Two weeks before the August 1, 2024- D-Day for the start of the #EndBadgovernanceinNigeria protest, programmed by the #takeitbacknigeria movement and its allies, there had been a huge paroxysm around the Federal Government. There were security briefings, meetings with the political class, traditional institutions and religious bodies, youth groups, etc. It was clear that the government was concerned. Political appointees and security operatives were falling over themselves to update the media and communicate the implications of the protest. They said the organizers were faceless and pleaded with Nigerians to shelve the idea of a protest at this time. Several other reasons were adduced to justify the need to terminate the planned action. One such reason was the need to give the government ‘more time’ and then the possibility that hoodlums could hijack the protest. While the second reason above looks tenable,(even though some would argue that security agencies are paid to ensure peace and order) and remains a constant red flag against public protests in our clime, especially in the aftermath of the bloody #Endsars protests of October 2020, the first excuse may not have much appeal. Looking at the Nigerian circumstance, and as you keep close eyes on the natural and constitutional consequences of life here in good conscience, you will find it difficult to ask the protesters not to act. We live in a country where the system has made destitute of many and turned others into living corpses. So asking the people to give the government ‘more time’ would be implausible. And then there are no immediate juicy promises in the belly of the ‘time’. How do citizens allot “more time” to an elected government whose time frame is fixed by the Constitution? Whether a government is a day old or three years old, what is important is accountability, and democracy as a rule of the people, for the people, and by the people, guarantees public accountability from day one. Therefore, bidding for ‘more time’ in an inelastic situation is a misnomer.
Government officials have equally appealed to the citizens to shelve the protest. That to me is another untoward request. There are always two sides to the coin. The sword always has two sides. In our world too, there is the word and the opposite. You don’t beat a child and ask him not to cry. You either beat the child and risk the consequences of having your eardrums disturbed with unwanted noise for some time, or you spare the rod. So all the pleas should have been considered before the government launched its policies and the advertised reforms. Three such reforms are notable here; the removal of fuel subsidy (or increment of fuel price), floating of the Naira (devaluation of the currency), and the increment in electricity tariff. I remember telling the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu on this page to perish the idea of a hike in electricity tariff when he mooted it. I did that because I knew it would bring untold hardships to Nigerians and such that can breed the type of social unrest the #EndBadGovernance protest has now wrought on the polity. Now that the chips are down, the government had to run from pillar to post to quell protests and riots.
Considering what we have seen thus far, some models are emerging around the current state of things. Some lessons and realities are equally emerging. I will dwell on three.
Political jobbers are in their numbers in Nigeria: The build-up to the August 1 protest showcased that the more things changed in Nigeria, the more they appeared the same. The tactics deployed by governments since the days of the military have hardly changed, even after 25 years of consistent democratic rule. In the days of the military, you saw divide-and-rule tactics. Whenever protests were afoot, you saw agents of the government creating divisions and attempting to divert attention from the real issues. The agents were everywhere. On campuses and in the public space. The same tactics were deployed leading to August 1. Media houses practically got tired of publishing the list of countless groups that ‘dissociated’ themselves from the planned protest. It was as if all the groups in Nigeria had backed out of the planned protest and that the plan had collapsed. By Thursday, such thinking piled into insignificance as youths turned out in their numbers to participate in the protest, even though some untoward consequences were recorded in some locations. The message here is simple: Nigeria belongs to the people, not the countless jobbers, who readily deceive governments in power with the a’omerin j’oba cognomen, in exchange for undue patronage. Now the report is there for all to see. The Organised Private Sector announced late on Thursday that the country had lost N500 billion of its Gross Domestic Product(GDP) on the first day of the protest.
Political jobbers should let the government do its work: Rather than deceive the government in power that it has been able to cow perceived insurrection, political jobbers need to allow the government to do its job. Arising from the unenviable lifestyle of the state of nature, humans entrusted their willpower to the hands of an overriding authority called government. It took different colorations in different climes but wielded similar power of life and death(sometimes) over its citizens. The jobbers readily come in with sweet sounds that provide likable music to the ears of the powers that be. They tell the authorities what the king wants to hear and praise him to the high heavens. They tell him you own today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. You are the God that we see. The god relishes in the beautiful renditions and packages the praise- singers with all the goodness he can muster. While the king goes down with the image of a bad leader, the praise singer goes to the gate of the next leader, rendering similar panegyrics that earned him goodies in the past.
Government must prioritise people’s welfare: Section 14(2) of the 1999 Constitution(as amended) provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.” Even though that section may not be justice-able as lawyers would say, any government in power must know how to prioritise the welfare of its people. Otherwise, it would be a situation of the bird that lands on the rope, where neither the rope nor the bird knows peace. Our government in Abuja must know that irrespective of what the economic theorists say, you must have a country first before you can guarantee economic stability and theoretical correctness. Where an economic policy is likely to alter the balance in the lifestyle of the society, such as we have seen in the decisions that took fuel prices from N187 per litre to over N700 in different locations, and the one that saw the Naira drop from around N600 to one US dollar to N1,600 per dollar, caution and careful planning should come to play. Pitting the people against themselves using ethnic configuration, religion or shape of the face will not amount to a sustainable strategy to build peace.
The Lynx-Eye column, published by Sunday Tribune, August 4, 2024
