Fela Kuti sang in ITT (International Thief Thief) how “a man with low mentality” … “go bribe some thousand naira bread to become one useless chief”. ITT was released in 1980 when 1,000 naira was slightly over $1,000. The going rate today for bribes to bag a chieftaincy title from unscrupulous traditional rulers is not clear. But it must run in millions of naira to match the depreciation of the naira against the dollar.
In line with such shameless tradition of titles for people of “low mentality”, the former chief of army staff Tukur Buratai was handed the title of Ochiagha Dike Eji Eje Ogu (The Warrior That Leads His Troops To Battle) of Aguleri in Anambra State by the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Mike Idigo.
Rather than being conferred with a “useless” title in Aguleri, Buratai should be facing the International Criminal Court at the Hague. In 2017, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, confirmed that the Nigerian military, commanded by Buratai, were under investigation for shooting unarmed pro-Biafran protesters and other crimes against humanity.
ICC confirms Nigeria under investigation for crimes against pro-Biafrans, Shias & others
Amnesty International reported that at least 150 pro-Biafrans were killed by security forces led by the Nigerian military from August 2015 to August 2016. Rewarding their commander with a title in Aguleri is the type of greedy, shameless and opportunistic insensitivity that comes with the territory for the Nigerian ruling class, both traditional and political. This act was like peeing on the graves of the victims.
The charge sheet against Buratai included the mass murder of Shias in Zaria in 2015 for having the nerve to hold a procession that blocked his convoy. The official inquiry by the Kaduna State government reported over 300 deaths. Sadly, “sorrow, tears and blood – their regular trademark”, in the words of Fela Kuti, were not the only things Buratai visited on Nigeria. Naja’atu Muhammad said fighting terrorism in Nigeria was a “multi-billion dollar industry” for the military top brass.
This was why, as Buratai’s soldiers were mass murdering civilians, the troops meant to be fighting Boko Haram were ill-equipped. He also managed to buy luxury properties in Dubai with his “personal savings”.
Buying a chieftaincy title in Aguleri would have needed just spare change. Cash and carry traditional rulers like Idigo would sell anything for a price and as Oscar Wilde said, “know the price of everything but the value of nothing”. Or in Nigerian parlance, “money miss road”.
