Dear
Nigerians, after due consultations, it has become clear that the
#OneVoiceNigeria protest scheduled to hold in Lagos and Abuja on Monday
the 6th of February is under serious threat of hijack by interests not
aligned with our ideals. The point I am intent on making is that is
(sic) not worth the life of any Nigerian. It is in fact motivated by the
need to negotiate a better deal for the ordinary Nigerian. I therefore
announce the cancellation of the planned protest. We would share further
information in due course. We appreciate the massive support. I am
convinced that our voices have been heard… “
That was Innocent Tuface Idibia, in a short video to announce the
cancellation of his highly publicised march on Saturday night. Yours
truly obviously saw it coming. It takes an appreciation of the massive
psychological operation (psych-ops) deployed against the movement’s
leading light of the march in the past week alone to see why the event
stood to chance of being held. Indeed, it is a miracle that the man
still had the presence of mind to prepare what is evidently a hastily
prepared visual to the public.
As for the trophy for the abortion of the legitimate protest, that
deservedly goes to Fatai Owoseni – the Lagos top cop who insisted that
the constitution and the law counted for little when it comes to his
idea of law and order. To him, what the constitution and the law
guarantee are only as far as the old discredited colonial-style law
enforcement template would allow. To him, it was sufficient that no
official request came from the protesters notifying security agencies of
their plan; moreover, he would add that intelligence report indicated
that criminals might hijack the process to foment trouble. And so in
Owoseni’s book, individuals or group of persons who may wish to embark
on civil demonstration should inform the police until adequate security
can be arranged for them!
To imagine that this is the individual in charge of policing the home of
dissent – the acclaimed Centre of Excellence, a fast transforming
mega-city; not only does it leave little imagination about his
suitability for the challenge but raises serious questions about his
understanding of role of the police institution in a modern, democratic
state! Should one also talk of the chief law officer of the federation
who would rather be missing in action where contestations are about
issues of law and justice crop up? What about the Pontius Pilate
presidency that would go on to speak from both sides of the mouth at a
time the rights of citizens are being trampled under?
I perfectly understand the pains of the Buharists for whom the Tuface
capitulation merely presented ample occasion to gloat, and settle
scores: “A man who did not protest against music Piracy that is
affecting his business and did not protest against the massive
corruption in his home state did not look to me as a man will balls to
lead any other form of protest. He was given the go ahead by the Vice
President and the Police but you can’t protest over nothing.” That was
the message of Anasieze Donatus, in an interview with Premium Times.
Tayo Ayano, speaking to the same medium was just as blunt: “Tuface
should start from his wife’s state, Akwa Ibom where the ‘uncommon
governor’ practically stole his people blind and then move to Delta
State where they celebrate thieves and common criminals.”
To those who insist on Tuface being an unlikely saint and so stand
disqualified on the roll of those that could cast the proverbial stone, I
would argue that he never sought to cast himself in that role. To the
best of my knowledge, what he sought to do was merely galvanise like
minds to engage the government on the raging issues of the day; the very
issues that define our existence such as being echoed in bars and
street corners. These are the untamed cost of living that have left most
households pauperised; the collapse of industries, of the national
currency; the unprecedented below par performance of Buhari’s ministers
in the face of the dire emergency, the continuing meltdown in state
institutions and the apparent lack of direction all of which have bred
despair in the polity.
The problem, it appears, is that a high flier has chosen to lead the
charge in seeking to articulate the very issues that agitate Nigerians
daily.
In aborting the protests, the federal government may have spared itself
the embarrassing spectacle of watching the hordes of angry, frustrated
Nigerians rant to no end about its supreme incompetence before a global
audience in the age of the new media; that no way diminishes the tragedy
of that botched outing nor the weight of their undelivered message.
However, let’s even Let’s assume that the government is able to put down
the resurgent culture of civil protests – which seems increasing
doubtful in the age of the new media – what about the problems of
governance created by its own inertia that is at the heart of the
distrust and ill-will? Would these also be decreed out of existence?
Now that the messenger is at least temporarily out of the way, the
question is – what becomes of the message? Put it another way: why do
the people rage? Why the anger?
The answer is not hard to hazard: not in our recent history have we seen
an administration utterly lacking both in direction and cohesion. But
then, that itself is an understatement. How do you describe a government
which after bungling the budgetary process shops for alibis? A
government that has made such a mess of its Mid-Term Expenditure that
the National Assembly could not but sneer at what it described as its
sophomoric effort? Imagine an administration laying a $30 billion loan
request before parliament with no specific projects attached to the
request? How bad can things get? And considering how bad things are,
where is the sense of emergency?
Think of members of the nation’s Economic Management Team – the monetary
and fiscal monetary authorities –working in cross purposes with each
other. Only in Nigeria can this be contemplated –at a time of dire
emergency!
Where are the strategies to get our industries revving back to life?
Where are the strategic plans to wean our industries off their
dependence on imported raw materials and hence foreign exchange in the
medium term? In short, where are the clear-sighted, forward-looking
strategies to get the nation out of the current challenges other than
the same old, tired ideas that brought us to this point?
Left to pick between #IstandwithBuhari and #IstandwithNigeria, the choice should be obvious.
