In the animal kingdom, survival instincts can sometimes produce disturbing behavior. Certain rodents, such as hamsters, have been known to eat their young under extreme stress, fear, or scarcity. Even powerful predators like lions and bears occasionally kill their cubs when dominance, pressure, or territorial control comes into play. Nature, in such moments, becomes brutal and self-consuming.
Sadly, the Nigerian state often behaves in a similar manner toward its own citizens.
Rather than existing primarily for the welfare of the people, the system frequently appears designed to preserve the comfort, prestige, and power of political elites, security institutions, and those connected to authority. Ordinary Nigerians, meanwhile, are treated as expendable.
This disturbing reality is reflected in the treatment reportedly meted out to the content creator known as Justice Crack, who allegedly exposed the poor feeding conditions of Nigerian soldiers fighting on the front lines.
The real issue should have been the welfare of troops risking their lives for the country. If the allegations were false, the military could simply have presented evidence to disprove them. If they were true, the exposure should have served as an opportunity for urgent reform and accountability.
Instead, reports indicate that Justice Crack was arrested, brutalized, and charged for allegedly inciting soldiers against the government.
That response says more about the state than it does about the content creator.
A confident and professional institution welcomes scrutiny because criticism can strengthen public trust. But insecure systems often react differently. They treat criticism not as feedback, but as rebellion. They perceive transparency as a threat. And they attempt to silence messengers instead of confronting uncomfortable truths.
That is the tragedy of Nigeria’s predatory political culture.
The state frequently protects itself first while the citizen bears the cost. Human rights, freedom of expression, and democratic accountability become secondary to the preservation of institutional ego. The weak are left exposed in a society where power too often determines morality.
This is why access to power in Nigeria is treated almost as a matter of survival. Those who attain it cling to it desperately because they understand how vulnerable the powerless can become.
An Igbo proverb captures this imbalance perfectly: a lion cannot imagine a deer demanding repayment of a debt simply because the lion has a broken leg.
But beyond the abuse of one citizen lies a more troubling question: does brutalizing Justice Crack improve the feeding conditions of soldiers? Does it strengthen morale at the war front? Does it enhance the reputation of the Nigerian Army in the eyes of the public?
Certainly not.
If anything, it deepens public distrust and reinforces perceptions of unprofessionalism within institutions that ought to inspire confidence and patriotism.
It is especially troubling that a military struggling to decisively neutralize terrorists, bandits, and insurgents can suddenly become remarkably efficient when tracking citizens who expose internal failings. A system unable to silence Boko Haram propaganda somehow finds the capacity to silence criticism from its own people.
That contradiction cannot be ignored.
No democracy can mature where citizens live in fear of speaking honestly about national problems. Accountability is not treason. Criticism is not sabotage. Exposing hardship within public institutions should never attract brutality in a constitutional democracy.
The deeper danger is that silence gradually becomes normalized. Citizens begin to censor themselves. Fear replaces civic participation. And society slowly descends into collective helplessness.
Justice Crack therefore represents something larger than himself. He symbolizes millions of Nigerians whose frustrations are muted by intimidation, harassment, and institutional power. His case is a reminder that in a system where dissent is punished, anyone can become the next target.
Today it is Justice Crack.
Tomorrow, it could be any of us.
That is why there must be justice for Justice Crack.
