Retired labour leader and active politician, Adams Oshiomhole took his parliamentary immunity for a ride the other day. Speaking on the floor of the Red Chamber, the former governor of Edo State, former chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and now a very distinguished senator said retired military officer were behind illegal mining in the country.

Those are strong accusations which if an ordinary citizen had made would have led to a police invite. These days, breathing heavily is considered a crime under the ubiquitous cybercrime law. It is the latest weapon against critics and anyone asking for good governance, probity and integrity.

When the police initially declared political activist, Omoyele Sowore wanted, it was over his decision to challenge the distortion of the free flow of traffic on the road leading to the nation’s busiest airport – the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos. Sowore, in a video now going viral had described the checkpoints as extortion points and ordered his driver not to obey the order to stop.

It is a curious scenario known to most Nigerians. The police mount extortion roadblocks while criminals operate in open defiance. First, the police declared Sowore wanted, allegedly without making any effort to look for him. Sowore answered them by saying that his address is known to the security forces. He would later surrender himself to be arrested. By the time Sowore agreed to bail conditions, the initial charge had metamorphosed into cybercrime.

Perhaps one should clarify that apart from challenging what the late Isiaka Ajimobi would call constituted authority, Sowore had come short of calling the nation’s highest law officer impostor. That argument is premised on the fact that Inspector-General Kayode Egbetokun is overstaying his constitutional term in office. Sowore, having stayed in America now ruled via presidential decrees, ought to know that Nigeria copies everything wrong from the Americans.

Mr Egbetokun’s enemies had expected him to drop his sanda the moment he reached the mandatory 60 years of age or 35 years in service. Like all players in the system, Egbetokun had his own joker. He watched most of his predecessors use the same joker to stay on after they were supposed to have retired and would probably have felt cheated if he was bumped out of office just because of some legal shenanigans. In a deft move by which the ruling class always expedite laws that favour them, the National Assembly rubber stamped an act amending the law to help Egbetokun remain in office for four more years. That means, Mr. Egbetokun now has legal authority to remain IGP until he is 70 or has served Nigeria for 40 years.

Only a man like Sowore, who either is not privileged or qualified enough to serve the president, will not know that President Tinubu rewards loyalty in ways that might not be morally expedient. Tinubu is perhaps contented with having Egbetokun, who served as his Chief Security Officer at the head of the police for the duration of his term in office, rather than appointing a new IG whose loyalty might be questionable. Somebody should point Sowore to Jeffrey Pfeffer’s 7 Rules of Power.

Back to events at the Red Chamber, it is imperative to state that when Oshiomhole said that illegal miners are retired generals and that ‘we know them’, he was not speaking for most Nigerians. Most of us would dare not claim to know the unpatriotic elements appropriating common patrimony for personal gains. If we had, we would have made Sowore president to rid the nation of impunity without running afoul of the Cybercrime Act.

This is why, on behalf of Nigerians who are unaware of this privileged information, we implore Comrade Oshiomhole to go broke on his information. With his privilege and the letter, he sent to President Buhari, we urge him to spill the beans. We want to know the generals using their military privileges to rob Nigerians. We might be powerless against such buccaneers, but at least whenever we see them in their starched babar riga and brand-new cars, we can certify ourselves that they did not get those privileges from serving the nation. In other words, even though for fear of running foul of the Cybercrime Act, we may not be able to say it to their faces, we would have it in our hearts that they are – economic saboteurs.

As he rightly posited, illegal mining is not just a criminal act; it is an act of economic sabotage in this era of economic tariffs. Exposing crime and criminals is the civic duty of all Nigerians but more especially of privileged Nigerians like Oshiomhole.

As they say, the price of security is eternal vigilance. Security agents always encourage us to say something if we see something. Oshiomhole must hand over every detail of his investigation to help law enforcement agents apprehend the criminal generals that he described on the floor of the Senate. We have said times without number that the duty of those in government is not to cry more than the rest of us, but to help security agencies in making our lives and our economy safer. Parliamentarians should not hide under qualified privilege to make assertions they might be unable to prove. The maxim is – onus probandi actori incumbit.

Obasa, the fall of an Iroko

For 10 years, Mudasiru Ajayi Obasa, ruled the world of legislation in Lagos State. The 52-year-old law graduate has been representing his Agege Constituency I since 2007 after a stint as local government chairman. Since then, he has won every election and headed the state house of assembly for 10 uninterrupted years.

Five years ago, his political career appeared to have ended when he was accused of corruption. He was allegedly interrogated by the EFCC but caught investigation flu and had to be released on bail. Reunited with his passport, he went on spiritual cleansing in Makkah where he allegedly parleyed with his mentor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He returned home with renewed hope and back as Speaker.

Three weeks ago, on holiday abroad, Obasa would learn that he had been impeached. He dismissed it as fake news, then huffed and puffed when told that Mojisola Miranda, his deputy had played Brutus on him.

He has since returned home as an honourable floor member without actualising the threats he allegedly made. As for the allegations of corruption leveled against him in 2020 and the ones that led to his removal, they are now on the KIV folder until he breaks the Three Wise Monkey rule. Until then, the Oshiomhole rule – come to APC and your sins are forgiven – applies to him. He must not forget that while Tinubu rewards loyalty, he also punishes betrayal. For now, Obasa the Iroko has fallen.