On jungle justice and other things

If you have siblings you may recall the good old days of sibling rivalry and quarrels.

You'd hit a younger one, they'd hit back and you'd respond with a harder hit. They give up and go cry in the corner.

Then the next morning, you bring out your school uniform in preparation for school. You're shocked and furious to find it smeared with ink.

You run to your parents and report the crime. The perpetrator is soon apprehended and brought in for questioning for questioning.

'why did you do it? '

'Because he hit me hard last night'

Daddy frowns and turns to you.

'Why did you hit him?'

'Because he broke my pencil!'

Daddy sighs, reprimands your younger one and then reminds you both that you violated his rule.

'Don't ever fight or hit each other, I've told you several times. Especially you, if your younger brother does something you don't like, Just report him to me. If you take the laws into your hands next time, i'll punish you severely.'

We are very good as humans in alot of things. Measuring what punishment, reaction or response is commensurate to a perceived crime against us is not one of them.

That's why a person is caught stealing a phone of 10k, the immediate response would be to lynch the 'bloody thief'. Is death commensurate to the crime? Even if it was, is it in your place to deliver the judgement? Does Killing a criminal without recourse to the law make you a murderer or a hero?

That's why your land lord breaks your door and throws out your things due to months of unpaid house rent without any prior notice nor recourse to the rule of law.

And in response, you feel aggrieved and rightly so. You drag him to court and in order to teach him a lesson, you inflate the quantity, quality and value of your belongings and claim that properties which you never owned, are missing. You don't feel like its a false accusation because 'he started it. He brought it on himself'.

That's why your son and his friend become involved in a transaction worth 70000 and his friend fails to pay him the money.

You know a police officer and you bribe him to arrest your the friend and demand 150000 Naira. You don't feel like you're a thief or a liar. After all, he brought it on himself.

Why can't we abide by the rule of law? Convenience.

The NBS released some troublesome data this week. Corruption is happening on a large scale in Nigeria. 95% of Nigerians are engaged in it, with 400billion estimated as the amount spent on bribing government officials in one year.

This thing is not about the top only. What about the bottom? You and I.

What really is corruption? Is it just embezzlement of funds or stealing?

GEJ once said stealing is not corruption.
Judging by our disgust and passionate reaction to a petty thief, defaulting tenant or a chronic debtor, One is forced to agree with him.

People get beat up, lynched and burnt to death for stealing in my country.

People get Chieftancy titles, Knighthood, Plaques with their names in major religious buildings, roads named after them, second tenure given to them for being corrupt.

P. S. The Senate promised to fast track the passage of the hate speech bill and the anti jungle justice bill.

Please, control your reactions, do not let another man's crime goad you into committing a bigger and more gruesome crime. Respect the laws even when it's inconvenient for you.

Since top down has failed, let's start this transformation from bottom up. .

Good night.