By Emma Emeozor
The recent #EndBadGovernance Protests snowballed into an ugly and embarrassing phase when a group of protesters in some northern states stormed the streets, waving the national flag of Russia.
The Presidency nauseated as the misdemeanor of the protesters caught the nation’s security agents unaware. The act has since been described as overt breach of the nation’s sovereignty. Expectedly, Nigerians were not amused. Though the government said suspects who displayed the foreign flag have been arrested and would be prosecuted for treason, the matter has continued to generate public debate among Nigerians.
In this chat with Daily Sun, Olusola Ojo, a Professor of International Relations, backs government’s contention that the suspects committed treasonable felony. He believes that those arrested were not genuine protesters, rather; they were agents of fifth columnists who attempted to actualise their plot to destabilise the country and force Tinubu administration packing.
While blaming the security agents for failure of intelligence, he called for diligent, transparent, credible, speedy investigation and prosecution of any one found guilty. He also called on the government to address the demand of the organisers of the protests to ease the economic hardship facing the masses.
As an expert in International Relations, were you surprised seeing protesters displaying publicly Russian national flag?
I must say I was surprise that the protests took was not something I expected, though, I had apprehension before they started because of our #EndSars experience. I was thinking the protests could be hijacked and there will be looting, destruction of properties etc. As noble as the original course of the #EndBadGovernance Protests was, the consequences turned out to be very ugly. This new dimension to the protest was not something I expected.
Though protest is a constitutional right, I felt that the protests had achieved its objective even before the kick-off date. If I were to be one of the organizers, I would have said it should be put off because the government had started taking measures. What is the objective of a protest? It is to draw attention, to let people the public) to be aware of the problem so that they can put pressure on the authorities to act positively. Let’s face it, it is not about whether one is opposed to the government or one is against it.
The hardship we are suffering today is not something that started 20 years ago. And there was no time when there was no government in Nigeria. All the industries that were in this country in the 1980s had left the country and nobody raised a finger or a voice. That was the beginning and the economy collapsed. It was not even former President Mohammed Buhari who started the process that led to the current situation. So, by the time this man (Tinubu) got there, everything has collapsed.
You recall after former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla left office, she said that they were printing money to pay civil servant salaries but they did not make it public. So, the salaries were on borrowed economy, money that the country didn’t have, they were just printing money.
On top of this situation, the herders-farmers crisis started. The herders started driving farmers from their farms and burning villages, pushing in as far as the Southwest region. In the North Central region which was the nation’s food basket, not only farmers were unable to go to their farms, even the villagers were uprooted from their homes.
Surprisingly, all sort of nomenclatures were put into the scene. But it was not just a case of herders-farmers clashes, the herders wanted to take the land from the farmers by force. So, the consequences are many. We reap what we sow as a nation. We were forced to abandon farming by the insecurity in the land. So, I do not think that food crisis will not come down. What I’m implying is what we are facing today, the extreme condition that most people are facing is not magic after all.
There is nothing that the president could say that will bring food everywhere and bring down prices everywhere. I never thought that somebody will use the #EndBadGovernance Protests to want to overthrow the government, because that was what the use of the flags was about. I never thought it could get to that stage.
What is the implication of the action of the protesters for the country?
The implication is very clear, although we are just speculating because we don’t have the details ye. All we can say with certainty was that we saw at least the video of people carrying Russian flags. The security agencies have said they have arrested the tailor who was sewing the flags and six polish citizens. And when you look at what has happened Vis-à-vis what is happening in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali were military coups took place and the military leaders asked the United States military and that of their former colonial master, France, to leave and they were replaced by Russian forces, o, you can see the correlation.
It is a challenge that those arrested wanted to take over the government. I mean, if what we read in the newspapers is true, that is what they wanted to do, may be they wanted a Malian or Burkina Faso situation in Nigeria, that is, let the army take over power and they will expel the West. I want to believe that the thinking of the protesters is that the Federal Government is pro-West, so, if the army takes over power, Russia will come in and extend their presence in the region downward. It was a terrible and horrifying dimension.
Their action is treasonable. If there was another word stronger than that, I would have used it. Though it was Polish citizens and not Russian citizens that were arrested, I recall that Spaniards were arrested for helping Iran to breach American sanctions against that country. Therefore, anybody, any national can be used. Of course, the Russian Embassy has issued the expected statement of denial, even if they have found strong evidence against them, they will still deny.
What must government do to stop a repeat of such ugly protests?
You should note and of course, it is unfortunate that more than 90 per cent of those who participated in the protests may not have known the true intentions of the infiltrators who took over the exercise.
Also, note that 90 per cent of the people who were in the streets and indeed everybody is hungry and so, those who joined the protests think they were doing the right thing. Unfortunately, the masses are naïve, because of the hardship they are facing, so they are easily manipulated.
I have read in the social media that the government said four important northern politicians are being investigated in connection with the use of the Russian flag. So, what I think the government should do, the price of freedom is internal vigilance, we must strengthen our intelligence because it the failure of intelligence that has caused the government and the nation at large the embarrassment we discussing. The security agents ought to have gotten wind of it at the initial stage of planning and apprehend the plotters, they ought to have been part of whole process from the start. Good a thing, the display of the flag did not last for too long before they identified some of the people who were involved.
I must re-emphasis that intelligence must be strengthened. Our borders, particularly in the northern regions are too porous. Of course, the government must address all the issues that led to the protests, particularly the economy, though I don’t expect any magic that will make the president speak today and life will become abundant living tomorrow or the next week. Therefore, the government must work on policies that will address these issues so that those who are subverting the regime and indeed the country will find it difficult to succeed.
What is your reaction to protesters who march to foreign Embassies to stage protests against the Federal Government
First, let me also correct a statement you made, referring to past protests where the protesters march to Embassies of the United States, Britain, Germany and others to express their grievances against the government and its officials.
Note that this protest is different. When Bola Tinubu, Tunde Bakare, Gani Fawehinmi and Wole Soyinka were involved in protests, they were seen in the front of the procession and when it was time to make speeches, they mount the rostrum and address the people. But the leaders of the #EndBadGovernance protests were anonymous.
Unfortunately, the environment was ripe for the protests. Nobody can deny the economic hardship most people are facing. Today, you can hardly buy a tuber of yam for N15, 000, whereas it did not cost more than N300 few years ago in Ibadan where I live. And as we speak now, you will need N20, 000 to N30, 000 to buy the same size of tuber of yam. And consider rice that has suddenly become a staple food that Nigerians can’t do without. A bag of rice that uses to cost between N5, 000 and N6, 000 has now cost N90, 000. The hardship in the country is revealing, it is real.
Let us look at the investigation aspect of this matter. What is your expectation?
This is a very good question. I expect the security agencies to sit up and do a thorough investigation. Nigerians are looking forward to seeing diligent, transparent, credible, speedy investigation and prosecution of any one found guilty. It should not be business as usual where suspects or people who violate the law are apprehended, for example, for corruption and it takes years to complete investigation. These are some of the issues the government must address now. Because, there can be no development and indeed the economy can never improve in a situation where there is endemic corruption and lack of confidence in security agencies and the judicial system.
Corruption is one of the problems they must target. There mustn’t be sacred cows. Today, nobody talks of stealing millions again, it is billions of Naira. And once the case is reported, that is the end of the matter; you can’t hear about it again even when the matter has gone to court.
The government and the security agencies must know that Nigerians are interested in this matter. So, the outcome of the investigation must be made open to the public with names of all those involved irrespective of their socio-political and economic status.
Our politicians must also learn. Before the May elections in Britain, how many years was Labour Party in opposition? Almost one and a half decade. But they were working on themselves, on their manifesto, on their policies, on the mobilization of party supporters. Today, the party is back in power. Yet, they didn’t carry out actions to destroy or throw the country into the Atlantic Ocean.
There must be a change of attitude in our politicians. But change of attitude cannot be achieved by merely appealing to people. The law must be applied when necessary and of course appropriately to anybody who infringes on them, they must be prosecuted, it should not be like a family affair where settlement takes place or is canvassed.
Settling legal matters out of the glare of the public encourages disregard for the laws of the land. It should also be realised that it isn’t a must to win election. Rather, a defeated candidate and his or her party and supporters should carry out analysis to determine what went wrong and start preparing for the next election