When this happens, what we get is not a deliberate, well-planned and meticulous action rooted in concerted and conscious effort to address the security challenges that the nation grapples with but rather a slew of choreographed, performative and virtue-signalling histrionics for an imagined or real audience by non-state actors who want to raise or maintain their profile
The story of Harrison Gwamnishu, an activist and self-acclaimed security expert, is not a surreal one. It actually follows the familiar route of most Nigerian activists who turned social media visibility into real-life activism while laying claim to expertise in an area or endeavour they lack real knowledge about. Gwamnishu rose to prominence from a relatively unknown and small-time social media influencer. His rise to fame, like every other wannabe social commentator, was spurred by the government’s dereliction of duty on critical matters of security.
He would later become a self-proclaimed security expert and trusted mediator. He started taking up the perilous tasks of negotiating with criminals, particularly those who have turned kidnap for ransom into a lucrative enterprise. Before long, the tales of his bravery and extraordinary exploits would filter through to the public as he recorded repeated and persistent successes in helping many hapless and forlorn Nigerians regain their freedom from the den of vicious kidnappers. His feats soon became an important national anecdote as Nigeria’s security crisis worsened, pushing many whose family members are victims of kidnapping to turn to him for help instead of Nigeria’s conventional security apparatus for assistance.
But becoming the darling of Nigerians who now arrogate to him the power of a messiah and saviour carries a certain weight and burden; the weight of trust and the burden of expectation. Many who reach out to Gwamnishu to help negotiate and facilitate the release of their loved ones who are captured by kidnappers and languishing in their scary den have certain expectations of him and it is more than just money or ransom. It is about trust and respect. They expect him to be forthright, honest and open-minded about everything that has to do with the freedom of their family members. This appeared to be the case until the weight of trust was broken by mistrust, dishonesty and uncertainty.
For the better part of late last year, from November all through December, Gwamnishu was in the news and became subject of social media trending discourse, only that this time around he was not trending for courageously and artfully masterminding another release of an abducted Nigerian(s) but for being caught in an intricate Web of painful and messy ransom scandal that landed him in police custody.
Gwamnishu removed N5.4 million from the N20 million handed to him by Abdul Ganiyu Oseni as ransom for the release of his relative, Segir. Oseni was placing his faith in Gwamnishu when he entrusted the money to him. And why not, Gwamnishu had become some sort of messiah to troubled families in distress. The popular and influential activists who can wade through the corrupt system and get things done.
But the problem with activism in Nigeria is that it has created a situation where people now confuse visibility and social media following for expertise and a deep understanding of a specialised endeavour. It is not uncommon to see activists and social media influencers with large followings offer pedestrian suggestions and pass off incoherent opinions and flawed assertions as well-intentioned and sound advice. But the situation becomes deeply unsettling when activists go beyond churning unsolicited opinionated think pieces and on issues that they clearly lack understanding of and decide to dabble in matters of life and death.
Gwamnishu had claimed the removal of N5.4 million from the ransom without informing the beleaguered family of the victim was to allow him plant tracking chips in the bag containing the ransom. Whether his claim is true or not is somewhat immaterial here. The major concern here is how, with little or no supervision, he decides to act based on his whims without involving the family and endangering the life of the victim, while turning the despondency and desperation of a distressed family into a social and tactical experiment.
After the family disclosed an unapproved and unilateral deduction from the ransom by Gwamnishu and his own elaborate gavotte of purportedly using sophisticated technology to track the suspected kidnappers, which has done nothing but turn the whole matter into a needless media spectacle, Mr Segir is still languishing in the kidnappers’ den
If we are to believe Gwamnishu’s justification for dipping his hand into a huge sum of money given to him to secure the release of a kidnapped person, he removed ₦5.4 million from a ransom payment without the express approval of the family, endangering the life of a man based on his own volition and judgment of what tactics would work best. If the allegations are true, he simply stole money entrusted to him by desperate people. Either scenario underscores the jarring and dangerous lack of transparency and accountability that have come to define and shape activism.
What the ransom scandal has done is erode the confidence and trust people once had in him and also cast doubt on the credibility and genuineness of his previous work. He is not only being discredited but also portrayed as a greedy and heartless figure who capitalised on the travails and misfortune of Nigerians to corruptly enrich himself while posing as an altruistic and compassionate character fighting for the poor and oppressed.
Whatever the case maybe, the scandal did not only put permanent dent on the image of Gwamnishu and demystified him as the honest and reliable goto guy and solution provider for families entangled in problems beyond what they can solve, it also underscores deep system rot and government inefficiency that allows individuals to capitalise on the dysfunction that pervades the nation to elevate their social status and station in life. When this happens, what we get is not a deliberate, well-planned and meticulous action rooted in concerted and conscious effort to address the security challenges that the nation grapples with but rather a slew of choreographed, performative and virtue-signalling histrionics for an imagined or real audience by non-state actors who want to raise their profile and keep their personality and what they stand for firmly in public consciousness.
What the Gwamnishu saga has shown is that we cannot normalise what is ostensibly abnormal by handing over the critical task of governance and the complex art of statecraft to individuals who are totally bereft of how to accomplish these consequential, lofty, and grand goals.
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