OFONIME UMANAH
He may not have bargained for what he got. He bullies and gets away with it at will, any time, anywhere, any day. Those who gather in his house every morning to pose for pictures behind the brown door in his house, before following him out for the day’s tasks, like those local dogs in the village that run after their owners every now and then, dare not talk when he is talking, or shouting, or screaming, or roaring, as he always does. Nobody dares challenge him. Whatever he says is law. He even shouts at media professionals during his media engagements. He shouts at home, he shouts in the public. He is like the lord of Manor-everything he does is right.
So, when he was told that some young guys in military uniform were preventing his men from the FCT Authority from accessing a property he sent them to go and bring down, he may have wondered who the ‘fools’ were.
He jumped into his car, accompanied by a retinue of well armed security operatives. Like the biblical Goliath, he moved towards the little David, confidently, ready to devour the guys he must have taken for rats in uniform. But Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the enfante terrible of Nigerian politics, the tormentor-in-chief of the PDP and other opposition political parties, the man who makes Sim Fubara, his successor, to behave like a piece of cloth on a laundry table, got the shock of his life as he met face to face with the young Lt. A.M Yerima, son of retired Brigadier General M.M Yerima.
That lanky lad turned out to be the first person in Nigerian history to publicly humiliate Wike, making him look stupid in front of the cameras. His security operatives could barely do anything to prevent the shame that enveloped him all the way. Wike, for the first time, saw shame, raw shame. He saw humiliation in its true colours. He met his waterloo. His wings were clipped by a ‘small boy.’ And he walked away clad in gracious shame.
For the first time, Wike saw public disgrace. He called for help but got none. The young naval officer, who showed composure throughout the encounter, showed Wike, the same way a frog would always be taught a lesson, that there are two kinds of water-the hot and cold water. Except a frog is taken out of his natural habitat of cold water and put inside a hot water, it would not know that hot water ever exits. That was what happened to Wike.
His action has received wide condemnations across political and ethnic divides. Even the military high command has condemned him. Nigerians believe that he went too far, to have used foul languages on a military personnel who was in uniform.
Tukur Buratai, a former chief of army staff, has already condemned him. In a statement on Tuesday, Buratai said the incident was a clear “threat to national security” and required an “immediate and serious response”.
“His public disparagement of a uniformed officer of the Nigerian Armed Forces transcends mere misconduct; it represents a palpable threat to national security and institutional integrity,” the statement reads.
“A minister’s verbal assault on a military officer in uniform is an act of profound indiscipline that strikes at the core of our nation’s command and control structure.
“It deliberately undermines the chain of command, disrespects the authority of the Commander-in-Chief, and grievously wounds the morale of every individual who serves under the Nigerian flag.
“Such actions erode the very foundation of discipline upon which our national security apparatus stands.
“This cannot be dismissed as political theatre. It is a reckless endangerment of national order. This action by Wike is clearly an indication of undermining the federal government’s authority.”
Buratai demanded an immediately apology to President Bola Tinubu as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Nigeria, and the officer, saying the president’s honour was violated by Wike’s action.
“Our nation’s security must come first. It is time for decisive action, not politics of military bashing. The integrity of our Armed Forces demands nothing less.”
A former minister, Osita Chidoka, who also reacted to the shameful conduct of the FCT minister, said “any law enforcement officer, in uniform or plain clothes, represents the President and the sovereignty of the Nigerian state. To abuse such an officer is to diminish the authority of the Republic itself.
“Wike’s decision to personally enforce a directive at a disputed site was a fundamental misstep. In constitutional democracies, power operates through institutions not impulse. Executive authority must be exercised or adjudicated through the courts, ministries, and lawful instruments of state, never through confrontation. No matter how justified a grievance, a minister cannot become an enforcer; that violates the very idea of ordered government.
“In a democracy, ministers act through process, not presence. A formal communication to the Minister of Defence, whose office oversees the Armed Forces, would have sufficed. If the officers were on illegal duty, the established disciplinary systems would have addressed it. When a minister trades words with a uniformed officer acting under orders — lawful or otherwise — it corrodes discipline and confuses hierarchy
The officer’s duty is to obey the chain of command, not verbal instructions on a roadside; the minister’s duty is to act through lawful channels. The Minister should apologise to the officer for using abusive language. It is not acceptable behaviour.
Across the globe, the minister has been pilloried for the conduct he displayed and have demanded an unreserved apology to the president. He may not have slept well last night, his ego having been seriously deflated in the public glare.
Shame.
