Nigerian politician Alex Ikwechegh sparked outrage after he was filmed slapping and insulting a taxi driver who was delivering meals to his house.
“Are you aware who I’m? … I could make you disappear throughout the nation and nothing will occur,” Ikwechege stated within the viral video.
The altercation apparently began after the driving force requested Ikwechegh to go outdoors to get meals as a substitute of letting him carry it inside.
Shocked Nigerians shared the video broadly, forcing Ikwechege, a member of the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who represents the southeastern city of Aba within the Home of Representatives, to difficulty a proper apology – a stark distinction to his smug angle .
Sadly, it’s common in Nigeria for officers and different “massive photographs” to make use of their energy to intimidate abnormal residents with the acquainted phrase “Are you aware who I’m?” – Remind them of their perceived untouchable standing.
Politicians, together with many members of Congress, additionally usually journey in massive convoys with police escorts and blaring sirens to intimidate the general public.
Their convoys have precedence over regular visitors, and safety officers generally react aggressively to anybody who would not give approach to them.
However the newest case is especially disappointing as a result of Ikwechekh, 42, is a part of a youthful technology of politicians.
Just a few years in the past, civil society teams launched the “Not Too Younger to Run” marketing campaign to encourage extra younger individuals to take part in Nigerian politics.
With 70% of the nation’s inhabitants beneath the age of 35, the initiative goals to decrease the age restrict for working for workplace in order that younger Nigerians can carry new concepts and new types of management.
It succeeded in 2018, decreasing the minimal age requirement for numerous positions and rising the variety of younger candidates from 6% to 27% in only one yr.
The age for working for the Home of Representatives (the decrease home of parliament) was lowered from 30 to 25, for the Senate and governorships from 35 to 30, and for the presidency from 40 to 30.
With the typical age in Nigeria being simply 18, many need youthful leaders to interrupt outdated patterns of oppression and entitlement.
However Ikwechege’s habits demonstrates a few of the outdated behaviors that many younger Nigerians want to go away behind.
Sadly, his case just isn’t distinctive. Two years in the past, Nigeria’s youngest senator on the time, Elisha Abbo, 41, was filmed slapping a store assistant after she accused her of “insulting” him.
He threatened to arrest her and even known as a police officer to take action.
The incident was captured on CCTV and finally led to an apology from Abo, who not serves as a senator after dropping final yr’s election. However this exposes how deeply entrenched this tradition of abuse is.
This all leaves many Nigerians questioning whether or not younger leaders are falling into the identical traps as older generations.
This example jogs my memory of my boarding faculty days, the place upperclassmen usually bullied youthful college students.
As juniors, my classmates and I might speak eagerly about what we might do as soon as it was our flip as seniors, imagining the punishment we might inflict on these youthful than us.
It felt like an entitlement, one thing to look ahead to—a bit consolation within the hardships of being a junior—that sooner or later we might be those with the ability, not the recipients.
However as we entered senior yr and the college issued new guidelines towards bullying, we felt robbed.
We have now been ready for our flip and now our rights are being taken away from us. The college is insisting on imposing the brand new guidelines, though many seniors are nonetheless discovering methods to bypass them.
It appears like this cycle is taking part in out throughout the nation.
When a 42-year-old politician who’s lively on social media can slap a taxi driver thrice on digital camera with out hesitation, it forces us to wonder if the youthful technology of politicians is solely ready to inherit relatively than break the cycle of privilege , whether or not they actually desire a contemporary begin or are simply ready their flip to train energy with none restrictions.
Nigeria’s Home of Representatives has referred Ikwechege to the Ethics and Privileges Committee after he was accused of bringing the home into disrepute.
He was additionally arraigned on fees of “threats, assault and abuse of public workplace”.
His actions are a sobering reminder that rights and impunity might be so ingrained in Nigerian tradition that generational change alone can not repair them.
Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani is a Nigerian journalist and novelist primarily based in Abuja and London.
