On Wike’s Clash with a Military Officer: The Nuances of Power, Protocol, and Public Decorum.

By Babs Daramola

The incident between FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and the military officer in Abuja has reignited national conversation, sparked social media debates, and stirred a wave of controversy across the country.

While many have saluted the officer for standing firm in the line of military duty, others have criticized him for allegedly being rude to the minister.
But viewing the incident through the lens of authority, protocol, and accountability, I believe the situation is far more nuanced than such claims suggest.

First, let’s face it: I strongly condemn the troubling context of deploying military officers to “protect land.” The very idea is absurd and completely unacceptable. Military personnel are meant to safeguard the nation, not act as enforcers in land disputes. Using soldiers in this way raises serious questions about the proper exercise of state authority and the boundaries of political power.

The land in question is allegedly linked to the former Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo (rtd.). Wike claims the land was illegally acquired, and that his mission there was to halt any unlawful development. Fair enough, that’s within his mandate as Minister of the FCT. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is what Nigerians saw on national television. A senior minister of the Federal Republic publicly losing composure, trading insults, and calling a uniformed officer “a fool” and “a big fool.” It was shameful, unbecoming of his office, and a poor reflection of leadership decorum. Whatever sense of righteousness his mission carried was drowned in that moment of crude exhibitionism. It portrayed Wike as a man intoxicated by power, unable to draw the line between assertiveness and arrogance; a public servant forgetting that authority is best exercised with restraint, not rage.

As a former Chief Executive of a state, Wike should very well understand the workings of the chain of command in the military. Officers are trained to follow lawful orders, and in this instance, the officer on the ground was simply doing his duty, executing instructions given by his superiors. That is the essence of military discipline: upholding the law and the authority of the state, not bowing to political intimidation.

The behavior of the minister, an experienced public servant and former governor, complicated the matter. Who should be better acutely aware of the nuances of authority, protocol, and accountability? Yet, on live television, he hurled expletives and attempted to humiliate a uniformed officer performing his responsibilities.

However offended or embarrassed the minister might have felt in that moment, nothing justifies his conduct. It was both inappropriate and indecorous for a sitting minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to look a uniformed officer in the eye and call him “a fool” and “a big fool” on national television. Those words were not just reckless; they were beneath the dignity of his office. Leadership demands restraint. Power, when not tempered by civility, turns easily into abuse. What Nigerians saw that day was not authority in action. It was arrogance on display.

Surely, someone of Wike’s experience should know there are better and more decorous ways to address such disagreements, especially in public view. A minister is not just an enforcer of executive will; he is a symbol of the civility and discipline that governance demands. When he loses composure so dramatically before the cameras, he doesn’t just demean the officer, he diminishes the very institution he represents.

I’ve even read some claims that the officer “disrespected the president and commander-in-chief,” because the minister supposedly represents the president. But think about it: who does a fully uniformed officer of the Federal Republic represent while executing lawful orders from his superiors? The state. The law. The authority of Nigeria. In the military chain of command, standing firm in the execution of superior orders, however bad it tastes, is not disrespect; it is professionalism at its highest.

Maybe, and just maybe, part of what unsettled the minister was precisely that the officer stood his ground, something he probably did not expect when facing someone of his “lowly” stature. And honestly, the officers’ composure, that adherence to duty in the face of intimidation, is what should be recognized and commended.

At the end of the day, this incident is not about disrespect. It is about one public official overstepping his bounds, and another performing his duty with integrity, courage, and adherence to the rule of law. That is the story here, and it is one that deserves reflection from all of us.

For the sake of public decency and the integrity of leadership, the minister owes that officer and the Nigerian public an apology. And beyond that, the officer deserves commendation in the sense that despite the barrage of insults and open intimidation, the officer remained calm and professional, still addressing the minister respectfully as “sir.” That composure; the ability to maintain discipline and courtesy under provocation, is the true mark of service. It’s the kind of restraint, discipline and dignity our institutions should stand for.

Babs Daramola is a Lagos-based broadcast journalist