SP Daniel Amah and ‘the danger of a single story’

BY ZAYD IBN ISAH

“Remember, there are always two sides to every story. Understanding is a three-edged sword. Your side, their side and the truth in the middle. Get all the facts before you jump into conclusion’’- Michael

Nigerian-American writer, Chimammanda Ngozi Adichie in her thought-provoking and awe-inspiring TedTalk, ‘’The Danger of a Single Story’’ in July 2009, tells a succinct story about her childhood and her journey to the United States of America. She examined the destructive effect that a ‘’single story’’ can have and singled out the root and immediate cause of these one-sided stories.

The multiple-award winning writer contends that single stories often emanate from false impression or one’s lack of knowledge of others, but that these stories are no doubt, born out of the nefarious intention to subdue a group of people due to bias to make them feel inferior. People, mainly in their infancy and teens, are in her words, ‘’impressionable and vulnerable’’ when it comes to single stories.

Adichie affirmed that mass media and literature available to the public only focus on one-sided stories which makes people to have the false impression about groups of people.

She suffered the stereotype when she first moved to the United States of America. Her American roommate was surprised that she speaks English Language fluently and wondered where she learned how to speak English Language from. She had no choice but to remind her roommate that English is her country’s official language and they were colonized by the British.

Her college roommate in her words, had a ‘’default position’’ of ‘’well-meaning pity’’ towards her as a result of the illusion that everyone from Africa comes from a poor, struggling background. Poverty is the only single story her roommate and others of her ilk have about Africa.

Adichie did not exonerate herself from the single-story epidemic. She did not deny the fact that, herself was at a time, also guilty of the crime of believing in one-sided stories. Until she travelled to Mexico to see things for herself, she has always believed that Mexicans are synonymous with immigration, as a result of the wide media coverage on Mexicans running away from their country to seek greener pastures in America and other neighboring countries. But, her perception of Mexicans as immigrants changed after she visited the country. This shows that, single stories are formed as a result of incomplete information, and the lesson to be learned from her experience in Mexico is that, we should always seek to hear and see the other side of the story, and we should not form opinions about groups of people based on the single story we hear about them.

Every story has two sides. That is why ‘’fair hearing’’ is one of the fundamental legal principles in our justice system. It is in the interest of justice for Judges at the temple of justice to hear the both side of the stories in cases before them to give judgements. There is also room for appeals to superior courts if parties are not satisfied with the judgement…

If there is any government institution in Nigeria that has suffered stereotypes as a result of single stories of bribery and corruption, it is the Nigeria Police Force. Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that created the Nigeria Police Force empowered it to protect lives and property of the citizens and non-citizens of Nigeria living in Nigeria. As the lead internal security agency in the country, the Force have been under severe scrutiny and criticisms from the general public as a result of the unprofessional conducts of the bad eggs in the system. Unfortunately, the media and the general public focus more on the negative than the positive side of the Nigeria Police Force. As a result, the single-story Nigerians have about their Police Officers is bribery and corruption. An average Nigerian is told from childhood to see his or her country’s Police Force as a corrupt entity and its personnel as corrupt, illiterate and inept individuals that should never be entrusted with their lives and property.

A typical Nigerian is armed with the false notion that, every Nigerian Police Officer is corruption personified. There are some who believe that, a Police Officer in Nigeria will not make heaven. And that, there is a special place in hell-fire for Officers and Men of the Force whose duties are to fight crimes and criminality. Some Nigerians would tell you; ‘’they would prefer to meet kidnappers and armed robbers on the road than Police Officers’’. But these same people will express fear whenever they embark on a long-distance journey on Nigerian roads and they did not see a single Police patrol vehicle.

Some arm-chair analysts have proffered several solutions to stop bribery and corruption in Nigeria Police Force. One of the solutions is that, the black and black uniform should be replaced with any other colour. To them, the black uniform is one of the root and immediate causes of bribery and corruption in the Force and not the mindset of the individual wearing the uniform. That the corruption in the Force will be a thing of the past if the black uniform is jettisoned. Those advocating for the Police complete black uniform to be abandoned are guilty of racism. It is a typical case of black discriminating against his or her colour. Whenever I see Nigerians post their pictures on social media with the caption, ‘Black is beautiful’, I am always skeptical about their love for their colour. I will continue to take their black is beautiful and black is gold captions with their photos on social media with a pinch of salt until they stop buying bleaching creams to bleach their skins to look red like the oyinbos. And until they stop hating their compatriots in the Police Force not because of the unprofessional conducts of the bad eggs among them, but because of the complete black uniform, my disposition towards them will remain the same.

Some have advocated for a total overhaul of the Police Force. These ones have gone as far as recommending to Mr. President that, all the Police personnel from the least to the highest rank should be relieved of their constitutionally mandated duties of protecting lives and properties, maintaining law and order and other duties as stipulated in the Constitution and the Police Act. Imagine if Mr. President pander to the demand of these individuals who are mainly young Nigerians in their early twenties, where will he replace the sacked ones from? Is he going to recruit new Police Officers from Europe, America and Asian countries or he will recruit new ones from the Nigerian society where the sacked ones came from?

To say there is no bribery and corruption in the Nigeria Police Force is to deny the obvious. But the public perception that bribery and corruption are peculiar to the Nigeria Police Force is not true. There is no single public and private sector in Nigeria that is free from these twin evils. In fact, the Nigerian society aids and abets bribery and corruption. We glorify ill-gotten wealth. Our propensity to beg and offer bribe to law enforcement agents whenever we commit offence is one of the reasons why we are where we are. The bribe giver is as guilty as the bribe taker.

It is trite that, Nigerians want a bribery and corruption-free Police Force. A Police Force in the mould of America, Dubai and London Metropolitan Police. A Police Force that is responsive and proactive. And they are impatient in their demand for a Police Force that work for us all. Nigerians’ dream of a responsive and proactive Police Force will be achievable if the ongoing reform is sustained. It is achievable if we focus on the positive as much as we focus on the negative side of the Nigeria Police personnel. It is feasible if we are ready to allow the law to take its course whenever we run foul of the law instead of begging and bribing our way out of justice.

There are lots of exceptional Police Officers who have been carrying out their duties with all good intent and purposes. They are contented with the monthly salary government pays them with tax payers’ money to perform their sacred responsibilities of safeguarding lives and property. One of them is SP Daniel Amah.

Daniel Amah is the remarkable Divisional Police Officer in Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State who turned down a bribe offer of two hundred thousand dollars from armed robbery suspects to be let off the hook after stealing over three hundred million naira in a robbery operation. Nigerians have express shock as they always do whenever a Nigerian Police Officer rejects bribe even as low or high, depending on perception, as the amount of money SP Daniel rejected. ‘’There are still a handful of honest police officers in the system’’, they would say. Of course, there will be honest police officers in the Nigeria Police Force as far as there are still honest Nigerians in Nigeria. The Police Officers are first Nigerians, before they joined the country’s Police to protect lives and property. Wearing the black and black uniform or the blue and black uniform does not make them Nigeriens.

When news like this breaks, there would be doubting Thomases. It is normal to have mix-feelings and even doubt the authenticity of the news in a country where fake news purveyors are on the prowl. But there are some Nigerians that will never see anything good or don’t want to see anything positive about the country’s Police Force and the country itself. These ones will always hold on stubbornly to their mantra of “all Police Officers are corrupt”. They believe it is very easy for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a Police Officer to turn down a bribe offer of fifty naira, let alone two hundred thousand dollars.

SP Daniel Amah should be commended for his honesty. Even some of those that have foreclosed the possibility of a Police Officer ever rejecting bribe of fifty naira will not resist the temptation of collecting two hundred thousand dollars to commit mass murder and make the country ungovernable.

If there is anything SP Daniel Amah’s rare act of bravery and honesty should first achieve, it should put paid to single stories of bribery and corruption in the Nigeria Police Force.

This is not the first time a Police Officer would be in the news for turning down money offer to let criminals off the hook or to allow crimes and criminality fester. Before SP Daniel Amah, there was ACP Francis Irabor who rejected bribes of over seven hundred million naira in his over twenty years in service. He was one of the five ‘icons’ awarded at the 2020 Integrity Icon Award Summit in Abuja by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. The summit was organized by Accountability Lab in partnership with Luminate, MacArthur and Ford Foundation “to identify and celebrate Nigeria’s most honest government officials’’.

They are indeed, honest and incorruptible Police Officers like ACP Francis and SP Daniel serving in various commands and Formations across the country. It’s just a matter of time before they are known and rewarded like ACP Francis and SP Amah because a typical Nigerian is ready to give bribe to either gain unmerited favor or to escape justice.

IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, fdc, in his stick and carrot approach towards sanitizing the Police Force has done well by commending and rewarding the Officer with the prestigious IGP’s commendation award for his courage and truthfulness. Getting the Integrity Icon Award from Mr. President like ACP Francis Irabor will be the icing on the cake for him.

The country needs of SP Daniel Amah for a safe, secure and prosperous Nigeria of our dreams. The young Officer has written his name on the eternal sands of time and posterity will judge him kindly. With this, I should be able to tell my unborn children that honesty pays and good name is truly better than riches.

Join me as I say three gbosas to SP Daniel Amah. Gbosa! Gbosa! Gbosa!!!

Isah writes from Abuja. He can be reached via: [email protected]