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From KWAM-1 to Comfort: The Danger of Rewarding Bad Behaviour

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From KWAM-1 to Comfort: The Danger of Rewarding Bad Behaviour

By Emmanuel Shebbs, PhD

In sane societies, rewards follow merit, accolades are earned through respect for the law, excellence in service, and the promotion of values that strengthen society. But in Nigeria, we seem to be scripting a different story; one where rebellious acts, disregard for rules, and outright self-help become springboards to national recognition.

Kwam 1, a celebrated musician, recently found himself at the centre of controversy after a disruptive incident at an airport. In any system that truly values order, such behaviour should have attracted criminal prosecution and sanctions. Instead, the system responded by granting him an ambassadorial appointment. The message is clear: break the rules, make headlines, and honours will follow.

Similarly, Comfort Emmanson, after flouting aviation protocols in an act of self-help, was pitched for an ambassadorial offer. Again, the optics are troubling: our institutions seem eager to clap for those who sidestep due process.

The spirit and letters of our laws discourage self-help for a reason. Self-help erodes the very foundation of democracy, dragging us back to a ‘state of nature’, a brutish arena where might is right and chaos rules.

Rather than defending the sanctity of institutions, we are swept away by senseless emotions, decorating those who breach protocols with badges of honour.

In law, every act of self-help forecloses one’s right to legal remedies. But in this inverted reality, defying the law can apparently open the door to fame and influence. In Nigeria today, disorder is a currency.

Our government’s responses are often selective, driven less by principle and more by the allure of social media attention. Actions that trend online with social media sensationalism are rewarded, not because they are rooted in merit, but because politicians crave validation ahead of the next election. The cost? The erosion of our collective commitment to the rule of law.

This dangerous precedent tells the younger generation: don’t waste time following the rules; the real rewards come from shaking the table, recklessly if necessary. We are raising a generation that sees rebellion not as a tool for reform, but as a shortcut to recognition.

This undermines institutions, erodes public trust, and mocks established protocols. Instead of building the system, we incentivise tearing it down by private individuals who do so without consequence.

But is this failure unique to politicians? What about universities?

Nowadays, universities shamelessly award honorary doctorates to internet fraudsters (“Yahoo Boys”), viral comedians, and controversial pastors whose only qualifications are fame and money. The other day, Odumeje was decorated with a Honorary Doctorate; if not for substance, spectacle and money, tell me what else?

These are not isolated incidents. They reveal a deeper national sickness and collapse of priorities. Honours and ambassadorial awards should reinforce discipline, patriotism, and service not to validate defiance. Over time, we entrench a dangerous reality where the “fittest” are not those who act nobly, but those who most loudly bend or break the rules without consequence.

A society that rewards bad behaviour is writing its own obituary. If we keep turning lawbreakers into ambassadors, we hand the next generation a blueprint for leadership built on destruction, lawlessness, immorality, and injustice.

Emmanuel Shebbs, Ph.D.


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