Former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Dumebi Kachikwu has warned that Nigeria is slipping into what he described as “an Animal Farm” governed by hatred, selective outrage, and contempt for public institutions.
Kachikwu expressed the concern during press briefing in Abuja on Friday.
Speaking on the recent altercation between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and Lt. Lawal Yerima, Kachikwu defended the minister and accused a “vocal minority” of fueling national hostility toward government officials.
Kachikwu recounted a personal encounter involving his construction site in Abuja, where FCTA officials were initially denied access by private security guards who questioned a Sunday evening inspection. According to him, a stop-work order soon followed, and days later, Minister Wike visited the premises in person.
He said he forwarded all documentation to Wike’s office, after which the minister offered an apology.
“I received a simple, ‘I am sorry, but my staff gave me wrong information, End of matter.”
The former ADC flagbearer described the public outcry over the Wike–Yerima confrontation as disproportionately driven by personal animosity.
“Today I weep for Nigeria because we are becoming a nation of people fuelled by hate of anything government,” he said. “The unrighteous righteous indignation of this vocal minority calling for the Minister’s head is simply unacceptable to any right-thinking person.”
Kachikwu argued that both Wike and the military officer reacted out of provocation, insisting the reactions would have been judged differently had the minister been someone else.
“Where is the same unrighteous righteous indignation that police officers in their uniform were called bloody policemen by the same military officer?” he asked.
The businessman and prominent political figure criticized what he described as public disdain toward the police and widespread silence when security agencies clash.
He questioned why the recent killing of policemen returning from election duty in Anambra elicited minimal national reaction:
“Again, because of hatred of the police, nobody cared.”
He also faulted the Minister of Defence for quickly criticizing Wike but remaining silent during earlier incidents involving military officers and the police.
Kachikwu raised constitutional concerns over the chain of command during the Abuja incident.
“Can a retired General without a commission give an order superior to that of a serving Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Does the military code of conduct supersede the constitution?” he queried.
He warned that Nigeria risks normalizing abuse of authority by the military if the public continues to justify actions based on personal biases.
Linking these issues to deeper societal divisions, Kachikwu said hatred for government, hatred for the President, and hatred for institutions were eroding national cohesion.
“Because we hate ourselves, nobody will care when tomorrow this same military will trample on your rights, because you have told them that in this Animal Farm called Nigeria, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” he warned.
