The story of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a tragic saga of extreme colonial exploitation under King Leopold II (Congo Free State), brutal Belgian rule (Belgian Congo).
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today is defined by a severe humanitarian crisis, ongoing conflict in the mineral-rich East (especially the M23 rebellion), political instability, endemic corruption, and extreme poverty despite vast natural resources.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo faces one of the world’s most severe and long-standing armed conflicts, political instability and natural disasters.
Attacks by armed groups and recurring inter-communal violence have threatened populations in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for more than 30 years. Over 120 militias and armed groups operate in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, many regularly perpetrating widespread violations that may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In crafting our Auditors’ Report on “The GUN HEGEMONY” over the last sixty years, we are obliged to beam our searchlight beyond the Executive Arm to the other two pillars – namely The Judiciary and The Legislature.
As regards the Judiciary, here is a damning report: “Reports consistently show judicial corruption, involving bribery, nepotism, and political influence, is a significant global issue, particularly in developing nations like Nigeria, undermining public trust, denying justice to the poor, and enabling impunity, with surveys from UNODC, Chatham House, and HEDA highlighting public perception of widespread bribery and demands for payments for favourable rulings. Key issues identified include lawyers acting as intermediaries for bribes, political interference in high-profile cases, lack of transparency in appointments, and systemic delays, leading to wrongful convictions or acquittals and erosion of the rule of law.
As for the Legislature, let us confine ourselves to that unforgettable occasion in 2022 when a former DIG (Deputy Inspector General) of Police, Alhaji Nuhu Aliyu declared in his maiden speech at The Senate:
“There is something strange here. Some of the people I detained at Panti Police Station, Yaba and Alagbon Police Station, Ikoyi in Lagos for serious crimes – ranging from armed robbery to “419” fraud, currency trafficking and frug smuggling are in this chamber.!!”
“In crafting our Auditors’ Report on “The GUN HEGEMONY” over the last sixty years, we are obliged to beam our searchlight beyond the Executive Arm to the other two pillars – namely The Judiciary and The Legislature.”
I still have a clear recollection of January 15, 1955. It was a Friday and my beloved cousin Adenike Martins who was a secretary at the Nigerian High Commission in London hosted a party at her flat in Fordwych Court, Kilburn, NW2 3NJ. Then Colonel Robert Adeyinka Adebayo who was attending a course at the Defence Staff College, London. was the life and soul of the party. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He did not carry a gun. The party was still going on when I left around midnight.
Hence, it was a complete shock to wake up the following morning to learn from BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) news that the military had carried out a coup d’etat in Nigeria and the whereabouts of the Prime Minister, Alhaji (Sir) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and other leading politicians such as Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh (Minister of Finance); Chief S.L. Akintola (Premier of the Western Region); was unknown. Also, there were unconfirmed reports that the Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello and senior military officers had been assassinated in Kaduna. The rest of the day was filled with gory tales of the bloodletting in Nigeria.
Thereafter, the Chaos Theory took over. “The Chaos Theory is a field of research in mathematics and physics that studies the patterns of dynamic – or chaotic – systems to better understand and predict their behaviours. These patterns emerge from a relationship between these systems and related facets of mathematics known as “strange attractors.”
“The Gun Hegemony” serves as confirmation that Nigeria has been clamped under a spell. For sixty years what we have witnessed is the mismatch (and mismanagement|) of the demand and supply equation for good governance/good government. The answer is zero.
Even as far back as 1898:
“As far back as 1898 Dr. John Kehinde Randle; Dr. Akinwande Savage; and Joseph Ephraim Casely Hayford (of the Gold Coast) the founders of the National Congress of British West Africa had begun to agitate for the Independence of Nigeria and the rest of West Africa.”
“Dr. John Kehinde Randle, while recovering from a surgical operation in England in 1910, read a paper in the British Medical Journal of 3 September 1910 on ‘Spread of cancer among descendants of the liberated Africans or Creoles of Sierra Leone’ by William Renner, a medical officer in Freetown. Renner claimed that there was an increasing number of cases of cancer of various organs, especially of the breast, among the descendants of the liberated Africans or Creoles of Sierra Leone, whereas cancer was rare among the aborigines of West Africa. He concluded that the rarity of cancer among the latter group was because of ‘their primitive mode of living’ – eating mainly grains and vegetables – whereas the relatively well-to-do Creoles had adopted the civilized habits of Europeans, consuming, among other things, large quantities of meat.
An address delivered at the launching of “The Gun Hegemony” Written By Ayo Opadokun on 15th January 2026 at Muson Centre, Lagos.
