It’s not an easy role. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown but it would appear that some heads of state delight in having uneasy heads which is why like the octogenarian head of State in Guinea they would rather die in harness.
That said, on the home front we are being plagued with lawlessness to the chagrin of patriots. It is not for nothing that some citizens are sick of lawlessness all almost prefer military governance to democratic rule. Do you blame them? One does not expect the Speaker of Parliament leaving his chambers to be shouting ‘’Order Order ‘’ in the media. The military background of Brigadier (rtd) Julius Maada Bio sent some shivers into the spines of some citizens that they were in for a rule by a martinet. The laws and regulations are all there waiting to be activated without the President drinking any Energy Drink. Citizens would recall when as part of the nostalgic NPRC even our sports especially football , was given a shot in the arm. Earlier, there was the National Reformation Council led by Brigadier Juxon Smith that brought the whole state to attention. Even Alfred Akibo Betts as Mayor of Freetown instilled discipline into street traders and traffic violators such as has not been seen since his exit from office.
Obviously President Bio would loathe leaving office after his first term owing to the syndrome of sticking to power. His flatterers would not tell him the truth to his face for fear of losing their sinecures. He wouldn’t like to admit failure like Joseph Saidu Momoh who was also a former military leader. Are we about to witness history repeating itself?
It looks like President Bio has been biting much more than he can chew. More haste, less speed. All his election promises cannot be achieved in one fell swoop. He has been trying to fight three wars while in Nigeria there was a war against indiscipline, a single war that has not been satisfactorily won. He does not seem to believe in the maxim that one thing at a time and that’s done well.
In spite of the pretence of the APC to throttle indiscipline by setting up a redundant jobs for the boys and girls body code–named an Attitudinal and Behavioral Change Secretariat (ABC) violence and lawlessness increased instead of decreasing. They seemed to have added fuel to the fire of lawlessness which President Bio should now douse with his military background.
The recent football episode proved beyond all reasonable doubt that nobody seemed to be in control. It was inconceivable under a government led by an ex-solider. It rendered the Police or MAC-P as incompetent and inefficient. The Police should have pre-emptively policed the known routes out of the field. Thier fire-brigade reaction is damnable. Everyone to whom much is given much is expected. President Bio should pull up his socks if he has any.