WILL JONATHAN ELENDU BE 'WASTED'?

After visiting Eledureports.com, and reading a detailed account of Jonathan Elendu's experience under SSS detention, I am shocked at the inability of the Yar'Adua administration to understand that it continues to diminish its reputation.

Yar'Adua came to power with a conciliatory tone, offering an olive branch to the militants of the Delta, and exhibiting a humility that has been lacking from many of Nigeria's leaders. However, over the last few months of his tenure and particularly since his trip to Saudi Arabia for the 'lesser hajj' or medical treatment as is commonly believed, the President has seemingly taken it upon himself to exhibit non-democratic attributes, instead. For instance, the the shutdown of Channels TV, the arrest and continued detention of political bloggers Jonathan Elendu and Emeka Emmanuel Asiwe, (who is yet to see his 2 week old child) are the most recent examples of this administration's crackdown on dissenting voices.

But now, things have become even more serious what with the allegations that the SSS, a Nigerian security force that reports directly to the President, might have plans to 'waste' Elendu or make him an "American problem" - setting him up to travel with a dangerous/banned substance so that he will be arrested by the American government upon trying to enter the country.

If any of this is true, then that is very frightening. That a Nigerian should be subjected to such possibility simply for speaking his/her mind would be a travesty. What is even more disappointing is that this administration gives ammunition for such allegations to be made and gives them additional weight. By refusing to charge or 'release' bloggers like Elendu and Asiwe, this administration forces many observers to believe that there is indeed a possibility that these individuals could face further arrest or even worse. That, coupled with Nigeria's history of violence against journalists and dissenters like Dele Giwa and other journalists inexplicably 'murdered' in Lagos earlier this year, gives the impression (warranted or not) that even in a democracy 'guided by' the "Rule of Law" mantra, freedom is simply not a guarantee. And that, is the biggest travesty of all.