By Oliver Okpala
It was the South African reggae icon, the late Lucky Dube who sang “It takes a million people to build up a good reputation but it takes one stupid fool to destroy everything they ‘ve done. The world knows your people as the most violent in the world. Take it upon yourself to restore your nation’s dignity” quite instructive indeed.
And as one ruminates over the events of the past few weeks in Nigeria, these lyrics leap out from that evergreen song as the nation grapples with the impending threats of a planned protest in Nigeria over what the organisers refer to as widespread hunger in the land.
The social media has been abuzz with reports of various groups planning the nationwide protest from August 1st to 10th, tagged “10 days of rage,” which the organisers insist is to address the country’s soaring cost of living and economic hardship.
But the ruling All Progressives Congress APC has explained that the issues raised by the organisers can only be addressed through constitutional amendments.
According to the party, some of the issues highlighted by them are political, while others are constitutional matters that can only be addressed through the amendment of the constitution, which is on-going at the National Assembly.
President Bola Tinubu had appealed to those planning the protests to shelve their plans and have confidence in the government to address most of the economic challenges facing the nation.
The government has met quite a number of challenges since coming on board and is gradually implementing programmes to bring succour to the people.
Quite instructively, the United Nations department of safety and security has warned that the planned protest in Nigeria might be hijacked by groups with ulterior motives.
In a threat and risk assessment, the UN expressed concerns about the possibility of violence, citing past instances where similar protests in Nigeria escalated.
An earlier experience of a similar action tagged Endsars protest came with a lot of ‘sorrow, tears and blood’ to borrow the lyrics of the late Afrobeat king, Fela Anikulakpo Kuti.
That protest which had its lead point in Lagos was perharps started with good intention but along the line criminals infiltrated thair ranks and it turned sour. The pains of that experience is still fresh in many hearts.
Many did not even live to tell the story while those who survived are still full of tales of woes.
Merchants of violence and terror who always lurk around for such opportunities took over the show and it did not end well.
There was wanton destruction of lives and properties which people had acquired over the years with their sweat and blood.
Lets not also forget that between the 13th and 16th of February 2023, tensions generated by the paucity of new Naira currency reached high levels amongst the civilian population, which materialized in violent protests in the South-East and South-South regions including the states of Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Imo, Kwara, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, and Rivers.
During that civil unrest, several bank branches and ATM points were vandalized, and major roads were blocked.
So, as the turnout for the ’10 days of protest is expected to be high, large-scale disruptions to normal economic and social activities cannot be avoided.
Confrontations between groups supporting the government and those disagreeing with its policies cannot be ruled out.
While acknowledging the economic hardship in the country, some organizations and leaders of ethnic groups, such as the Igbo apex socio – cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, are discouraging participation in the planned action.
This possibility of the protest being hijacked by other interest groups and detractors, thus complicating the security landscape is a dreaded reality.
Already so many residents of Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt are sending their families back home for fear of what may happen.
This would not augur well for anybody.
There is therefore the need for peace and sanity to prevail as the nation grapples with this planned protest.
The nation cannot afford to go back to the kind of pandemonium in the past.
There are those who are ignorantly excited about what is happening in Kenya. Those who are knowledgeable should tell them that we have already been through our own protest. Kenya should not be a model for Nigeria at any label. Rather they look up to Nigeria.
If some persons are complaining that there is hunger and starvation, is it by engaging in violence, thuggery and brigandage that we can salvage the situation?
Where has violence ever solved a problem? It rather creates more poverty. So it would be preposterous to try to solve poverty by creating more poverty.
Will violence produce the food being talked about by the planners?
What we should be talking about is that policies and programmes should be put in place to salvage the situation and not resorting to violence, which this planned protest would ultimately lead to.
Whatever the people are complaining about can be tackled through dialogue.
With talks a compromise can be arrived at to the benefit of all segments of the country.
This administration is just a little over one year in office and should be given more time to get its policies and programmes right and off the ground.
If we are patient there would definitely be an improvement in the standard of living of Nigerians.
Even in developed countries it takes time for government policies to yield.
Even good policies cannot bear fruits over night.
Even in the holy bible the only tree that grew and matured in one day died the same day.
Great things take time to come to fruition.
Economics is not microwave.
In Kenya, the protest which began peacefully has left many dead with more maimed.
They confronted lawfully constituted security operatives who tried to save the nation from going up in flames and the outcome was chaotic.
That kind of uncalculated endeavour would not earn the nation any good.
Since the president himself has sued for peace, this should appeal to the conscience of all Nigerians including the aggrieved who are behind the planned protest.
President Tinubu has clearly shown that he is a leader who prioritizes peace, tolerance and people centered policies.
Nigerians should see reasons to shun any protest that could snowball into crisis and chaos.
The path of peaceful resolutions of issues through dialogue is still the best.
No matter how well intentioned the planned protest could be , it could be hijacked by criminals and miscreants that can trigger ill wind, disaster and catastrophe for the entire country.
We call on parents to rein in their children and prevent them from being used as cannon folders.
One cannot rule out the possibility of trigger happy security operatives because there are bad eggs in every system.
Besides, no government would fold its arms and watch the nation it swore to protect go up in flames. No leader would watch public infrastructure built with enormous resources being destroyed by criminals masquerading as protesters.
No government would sit idly and watch the hard earned properties of its law abiding and hardworking citizens be carted away or destroyed by free loaders or individuals harbouring hate who see the protest as an opportunity to carry out their nefarious activities.
The civil society must see reasons to dialogue with the government and give the administration a chance to address their grievances.
A word they say is enough for the wise!
We cannot destroy what we have to demand for what we do not have.
So, let there be peace !
• Prince Okpala, a political analyst, writes from Abuja.