Tayo Oke
George Floyd, an African-American man murdered by a white police officer, in broad daylight, in the middle of the street in Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, on May 25 2020, is being laid to rest today in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Four police officers were involved in his arrest, one of whom, Derek Chauvin, was filmed pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck as he was pinned to the ground. The other three officers; Thomas Lane, J Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, stood by and watched as Floyd was pleading for his life: “I can’t breathe”, he muttered repeatedly. By this time, the scene had attracted several onlookers yelling at the officer to relax his stranglehold on Floyd. “Get off him, he can’t breathe”. They were heard saying to the officers. All the pleadings were ignored and the officer pressed on until Floyd took his last breath. He died on the spot. Everything was filmed by members of the public with their phones. It was, and still is difficult to watch, even more so to write about. Where is the humanity in this? This is the United States of America, where even animals have legal protection from being killed in that fashion. The United States, the bastion of freedom and human rights? Yes, but it depends on the colour of your skin apparently.
As shocking as the demonstration of police brutality has been, it is not a rarity in America. Similar incidents had happened across the US before, time after time. One of the most egregious police brutalities occurred with the savage beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, 30 years ago. It led to several weeks of protests, riots and looting until some sanity was restored when the officers, also filmed by a private citizen, were brought to court. The rioting, burning and looting erupted onto the streets again after the officers were acquitted of all charges against them forcing the Federal Government to lay a separate charge of “human rights violation” against the officers. They were eventually convicted and sent to prison for a short time. Between Rodney King and George Floyd, countless other similar killings by police officers had taken place, but none had drawn such raw emotions than this very latest one. It has united millions of Americans of all skin colours to come out in the streets despite the fear of the coronavirus, and curfews imposed on the major cities across America. The feelings running through America are that, maybe, this time is different; that white people now understand the meaning of police brutality towards black people; that institutional racism is finally gnawing at their conscience. Is that right? Only time will tell.
Solidarity demonstrations have also taken place across the world: Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe etc. Political leaders around the world have voiced their condemnation. Even the normally tight-lipped Pope has raised his voice of concern, calling the murder of Floyd, “tragic”.
Given all this, readers of this column must find it shocking, but perhaps, not surprising that Nigeria has kept mum. President Muhammadu Buhari has thus far, kept his counsel. Nigeria has not found it necessary to issue even a one-line condemnation of the horror and inhumanity of police action in America. How shameful. Nigeria used to be “the great black hope” upon independence in 1960 with some justification. The country with the largest concentration of black people on earth, able to champion the cause of the black race all over the world; a country with such huge potential big enough to absorb and feed the entire region of West Africa effortlessly; a country that became a “frontline state” in the fight against Apartheid South Africa in the 1970s; a country whose currency used to be stronger than the US dollar; a country bold enough to nationalise British business interests for supporting South Africa contrary to the wishes of Nigeria in the 1970s; a country so confident in itself to hold the all-Africa cultural festival (FESTAC) in 1977. The Federal Government’s deafening – I mean felonious – silence is not surprising because, similarly, it did absolutely nothing when Saudi Arabia abducted and killed an innocent American-based journalist, Jamal Kashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Instabul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018. ‘The man dies in him that stays silent in the face of tyranny’, so says the legendary Wole Soyinka. The question is why does the leader of this great country, Nigeria, casually face away from acts of oppression and brutality of others? Imagine what America would have done if the shoes were on the other foot?
There is no price for guessing. Nigeria has no moral standing when it comes to police brutality. Such is the way of life for most innocent citizens in this country. It is said, he who comes to equity must do so with clean hands. The horrors meted out to people in this country by the law enforcement officers on a daily basis have made us immune to the horrors experienced by others in faraway lands. However terrible police brutality or state terrorism appears to be elsewhere, they are no match for our own here on Nigerian soil. Political leaders cannot reject violence in others until they have rid themselves of violence at home. Our leaders cannot express moral indignation at what other people do, until they have made human dignity a living experience for their own kind. Charity, they say, begins at home.
The other reason why our government is unable to speak out is simply economics. Nigeria is so heavily dependent on foreign direct investment, loans, aid, technical know-how etc from the Americans that officials walk on egg shells, they tip-toe out of the room when it comes to any condemnation of the US. What is even more surprising is that the civil society and the press have not come out swinging either. Where is the moral outrage of Nigerians on the streets, and in front of the US embassy?
In all of the pandemonium and kerfuffle playing out on the US streets this minute, it is interesting to see the vacuum of presidential leadership also on display over there. President Donald Trump is known for his indifference to the plight of the minority ethnic US citizens. He rode to power on the political ultra-right’s horse; “law and order”, “evangelical”, “strong state”, economic belt-tightening for the poor, tax cut for the rich. I am not elected to be nice; only to “make America great again” seems to encapsulate his manners, actions and reactions to events in America and around the world all the time. A totally erratic, eccentric, insecure and narcissistic personality, Trump is on course to win the trophy for the most cantankerous US President in history. His stance on the protests engulfing the US has been to double down on the rabid right-wing miasma surrounding him and his “base” so-to-speak. In a telephone conference with state governors last weekend, he lashed out, urging them to “dominate” the protesters.
