Right now, in Nigeria, the nation roiling, boiling, and burning. Nigerian youths have taken over many major streets especially in Lagos, the commercial capital of the country. In their bones is flaming angst, and in their marrows is infernal anger. They have come to a realistic conclusion that if true change will be etched in the spines of their country, it will come only through ordinary folks like them in concert with older fellows with gritty experiences and hearts of service; and never from incognisant and mythomaniac men in power whose gods are their bellies.
Man-made obstacles against good life and living in Nigeria are innumerable. They are fashioned out into existence by men who have always been in power alongside their recycled cruel cahoots. The human obstacles are in the oppressive cabals and Nigerian elites. Their knees are on the people’s necks. Our young people are not only protesting today’s government that wears the crown of incognisance about governance. They are also picketing a historical waywardness of leaders who are stuck in the past and destroying futures of generations unborn; a baneful banana republic where nothing works. These young people are not protesting a person but a system; the herald of which started in 1914 when a flummox like Nigeria was consummated in the laboratory of British slavery.
It is unfortunate that the peaceful exercise has been hijacked by hoodlums and men fanning the ember of ethnic division. But we know where the true protesters stand. In their hearts of hearts, this is a revolution. An organic and spontaneous response against protracted and prolonged acts of injustice and inequity by the ruling class. They brand it a revolution which is a reaction against repressive actions and leadership inaction. They call it a revolution because it is a cry for deliverance from the entrapping and ensnaring belly of hell woven around the ankles of the citizens by the Nigerian political class. Revolution songs, when sung, usually come with very loud lyrics chanting: “Enough is enough.
Nigeria exists only for a greedy and gluttonous few who are less than one per cent of the population. This miniscule minority at the top dish it out dirty to the remaining 99%. Authoritarians in authority spin the country around in circles of emptiness and backward spins. These elements with power and authority aren’t changing. They are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Nigerian youths are tired of that. Sensible patriots aren’t having it either. The whole world, from the Americas to the Caribbean and uttermost parts of the world, actions of our youths are called the beginning of a necessary revolution. But the powers-that-be call it a rebellion. They brand it a push-and-shove against constituted authority. They call it a spite, a slight, an insult and an assault on their power base. This is what the arrogant and haughty bunch of characters who bullied their ways to power are now saying. It is why they dispatched tanks and snipers in military uniforms under the cover of darkness slaughtering young unarmed children of other Nigerians whose only weapons were flashlights from their rickety iPhones and Androids. These ogres too have children they protect and hope to carry on their legacies when they’re gone to Gehenna.
Why are these people afraid of rebellion? Fredrick Douglass’ words remind us that rebellion is not the problem but the thing that caused it. What caused these protests in Nigeria are many. I will mention an itsy-bitsy few.
Nigeria has a bicameral legislature: The Senate and House of Representatives. An average Nigerian senator hauls home each month while serving a starving nation a basic monthly salary of about N2.5 million. Hardship Allowance 50% of basic salary. Constituency Allowance 200% of basic salary. Newspapers Allowance 50% of basic salary. Wardrobe Allowance 25% of basic salary. Recess Allowance 10% of basic salary. Accommodation 200% of basic salary. Utilities 30% of basic salary. Domestic Staff 70% of basic salary. Entertainment 30% of basic salary. Personal Assistants 25% of basic salary. Vehicle Maintenance Allowance 75% of basic salary. Leave Allowance 10% of basic salary. Severance Gratuity 300% of basic salary. Car Allowance 400% of basic salary. Total monthly cash haul = N29,479,749.00. An average lawmaker takes home about N360 million per annum. In a nation where about 120 million people considered poor cannot feed their families, this is a ridiculous price tag the people are made to pay very lazy and derelict politicians who have not moved the needle of progress one step since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democracy. In the current legislative session, freshmen lawmakers received about N5bn in a one-time “Welcome & Thank-you-for-serving” freebie. Outgoing lawmakers and governors will receive “Bye-bye & Thank-you-for-serving” windfall running into billions too. A few crooked personalities among them obtained loans from several banks ranging from N10bn to N100bn they never had the intention of paying back; and never did. What do the people get? Nothing, but the short end of the stick. May God judge them all.
An average governor when he leaves office gets this jumbo pay for life: Two houses, one in his state capital and another in Abuja. (Property experts estimate such a house in Lagos to cost N500 million and Abuja N700 million). Six brand new cars replaceable every three years. Furniture allowance of 300 per cent of annual salary to be paid every two years. Close to N2.5 million as monthly pension. He will also enjoy security detail, free medicals including his immediate families. Ten per cent house maintenance, 30 per cent car maintenance, 10 per cent entertainment, 20 per cent utility. And several domestic staff for life.
The World Bank classifies Nigeria as one of the five extremely poor nations of the world. Today, Nigeria’s economy is the biggest in Africa. By year 2030, the consumer arm of Nigeria will grow to be about 273 million in population, more than the population of France and Germany combined. While countries like Finland, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, for example, have devised new approaches to saving their economies, Nigerian politicians are stealing while they serve. From the governor’s mansion, to the lawmaker’s lounge and the president’s palace, Nigerian youths want their voices to be heard. This is why they are protesting.
Nigeria has about 200 universities, 150 polytechnics, monotechnics and Colleges of education. Altogether, Nigerian tertiary institutions reportedly produce about 500,000 graduates every year. About 47% of the country’s university graduates are unemployed; and about 80% of them are unemployable because they lack attributes such as analytical and good communication skills; among others. Our public schools, worse than public toilets, churn out degraded degrees and grounded graduates. Nigeria’s literacy rate is estimated at 61% with many out-of-school children. Young adults with limited literacy and numeracy skills have little hope of ever joining the formal workforce. Some 40 million Nigerian youths are unemployed; and 80% Nigerian graduates are unemployable. Nigeria’s public education is in total paralysis. A nation building its tomorrow on a paraplegic educational system will remain sedentary on the wheelchair of backwardness. That’s what these children are protesting.
If this is the beginning of a revolution, let it be known that it is not calling for the head of one person as a living sacrifice. It is a consensus communal summon that actuates the cleansing and fumigation of an aged wholistic system decked with foul odors. Until Nigerians fiercely resist oppressors, oppression will persist without abstention; and good governance will not subsist or given the requisite attention by politiciaco
Protests from the upset that provoke resets are those that are done resolutely but peacefully; strategically and with commonsense.
Credit: Fola Ojo, Punch