From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
A legal luminary, Dr Okey Chidolue, has in Nnewi Anambra State, condemned in its entirety the fisticuffs between the operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Nigeria Correctional Services (NCS) at a court premises, in Ikoyi, Lagos, describing it as executive rascality and lawlessness.
Dr Chidolue noted that when you live or stay long enough in Nigeria, you get to see the good, the bad and the ugly side of executive rascality and lawlessness, which he said were the inevitable byproducts of bad government.
He said with that scenario in place, you would begin to appreciate the importance of true democracy and the rule of law that had eluded Nigeria since independence because of corruption and tribalism.
“For the older generation of Nigerians that experienced military dictatorships, executive rascality and lawlessness is not new. What is new, though, is the brazen desecration of our supposed Temple of Justice by two federal agencies selfishly fighting for their pecuniary interests with impunity inside court premises.
“During the military era, notorious agencies like NSO (DSS predecessor) molest innocent citizens outside the court premises. But this time they molested their sister agency (NCS) operatives inside court premises because they could not openly molest innocent citizens anymore.
This is good!
“In a democracy, open fisticuffs by agency operatives inside court premises, in full social media glare, is bad, very bad!! And, it once again calls into question the status of our nascent democracy.
“Following the ugly 2023 presidential election, condemned by most international observers, our democracy can only be described as a non-promising experiment because a credible presidential election begets democracy and the rule of law. Our last Presidential election was not remotely credible and, we don’t seem to be making any meaningful progress in this regard.
“In 1984, a group of innocent young student activists that protested against the military coup d’état of Buhari and Idiagbon were illegally detained and badly tortured by NSO (DSS) for seven days at No.15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. It was a life-altering experience for them and myself. And, that gruesome experience felt like yesterday when I saw the show of shame between DSS and NCS operatives at the Federal High Court premises in Ikoyi duking it out. Very ugly!!!
“Let’s be clear, this will not happen in a true democracy. And, if it does, the doctrine of separation of powers will take care of it decisively. The Nigerian Bar Association has issued a timely condemnation press release. But what about the Chief Justice of the Federation and the Senate President? If these two men don’t get up and defend our Constitution and separation of powers, we are finished as a country.