Featured, Politics
Unfortunately, the dearth of credible and responsible leadership has denied the nation the opportunity of achieving its developmental goals in decades and without real democracy and visionary leaders the much taunted reforms in Nigeria, calls for a new constitution and fixing of a broken nation will remain a mirage.
By Goddy Ikeh
RECENTLY, the Africa Polling Institute, API, published the result of its survey on the first year of the administration of President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, which scored the government low with an overwhelming majority of the citizens (84%) expressing profound sadness with the current state of affairs in the country.
The survey stated that “their voices, filled with dissatisfaction, are a clear call for action, as a significant majority of citizens (81%) feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, identifying Hunger (36%), Inability to meet basic needs (28%), Unemployment (13%), Heightened Insecurity (9%), and Poor Electricity Supply (5%) as the biggest challenges facing them personally today.
“In addition, a staggering 74% of citizens affirmed that their personal economic situation has deteriorated over the last year, compared to 20% who said their personal economic situation had remained the same and a mere 5% who said it had improved.”
The API concluded from the survey fieldwork that “a growing mass of aggrieved and discontented citizens nationwide, especially among the youth. Many are unemployed or underemployed and have become local crusaders and social activists in their communities, waiting for the slightest opportunity to vent their anger against fellow citizens and the Nigerian state.”
As usual, the nation and its leaders moved on and might have dismissed the report of the survey as a distraction by those who lost the 2023 polls. But on August 1, 2024, the protesters proved the government wrong when they started their 10-day nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, despite the desperate efforts made by the federal government, traditional rulers, security agencies to intimidate the organisers and dissuade them from embarking on the planned protests.
Unfortunately, like the survey result warned, the growing mass of aggrieved and discontented citizens nationwide joined forces with many unemployed, underemployed with urban and local crusaders and social activists in the country to demand for an end to bad governance in the country.
The protesters demanded among other issues, an address from President Tinubu on their demands, including reviewing some of the policies that triggered the socio-economic challenges facing Nigerians like the twin shocks of subsidy removal and the devaluation of the Naira, reduction in the cost of governance, high food prices, tackling insecurity across the country and reviving the nation’s battered economy.
Although the protests were rated highly successful by some analysts in many states across the country, especially in many northern states, which recorded some incidents of death of some protesters arising from the unprofessional conducts of the police and the military during the protests, which ended on Saturday, August 10, 2024.
According to some media reports, there were no noticeable protests in five states in the Southeast, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states in the South South as well as in Adamawa, Kogi and Taraba states in the north of the country. But protests in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Niger, Plateau and Abuja turned violent, resulting in the imposition of curfews in some states to check the loss of lives and destruction of properties in the affected states.
Although the protests ended on Saturday, August 10, 2024, there is no clear figures on the number of deaths recorded. While the police said that only seven persons died from the protests, some media reports quoted Amnesty International as saying that 21 persons died during the protests.
In addition, there were reported cases of attacks on journalists covering the protests by the police. And this brutality and poor conduct of the security forces attracted reactions and condemnation from the Organised Labour, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Civil Society Organisations, the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP, among others.
Although President Tinubu conceded to address the nation midway into the protests, his address attracted unfavourable reactions from some eminent Nigerians. For instance, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, faulted the nationwide address by President Tinubu, saying it failed to address the brutal crackdown of #EndBadGovernance protesters by security agencies.
In his statement, Soyinka specifically criticised the steps reeled out by the President since the protests started, saying: “His outline of the government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis. My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.”
The nation’s security agencies, according to Soyinka, cannot pretend unawareness of alternative models for emulation, civilized advances in security intervention”.
“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.
“Live bullets as a state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even tear gas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S., not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.
“They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation. The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed ENDSARS protests,” he said.
Reacting to the broadcast, former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2023 elections, Atiku Abubakar, dismissed the broadcast as a hollow speech, devoid of solutions to the hardship facing Nigerians.
Atiku, who spoke through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement in Abuja, said that the broadcast intended to quell the fervour of public protests against his administration’s poor governance, utterly missed the mark.
“His (Tinubu’s) speech neglects the pressing economic hardships that have besieged Nigerian families since the very beginning of his tenure.
“This address lacks credibility and fails to offer any immediate, tangible solutions to the Nigerian people.
“Given the extensive publicity surrounding the protests and the threats issued by government officials against demonstrators, one would have expected President Tinubu to present groundbreaking reforms, particularly those aimed at reducing the exorbitant costs of governance.
“But alas, no such announcements were made. The President ignored the protesters’ demands, such as suspending the purchase of aircraft for the President, downsizing his bloated cabinet, or even eliminating the costly and burdensome office of the First Lady, who has been indulging in extravagant trips at the nation’s expense.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress has urged President Tinubu to address the demands of the protesters, especial the reversal of what it called “ill-conceived” policies that plunged the country into an economic crisis, sparking nationwide protests.
According to a communique jointly signed by NLC President Joe Ajaero and General Secretary Emmanuel Ugboaja, the union disclosed this at its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Wednesday, August 8, 2024.
The labour union said it condemned the continuous trivialization of treasonable felony by the government operatives, noting that the right to protest is a fundamental democratic right, and its suppression through “violence is unacceptable.”
“The attempt to criminalise protest is completely deplorable especially in a democracy. The hiring and use of sponsored thugs and divisive propaganda in an effort to scuttle the protests is most unfortunate.
“The NEC in session also frowns strongly at the unwarranted use of subterfuge on the congress by the government through the Federal Ministry of Labour as it concerns our rights to political participation. It noted the unprofessional and unethical conduct of the minister of labour through the registrar of trade unions in wilfully misdirecting a politically motivated letter to NLC. It is tendentious, mischievous and provocative,” the communique said.
And speaking on Friday, August 9, 2024, former President Olusegun Obasanjo warned that the country will not progress towards achieving its goals unless leaders and citizens embrace what he termed “moral rearmament.”
Receiving six members of the House of Representatives, who are co-sponsors of bills proposing a single six-year term, rotation of the presidency between the North and South, and rotation of governorship slots among the three senatorial districts of each of the 36 states in Abeokuta, Obasanjo warned that Nigeria was sitting on a keg of gunpowder that could explode if the nation failed to take courageous and decisive steps to address its numerous challenges.
Obasanjo described Nigeria as a nation that takes two steps forward, one step aside, and four steps backward. He described the demands of #EndBadGovernance protesters as very legitimate, stating that the government should heed the people’s grievances and cease pretending that all is well.
Obasanjo lamented that succeeding governments had failed to build on the foundation he established, resulting in significant setbacks for the country.
“As I have warned earlier, we should recognise that we are all sitting on a powder keg if we fail to begin doing the right thing. For instance, what the youth are demanding is very legitimate and should be listened to. Why should they be denied what rightfully belongs to them?
“They are frustrated, hungry, angry, and unemployed, and they deserve to be heard.”
According to him, more than anything else, such as changing our system of government or adopting a single term of six or four years, “we must change our ways of doing things. We must reform our thinking and character”.
“I wish that succeeding governments had built upon the foundation we laid, even if not as quickly as hoped, but sadly, the blocks we put in place are being removed.
“What I know about Nigeria is that if we get it right — both leadership and team — because one tree does not make a forest, you need a good leader but also a good team for a well-done job.
“If we get it right in about two and a half years, we could overcome some challenges, and in about 10 years, we will have a solid foundation. In about 25 years, we could be there.
“But we always take one step forward, two steps aside, and four steps backward, which is why we are where we are.
“For me, it is not just about the system; we may need to rethink our liberal democracy. In Africa, we often talk about loyal opposition, but what we do is reach a consensus, and then there is no opposition; everyone is on the same page and moves together.
“Our main problem is ourselves. Whether we adopt a single term of six years or two terms of four years, if we maintain the same mentality and approach, nothing will change.
“The real issue is ourselves. Yes, the system needs rethinking, but the character of people in government must change. With all due respect, many in government should currently be behind bars or on the gallows.”
For instance, the demands of the youth are very legitimate and should be listened to. Why should they be denied what rightfully belongs to them?
“They are frustrated, hungry, angry, and unemployed. They deserve to be given a listening ear.”
The ex-president also warned that the widespread corruption in the oil sector would prevent our refineries from functioning effectively, noting that Shell, which he contacted to take over the operation of the refineries during his time in government, declined the offer due to the unimaginable level of corruption.
The Patriots, a group of eminent Nigerians led by a former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku, has lent its voice to the demand for a new constitution for the country. The group appealed to President Tinubu to send an executive bill to the National Assembly, proposing the convening of a national constituent assembly with the mandate to produce a draft of the people’s democratic constitution.
Speaking during the group’s visit to the State House, Abuja, Anyaoku also told President Tinubu that, “the constituent assembly should be of directly elected individuals, on a non-political basis, from the 36 states of the federation, possibly three individuals per state, and one from the FCT.”
”The draft constitution, produced by the constituent assembly, should be put to a national referendum and if approved, should then be signed by the President as the genuine Nigerian people’s constitution,” he said.
Obviously, the lessons from the #EndBadGovernance protests, according to some analysts, include the need for extensive reforms in government that will reduce the high cost of governance, the need for a new constitution and above all, embracing real democracy and having visionary leaders who will pilot the affairs of the state and stop the endless protests and the consequential loss of lives and destruction of public assets and public property.
A.I
Aug. 14, 2024
Tags: Emmanuel Ugboaja Joe Ajaero NLC
