Can Government Persuasions Substitute for Good Economic Prosperity?

By Nashik Media On Jul 29, 2024

Earlier this year, PwC projected Nigeria’s poverty level to reach 38.8%, while the World Bank’s projection was about 40.7%.

As of June 2024, Nigeria’s inflation rate reached 34.19%, the highest since March 1996, up from 33.95% in May. Food inflation surged to 40.87%, driven by rising prices in essential commodities like potatoes and meat.

Core inflation, excluding volatile items, stood at 27.40%. Monthly inflation increased by 2.31% in June, resulting from fuel subsidy removal and currency depreciation. Projections suggest inflation may stabilise around 30% by the end of Q3 2024.

These and many more are the reasons Nigerians are taking to the streets in protest on August 1, 2024.

Many are now unable to make ends meet, with basic necessities becoming increasingly unaffordable. The rocketing inflation and poverty levels have compounded the sense of urgency among citizens, pushing the demand for immediate and meaningful government action to alleviate this plight, seeking for policy reforms that address the root causes of these hardships.

The national protest, themed, #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria is planned to take place across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Running daily from 9 am to 6 pm until the demands are met, several key issues have been outlined driving the protest. These include a reduction in the petrol pump price to ₦100 per liter, measures to fight insecurity and hunger, and the closure of all internally displaced persons (IDP) camps with resettlement plans for the campers.

Added to these, the National Protest calls for total electoral reform, an independent investigation into the ₦355 billion electoral budget, and the release of all detained #EndSARS protesters.

Further demands include the implementation of a minimum living wage of ₦300,000, compulsory free education from primary to secondary levels, and education grants at the tertiary level.

Protesters also insist that children of all public office holders must attend public schools in Nigeria, the government should patronise locally made goods, and they advocate for a transition to a unicameral legislature and judicial and constitutional reforms.

Organisers emphasise the protest’s peaceful nature, warning against smoking, drinking, or drug use on the grounds, and resolve not to back down until President Tinubu and his cabinet resign if any protester is harmed or detained.

“Nigeria is on the Path of Recovery”, Tinubu Tells Traditional Rulers

But the government is persuading the youths to give Tinubu’s administration more time to address these issues.

Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president, Media and Publicity, said, “Let me be clear, we are not in office to dominate our people, we are here to serve them. No one in our administration has the authority to deny Nigerians their right to peaceful protest.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has asked groups planning to join the National Protest to provide their details to state police commissioners.

He emphasised the peaceful nature of the protest and recognised the constitutional right to peaceful assembly. To ensure public safety and order, groups are requested to share their proposed routes, assembly points, protest duration, and contact details of organisers.

The IGP also asked for measures to prevent criminal elements from hijacking the protest and identifiers to help isolate troublemakers.

Nigeria has a rich history of protests and movements reiterating public dissatisfaction with various aspects of governance and economic conditions. One of the most outstanding recent movements is the #EndSARS protest in 2020, which was against police brutality, specifically targeting the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

This movement did not just highlight the issue of police brutality it also became a wider call for systemic change and better governance.

The protests garnered international attention and highlighted issues of government accountability and human rights abuses. Despite promises of reform, the grievances of #EndSARS continues, contributing to a continued sense of disillusionment among Nigerians.

Other protests include the Occupy Nigeria movement in 2012, which was a response to the removal of fuel subsidies and the subsequent increase in fuel prices.

This national protest saw massive participation across the country and led to the reinstatement of the subsidies. Also, historical protests like the Aba Women’s Riot in 1929 and the Anti-SAP riots in 1989 have also been important in impacting Nigeria’s socio-political sector.

These movements illustrate a persistent thread of public unrest and the willingness of Nigerians to mobilise for change. The upcoming protest on August 1st is part of this continuum, driven by economic hardship and governance issues, as well as the fight for a better Nigeria.

Tobi Adetunji says:

Obedience is Better than Sacrifice!!! Our Leaders Should Decide if Harkening is Preferable to Fatted Rams!!!!

Anytime opportunities present themselves to contribute in our little ways to the social re-engineering of the nation, it is always an amalgam, potpourri, or a mixed feeling of emotions, with the disturbing reality staring us in the form of facts and figures.

Mahatma Gandhi, a renowned non-violent movement crusader, aptly put it when he said, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”

In other words, what we are doing at the present sets the pace for what is to come. If that is correct, then swift action is important.

Events starting from last week indicate that all seems to be set for the August 1st “end bad governance” protest. Expectedly, the systemic and momentum-gathering of the planned protest has been greeted by raucousness, jarring, and dissonance of thoughts.

While some have linked the development to bad governance and the failure of the government to meet the people’s needs, others view the attendant effects of what is obtainable in Kenya recently should be avoided at all costs.

But what are the conditions that set forth the pace for the planned National Protest? Records from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) pegged Nigeria’s headline inflation at 34.2 percent in June 2024, up from 22.8% in June 2023 and 34.0% in May 2024.

Meanwhile, at the 296th meeting of the MPC held on 22nd and 23rd July 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria raised the MPR by 50 basis points to 26.75% from 26.25%. I will leave you and the economists with the implications of what these figures presuppose. But what is clear is that the prices of goods and services have ballooned astronomically.

On the other side, many have claimed that the $30 billion Foreign Direct Investment commitments already secured during the year are intended to grow the economy.

There is another school of thought: President Tinubu signed the 2023 Electricity Act into law, marking a significant achievement in the sector.

The new law focuses on enhancing the regulation and management of the electricity value chain with the active participation of the sub-national governments. This, thus far, has resulted in the process of devolution of regulatory powers to three states – Enugu, Ekiti, and Ondo – to set up their electricity markets.

Furthermore, the president gave approval to defray legacy debts owed to gas companies to allow efficient gas supply for the sector going forward and a payment mechanism to address generation companies’ debts.

But what prompted serious attention and soul-searching questions is that since it has been noted that the cloud has been gathering for the proposed protest, the people at the helm of affairs have been rallying around and appealing. From the traditional rulers to the religious leaders, recently some governors and civil society organisations expressed dissatisfaction with the planned national protest.

For us, we are tempted to ask if there are missing links somewhere in governance or policies? If not, why did our leaders quickly become an appealing machine, but would the hungry man listen to all these pleas?

Are we not supposed to be fed up, having been the sacrificial lamb for over a year without corresponding measures or a condescending stance from the leadership? Are the masses already at the extension limit?

No thanks to Hooke’s Law. These and many questions are begging for answers from those to whom the submitted will has been given. Or do we have insoluble problems as a people? For us, we don’t think we have a special problem, perhaps we have not taken up the challenge.

Let’s take a look at the ten eventful years of China’s growth. India was classified as one of the Fragile Five: Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey.

But what has changed? China has electricity production of 1,858 TWh, ranking it as the world’s 3rd largest from 2014 to date. Exports reached $765bn, from $336bn in 2013. Agriculture has made China the world’s producer of 12 agricultural products. In space, it became the 1st country to land near the moon’s south pole. FDI inflow was $971.5bn from 2000 to 2023. Maybe we should think.

We are of the view that if the policies of the current administration have been meeting the needs of the people as claimed, it may not be necessary to toe the persuasive line.

In this stead, a human rights activist and executive director of the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria), Rivers State, Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, said, “Mr. The President and his team, especially the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, would agree with Nigerians that the current situation is worse than what President Tinubu inherited.”

It is still far from what Nigerians, who are now hungrier, expected from this administration. Anyone can disagree with our opinions, but a check of the price of commodities at the nearest market will confirm or dispel.

Well, in the stead of the Arab Spring, or better put the #EndSARS movement, this proposed “end bad governance” protest will cash in on the power of social media in mobilising and rallying support.

This is very key and important because social media, also called the fifth estate, is most strongly associated with bloggers, journalists, hacktivists, and media outlets that operate outside of the mainstream media. This is not only going to give the protest a global outlook but also exposes the good and bad sides of leaders and followers alike.

For us, if the National Protest shouldn’t happen, those at the helm of affairs should get back to the drawing board and effect practical, measurable, immediate, and remote plans of action that will convince the masses that the sincerity of the government’s roadmap to ameliorating the plight of the people will be fully understood and appreciated. But a situation depicting “Monkey dey work, Baboon dey chop” will not work well.

It seems that the masses have borne the brunt for a long time without a corresponding sacrificial gait from the leadership. While we condemn the wanton destruction associated with uncoordinated protests, we crave the indulgence of the government to do the needful.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice. “The time is always right to do what is right.”