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A state begins to lose its authority when the law is formidable when dealing with the powerless but negotiable when dealing with the politically connected. Nigeria is increasingly flirting with precisely that danger.
First, the Palestine Action episode. These were people who did not bother with balaclavas or the theatrical anonymity so beloved of the modern political cosplay set. They targeted warehouses and facilities linked to the supply of arms to the Israeli military. The Labour government, with the practised solemnity of a government discovering its inner authoritarian, reached for the terrorism laws. Proscription followed. Arrests followed. Jail terms followed. Even the barristers who dared to represent them found themselves in the crosshairs. The message was clear: damage property in the service of a cause the government finds inconvenient, and you will be treated as the domestic equivalent of Al-Qaeda, complete with the full legal theatre that accompanies such a designation.
At moments of peak frustration, one is tempted to conclude that Nigeria has become a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah; a place so committed to self-destruction that even the gods have abandoned any rescue plan and are simply waiting for the final chapter.
There is a brutally efficient African proverb that cuts through political spin faster than a devaluation memo: When the wind blows, the chicken’s anus is exposed.
The UN’s top disarmament official expressed regret that weapons continued to fuel violence in communities long after wars ended, causing devastation across once peaceful communities.
