It is all about white this weekend. White, remember, is that emblem of purity. We began by waiting so enthusiastically for a White Paper. Meanwhile, from the disposition and utterances of some of the people that matter, the report from which the white paper would be written is to be discarded as a white elephant. Then, from the outlook of millions of incredulous Nigerians, the entire process that culminated in the white elephant and the white paper therefrom, is a whited sepulchre. Aren’t we such a denigrating nation? We have brought white, that ancient symbol of innocence and purity to so much disrepute. We have ruined the essence and innocence of ‘white’ in just one swipe.
The youths of the country organised series of protests anchored in the nation’s commercial capital, Lagos. They were demanding an end to police brutality across the country, especially killings and extortion by the police’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The angry but coordinated youths code-named their protests #EndSARS. The protests gained so much ascendancy that the government at the state and federal levels reacted as it concerned them. President Muhammadu Buhari announced the immediate disbandment of SARS but the protests continued. Then, the protests were infiltrated and were hijacked by louts in most of the states and in Abuja. However, this infiltration and confusion could not be achieved at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lekki, Lagos. On October 20, 2020 soldiers were drafted to disperse the protesters at Lekki. Before the operation by the soldiers, lights were turned off at the Lekki Toll Gate where the protesters gathered. Who called in the soldiers? Who gave the order? How did the soldiers disperse the protesters? Were people killed? Were people hurt? Who removed the lights and surveillance cameras at the Toll Plaza? Where is that camera dramatically found by Babatunde Raji Fashola at Lekki Toll Gate?
Before the incident of October, 20, 2020, the Lagos State government had set up Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters otherwise referred to as End SARS Panel. The summary of the terms of reference given to the panel says it was to “ensure speedy inquiry/restitution on SARS activities and extra-judicial killings of innocent citizens by the dissolved SARS with a view to delivering justice for the victims as well as compensate their families/dependants.” The panel headed by a retired judge of the Lagos State high court, Justice Doris Okuwobi, made its report public and included in it what it said were evidences it got from Lekki. Then, we went white and colourless’ in our hysteria to discredit the report by the panel.
Alhjai Lai Mohammed, Mr. Femi Adesina and Mr. Festus Keyamo all spoke on the panel’s report. Only Adesina sounded like he understood that humans and indeed fellow Nigerian citizens were the subject of the panel and its report. Lai and Keyamo dismissed the panel and everything it did and were in tandem in their conviction that it was a white elephant. The duo of Keyamo and Lai in their imprudence, and indeed lack of respect for the sensibilities of others, took the matter to some ridiculous levels. Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) even described the panel set up by a state government as “illegal”! They simply told the world that the Lagos State government had just wasted tax payers’ money on the panel since its report was completely against the expectation of the government of the day. The report didn’t rub the back of the government, therefore it is a white elephant.
Femi Adesina was more discretionary in his opinion of the panel and its report. He said we should wait for the government white paper from the panel’s report. And that is fair and reasonable enough from a man who is not known to be so in recent times. Over the years Brother Femi has been acerbic in his opinion of those who don’t see his principal as he sees him. When issues are about the activities of President Buhari or his government which he speaks for, Femi Adesina goes all out in his mordancy. So, we waited for the white paper. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State also acted with a lot of caution in his address preceding the release of the white paper. He is governing a hugely strategic state and sees the people as people. And his lone roam in a wild infested by wily foxes and howling wolf in noted.
By the way, there is nothing much to the term “white paper”. In time past, governments classified their documents in colours to indicate their uses and distribution. The documents coded as ‘white’ were those designated as accessible to the public for their use. This brought about the term ‘white paper’. Nowadays, white paper is defined as “a government report that gives information about something and explains government plans before a new law is introduced.”
But like Governor Sanwo-Olu noted, there is not an iota of trust in the government by the citizenry. This is not a new development but it is more pronounced today than before. Sanwo-Olu said “I received the charter of demands of the protesters and promised to pass them on to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari. I kept my word and passed on the demands to the President, who promised to act promptly on the issues raised. However, perhaps as a result of entrenched lack of trust between the government and the governed over the years, the protesters responded to the government’s concessions with skepticism, and the demonstrations continued, even growing in intensity. Regrettably, what had been very well organized and peaceful protests were subsequently hijacked in different parts of the country, particularly in Lagos.”
Thus white sepulchre makes sense for there are reasons for the people’s lack of trust in the government. Before the release of the white paper, millions had long classified the entire EndSARS thing, including the probes, Lekki and the reports and white paper as sepulchre. They believe that all the posturing by the government, both Lagos and federal, is simply hypocrisy! Most things emanating from government in Nigeria are like that. They are tainted by pride, tribe, gibe, ego, corruption and gross incompetence. Things usually begin with so much hope, proficiency and integrity here. Then they observably pale into Nigeria and their slow, obvious death. The shenanigans are often securely hidden thereby leaving the people to argue what the real situation is. Like Edgar Allan Poe said in his poem “Annabel Lee”, the actual situation is “shut up in a sepulchre.”
Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:27 described what a “Whited sepulchre” is.
“Whited sepulchre” was among those things I loved hearing Mr. Odoemelam, one of our primary school teachers in Awomukwu Central School, Ikwuano mention in those days. I didn’t know what it meant but I loved the sound of it. Those days, I thought all we were reading from the bible did not happen on, or were about the earth. I passed my examinations but I didn’t know what they were all about. My lack of knowledge of what White Paper is ranks in the same category. It sounded alien and meaningless. Are most papers not white? Of course what we had as school books were mostly white and that was what I was familiar with. But, we get wiser as we grow except for issues in Nigeria.
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