Opinion
Bandits As Purgers, Not Murderers
Brutus, a leading figure among the conspirators that assassinated Julius Caesar, said: “Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers. Let us kill him boldly, but not wrathfully; we shall be called purgers, not murderers”. Similarly, Casca, another conspirator, said: “So often shall the knot of us be called the men that gave their country liberty”. Purging and cleansing of society by means of bloodshed had been an old practice, even when such projects are motivated by envy, ambition and other hidden agenda.
The purging and cleansing mechanism which we call Nemesis operates in such inscrutable ways that defy human interpretations. It happens that when human beings become too obtuse and proud that they forget that ill-disposed people are many in every society, that surprises visit, to jolt the people up. We hear about the Incas, a highly civilised South American race which settled in Peru long before European immigration. They were happy, easy-going people who did not reckon with the fact that there can be ill-disposed people on Earth.
The ancient Incas were attacked by another vicious race and destroyed along with their highly civilised culture. The race of vicious invaders took advantage of the lapses observed among the Incas, which included accommodating hospitality that believed other people were also as simple, easy-going and generous like the Incas. The result was the destruction of the race of the Incas, wherein began the idiom that eternal vigilance is the price for liberty. The weak goes to the wall.
A vital lesson which we can learn from literature and history is the need to remain alert, cautious and vigilant, even with close associates. Despite his valour, Othello, the Moor of Venice, had a personal weakness which accounted for his fall. Hear how his servant, Iago, described him: “The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are”. Truly, like an ass, Othello was led into killing his wife, Desdemona, through the instrumentality of calumny, gossip and set-up.
Listening to and acting upon the basis of gossips and calumny can be described as a personal weakness which can ruin leaders and men of valour, like Othello. We can hardly doubt the fact that many Nigerian political leaders can, like Othello, “as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are”. No one should doubt the fact that a peculiar weakness in Nigerian leadership posture is inability to take independent decisions based on personal conviction, without external prodding or influence. Such proddings and influences can come from quarters that it would be hard to displease or disappoint.
In Nigeria, for example, the current use of the terms bandits, insurgents, etc, had arisen probably because of inability to “call a spade, a spade”, as an idiom goes. The fact that herdsmen became associated with carrying firearms which also led to terrorizing farming communities and persons, cannot be described as false. Similarly, it is true that the increasing state of insecurity is associated with Boko Haram insurgents. Such insurgents have been known to terrorise and kill people. What purpose?
Among places and people terrorised by the Boko Haram insurgents included places of worship and clergy men. Such terrorist activities have currently included the abduction and kidnapping of students from their campuses. The current trend is a shift of the locations of banditry to the southern parts of Nigeria, which had been relatively peaceful. From Ebonyi State to Rivers, increasing acts of banditry and terrorism are taking place, purportedly committed by unknown gunmen. The commonest crisis in Nigeria is the alarming state of insecurity, with hardly any prospect of an immediate abatement. Helpless!
If, in the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “there’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow”, then it can be said that the current turn of events in Nigeria, like other places, is not without a similar special providence. To say that “there is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will”, is similar to saying that events do not happen by accidents. This line of philosophy may be too hard for some people to accept as valid, but it is true to say that for every effect there is a cause whose origin may not be immediately known.
Let us admit that human beings have been deceived for too long, by individuals and authorities that arrogated to themselves the right to lead and guide the masses. There are ignorant and false shepherds that have led the masses into desolate wilderness and perdition, with false claims, promises and doctrines. Like the Incas of old, the gullible masses have been too care-free and complacent to be vigilant, alert and watchful.
Matters arising from the recent Southern Governors’ meeting and decisions taken by them, have exposed the hypocrisies in Nigeria. For example, reactions attending to the decisions for a national dialogue and a ban on open grazing, are distasteful to some sections of the country. We cannot deny the fact that the current security crisis can be linked with Boko Haram insurgency and cattle-herders/farmers’ clashes. There was a security report long ago that cattle would be co-opted as instrument in the pursuit of some hidden agenda, including the brewing of population figures.
The time has come for Nigerians to recognize the fact that what we call Nemesis is an instrument of “a special providence” that acts as a balancing system to sanitise human lapses. Human lapses range from aggressive brutality and blood-letting, to excessive docility and gullibility. Both ends of human weaknesses must be checked and then balanced through bitter experiences, requiring introspective leadership. But in a situation where leaders are ignorant of the regulatory mechanism of Nemesis, then the masses suffer double jeopardy.
Regulatory mechanism of special providence ensures that darkness destroys itself and its works through the instrumentality of its activities. Hence, conspirators, assassins, bandits, insurgents and all categories of violent and smooth criminals, serve as purgers, not murderers, when Nemesis is at work. Actors in the services of Nemesis rarely know the guiding mechanism behind their roles. Nigeria will be cleansed through this mechanism and hypocrites would cease to call murderers bandits.
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
The events that unfolded in Abuja on Tuesday November 11, 2025 between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike and a detachment of soldiers guarding a disputed property, led by Adams Yerima, a commissioned Naval Officer, may go down as one of the defining images of Nigeria’s democratic contradictions. It was not merely a quarrel over land. It was a confrontation between civil authority and the military legacy that still hovers over our national life.
Nyesom Wike, fiery and fearless as always, was seen on video exchanging words with a uniformed officer who refused to grant him passage to inspect a parcel of land alleged to have been illegally acquired. The minister’s voice rose, his temper flared, and the soldier, too, stood his ground, insisting on his own authority. Around them, aides, security men, and bystanders watched, stunned, as two embodiments of the Nigerian state clashed in the open.
The images spread fast, igniting debates across drawing rooms, beer parlours, and social media platforms. Some hailed Wike for standing up to military arrogance; others scolded him for perceived disrespect to the armed forces. Yet beneath the noise lies a deeper question about what sort of society we are building and whether power in Nigeria truly understands the limits of its own reach.
It is tragic that, more than two decades into civil rule, the relationship between the civilian arm of government and the military remains fragile and poorly understood. The presence of soldiers in a land dispute between private individuals and the city administration is, by all civic standards, an aberration. It recalls a dark era when might was right, and uniforms conferred immunity against accountability.
Wike’s anger, even if fiery, was rooted in a legitimate concern: that no individual, however connected or retired, should deploy the military to protect personal interests. That sentiment echoes the fundamental democratic creed that the law is supreme, not personalities. If his passion overshot decorum, it was perhaps a reflection of a nation weary of impunity.
On the other hand, the soldier in question is a symbol of another truth: that discipline, respect for order, and duty to hierarchy are ingrained in our armed forces. He may have been caught between conflicting instructions one from his superiors, another from a civilian minister exercising his lawful authority. The confusion points not to personal failure but to institutional dysfunction.
It is, therefore, simplistic to turn the incident into a morality play of good versus evil.
*********”**** What happened was an institutional embarrassment. Both men represented facets of the same failing system a polity still learning how to reconcile authority with civility, law with loyalty, and service with restraint.
In fairness, Wike has shown himself as a man of uncommon courage. Whether in Rivers State or at the FCTA, he does not shy away from confrontation. Yet courage without composure often feeds misunderstanding. A public officer must always be the cooler head, even when provoked, because the power of example outweighs the satisfaction of winning an argument.
Conversely, soldiers, too, must be reminded that their uniforms do not place them above civilian oversight. The military exists to defend the nation, not to enforce property claims or intimidate lawful authorities. Their participation in purely civil matters corrodes the image of the institution and erodes public trust.
One cannot overlook the irony: in a country where kidnappers roam highways and bandits sack villages, armed men are posted to guard contested land in the capital. It reflects misplaced priorities and distorted values. The Nigerian soldier, trained to defend sovereignty, should not be drawn into private or bureaucratic tussles.
Sycophancy remains the greatest ailment of our political culture. Many of those who now cheer one side or the other do so not out of conviction but out of convenience. Tomorrow they will switch allegiance. True patriotism lies not in defending personalities but in defending principles. A people enslaved by flattery cannot nurture a culture of justice.
The Nigerian elite must learn to submit to the same laws that govern the poor. When big men fence off public land and use connections to shield their interests, they mock the very constitution they swore to uphold. The FCT, as the mirror of national order, must not become a jungle where only the powerful can build.
The lesson for Wike himself is also clear: power is best exercised with calmness. The weight of his office demands more than bravery; it demands statesmanship. To lead is not merely to command, but to persuade — even those who resist your authority.
Equally, the lesson for the armed forces is that professionalism shines brightest in restraint. Obedience to illegal orders is not loyalty; it is complicity. The soldier who stands on the side of justice protects both his honour and the dignity of his uniform.
The Presidency, too, must see this episode as a wake-up call to clarify institutional boundaries. If soldiers can be drawn into civil enforcement without authorization, then our democracy remains at risk of subtle militarization. The constitution must speak louder than confusion.
The Nigerian public deserves better than spectacles of ego. We crave leaders who rise above emotion and officers who respect civilian supremacy. Our children must not inherit a nation where authority means shouting matches and intimidation in public glare.
Every democracy matures through such tests. What matters is whether we learn the right lessons. The British once had generals who defied parliament; the Americans once fought over states’ rights; Nigeria, too, must pass through her own growing pains but with humility, not hubris.
If the confrontation has stirred discomfort, then perhaps it has done the nation some good. It forces a conversation long overdue: Who truly owns the state — the citizen or the powerful? Can we build a Nigeria where institutions, not individuals, define our destiny?
As the dust settles, both the FCTA and the military hierarchy must conduct impartial investigations. The truth must be established — not to shame anyone, but to restore order. Where laws were broken, consequences must follow. Where misunderstandings occurred, apologies must be offered.
Let the rule of law triumph over the rule of impulse. Let civility triumph over confrontation. Let governance return to the path of dialogue and procedure.
Nigeria cannot continue to oscillate between civilian bravado and military arrogance. Both impulses spring from the same insecurity — the fear of losing control. True leadership lies in the ability to trust institutions to do their work without coercion.
Those who witnessed the clash saw a drama of two gladiators. One in starched khaki, one in well-cut suit. Both proud, both unyielding. But a nation cannot be built on stubbornness; it must be built on understanding. Power, when it meets power, should produce order, not chaos.
We must resist the temptation to glorify temper. Governance is not warfare; it is stewardship. The citizen watches, the world observes, and history records. How we handle moments like this will define our collective maturity.
The confrontation may have ended without violence, but it left deep questions in the national conscience. When men of authority quarrel in the open, institutions tremble. The people, once again, become spectators in a theatre of misplaced pride.
It is time for all who hold office — civilian or military — to remember that they serve under the same flag. That flag is neither khaki nor political colour; it is green-white-green, and it demands humility.
No victor, no vanquish only a lesson for a nation still learning to govern itself with dignity.
By; King Onunwor
