Tony Palmer
If you cherish the view that Black Africa is a civilised place, I have a surprise or two in store for you. Here in Lagos, for example, the headline news is nearly always "VIPs invited to watch robbers' execution "; or "Prisoners on the run shot dead," or "Two robbers to die on Saturday." For the past week, the hottest news story has read thus — this version courtesy of the Nigerian Sunday Times: "Special invitations were sent to important personalities in the Badagry Division to watch the first public execution in the ancient creek town yesterday. Tied to the stakes before chiefs, top businessmen and women, were two condemned robbers — Asogba Dansu and Tome Mumumi. Turning to Asogba, who was sobbing, Mumumi, in a consolatory manner, advised him to stop behaving like a woman. Our sins shall be on the head of the man who said we robbed him,' he added."
While the dialogue went on between the two robbers, the crowd continued to shout and rain curses on them. At exactly 11 am, after a barrage of shots, the two robbers paid for their crimes — dead with their mouths and eyes wide open. There was no priest to offer them the last-minute rites and their eyes were not blindfolded. The crowd "refused to leave . . . until the police and the army used horse whips to send them away." In fact, one eyewitness told me that the four man firing squad placed some thirty yards from the robbers had to fire six rounds to finish the job. As their aim was none too good, they succeeded in blasting away the men's hands and legs before actually killing them.
At another execution, also reported in full by the Nigerian Sunday Times, a priest was present, so the reporter took the trouble to record in detail the last rites conversation. But this was more than could be tolerated by one correspondent. Two days later, „the Daily Times awarded a prize of one guinea to the following letter: " Having failed to convert the
robbers . from their nefarious business, priests now emerge religiously to pronounce the last rites when robbers come to pay the penalty. I refer to both Christian and Moslem priests. One is tempted to ask why the last sacrament? Is the prayer for forgiveness not a mockery to God and our judiciary? If the priests were satisfied that justice had been done in the case of the robbers, why pray for their souls? If on the other hand, they felt that there was a miscarriage of justice, why don't the pray for the judiciary rather than the condemned men?'.
Now I'm well aware that the West African's attitude towards death and justice is quite different from ours and that neither Lagos (nor even Nigeria) is the whole of Africa. Yet the obvious enjoyment of these ritual killings — at the second one (held on Wednesday) work practically stopped throughout Lagos and there were record traffic jams on the roads leading to the beach where the executions took place — leads one to re-examine more carefully the Nigerian's attitude towards a great many things that perhaps we in Great Britain take for granted, particularly in the light of Professor
Eysenck's recently discussed theories about the African being inherently less intelligent than the white man, and particularly when , one suddenly realizes that almost the whole machinery of administration has remained effectively untouched since the departure of British rule nearly eleven years ago„ For example, nearly all the coin display Queen Elizabeth's head and date from 1959 — just before in-7 dependence. All the road signs look distinctly English and slightly out-of-date. All whites are referred to as expatriates although most of them are just visiting businessmen. Even the football is UK-orientated and the newspapers are full of stories about Charlie George or Georgie Best as well as day-to-day accounts of last Saturday's match at Highbury or Elland Road,
Again, if you visit the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation you will find jobs with titles exactly parallel with those in the BBC — Head of Features Group or Assistant Controller of Programmes. Unfortunately, the programme output is so low and consists mostly of bought American cowboy films, Hawaii Five or Disney, that such titles are hardly justified. Still, some of them are hardly justified at the BBC either. There is also something absurd about watching a blacker than black Nigerian sitting in one of Lagos's five hotels that (according to the expatriates), can be safely recommended, sipping his tea with little finger cocked and munching away at his prawn cocktail. To get Nigerian food is wellnigh impossible and unlike everything else cannot, even be bought. The hotels, for example, are permanently, fully booked unless, that is, a E5 note just happens to drop out of your pocket. The taxis have no standard charge and each journey, however short, will end in a time-wasting bartering session that often goes on for half an hour. Phone calls are similarly fraught with financial difficulties. The standard charge for a call to London may well be laid down by GPO (Nigerian style) regulations but the amount you pay is a matter between you and the telephone operator. In all, therefore, while the trappings of Western society are everywhere to be seen (including an advert for a Marks and Spencers shop which was nowhere to be seen), the reality is somewhat different. Not that this is a particularly original observation, but Nigerian propaganda would desperately like you to think otherwise. Again, the TV critic of the Sunday Post affords a clue. Describing one of those public executions, he says:
"The NTIC/TV news started with an impressive beginning but by the time it finished, everybody left the room disappointed — disappointed because many of the important aspects of the news item which could have interested many people were left out. For instance, we did not see the shooting of the robbers — this romantic part of the story was left out. And this is what we were expecting from the NBC/TV which is supposed to be the national screen."
More next week.
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