Who did this to us?

When people find themselves in situations that overwhelm them, it is not unusual for them to ask, “Who did this to us?” Some express it in other forms as, “How did we come to this?” or “Do we really deserve this?” Many Nigerians are at this tipping point now. To some, life has literally lost meaning.

When you see some citizens walking on the streets these days, you would notice that they are talking to themselves. Yes, soliloquizing, not as in drama or mental challenges but because they do not know when and where the next meal will come from. Three striking instances within the month speak to the helplessness in the land. We shall take them in order of occurrence, starting with the adamancy of Nigerians to remain in Lebanon in the face of the conflict between the country and Israel.

Since the unprovoked attack on Israeli citizens by elements of the extremist Hamas organisation on October 7, 2023, Israel has been up in arms against people and nations suspected of providing support to the terrorist group. Hezbollah, an organisation which shares anti-Semitic sentiments with Hamas, is domiciled in Lebanon and perceived to enjoy the cover of the government. For that, certain sections of the country have come under missile attacks by Israel’s defence forces.

In response, many countries have been evacuating their nationals from Lebanon. But in the case of Nigeria, out of the estimated 2,000 citizens in Lebanon, only 500 had by last week indicated willingness to be taken out of the war theatre. The rest prefer living and perhaps dying in Lebanon to returning to their fatherland. That speaks a lot.

Within the same period, this time in Lagos, a video of Nigerians filing out to collect Bible and loaves of bread from a Caucasian missionary in the Ajao Estate area of the state made the rounds on social media. The clip showed both men and women queuing to collect the items. A man who recorded the moment and shared a video online said the scene indicated how hungry people were. Such sights are associated with countries at war, under pronounced natural disasters such as drought, earthquake, hurricane surge and other unforeseen occurrences. Nigeria is not afflicted with any of such acts of disequilibrium. But the lots of the people are not better. In a technology-driven era that has shrunk the world to a global village, the sordid video will be telling our story in other parts of the earth.

As if the national shame of the Ajao Estate incident was not enough, another viral video showed some Nigerians blocking military trucks and calling on soldiers to take over the reins of power. The location of the incident was not stated but the protesters anchored their demands on the growing hardship in the country. Recall that a similar situation nearly played out during the August 1-10 nationwide protest against hunger, when some youths in the northern part of the country openly brandished Russian flags on the streets and hoisted some at strategic points.

Now, these are disturbing instances that should give every Nigerian serious cause for concern. Open invitation for military takeover rankles mostly. It can only take extreme unpleasant experiences for a people to invite the soldiers to rule over them. Military rule is an aberration. The soldiers are not trained for civil leadership. Theirs is a system fashioned on command and control. When informed analysts argue that the worst form of civilian administration is better than the best form of military regime, it is not for fun. The first move by a military government is to take away the constitutional and fundamental rights of the citizens. That instantly makes them robots of sorts.

I grew up with experiences of the Generals Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo military administrations between 1970 and 1979. The interregnum of the Shehu Shagari civilian presidency of 1979-1983 made a lot of difference. Nigerians had the worst form of military rulership in the period of Generals Muhammadu Buhari (1984-1985), Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993) and Sani Abacha (1993-1998). As a middle level officer in the industry, we were among the reporters that monitored the dictatorial tendencies of the Babangida and Abacha regimes. Attempts by the two Generals to remain in office by whatever guises met with stiff resistance from the media and other activist groups.

Each time I reflect on the heroic battles to drive the soldiers back to the barracks, I have reasons to pray that the democracy we currently enjoy does not slip away from us. I recall in particular the epic encounter of the five million-man anti-Abacha protest in Yaba, Lagos, of March 3, 1998. I keep recalling, as if it were yesterday, how some of us, young reporters, lay on the rail tracks to dodge bullets from trigger-happy soldiers and policemen detailed to disperse the protesters. On such occasions, my mind runs back to how news filtered in from the Ojuelegba axis of the front that popular activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Olisa Agbakoba, had been arrested by the security goons. We actually saw him momentarily dumped at the back of a police van with a bruised face. We were about being discouraged by that gory sight when from the Jibowu end, the peoples’ lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, SAN, marched on and invited the soldiers to shoot at him. His appearance energized the struggle. Some of us that witnessed the actions survived to tell our stories. But the likes of Bagauda Kaltho, were not lucky. They paid the supreme price.

This is not the route any Nigerian with his mind intact should crave for in inviting the military. It is good that the Defence Headquarters has warned those making the call to desist. We do not need any military intervention in any ramification. But the lesson of the invitation to the soldiers is the extent of desperation that the people have been pushed to by the harsh economic situation in the land. That also explains Nigerians queueing for loaves of bread from a foreigner or refusing to be evacuated from Lebanon. When an otherwise proud people succumb to such piteous despondency, something is wrong.

Things have really gone bad for the citizens. President Bola Tinubu and his administration must act fast to remedy the situation. Eighteen months in the saddle should be enough for Nigerians to feel the promises of his election manifesto. The people have had enough of propaganda. It is time for the real deal, as Americans would say.