Abaribe: When Trust is a Way of Life
No day passes without a major news break in Nigeria: some make us feel happy, some make us feel sad while others leave us indifferent. When, in the course of last week, news filtered out that the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, had said he would stand surety for Mazi Nnamdi kanu, the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) if the need arose, I did not know whether to feel sad or happy. But one thing I am sure of is that I felt proud, indeed greatly enamoured that Abaribe was living up to his reputation as a principled representative of his people, an honourable man who could hold his head high even when all others are losing theirs.
The offer, to stand surety for Nnamdi kanu again, said to have been made during an appearance on the TVC Journalists Hangout programme, is bound to raise a lot of questions. Could Abaribe have been hallucinating? Had he forgotten the adage that ‘once bitten, twice shy’? How on earth would he offer himself as sacrificial lamb, a second time, in a case that carried the death penalty or life imprisonment? What makes him think that Nnamdi Kanu will not jump bail again? Does he not think that, by sticking his neck out, he could be endangering his distinguished political career, if not his life?
Yet, contrary to what people might think, Abaribe is not a fool. Long before now, the Igbo race had prided itself as standing for one another. The mantra was that an injury to one was like an injury to all. Today, that pristine value, that noble dictum of ‘onuru ube nwanne agbala oso’, implying that none should ignore, the save our soul entreaty of a brother, has been so badly eroded that, to parody Achebe’s seminal work: “Things Have Fallen Apart”. But let us not be mistaken about it. Other ethnic groups also have had a reputation for fiercely rising to the defence of any of their kind who suffered an injury, particularly if the injury was inflicted through profiling or some form of ingrained xenophobia.
Hon. Enyinnaya Abaribe
Nnamdi Kanu
Thus, Abaribe could be said to be reviving that spirit of brotherliness when, in response to the question, if he would stand surety for Nnamdi kanu again, he had replied in the affirmative, querying: “If the circumstances are the same, why not”? What were the circumstances?
For background, the story is that Abaribe, along with two others, had bailed Nnamdi Kanu who, at the time, had been charged for treasonable felony by the Federal Government. However, Kanu had jumped bail in 2017, thereby leaving Abaribe, who had stood bail for him, with either forfeiting the N100m bail bond imposed by Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Abuja High Court or offering to stand trial in his place. In retrospect, it is obvious that he was wise in taking the lesser evil of staying alive. Was it not the sages who said that he who fights and runs away lives to fight another day?
For someone who had suffered immensely on account of Kanu’s escape, before his subsequent re-arrest, many will consider it tantamount to fool-hardiness, for Abaribe to present himself as sacrificial lamb a second time. Paradoxically, the fact that Abaribe is ready to stand surety for Nnamdi kanu again is precisely what stands him out, from the motley crowd of impostors who parade our streets, as genuine Igbo leaders and patriots.
This has nothing to do with whether or not he or anyone else, agrees with Nnamdi Kanu’s position or style or both. To take him on bail is not the same thing as endorsing Nnamdi Kanu’s modus operandi. If the truth must be told, quite a number of Ndigbo do not subscribe to his methods even as the majority will agree that his allegation of Igbo marginalisation is not only true but dangerously asphyxiating. But that is beside the point.
The real point which Abaribe made so poignantly echoes the Igbo adage that, though a madman could wonder aimlessly as if he were an orphan, it is only when you touch him that his relations will emerge. Besides, we are further reminded of the Igbo adage that you first chase the hawk away, before coming home to admonish the chickens, for wandering beyond permissible boundaries. I think the message is clearer in Abaribe’s own words, when he says: “The first time, the judge said they needed a Senator to be part of his sureties. So, if a judge says that again that they need a Senator, I don’t see why I won’t. I am a Senator and I come from the South-East”. Now, hear this: “We can’t run away from our responsibility. He’s, our son. He’s from our state (Abia).”
And that, is the crux of the matter. There are times that Nnamdi Kanu’s touted disrespect for Igbo elders and his acerbic utterances, could dissuade the most patriotic Igbo leader, from weighing in on his matter. That again, will be in line with the Igbo attitude towards a stubborn child who unrepentantly insists on playing with fire. At some point, the elders will allow the child to be scorched by the fire, if only for him to learn from the experience. Is it not said that experience is the best teacher?
Abaribe’s response to the Nnamdi Kanu saga bears the imprint of a pragmatic leader who knows that it is poor judgment, to throw the baby away with the bath water; it depicts him as a father who understands that one does not gain the confidence of a son by keeping him at arm’s length. The Yoruba ethnic nationality understands this very well. Thus, at every point, all through the odyssey of either former OPC leader, Aare Gani Adams or contemporaneously, the secessionist agitation of Sunday Igboho, the Yoruba have always devised elaborate ways of ensuring that their own receive justice, with honour.
Away from the South West, Abaribe’s position is further buoyed by the fact that the prominent Islamic cleric, Sheik Gumi, has not only been negotiating with kidnappers and bandits in the North but indeed dictating the conditions precedent to the release of kidnap victims. Strangely, some of these ‘bandits’ have been fingered in the shooting down of the Nigerian Air Force Alpha jet, last week. The only difference is that, unlike Nnamdi Kanu, these apparently well-trained bandits, who could so dexterously bring down the symbol of the Federal Government’s air power, have not yet been apprehended. Maybe, we are wrong.
Nevertheless, I find a number of endearing attributes in Abaribe’s approach. Here is a man, who is ready to sacrifice personal comfort, even safety, to protect the interest of his constituents without undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria. Here is a principled legislator who aggressively pushes his point of view without detracting from the canons of parliamentary best practices. Here is a man who pushes his argument with relentless zeal and passion without constituting a nuisance to his colleagues. Here is a man who steadfastly insists on speaking truth to power without being rude or disrespectful. Here is a man who commands the respect of not only his Igbo ethnic group but many other Nigerians, without dishing out tonnes of money, to impose his view and will on people. Such is a man who can truly be described as a leader of his people and who, all sincere stakeholders in the Nigeria project should earnestly court if, indeed, our objective is to truly heal the wounds of our indiscretion, unify our peoples and restore hope to the many disillusioned compatriots rather than demonstrating how much power we can exercise and the vengeance we can wreak.
