August 11, (THEWILL) – As the organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protest refused to back down and pledged to enforce their rights to dissent by organising a one million man-march across the 36 states of the country and the FCT yesterday, a set of new stakeholders with no religious, traditional and partisan interest engaged the Federal Government in dialogue amid growing restiveness in the polity. These set of stakeholders are counting the cost of the riotous past 10 days and drawing lessons from them.
A group known as The Patriots, led by a former Secretary of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, met with President Bola Tinubu at State House, Presidential Villa in Abuja at the weekend and demanded the immediate constitution of a Constituent Assembly aimed at producing a people-oriented draft constitution. Earlier, a group of five good governance and democracy activists comprising political warhorses like Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Clement Nwankwo, Professor Usman Bugaje, Kole Shettima, Ene Obi, Akilu Fatima, Uche Onyeagocha and Y.Z Yau had declared in a piece titled, ‘Nigeria at A Crossroads,’ that governance is collapsing as there is “a breakdown of public trust between the government and citizens” and unless government puts up policies that work, the country will crumble.
“That is the reality we are currently faced with, which is that no matter what the government expert is telling us, their policies must have a human face,” Dr Paul Alaje, Chief Economist and partner of SPM Professionals told THEWILL on Friday.
He said,“ I have advised this government that the current economic policy, petrol subsidy removal and floating of the Naira at the same time, can only break the back of our economy and I say this with all sense of responsibility. And you can check it out: Argentina implemented the same policy and it broke the back of their economy, the same thing happened with Venezuela. Even Russia did the same in the 1980s and 1990s until President Vladimir Putin came, put his feet down and benchmarked the Rouble against the US dollar.
“Ethiopia floated its currency recently. Call me back in nine months and let us see whether Ethiopia will not be among the poorest of the poor. It is a horrible policy. If you have a revenue challenge, do not take a shortcut; find revenue. And if you ask me whether we can find revenue, my answer is yes.”
FACING THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION
Speaking on behalf of the group to State House correspondents after the meeting with the President, Anyaoku who led other members of the group, namely former Ogun State governor, Segun Osoba, former Woman Affairs Minister, Paullen Tallen, former Adamawa governor, Bonnie Haruna, former Information Minister, Labaran Maku and Senator Shehu Sani, urged the Federal and state governments to engage the leaders of the protesters in dialogue. They also advised the security agencies to desist from using lethal weapons in the management of the crisis.
Dr Alaje, who maintained that he was painting a realistic picture of things rather than gloom by insisting that the way government was pursuing its current economic policies would further plunge the country into hardship, insisted that protesters were merely stating that the hope promised them during the campaigns were fading before their eyes.
“When promised hope becomes a fad, it makes the heart weak. So, when people who used to buy a loaf of bread for N800 found that it had suddenly jumped to N2,000 or the middle class that used to pay approximately N95,000 are now paying N150,000 for the same routes or those buying a sachet of ‘pure water’, for N5 now have to pay N50, it shows something missing in the conversation between government and the people, even if the policy is perceived to be good.”
For him, the cost of the 10-day protest in monetary terms stand at a little over N2 trillion based on the numbers SPM has been able to capture across the country, explaIning further that the amount does not deal with what would have been made in the past 10 days because the figure is a component of GDP and actually makes up roughly two percent of the GDP.
Speaking to THEWILL on Friday, Executive Director of Rule of Law, Accountability and Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, Okechukwu, Nwanguma, urged government to see the past 10 days of protest as an affirmation of “the fact that citizens have a right under a democratic dispensation to freely exercise their fundamental right to peaceful assembly, to peaceful protest and rallies to convey their dissatisfaction of policies and actions of government.”
On the part of the citizens, he said, “The citizens have been able to show that no force of arms can subdue the force of moral conviction. Government needs to listen to the voice of the people and engage in meaningful dialogue to resolve the dispute.”
GOVERNMENT MAINTAINS ITS POSITION
Insisting that his twin policy of petrol subsidy removal and floating of the Naira was the best option to “reverse the decades of economic mismanagement,” as delivered in his nationwide broadcast on Sunday, August 4, 2024, President Tinubu, who had also called on organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests to “suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity,” on Friday in the presence of the delegation from of The Patriots said, ”I am currently preoccupied with economic reform. That is my first priority. Once this is in place, as soon as possible, I will look at other options, including constitutional review as recommended by you and other options.”
Holding on to its position, the government directed its officials to launch an enlightenment campaign in the media and at the grassroots across the country.
Shortly after he ended his August 4 nationwide broadcast, the President’s aides on Public Engagement have sent its foot soldiers to the country’s six-geo-political zones to spread the administration’s gospel on economic reforms.
According to The Head of Media, Presidential Community Engagement Office, Ms. Seun Ajayi, at the weekend, the six Senior Special Assistants to the President on Community Engagement namely Moremi Ojudu (South-West), Chioma Nweze (South-East), Gift Johnbull (South-South), Abiodun Essiet (North-Central), Abdullahi Yakasai (North-West) and Abdulhamid Abba (North-East) will begin to inform the grassroots about government policies, projects, and programmes.
According to her, the presidential aides “have been tasked with returning to their communities in the geo-political zones to engage directly with citizens.
“Their mission is to ensure that the President’s policies and programmes are well understood and that public feedback is actively incorporated into the government’s agenda.”
She explained that the whole idea is to strengthen the relationship between the government and its citizens and the newly established Presidential Community Engagement Office, a crucial bridge between the Federal Government and local communities in Nigeria, is leading this initiative.
“As part of this effort, the office has introduced the Citizens’ Assembly, a nationwide programme designed to ensure that the voices of the people are heard and considered in national decision-making processes.
“This initiative aims to create a more inclusive and responsive government by facilitating meaningful engagements with the public.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, has started making the media rounds, beginning with a team visit to ARISE TV in Ikoyi, Lagos last Thursday to sell the government’s twin policy and then TVC and Channels TV. At ARISE TV, the Minister argued that before the introduction of the floating of the Naira, the currency became “a product of speculation and this was not acceptable to the economy”.
Idris disclosed that the government had already saved about N1.45 trillion from the removal of subsidy and the decision reduced the demand for petroleum by about 50 per cent.” His host and Chairman of THISDAY and ARIVE TV Media Group, Nduka Obaigbena, however, stated that although the removal of fuel subsidy was desirable, implementing the policy alongside the unification of the FX window at the same time overwhelmed the economy and submitted the government would communicate better to Nigerians with a lifestyle that is accountable and transparent.
WAY FORWARD
The Patriots Nigeria during their visit told Tinubu that Nigeria needs a pluralistic constitution to tackle its development problems.
Urging the President to initiate an executive bill to be sent to the National Assembly for approval of the constituent assembly to be constituted, they said the outcome of the constituent assembly, which should consist of three persons each from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, should be subjected to ratification by a referendum.
Dr Alaje emphasised the need to peg the Naira at N1,000 to the US dollar while the government moves to revamp the economy quickly. When reminded that when the Central Bank reportedly achieved that feat in April/May, 2024, it did so by foreign reserve financing, he declared there was nothing wrong in that as long as there was sufficient foreign reserve.
He said, “For crude oil, Nigeria is currently producing 1.3 million barrels per day as against 2.1 million that is expected of our nation. Then the volume of gold and bitumen and other minerals are sources of revenue in hard currency available in Nigeria, which are largely unaccounted for. So, why is it easy to devalue our currency, remove fuel subsidies, but the government looks away from protecting its own assets, including the pipeline? The question is how are gold, bitumen oil exports recorded? We often hear that a military task force has destroyed hundreds of illegal refineries. How do these illegal refineries get their crude? Government is serious work. If we don’t correct these illegalities and keep pushing the current policies, the economy will be broken. How long it will take is what I do not know.”
For the eight pro-democracy activists who penned “Democracy at a Crossroads,” three key policies need to be done to launch the country on the path of democratic governance. These are the strengthening of community policing to build trust through cooperation in society using indigenous knowledge and support through traditional institutions; Clean sweep of corruption through dealing with politically exposed persons because the high level of corruption is largely accountable for the prevailing hunger and poverty and broken system and lastly, tackling insecurity head on.
“As I have warned earlier, we should recognise that we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder if we fail to do the right thing. For instance, what the youth are demanding is very legitimate and they should be listened to. Why should they be denied what rightfully belongs to them? They are frustrated, they are hungry, they are angry, they are unemployed, and they deserve to be heard”, former President Olusegun Obasanjo alerted the nation during a visit of six House of Representatives members at his presidential library in Abeokuta on Friday.
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
