot was a previous officer convicted of selling cocaine, British police officer, Ben Cooke was convicted of burglary, and recently, more than 500 police officers were sacked across the United Kingdom for various crimes that include sexual offences like rape and other crimes.
Our Obligations as Nigerians
Our obligation to defend justice is more important than the attempt to defend (dis)honourable conducts of some of our officers or cast an aggrieved person as unjust in her rhetoric. As commanded by Allah, “O you who believe, be persistently standing firm in justice, as witnesses before God, even if it be against yourselves or your parents and relatives” (Qur’an, 4:135)”.
Final Note to Kemi
As for Kemi, the ‘Yoruba-British’ who doesn’t want to identify with Nigeria because she feels she has “nothing in common with the people from the north of the country, the Boko Haram where Islamism is”, it is okay, and she’s within her full rights to choose with whom she identifies. I just hope she does not forget that Nigeria, with its attendant religious and ethnic complexity, including the Islamist problem she complained about, was one of the artificial creations of Britain which started with the bombing and shooting the hell out of the various ethno-national groups of precolonial Nigeria. We cannot talk about our historical complexities and today’s convolutions without tracing it back to the horrible and horrific atrocities of the British government, albeit how we fix our present problems is our own choice.
Wazeer Murtala writes from Nigeria. He can be reached via X @wazeerr
