By Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh Ph.D, DBA
For starters, Nigeria is effectively a slave republic. With a proposed salary take-home of N70,000 per month, which is less than N2300 per day, compare this to the price of average plate of food that is more than N6500 per plate. Realistically, this means that a federal worker in Nigeria can only afford one meal, 2-3 days in a 7-day week. He goes completely without food for 3-4 days every week. The stomach protesting. Saliu an administrative assistant in one of the new generation banks was kidnapped on his way to work, and has not been heard from, for over 2 weeks now. To protest for Saliu is a luxury no longer available. Emem is a hypertensive patient of over 10years with a monthly salary of N120,000 per month. Until Tinubu came, she spent an average of N11k on blood pressure medication. For the past one year, unfortunately, the medication has moved from 11k to 52k for a pack of 28-day dosage. Emem now takes her medication once a week, otherwise she cannot transport, eat or pay house rent. She even considers herself lucky to have a job, a job that is threatened daily be the worsening economic situation. She too is protesting. Afam is a barrow pusher in one of the popular eastern markets. Afam lives in a one room with 4 other colleagues, he hires one barrow for N500 daily, plus daily taxes of N50; he makes about N2500 on the average. So Afam has a daily net income of about N2000 or a little less. Recently, the government imposed heavy taxes on the owners of the barrows. He now hires them out for N1,000 daily. Afam’s daily government taxes has also increased to N500 per day leaving him with less than N1000 daily. Afam too is protesting.
Just few days ago, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman expressed regret building Africa’s largest refinery and opted that NNPC should buy him out. He told the world that cronies of those in government with employees of NNPC are blending low quality fuel in Malta and selling to Nigeria. Stories are rife that the blending plants are owned by Nigerian officials stealing crude and blending them overseas. Recall that Mr Peter Obi has at various fora alleged that those stealing Nigeria’s crude are inside government and NNPC. Aliko is also protesting.
For clarity, people are saying they are hungry, there is insecurity in the land, massive looting of the commonwealth, incompetence of government, brazen nepotism, weaponization of our diversity, uncontrolled and needless sleaze elected and non-elected elites, grand-standing and profligate luxurious consumption by the political class, a NASS out of tune, an over bloated government budget, irresponsible removal of subsidies on energy, mindless destruction of citizen’s property and businesses by both federal and many sub-national governments, etc. But the government’s only response has been – endure, be patience, don’t protest. They have recruited their willing tools – the traditional rulers, oros, masquerades, confras, Asaris, Imams, bishops, ulamas, shirks, sultans, Ezes, Obas, Ovies, Tompolos, governors, NASS members, ministers, corrupt politicians, ethnic jingoists, regional warlords, to stop the peaceful protest. But they will fail, the people have only seen those who are their enemies, after all, birds of the same feathers flock together. These later day preachers are the beneficiaries of the many brown envelopes and imported luxurious vehicles now shared like groundnut seeds to these greedy accomplices by both federal and sub-national governments. These vehicles are not Nord, Innosson or other local brands, but imported luxury items with borrowed scarce forex. The have exported our jobs and brought home poverty, unemployment, insecurity and instability. They are deaf, dumb and blind to the suffering of fellow countrymen.
Protest or the threat of it is the only thing that gets the tone-deaf Nigerian politician to start talking to their people. One more reason this protest must happen and be sustained. Afterall, even their so-called palliatives of sharing cups of rice and maize to citizens are hijacked by the political class and shared to themselves with drops falling to their APC foot soldiers. They have not bothered to discuss the real issues; they are not willing to give up any inch of their excesses but want Nigerians to commit mass suicide. Instead of all the threats and fear mongering against protests already happening, why not focus on what the people are clamouring for and start addressing them, many wonder. They are stone-hearted like Herod’s. Their weapon of oppression is poverty, hunger and violence.
Tinubu has undertaken a mission of what Friedrich von Hayek called The Road to Serfdom. But there is a limit to what Power alone can achieve. Thomas Sowell dwelt extensively on this power limitations and summarized that a time comes when the people will rise against their oppressors. By that time, ethnicity, brown envelopes, Igbo-phobia etc, and all known tactics will fall by the wayside. The political class may even succeed in using force and coercion to stop the coming peaceful protests, but they would have succeeded in enabling a very violent one. Let those in government remember that August 1 is the beginning of the push-back, the revolt, the determination to birth a new Nigeria and nothing, no force can stop it. Even those being financially induced cannot stop the resolve of the people who are now desperate.
But President Tinubu can avert this coming tsunami. Let him begin to address in truth what ails Nigeria. Let him engage with Nigerians. Speak to the people.Show you hear and feel their pains. Few days ago, NNPC advertised openly for the first time in history for job openings, where are the others like CBN, Ports Authority, etc. The country after all belongs to us all not to the connected few.
The president must not wait for darkness to descend upon us before looking for light. People who feel betrayed all these years by the political class are no longer waiting for promises. The president must begin the dismantling of the oppressive Nigerian rent-seeking political structure. Convoke immediately a national dialogue with the aim of reducing the size and structure of the government; send a bill to the national assembly for a unicameral part-time legislature; send the national dialogue to the NASS for passage into law; recognize the 6 regions and formalize the 3-tier structure of Federal, Regional and State governments. Overhaul the electoral system such that a party must have up to 51% of the votes to form a government. It doesn’t make sense that with 30% of the votes, stolen and rigged, APC is bulldozing its way like a bull in a China shop.
Cut salaries of public officers, bring back fuel subsidy that is transparent and productive, tackle insecurity, open the borders for food to come in momentarily, support Dangote to ensure all local energy needs are refined locally. Stop the brazen display of wealth by the political class. Deal with food inflation, show the people that the political class is remorseful and r making sacrifices.
What are the alternatives, those who are close to the government will insist they can forcefully hold the people down, using hungry and angry policemen, hungry and angry soldiers, hungry and angry touts, but the hunger and anger will unify them with the people. Let no one tell you how to protest, we are already protesting individually. As we step out on August 1, we are only expressing what we have always carried in our hearts, anger, hunger, desperation, etc. Since the political class has shown incurable madness, let the people’s madness begin!
Dr. Ezeh, an industrialist and politician writes from Enugu