Let me say this upfront — yes, Nyesom Wike was rude. Unnecessarily rude. The man clearly needs a lesson in emotional intelligence and public composure by elected politicians in public.
But let’s also be clear: that’s not the real issue here. The bigger problem — the one we should all be shouting about — is the frightening level of military arrogance now rearing its head in our democracy.
And it’s appalling that many Nigerians, even supposed intellectuals and “elders of the land,” are missing the point entirely.
What Really Happened
A naval officer, claiming to act under “military authority,” deployed armed naval personnel to protect an illegal construction on a piece of land in Abuja. The same land for which he had no documentation or development permit from the FCT authorities.
When Wike’s officials went there to enforce the law and stop the illegal activity, armed military men chased them away. Imagine that — soldiers sent to intimidate civilian officers on a civilian assignment inside the nation’s capital!
When the matter got to Wike, he — in his usual combustible fashion — stormed the site personally to see what was going on. There, he met the naval officer, in full uniform, arrogantly claiming he was acting under military orders and refusing to vacate the land.
Sure, Wike was rude. Sure, he used words unbefitting of a minister. But let’s not lose our sense of order. The naval officer who deployed his men to the site and the officer on the so deployed had no business defying a civilian minister in the course of his lawful duty. None whatsoever.
Land under Wike is NOT military barracks and therefore on civilian lands under him as administrator, Wike’s position outranks that of any military officer
The Real Issue:
Military Overreach, arrogance and disregard for civilian authority
What we are seeing here is not about Wike’s tongue. It is about a soldier in uniform disobeying civilian authority in peacetime —inside the civilian capital of a democratic country.
That’s so wrong in so many levels . We have been so bastardized by the military class that most Nigerians didn’t even know that *military are supposed to be under the command of civilian leaders on matters of governance and administration.
The military have ruled us for so long many of us automatically assume they have more authority than their civilian overseers.
What a shame
If we keep normalizing this madness because we dislike Wike’s attitude or rudeness, then we are saying it’s okay for the military to operate above the civilian law anytime they feel like it.
We cannot claim to love democracy but clap for insubordination in the same breath. You can’t claim to hate dictatorship but praise soldiers for flouting civilian authority.
That’s not patriotism — that’s hypocrisy laced with ignorance.
The Dangerous Ignorance of the Nigerian Public
Some people actually said, “The soldier doesn’t report to Wike.” But Excuse me? That’s like saying my security man doesn’t answer to the head of estate security in my estate, or that a police corporal can ignore a state governor’s lawful directive in a civilian matter just because ‘he does not report directly to him’
We are turning the Nigerian Federation into a jungle of confusion, where everyone reports to whoever they “like,” not who the law says they should.
When did it become acceptable for military personnel to defy a civilian minister performing his lawful duties in a non-military matter? The FCT is not a military barracks. The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is not some random politician — he is the constitutional administrator of Abuja, with lawful oversight over all land and development in the city.
The Slippery Slope We Are Sliding Into
Every time we praise the military for undermining civilian authority, we push Nigeria one inch closer to the dark days of khaki tyranny.
If this had happened in the United States or the UK, that naval officer and the senior officer who deployed him over a civilian land dispute would have both been court-martialed before sunset. Instead, In Nigeria, we’re busy sharing the military officer’s defiant video and calling him “brave.” Brave? For what — disobeying civil authority?
This is why nothing works in our country. We desecrate institutions, disrespect laws, and then complain that “the system is broken.” Well, the system is not broken — we are.
Wike’s Rudeness Is Not the Real Crime. The real crime is our military’s arrogance and disrespect for civilian authority
Yes, Wike should have been more civil. But let’s not confuse bad manners with bad governance. One is a matter of personality; the other is a matter of national survival.
Wike can be condemned for his rudeness — but the soldier and the officer who sent him should both be disciplined for insubordination and abuse of the nigerian military uniform. Because the moment a military man can stand toe-to-toe with a civilian minister and say, “I don’t report to you,” we have effectively buried civilian supremacy under uniform camouflage.
And that, my people, is how democracies die — not with coups, but with small acts of military defiance that the public cheers on.
My own bottom line postion on this shameful incident for the nation
Nigeria’s real sickness is not just pervasive corruption. It is also our selective morality. We support the rule of law when it suits our emotions, and we discard it when it doesn’t.
So, no — I won’t join the chorus of those hailing that naval officer as a hero. He is not. He is a symptom of a dangerous disease — the creeping militarization of civilian space.
Wike may have lost his temper, but at least he stood up for civilian authority in a republic that’s fast forgetting what that means.
And on that score, ladies and gentlemen, Wike was right.
My name is Ope Banwo and that’s how I see it
