Mr President, Please Honour Him
POLITICS DIGEST – Stories abound regarding individuals who have put their lives on the line to save others. These are mostly ordinary people whose extraordinary exploits offer us glimpses of hope, fill us with admiration, and boost our faith in humanity. Such people, imbued with the virtues of bravery and selflessness, are sometimes conferred national honour in many countries to encourage others to do more. They also serve as important role models who the younger ones can strive to emulate. While every nation has a system of recognising, rewarding, and encouraging such citizens, in Nigeria, we have turned the exercise of national honour to no better than the award of chieftaincy titles, most often to often unworthy people.
The idea of national honour was created to celebrate excellence, but we now use such occasions in Nigeria to celebrate under-achievement, mediocrity, and even moral bankruptcy. Indeed, the award of national honour has over the years become yet another platform for bestowing patronage on cronies and pimps. It is perhaps because of such banality that President Muhammadu Buhari has rarely conferred national honour and for me, that is commendable. In the few instances that Buhari has done so, it is difficult to question his judgement on the choice of awardees. And it is in that spirit that I want to recommend to the president someone who I believe deserves a national honour.
Last Saturday, a truck laden with petroleum product burst into flames at Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. While people ran for their lives, including the conductor who bailed out, Ejiro Otarigbo drove the burning vehicle away from the densely populated area until he reached a place he considered safe. Were it not for his quick thinking acknowledged by many people, including Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the explosion that followed would have consumed houses and lives in the community. In taking the action he did, Otarigbo knew he could die in the process. He simply felt a sense of duty that the consequences of the vehicle exploding where the flames started would be catastrophic.
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True heroism, according to the late African American tennis superstar, Arthur Ashe, “is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” That was what Otarigbo demonstrated by literally driving inside fire. His action was all the more commendable against the background that he was just recently married.
Courage in the face of danger is a public service and a virtue we need. Especially in our armed forces if we are to defeat the forces of evil arrayed against our country.
In July 2014, the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah revealed that a number of army personnel were abandoning the force due to fear. Evidence suggests that not much has changed since then. “Sometimes, journalists ask me questions, saying soldiers are deserting their jobs because they don’t want to be killed in the Northeast. I tell them ‘yes, it is true’. Desertion is part of war. A real soldier is known when he is put in the warfront,” Minimah said during a working tour to Lagos. “The one who is not a soldier would run away and abandon his job. Our soldiers are recruited from the Nigerian society and, today, most people are not called to be soldiers, they joined because they are desperately in need of jobs.”
The absence of courage by those whose duty it is to protect us can be glimpsed from the manner sundry cartels of criminals are overrunning the country. But that is an issue for another day. I am delighted that Governor Okowa recognized Otarigbo’s heroism. To develop our society, we must begin to honour those whose acts of courage promote the public good, even if they never occupied an official position. It is when we begin to institute such a merit-based reward system that we will also begin to build a new nation where every citizen will be proud to make their own contribution and if necessary, the ultimate sacrifice.
I understand the season we are in so there will be those who would be disappointed that I have not written on politics today, especially now that some wives are threatening that their husbands would not access ‘The Other Room’ without PVC (Reuben Abati is my source). But on a serious note, whether we realize it or not, the choices we make in our little corners are as important as those made in Aso Rock. We may see Otarigbo as just a driver. But he took personal responsibility at a most critical period even at the risk of his life. The virtue he displayed is that of leadership anchored on sacrifice, the kind we hardly see displayed in Nigeria. Especially by people in positions of public trust.
As we therefore seek to reposition our country for peace and prosperity, we need such commitment to duty, patriotism and responsible citizenship at all levels of our society. I hope President Buhari will grant my humble request and confer on Ejiro Otarigbo a national honour.
