Hear Hear! Famous last words by Baba Biko in support of his Baba Soyinka: "He urges us to be vigilant when dictators use authoritarian populism to grab hard-won constitutional rights to the freedom of movement. "Indeed. Indeed, he urges us.
Baba Buhari has not done that. He has not used "authoritarian populism" "to grab hard-won constitutional rights to the freedom of movement. "
When there's a genocidal killer virus on the rampage, every idiot knows that it's not the time for the popular shaking of hands, hugging, kissing and loving everybody all over the place and thereby aiding and abetting the spread of the virus. in the name of the same "One Love," there should be no delay in getting you and your beloved people out of harm's way. That should be the logical, the sensible and the humane thing to do. And that's what Baba Buhari is saying and doing.
The lockdown in India and South Africa are not cases of any alleged dictatorship using "authoritarian populism to grab hard-won constitutional rights to the freedom of movement. "
Muhammadu Buhari, the democratically elected president of Nigeria has used his discretion in exercising some of the executive power that's granted to him and vested in him by the Holy Nigerian Constitution.
Agreed, of course, this does not mean to say that the Nigerian polity should be ever vigilant that even a good-hearted president like Muhammadu Buhari does not step over the limits of what the Constitution legally empowers him to do. In the not so distant past, Nigeria has had her own unfair share of dictators and dictatorships, even those who wanted to be benevolent dictators, and understandably, that's why the Babas are a little worried. As Bobby Marley wails in Real Situation , the fear of
"Give them an inch, they take a yard
Give them a yard, they take a mile (ooh)"
Biko : Cannabis sales soar as Canadians stock up for coronavirus lockdown
Baba Sho is right to warn the world against the rise of Corona Nazism. He urges us to be vigilant when dictators use authoritarian populism to grab hard-won constitutional rights to the freedom of movement. The troops are easily ordered to the streets except that they never left the streets of Nigeria but have always been stationed at check points to collect kolanuts and harass Nigerians quite unlike the US military in America.
Soyinka is urging Nigerians to be vigilant because if we allow dictatorial regimes to get away with small encroachments on freedom (and stay at home orders no be small thing o), they will easily get power-drunk and be corrupted absolutely.
Like you, I hope that Soyinka is wrong and that we can use the military to wage war against a virus but science tells us that this kind of war is better won by scientists in the lab and not with bayonets to the shrunken bellies of hungry Nigerians who cannot afford self-isolation unlike the big Oga on the top with a budget of billions of naira for food alone and more billions for APC drugs for headache, yet flies abroad to treat common ear-ache.
Soyinka is right that we should hold the executive accountable for the implementation of any emergency powers. You are welcome to disagree if you live in a country in which soldiers do not routinely execute innocent civilians extra judicially with impunity as Fela Kuti documented in Unknown Soldier.
Ordering people to stay at home and enjoy nsala soup is cheap talk. Show us the funding for research to develop Nigerian test kits, manufacture gloves and protective clothing for health workers and patients, and to trial and develop new drugs from our indigenous knowledge systems to fight against korona colonialism.
Biko
Were the disease to be allowed to jump out of the container bag in Nigeria, only the makers of coffins would benefit from it.
Even the same makers of coffins could be overwhelmed by the number they have to make for members of their
families and trade.In the face of poor or lack of facilities, containment could be the only saving grace for Nigeria
and most other poor nations of the African continent.
Anthony Akinola
On Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 3:09 PM Harrow, Kenneth <
harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
in effect, we ALL are living in a lockdown. my wife and i almost never go out; the streets are empty; all except emergency work is stopped.
there is nothing exceptional about nigeria in this regard. i hope the disease is confined, and runs out of steam. so far nigeria has practically nothing. there is more in our own small region of the state of michigan than in all of nigeria. there are now 6000 cases in the state of michigan alone. when i last checked, nigeria had a really small number. with luck and hard work, it can be contained.
i hope that is the case.
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
harrow@msu.edu
I concur with those who have backed Buhari's invocation of emergency powers.
In all the countries where COVID- 19 has been tackled emergency powers have been deployed. Boris Johnson stated explicitly that he would prosecute the fight against COVID-19 like it is a war situation.
In the past week President Trump has said something similar to ensure infected people from New York do not spill to neighbouring states.
The governor of New Jersey like WS has objected to this and has said it is un- American and has threatened to sue the Federal Government.
If a state if emergency could be declared for Katrina, the current situation is several times more volatile for America.
In Nigeria this is a situation that borders on the entire nations health and it has been established that speed and thoroughness of response is of essence.
WS will be counseled to overlooked the personal discomfort entailed for him and people in his state and Lagos for the good of all.
OAA
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
-------- Original message --------
Date: 31/03/2020 09:21 (GMT+00:00)
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - WOLE SOYINKA ON COVID-19 LOCK-DOWN
Yep, Soyinka is wrong - very wrong here, in my mind. If the president does not have the power to declare a state of emergency at such a time as this, who else does? You bet, if Buhari had failed to declare a state of emergency as he did, and the pandemic overwhelms the nation, WS and many of us - myself included, would be the first to cry foul! We cannot disagree for the sake of just being disagreeable.
MOA
On Monday, March 30, 2020, 5:54:03 PM CDT, Harrow, Kenneth <
harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
so when we have a pandemic strike nigeria, the president shouldn't be able, on his own, to declare a state of emergency and decree health measures?
soyinka is wrong here. what buhari decreed is true for all other states, and is quite sensible, necessary even.
we all know where ws is coming from, but still, he is in the wrong this time
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
harrow@msu.edu
COVID-19 lockdown: We are not in war emergency, Soyinka tells Buhari
Prof. Wole Soyinka
Sodiq Oyeleke
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has questioned the legality of the lockdown ordered by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The PUNCH reports that Buhari had on Sunday ordered the lockdown of Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
But Soyinka in a statement on Monday wondered if the president has the power to order such lockdown.
The Nobel laureate called on constitutional lawyers and lawmakers to clarify the legality or illegality of the lockdown.
He also warned against "constitutional piracy" in the fight against coronavirus in the country.
The statement, titled 'Between COVID and Constitutional Encroachment', read in part, "Constitutional lawyers and our elected representatives should kindly step into this and educate us, mere lay minds. The worst development I can conceive of us is to have a situation where rational measures for the containment of the Coronavirus pandemic are rejected on account of their questionable genesis.
"This is a time for Unity of Purpose, not nitpicking dissensions. So, before this becomes a habit, a question: does President Buhari have the powers to close down state borders? We want clear answers. We are not in a war emergency.
"Appropriately focussed on measures for the saving lives, and committed to making sacrifices for the preservation of our communities, we should nonetheless remain alert to any encroachment on constitutionally demarcated powers. We need to exercise collective vigilance, and not compromise the future by submitting to interventions that are not backed by law and constitution.
"Who actually instigates these orders anyway? From where do they really emerge? What happens when the orders conflict with state measures, the product of a systematic containment strategy – `including even trial-and-error and hiccups – undertaken without let or leave of the Centre. So far, the anti-COVID-19 measures have proceeded along the rails of decentralised thinking, multilateral collaboration and technical exchanges between states.
"The Centre is obviously part of the entire process, and one expects this to be the norm, even without the epidemic's frontal assault on the Presidency itself. Indeed, the Centre is expected to drive the overall effort, but in collaboration, with extraordinary budgeting and refurbishing of facilities.
"The universal imperative and urgency of this affliction should not become an opportunistic launch pad for a sneak RE-CENTRALISATION, no matter how seemingly insignificant its appearance. I urge governors and legislators to be especially watchful. No epidemic is ever cured with constitutional piracy. It only lays down new political viruses for the future."
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