The recent protest, tagged 10 days of rage, has come and gone but it is still being talked about by Nigerians. No doubt, the protest was largely provoked by anger over mass hunger, deprivation and misery of millions of Nigerians. However, it has other undertones or subtexts which will specifically engage our attention in the course of the discourse. The pattern of the protest across regions speaks volumes of our perception of the country. While the protest raged with fury in the North, especially the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Kano and Kaduna, it was relatively mild and peaceful in the South.
In the South-East, it was greeted with studied silence and apathy as everywhere was quiet and on lockdown with residents sitting at home and probably ruminating their plight and marginalization since 1970. In the South-South and the South-West, the protest was peaceful and a mere expression of symbolism. The promoters of the 10 days of rage protest called it a nationwide exercise, but it wasn’t. The protest, no matter how it is interpreted by different commentators, has signaled that Nigeria is not one or united. It has shown that Nigerians can no longer speak with one voice. It shows that our fault lines are widening instead of decreasing. It clearly shows that the nation is highly fractured and divided.
It shows that we are not yet Nigerians. We are still a gathering of tribes or what some people prefer to call ethnic groups. Are we still a mere geographical expression or an imagined community or a truly united country or three nations in one? We became amalgamated as one country by Britain in 1914. We had our independence in 1960. It is sad that after our over 100 years of our amalgamation and our 64 years of existence as an independent country, we are still preoccupied with our tribes or ethnic nationalism, our own brand of far-right instead of our nation, its diversity and multiculturalism. Nevertheless, the protest has many oddities. What has flying Russian flags to do with hunger protest? Why calling for a regime change because of hunger? Why the monumental looting over hunger protest and carting away of commodities and electronics in shops and stores? Why carting away corruption case documents as alleged by Kano state government? Why should a tailor be sewing Russian flags in the name of hunger protest? The utter destruction and looting that followed the protest cannot be justified because of mass hunger. It is like a display of mass anger and fury.
Apart from some related groups, the beauty of Nigeria is its diversity as well as geography and good weather. Despite these characteristics, we have refused to subsume our tribal identities into one melting Nigerian identity, which will make us a great force in Africa and the world. Outside the country, we profess such unity and bond and brotherliness. But immediately we come home, the ethnic monster start bearing its deadly fangs.
Arising from the fallout of the 10 days of rage protest, it can be discerned that apart from leadership problem, Nigeria has also a structural problem. Besides these, it has a constitutional problem. It has a succession and electoral problem as well. It has problem with statistics, hence conducting a national census and accepting the outcome is a herculean task. It has problem with production of wealth and even managing our oil wealth. It has a problem of oil theft, pipeline vandalism and illegal oil refineries.
Its four refineries cannot and will not work despite huge funds expended for its rehabilitation. We export crude oil and import refined petroleum products at a high cost with a corruption-ridden subsidy regime, which President Bola Tinubu scrapped in May 29, 2023 but which many critics claim is still being paid through the back door. We have problem with rising cost of governance with our lawmakers being the highest paid in the world. We have problem with our sports development. Nothing advertised the confusion in our sports house than our recent abysmal outing in Paris Olympics where the African giant failed to win a medal. Despite spending a whopping N9 billion for the global sports fiesta, we came home with nothing. This is apparently a reflection of what obtains in the home front. This is the time to overhaul our entire sports and put the right men on the job.
Over time, many Nigerians have argued that the 1999 Constitution is unitary in nature and does not fit our country as a federation. They have maintained that the 1963 constitution or independence constitution took care of our federation and gave more powers to the federating units. However, both the 1979 constitution and the 1999 constitution gave more powers to the Federal Government. It gave the FG 68 items under the exclusive legislative list.
It is only in our federal system that the central government controls 68 items in the constitution. Prominent Nigerians have called for a restructuring of the country and ensure true federalism by devolving some of the powers to the federating units. Some have even suggested restructuring the country into six regions in line with the six-geopolitical zones structure so that each region can manage its resources and develop at its own pace. Those making these suggestions strongly believe that Nigeria cannot develop under the unitary constitution of 1999. They said that we need a people-oriented constitution written by Nigerians and not the one imposed on us by military dictators.
It is probably based on the above that the Patriots led by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja and demanded for a constituent assembly of three persons each from the 36 states and the FCT that will midwife a people-oriented draft constitution. The draft constitution should be subjected to ratification by a referendum. Members of the Patriots were convinced that we have reached a stage where Nigerians will sit together and decide the way forward. Failure to peacefully address our existential challenges will amount to postponing the dooms day. Other nations that neglected this kind of engagement had long disintegrated. They include Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Sudan.
However, this demand has attracted some criticisms. Elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, has advised Tinubu to exercise caution over the Patriots’ demands for political reforms. He called for more consultations with other stakeholders as any hasty move in that direction may cause crisis. Regardless of what the critics say, it has become imperative to have a new constitution without which Nigeria cannot move forward.
Before we midwife the new constitution, the government must begin to cut the high cost of governance. A country where senators’ monthly wage bill is N2billion and the minimum wage of N70,000 is not meant to survive. According to a Kano senator, each senator receives N21million a month as allowances or running cost. But the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) says each senator receives a monthly salary of N1 million. Which one is the truth? Nigeria cannot survive with a big federal government, 36 states and 774 local governments. Our governance structure is not sustainable. It gives room for endemic corruption.
The government should also tackle the endemic corruption in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). Recent reports show that some revenue-generating agencies failed to remit N4.1 trillion to the coffers of federal government as at June 2024. Unfortunately, most of the indebted agencies are in the oil sector. Although crude oil remains the government’s major revenue earner, yet the government has been unable to rein in the oil thieves. The operation of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) and the oil sector has been opaque, with little or no adherence to transparency and accountability.
The government should address this malady forthwith. While hunger will be addressed with food import and development of agriculture, other national and existential problems should be given a definite timelines to tackle. They cannot continue to be with us indefinitely. Let the government increase the funding for education and health sectors.