ABOUT two weeks ago, Nigeria lost one of its finest police officers who rose to the peak of its Police Force. Solomon Arase died at a relatively young age for an elite. With improved nutrition, general welfare, and medical health services, 69 is a youthful age for Nigeria’s elite class.
The well-educated Arase earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University. He went on to get a Law degree from the University of Benin and a master’s degree from the University of Lagos. He also holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies and was a Fellow of the Nigerian Defence College.
He joined the Nigerian Police Force in 1981 and rose to become the 18th Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in April 2015. During his tenure, he introduced several key reforms, notably the formation of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to tackle high-profile crimes. He was an Assistant Inspector General of Police overseeing Intelligence.
With his confirmation as the substantive IGP in May, he vowed to dismantle checkpoints and prioritise officer welfare. He was one man embarrassed by the negative image checkpoints had brought on the force. He was friendly, open, and jovial, making discussions with him enjoyable. In one such discussion, with a glint of humour in his eyes, he narrated how police officers on checkpoint duty confronted him whenever he went cruising the streets of Abuja alone.
“They will stop me, push their heads into my car and say, ‘Oga Yellow, see your boys oh!’”
May Solomon Arase’s soul rest in peace.
While we pray for peace for our dead, how do we work for peace for our living, in a world that is spiralling daily into a place where might is right? There are nations, just as we have individuals, that live by bullying other nations into submission. They have as a principle: “Peace through strength,” which necessitates imposing their will on people and other countries through the show of brute force.
We can see that in the American style, for instance. In the last 50 years, the US has invaded at least 50 countries, and at least 70 since its inception in 1776.
America was one of two superpowers in the Cold War era, becoming the only one in a unipolar world after the Glasnost and Perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev shattered the USSR.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in the mid-1980s, introduced reform policies, Glasnost and Perestroika, to address the stagnation and inefficiency of the Union.
Glasnost (openness) increased government transparency, reduced censorship, and expanded freedom of expression.
Perestroika (restructuring) was aimed at reforming the Soviet economy and political system, incorporating elements of free-market economics and more democratic practices. Intended to strengthen communism, these policies ultimately led to widespread social discontent, exposed the flaws of the Soviet system, and contributed to its eventual collapse.
That collapse cleared the coast for America to assume the toga of the “world’s policeman.” But it has not been a fair arbiter. It bullies the weak, browbeats those who seek independence, and rewards those leaders who pander to its whims and caprices to the detriment of their people, yet it does not guarantee their security.
One of America’s weaknesses is its relationship with Israel, a nation it favours over all others. In the past four months alone, the country, Israel, with active diplomatic, economic and military support from the US, apart from its daily onslaughts on Gaza, has attacked no fewer than seven countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, Iran, Yemen and the Palestinian territories, with the latest being Qatar. It targeted the Fleet of Steadfastness, the aid flotilla, docked at a Tunisian port, more than 3,000 kilometres from Gaza, with a drone.
Israel, with the strong backing of America, has attacked every country it wanted to with the excuse of self-defence. However, what turns that excuse on its head is its attack on Syria. Syria’s Julani, an ISIS figure supposedly in America’s bad books, is not antagonistic to Israel.
Of course, in 2018, the US declared the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group a “terrorist” organisation and declared its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Julani, who was with al-Qaeda, wanted, announcing a reward of $10m for his arrest. Yet this did not stop the US from funding him to topple President Bashar al-Assad and thereafter dropping the reward for his arrest and engaging him in “diplomatic” talks.
Since Julani became Syria’s president, he has done all he could to prove to America and Israel that he is their good boy. Yet, Israel did attack Syria multiple times. Tunisia has never clashed with Israel, yet it breached its sovereignty and territorial integrity to attack the civilian, multinational fleet carrying not weapons but aid consisting of food and drugs for the hungry, sick Gazans.
Its passengers are mostly European Christians. Qatar has always been Israel’s buddy in sharing intel and economic trade, allowing it to use its airspace when attacking Iran while shooting down Iranian drones and missiles destined for its land. The West Bank has no Hamas, no fighters, yet it gets bombarded by Israel at will.
What is worrisome is how the world, or America, watches as Israel tramples on international laws and other countries’ sovereignties unchecked. It is as if it has a licence to do what it wants, when it wants, and wherever it wants, acting with impunity, fearing no rebuke or being held accountable for its actions.
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has voted in favour of a resolution supporting Palestinian statehood, hoping for a lasting peace in the Middle East. A move, Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, described as “theatre, not diplomacy.” Its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, himself said, “I’m going to fulfil my promise that there will be no Palestinian State; this (land) belongs to us.”
The story is that it was the Palestinians who did not want the two-state solution, but now, the world knows who does not like it. And this has proved that all that is happening now is beyond October 7, or self-defence. It is something more profound and broader, something to do with a “Greater Israel.”
Will America, known for being like the dog with Israel as the tail wagging it, side with the world and shoo Israel, which believes all other nations must bow before it, and other humans are goyim, into accepting this resolution for peace to reign in the world?
- Dr Gimba, anipr, is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime. His syndicated column, The Arbiter, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.