by Abimbola Adelakun

Pope Francis has demonstrated that even the church authorities can practise what it preaches and that, in itself, makes his promise about reparations and future accountability quite credible.

Recently, Pope Francis met six victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clerics and asked for their forgiveness. He also told the church to “weep and make reparation” for the crimes committed by the men of the cloth and which over the years, has had devastating impact on the church and on the faith.

Pope Francis’ action is not unprecedented and who knows, this would probably not be the last time a Pope will apologise for the sins of the men of God. As long as church institutions are manned by mortals, it is delusional to imagine acts of evil will give way for eternal good.

While there are sneers in some quarters that the Pope’s actions are mere PR stunts, it is important to consider that the outward show of remorse he exhibited is deeply symbolic and a critical step towards the all-important climax of resolution, reconciliation and restoration of faith in the church institution.

Previously, some Cardinals have tried to soften the issue of abuses and their debilitating image on the church by pointing out that the church does a lot of good and they are more than a collection of paedophilic priests who violate kids for the sheer fun of it.

The point of the outrage, however, is not so much about the number of priests who engage in sexual abuses but the desecration of an institution that derives its ethos from its foundations on divinely commanded values. When the world yells about abusive priests, it is not because it thinks every priest is an abuser but because as even Jesus Christ points out, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Pope Francis has demonstrated that even the church authorities can practise what it preaches and that, in itself, makes his promise about reparations and future accountability quite credible.

That is why I suggest that both Lagos State and the Nigerian Army need to borrow, not just a leaf, but a whole branch from the Pope to resolve the mayhem that occurred on Friday. Our social dramas tend to peak at points of conflicts, crises and tensions but they often lack worthwhile resolutions. That is why, as Nigerians, we walk around with a multitude of unresolved tensions on our bodies and we act accordingly.

Up till now, both sides involved in the issue are on the defensive and as things go in Nigeria, that might be as far as it goes. There is unlikely to be a proper resolution of the conflict and when another incident occurs, this will be a reference point as an unsolved occurrence and no more.

What really happened on Friday, July 4 on Ikorodu Road, Lagos? There are conflicting accounts by each party involved. The Lagos State Government officials have stated two: That the soldier was killed by a reckless BRT bus driver and/or that the driver ran into a stationary bus. The second sounds rather too fictitious to be true. How does a motorcyclist run into a stationary vehicle in broad daylight and gets killed in the process?

The Army blamed “area boys” for the burning of the BRT buses saying they were the ones who took advantage of the situation to cause mayhem. The soldiers were there, the Army spokesperson said, to “restore normalcy” even though up till now, they have yet to present a single “area boy” they apprehended at the scene and handed over to the Police. Their position was rather too quickly supported by the Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, who claimed he had been fully briefed by the Chief of Army Staff that the hoodlums at the scene carried out the attack.

Obanikoro’s lack of objectivity and curiosity is bothersome: Why stop at asking only from one side if he is genuinely interested in knowing the truth? What does it cost him to expend some effort and find out what truly transpired on Friday? Even if the Chief of Army Staff were a man who tells the truth all of the time, does he not have a strong motivation to distort facts in this case? Otherwise, how does he account for the irresponsible action of men under his watch who literally staged a coup on the public?

By the way, is the Army pretending that this is the first time their men would be accused of vandalising civil society to avenge an assault on one of their own? How many times in the past has it not happened that a soldier would experience some harassment on the street and he would rush to the barracks to bring his colleagues to wreak vengeance on the public? How many more times will it happen before the Army learns that we live in a different world and we all should conform to certain behavioural standards?

For men who have been trained to kill, or who have built higher physical strength than others, to jump on the street now and then to punish people of incompatible strength is sheer bullying and an act of cowardice. I think it is time the relevant authorities reoriented Nigerian soldiers that nothing banalises power more than having to use it; that restraint, humility and submissiveness are far more an act of strength. The conduct of the soldiers in an urban area like Lagos and before the public glare makes you wonder what these soldiers do (or do not do) when they are fighting terrorists in remote and rural areas of Borno State where there are no iPads or smartphones immediately available to record their excesses. The attempt at cover-up by Army authorities makes you wonder what else their men do and they overlook in the conduct of their operations.

So far, neither Lagos State nor the Army appears ready to yield its side. Both are protecting their turf (and their men) and this drama might just naturally fizzle out. All the lessons we could have learnt from this – from training soldiers to be more responsible to the pursuit of justice for the dead soldier to instituting safety practices that will make BRT bus drivers more cautious – will perhaps have to wait for another day. It would have been very significant if a public show of remorse and resolution had been carried out by both Lagos State and the Nigerian Army as a way of maintaining public faith in our institutions.

 

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