By V. C. Mba, Esq.
Professors Kperogi and Eghagha are some of the most engaging essayists one may ever encounter; both writers would immediately arrest you with their opening paragraphs, and hold you spellbound until the last sentence — grandmasters of the art of writing and excellent polemicists.
Characteristically, their pieces on Ms Kemi Badenoch’s put-down of the Vice President of Nigeria, the country of her birth, did not disappoint, except that none of the excellent essayists and polemicists either has made any attempt to deny the veracity of Ms Kemi Badenoch’s claims, or (where, that is if, there has been any such attempt at all) has failed in disputing any of Kemi Badenoch’s said claims. Their only complaint was that yes, we all know that Nigeria is in a deep mess, but Kemi Badenoch shouldn’t have said so in the market square or (to use Prof Eghagha’s words) should not have pointed a left finger at her roots! And I ask, but why not?
Yes, distinguished Prof Eghagha has copiously cited some undeniably egregious evil immanents in Kemi Badenoch’s newfound country, but has failed to recognize the fact that the various Commissions of Inquiries in that country at least had objectively, independently, dispassionately and empirically carried out their briefs, and had come to a verifiable conclusion on the issue of whether or not the British system was racist — concluding that ‘black and minority ethnic individuals were more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested and imprisoned than their white counterparts’.
Respected Professors Kperogi and Eghagha, while uncharacteristically missing the point — on the incontrovertible and yet-to-be-cncontroverted veracity of Ms Kemi’s allegations against egregious institutional failures in Nigeria — have each gone on a wild-goose-chase regaling themselves with obvious non sequiturs. Example, while positing, albeit without any verifiable and plausible evidence, that the North of Nigeria is the progenitor of the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria (according to respected Professor Kperogi) and or that Ms Kemi Badenoch had pointed at her father’s homestead with the left hand (according to Prof Eghagha), both authors have annoyingly failed to say any word to contradict or discredit the veracity of Ms Badenoch’s seemingly unassailable delivery. Does this not mean that Kemi was right?
Notwithstanding Prof Eghagha’s unsuccessful attempt to discredit the UK, it is important to assert that, at least, the institutional framework of the United Kingdom was able to conclude that ‘black and minority ethnic individuals were more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested, and imprisoned than their white counterparts’, unlike their Nigerian counterparts which have consistently and unfortunately proven incapable of any such depth or objectiveness in their investigations, and this is integral to the immanent evils Kemi Badenoch riles against.
In my respectful opinion, Ms Badenoch is right on much of her claims or at least on the frightening apocalyptic insecurity in Northern Nigeria; she’s unimpeachable notwithstanding that the mob and their apologists perhaps feel that Kemi Badenoch shouldn’t have exposed in the open, the depth of decadence in Nigeria, and, again, I ask why not?
With due respect, it’s disgusting that the two distinguished Professors, Kperogi and Eghagha, like some citizens with a voice are calling for Ms Badenoch’s head on a platter, not because of what she said, but unfortunately on account of how, or the forum, she said it! As a piece of counsel to each of Prof Farooq and Prof Eghagha, the very first steps towards self-redemption is the ability to tell oneself the truth.
As bitter as it may be, Kemi Badenoch has told us the truth about ourselves. A reasonable bystander would have thought that instead of all this hypocritical righteous indignation, and our usual play-to-the-gallery, we should rather use the opportunity afforded by Ms Badenoch’s apposite reprimand, to ask ourselves some ontological questions with a view to finding lasting solutions to our problems?
V.C Mba, Esq
(23 December 2024)
