Mailafiya, Na’abba
Mailafiya, Na’abba and DSS’s Role in Conflict De-escalation
By Mohammad Dahiru Lawal
As Nigeria inches towards the 2023 general elections in a state
of security apprehensions across the Nation, alignments along
religious, regional, partisan and ethnic lines have continued to
emerge by the day creating a vacuum for vulnerability where
conflict can easily be used as a tool to a political end.
With the Nigerian dynamics, such constellations are an easy pass
for rising social tension and conflict escalation especially in
hotbed areas. As such, it may only take leaders who reconcile
within themselves that their ambition is not worth the blood of the
people they stand for – apologies to former President Jonathan –
and that their actions and utterances is key to mutual
understanding, peaceful coexistence and reduction of a potentially
violent situation in such an indispensable political formation,
thanks to our diversity.
For those whose ambition is a do or die thing – apologies to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo – it is the duty of the system
to check such actors; an action in which the Department of State
Service, DSS were commendably proactive in taking, with recent
utterances from two notable Nigerian Political figures, Dr. Obadiah
Mailafiya and Ghali Umar Na’abba.
After all, structural functionalism teaches us that society is
an organism whose entire system has to be in good working order for
systemic equilibrium to be maintained. However, when there is a
shock to the system, society becomes disorientated, allowing for
collective violence.
Last week, in a highly controversial statement capable of
heating the Nigerian Polity, Mailafiya, a former Deputy Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Presidential candidate of
African Democratic Congress, ADC, in the 2019 election had without
substantiation, claimed during a radio interview program that a
sitting northern governor is the commander of the Boko Haram
terrorist group in Nigeria – “sitting” and “northern” being the two
keywords capable of pitching one Nigerian against another and
killings will not be farfetched.
On another front, Na’abba, a former speaker of the Federal House
of Representatives and co-Chairman of the National Consultative
Front, NCF, described Nigeria as a failed state and said Nigerians
have a right to self-determination.
While Na’abba has the right to his opinion, the concept of the
call for “self-determination” is not something intelligence circles
will take for granted especially in a country grappling with
pockets of agitation from dissatisfied quarters for a break up.
Surprisingly, a month before the two incidents, the spokesperson
of DSS, Peter Afunanya had issued an alert that some prominent
personalities and socio-cultural groups may resort to divisive acts
through inciting statements aimed at pitting individuals, groups
and ethnic nationalities against another. He therefore warned that
the service would not tolerate the orchestrations by subversive
tendencies to cause a breakdown of law and order in the
country.
As a security and intelligence outfit that has constantly
adapted to increased roles necessitated by evolving security
threats in Nigeria, the DSS are not naïve to the fact that there
are diverse linkages between utterances, actions and security
including risks of conflict, national security concerns, critical
national infrastructure, geo-political rivalries and threats to
human lives, as such they did what they had to do to de-escalete a
brewing conflict situation.
Over the last several years’ research has examined anew the
potential for utterances and actions to induce political conflict
and potentiate social unrest. Several explanations for the
relationship between this and social unrest have been proposed key
of which is the fact that dangerous utterances and actions may
increase the risk of violent conflict. History is replete with
cases in point.
In this context, that the DSS handled this situation
professionally is not debatable more so, that the duo of Mailafiya
and Na’abba have in their separate media briefings commended the
DSS for treating them with decorum and respect devoid of
intimidation, molestation and harassment.
For those who are good at reading between the lines, evidence of
the result of the DSS’s action lies in-between the tone they had
both adopted after their separate sessions with the security
outfit.
They have both toned down on their messages and they did not
reemphasize their statements in the context in which it was
perceived across the polity, wherein they reiterated their
commitment to the peace, unity and stability of Nigeria.
Na’abba therefore told the Nation that his concept of
self-determination is not one that inspires a violent movement
where he willfully explained that, “Self- determination simply in
our own context means Nigerians must be allowed to live the way
they want to live.”
On his part, Mailafiya through his lawyer, Yakubu Bawa, has
defined himself as a man that loves peace and loves his country “so
dearly.”
The action by the DSS, under the current Director General, Yusuf
Magaji Bichi, underscores the significance and important reminders
that the survival, livelihood and dignity of people must be at the
heart of our actions. Had they stood akimbo while these men were
talking, we probably wouldn’t be having this line of discussion by
now. May humanity continue to prevail.
Mohammad Dahiru Lawal, a Development Journalist writes from Kano
via [email protected][1]