My people have an old song. The first line goes thus:”The kitchen catches fire and the bedroom is laughing.” The moral of the song is that don’t you ever celebrate your neighbour’s misfortune because you never can tell when you too will be affected. Last Sunday, Nigeria’s western neighbour, Benin’s house was on fire. Not literally. A group of soldiers got the notion to overthrow the government of elected President Patrice Talon. Led by Col. Pascal Tigri, they managed to seize the national TV broadcaster and announced that the government had been overthrown and all “constitutional institutions” abolished. Smart Alex, President Talon,aq at lightning speed, contacted Nigerian President Ahmed Tinubu, requesting for help to save Benin’s 35-year-old democracy.
Presidency spokesman Bayo Onanuga told newsmen Monday that the request for help came in two parts in a Note Verbal. The first asked for immediate air support “in view of the urgency and seriousness of the situation and to safeguard the constitutional order, protect national institutions and ensure the security of the population.” The second was for deployment of “Nigerian Air Force assets” in Benin’s airspace for “surveillance and rapid intervention operations”, to be led by, expectedly, Benin’s military. This second request included dispatching Nigerian ground forces, “strictly for missions approved by the Beninese Command authority.”
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Olufemi Oluyede confirmed the two requests were granted by the Nigerian government and “Nigerian ground forces [are] now in Benin.” He said, “Ours is to comply with the order of the commander in chief of our armed forces.” We aren’t told if the Nigerian troops aaqengaged the coupists in real battle. We learnt only that the coup plotters had been dislodged from their base and President Talon restored in office. Commenting on events in Benin, Nigerian President Tinubu said Sunday, “Today, the Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order in the Republic of Benin on the invitation of the government. Our armed forces acted within the ambit of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. They have helped stabilise a neighbouring country and have made us proud of their commitment to sustaining our democratic values and ideals since 1999. Nigeria stands firmly with the government and people of the Republic of Benin.”
In other words, the living quarters didn’t stand by, laughing while the kitchen was burning. Nigeria took action to put out the Benin fire. For two reasons: stop the insidious incidence of armed takeover from becoming contagious and in our own self enlightened interest. Quench your neighbour’s fire to save your own house. This is the first time Nigeria has had to intervene militarily in another country’s governmental affair. One thing to note though: it was asked in by a troubled government. A sharp contrast to its response to or the lack of it, to events in our northern neighbour Niger two years ago. For failing to act when we should have acted, maybe for a good reason, Niger’s army today is firmly in government and democracy is the loser for it.
Now we’ve ‘intervened’ in Benin. But this isn’t to suggest that all Nigerians are behind their government’s military adventurism. Nobel literature laureate Whole Soyinka is one standout critic. He described the Nigerian decision “reflexive”, that is, not well thought out. According to him, it is an “unnecessary military entanglement next door.” Another critic fears that by its action in Benin, Nigeria has thrown open the door for more powerful nations to intervene in its own internale
politics. Still, some are saying it doesn’t make any sense rushing to quench a small fire in your neighbour’s house when yours is ablaze too. They are referencing Nigeria’s intractable war on organized banditry, kidnapping and terror. But aren’t they missing the point here? In this case, Nigeria is being asked to help protect a neighbour’s airspace from hungry power grapplers in the military; the target and its location are known. It is not a war situation but a one-off matter. Bandits and kidnappers, on the other hand, are unknown and ubiquitous, meaning they are elusive. Eliminate one and another emerges almost immediately to take their place. Theirs isn’t a quest for power but a crime committed for real cash. It is just like any other entrenched crime – one difficult to fight or eliminate totally. It’s like a hydra, remove one tentacle and a new tentacle quickly rises in its place. Unfortunately, killing it isn’t as easy as that. This is what we must understand. Meanwhile, let’s glory in Nigeria’s latest status as defender of democracy, however defined.
