Bo’le ka’ja legislators: How did we get here?

The country scored another low last Wednesday during the presentation of the 2019 budget estimates by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly as the lawmakers descended into cheering and jeering the president.

It was so bad that the president had to stop midway in his presentation to call their attention to the fact that the whole world was watching the desecration of the nation’s values, but that cut no ice with the ‘hailers’ and the ‘wailers’ who continued nonetheless.

Not only was it shameful that our legislators could not rise above primordial sentiments, it is hurtful that these individuals, who cannot comport themselves properly in the public, are the ones making laws for Nigerians. It is agonising that these men and women, who cannot rein in their emotions, are the ones determining the fate of the nation and its people. With these people as our leaders, there is little wonder we are where we are as a people.

I am still trying hard to imagine the explanation these fathers and mothers would give their spouses, children, pastors, imams, siblings, other relations, friends and constituents as the rationale behind their actions. What would those hailing the president tell their people as the reason for their action: Is it that the president has done unimaginably well and has fulfilled all his promises to the nation or that they were hailing him just because of their political affinity? What would those jeering him tell their people: Is it that the president had done so badly that they had to throw their own dignity to the dogs? Or is it that the president had done so badly that they had to express their disenchantment by inviting the reign of anarchy? Or is it because they do not belong to the same political family?

Whatever the motivation of either side was, the undeniable fact is that not only have they disgraced themselves and inflicted a deep wound on the nation’s psyche, they have also made it clear that they are unfit for the exalted position they occupy and they have scant understanding of the responsibility they shoulder as the people’s representatives.

But come to think of it, why would ‘distinguished’ and ‘honourable’ adults descend to name-calling and insult-hurling in a chamber dedicated to debating issues of national interest? How did we get to this level as a people? Why would those elected by Nigerians and sustained by the resources of the country, to devote their intellect to making laws, brazenly break the laws of the land even in the hallowed chamber where laws are to be made? Why would those expected to resolve issues almost resort to fisticuffs as a means of dispute resolution? Why are the worst of us leading the rest of us?

The descent into a shouting match by the legislators is indicative that some of those who lead us are not better than motor park boys. In motor parks, the loudest and the most violent of the members leads the rest. There, the majority may only have their say but the one that has his way is the strongest or the most virulent, the one who can instill fear in the hearts of the rest through his conduct. Hence, at the parks, disputes are usually settled with fisticuffs, cudgels, broken bottles, knives, daggers and the likes. At motor parks, bo’le ka’ja (fight me, if you dare) is the rule. At motor parks, might is right. At motor parks, it is the survival of the fittest.

• Unauthorised motor parks, haven for kidnappers, ritualists —NOA

But that is the law of the jungle. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the law of the jungle is “the code of survival in jungle life, now usually with reference to the superiority of brute force or self-interest in the struggle for survival.” In the world of animals, the golden rule is eat or be eaten.

Animals resort to the law of the jungle for the simple reason that they lack the capacity for intelligent articulation of their positions. An aggrieved animal can only express its frustration by attacking the provoker. Therefore, it is grossly odd and odious for those elected primarily to ensure convergence of position through proper articulation of views to descend to attacking each other to establish a point. It is disgustingly unbecoming of lawmakers to appropriate the law of the jungle in settling matters in the hallowed chamber of the National Assembly. Why attempt to win a debate with your fists when you can win with intelligent discourse? Why force your colleague into agreement with you through a scuffle when you can swing him with the superiority of your argument? Resorting to violence as a way of settling dispute is a loud testament of failure to make intelligible submissions that will effortlessly sway others to one’s side.

Those elected into the National Assembly should demonstrate high level of discipline, rein in their emotions even in the face of the most unwarranted attacks because the hallowed chamber is not a place for bo’le ka’ja legislators or retired motor park thugs. It is a place for the cerebral and the suave, not a haven for those who only trust in their brawn and despise their brain. It is a place for those who combine articulation with perspicacity, not a place for blabbers and brawlers who have no understanding of societal expectations of them.

The leadership of the National Assembly should go beyond mere condemnation of the disgraceful conduct of the legislators by ensuring that proper investigation is carried out and appropriate sanctions meted out to those found culpable. Lawlessness among lawmakers is not only unbecoming, it is repugnant.