WIKE Vs MILITARY OFFICER: A Lesson In Hypocrisy, Entitlement, And The Abuse Of Power By SA’ADIYYAH ADEBISI HASSAN

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YES, let’s get this straight Wike was wrong, and the officer was wrong too. Both of them acted without regard for the image of the country they serve, driven instead by self-interest, entitlement, and personal pride.

Wike, as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, represents the federal government. His role is not just symbolic, it is practical, and it comes with authority. That authority was challenged by a young Navy officer standing guard over a retired Naval Chief’s private property a private interest masquerading as institutional duty.

Why was this officer defending private property with military weight? Why was the retired officer’s interest placed above the FCT administration? These are questions no one asked because most are too busy taking sides.

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Ethnic and Regional Politics Are Impossible to Ignore

Look closer: the officer is Northerner and so is his superior. Wike is Southern. That fact alone explains why every Northern commentator, pundit, and social media warrior cheered the officer, even knowing he was in the wrong.

To them, it wasn’t about legality, protocol, or national interest it was about southern ambition in Abuja, a perceived encroachment on what they consider their birthright.

Check the history: how many Southerners have ever held the FCT Minister role? Very few. The office has traditionally been Northern-dominated. The resentment isn’t hidden, it’s open, visceral, and today it manifested in public jubilation over Wike being humiliated.

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Now imagine if a Southern officer had treated a Northern FCT Minister the same way or if this officer had dared challenge a Northern governor. He wouldn’t have lasted five seconds without backlash. Power, in this context, is both ethnic and hierarchical, and today it was weaponized against Wike.

The Real Question: Whose Interests Are Being Protected?

In all the frenzy, no one asked why a Navy Lieutenant was guarding the private property of a retired Naval Chief. Why was the officer’s loyalty to a private individual elevated above his duty to the nation? This isn’t just incompetence or misjudgment it is a culture of entitlement that prioritizes personal networks over institutions.

Look globally: this isn’t unique to Nigeria. In the United States, consider the Capitol Hill police scandal in 2021, where officers prioritized access for VIPs while ignoring legal mandates, or in India, where certain bureaucrats and officers bend protocol to favor politically-connected individuals. What’s the common thread? Privilege and the belief that rules apply only to others. Wike’s officer was operating under the same mindset only now, ethnicity and regionalism amplified it.

FCT Minister ≠ Any Local Official

Remember this: an FCT Minister is the de facto governor of the Federal Capital Territory. Imagine a military officer in Lagos stopping a state governor from performing his duties on the grounds of “obedience to orders.”

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The uproar would be nationwide, the media in flames, and the officer would face court-martial.

But in Abuja, today, the narrative was twisted. A Southern Minister is publicly shamed by a Northern officer, and the officer becomes a folk hero to Northern audiences, irrespective of law, protocol, or institutional integrity. Heroism here is ethnic, not ethical.

This confrontation is a microcosm of Nigeria’s larger problem:

Civil authority is undermined when ethnic loyalty outweighs professional duty.

Military or uniformed officers see themselves as born-to-rule, above laws and regulations.

Regional resentment fuels public opinion, turning wrongdoing into celebrated defiance.

Today, a young officer stood in the sun, guarding a private man’s property, while a Southern minister enforcing the law was insulted. And the entire narrative was warped: wrong became right, courage became insolence, and legality became secondary to ethnic pride.

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Until Nigeria confronts the culture of entitlement, nepotism, and ethnic favoritism within its institutions, incidents like this will repeat. Wike might be blunt, but the officer’s audacity, and the public’s celebration of it, reveal the rot beneath the surface.

This isn’t just about Wike’s words or the officer’s “loyalty.” It’s about who wields power, who benefits, and whose rules actually matter in Abuja. Today, legality, protocol, and national interest were sacrificed on the altar of ethnic entitlement and that is a problem far bigger than either of the two individuals involved.