Nigerian Concord Newspaper
A former senator from Ekiti state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has blasted the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojuku for turning an Ethiopian jail where several Nigerian are being kept to a celebration hall.
Ojudu expressed his displeasure over what he called a “shameful” act on his verified Facebook Page this morning.
Read below:
Did you see that video clip from Ethiopia?
There was Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, dancing among Nigerian prisoners in an Ethiopian prison.
I watched it several times, hoping there was some context I had missed.
What message are we sending to ourselves and to the world?
If the objective was to negotiate the transfer of Nigerian prisoners back home, could that not have been done with dignity, sobriety, and a clear sense of the gravity of the situation? Must compassion be expressed in a manner that appears to celebrate criminality?
Prison is not a place of celebration. It is a place of punishment, reflection, remorse, and, hopefully, rehabilitation. Public officials must be careful not to blur those distinctions.
What has befallen us as a people?
Have we become so desensitized that we no longer recognize the symbolism of public conduct? Do we appreciate the message such images send to millions of law-abiding Nigerians who struggle daily to earn an honest living? What does a young Nigerian watching that video learn from it?
What does it say to those who have obeyed the law, endured hardship, and resisted the temptation to seek prosperity through crime?
What does it say to the victims of fraud, trafficking, and other transnational crimes for which many Nigerians have found themselves imprisoned abroad?
And what does it say to the international community about our national values?
A government has a duty to protect its citizens, including those who have fallen foul of the law. It has a duty to ensure fair treatment, humane conditions, and, where appropriate, repatriation. But there is a difference between defending the rights of citizens and appearing to glorify their wrongdoing.
Leadership is not only about what we do. It is also about the symbols we project and the standards we uphold.
Perhaps the deeper question is this: Have we become so accustomed to lowering the bar that we no longer notice when public conduct diminishes the dignity of the office and the reputation of the nation?
A country rises or falls not only on the quality of its institutions but also on the seriousness with which its leaders carry the burden of representation.
It is a troubling image. And it should trouble both the rulers and the ruled.
What a shame.