Nigeria is on edge. The political leadership of the country is doubly so. Things are presently not at ease. They have not been in recent times. Life in the country has, indeed, become backbreaking and brutish, as government policies, whatever their intentions, go for citizens’ jugular. For an overwhelming majority of Nigerians engaged in legitimate work, outside of government patronage, daily survival is now an arduous task.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), has a different reading of the situation in the country, though. Going by its recent assessment, Nigeria is not only doing well, the Tinubu government and its economic policies, are on the right path. To where? IMF did not say. Undertakers!

Having effectively played its part in driving Kenya’s President William Ruto to the wall, as it were, the IMF remains as consistent as ever, with its standard bitter pill-prescription in Africa. Poor Ruto! It is up to him now, as it is for every African leader that buys IMF’s disorienting prescription, to find a way out of what easily turns out to be a tricky noose. The man is presently invoking his forefathers to come to his rescue in Nairobi. He must have learnt the hard way, that when matters get to a crunch in the crisis that inevitably engulfs governments that swallow IMF prescriptions, redemption is never known to come from the Bretton Woods institutions. 

With Kenya on everybody’s mind and lips, the impending #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria protest, scheduled for the next few days, by a seemingly determined, but amorphous group, is, certainly a big cause for concern. Apprehension in government quarters over the planned nation-wide protest is understandable. You just never know with these things. An ordinary street march that started from mere remonstrance may snowball into a conflagration, the outcome of which can be indeterminate. It is natural therefore, that the government should be agitated.

Which is not to say that the guilty is afraid. Against the backdrop of the abuses and devil-may-care disposition that characterize public policies and disposition in recent times, however, it cannot be argued that the political leadership of the country is guilty of insensitivity, if not unrestrained greed.

The basis for protest by Nigerians against bad governance is anchored on glaring evidences stretching from biting hunger and excruciating poverty, to exploitation of citizens and corruption. Even for all this, nothing, speaks better of the case of insensitivity against the political leadership, at the moment, than the decision by the leadership of the National Assembly to lock up shop and embark on a lengthy recess, in the face of an impending national protest against bad governance. That does not reflect leadership, nor does it show sensitivity to the collective complaint of their constituents.

The focus of the planned #EndGadGovernanceinNigeria protest, as is fully captured in its tag, is bad governance, with the concomitant hardship it has imposed on citizens, in the last fifteen months that Bola Tinubu has been presided and the 10th National Assembly has been on seat. Addressing the problematic policies that have led to the deprivations and pains which the citizens are protesting, may not be accomplished overnight, but if there is sincerity of purpose, the Tinubu presidency and the legislature can commence the process of restitution in earnest. That will douse the tension that has taken the country in its grips. An honest national speech, anchored on integrity and humility, can hold out a new genuine promise of hope to the people.

Promoters of the impending protest, whatever their identity, speak, to a reasonable extent, for the majority of Nigerians. That is the simple truth. What are they asking for? An end to bad governance. Is there any honest citizen opposed to this demand? It will be interesting to know. How to achieve the goal of ending bad governance is, obviously, the knotty issue. This is where the strategy of running away, as the members of the National Assembly have adopted, does not seem to be helpful.

Related News

A much better and more practical attitude to addressing such dissonance as presently exist between government and the citizens, arising from bad governance, can be found in the words of the Scripture, in the book of Isaiah Chapter 1 vs 18, where God offered an opportunity to his sinful people thus: “Come let us reason together…though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are like crimson, they shall be as wool…”.

Put differently, the message is a call to individuals who have done wrong, as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary have obviously done to the rest of the society presently, is to come around for an honest discussion about what they have done and how restitution can be achieved. They can mend your ways. And they will be forgiven. 

The possibility of redemption does not exist, however, where the offending parties take off on a length recess, in the face of complaint by the offended, which is what #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria represents. The decision to run away to a safe clime, in the face of problem, reflects the leadership deficit in the Nigerian political system. Good leaders are like good shepherds, they stay to resolve conflict. They don’t go on recess because there is fire on the mountain. By the act of embarking on recess at this juncture, the distinguished senators and honourable members have elected to leave Tinubu to his devices. That may have its value, though.

So far, unfortunately, he is not exactly striking a helpful posture in the crisis at hand. Threat is hardly a helpful option at a critical juncture like now. Nor is blackmail and divisive, rants, such as individuals who make a living from political crises have been generating about the impending protest. Sobriety and readiness to reverse wrong policies hold the key.

As should be expected, the Military has issued a statement on the planned protest, threatening that it will not watch anybody foment rouble and cause violence in the country. Fair enough. The Department of State Services came out with its own statement too, claiming as usual, that it has discovered a plot by some unpatriotic elements to use the protest to destabilize the government etc. Very mundane. The Police was more entertaining in its own statement. It conceded that citizens have the right to protest, but then creatively asked those planning to protest against bad government to come forward and submit their names, addresses and possibly, passport photographs, to the Police, so that they will be issued a permit to protest. What to do? Civil Defence is yet to issue its own warning.

These are all, alright. They conform to what is expected of security agencies in such circumstances. But does that address the issue at stake? Of course, no! End bad governance in Nigeria. That is the message of the planned protest. Is there bad governance in Nigeria. Big time.

The argument by the government and its agitation and propaganda machinery, that the problems of the Nigerian economy or society did not start with President Tinubu, is right, but that is begging the issue. When a president takes a job, he assumes full responsibility for government affairs, past and present.  In any case, the Tinubu presidency is an offshoot of the Muhammadu Buhari’s whirlwind presidency.

It is not enough for President Tinubu to declare that he understands the pains the citizens are passing through. The primary assignment of the office he is holding, is not to understand people’s pains. It is to resolve them. That is what is expected of a president. If President Tinubu leads by drastically containing the expanding tendency for primitive accumulation by prime politically-exposed persons, their families and their cronies; if he ensures that political appointees and sundry political office holders and their kindreds are not cleaning out and living a life beyond their means hitherto; if he leads with fairness, integrity and in total repudiation of greed; if he ensures, as leaders of stable democracies do, that ordinary citizens, no matter how poor, have food to eat and basic social amenities at their disposal, if he does these, which are not so difficult to attain, he will have peace and Nigeria will have peace. There will be no basis for such campaign to end bad governance, as has pushed Nigeria to the edge. There will also be no need for such ludicrous situation as some individuals throwing up some outlandish local celebration into serious discussion of national issues.