Should it go ahead as planned or advertised in the media in the last few weeks, the so-called #EndBadGovernance protest would as likely as not end with a whimper rather than the bang that many of those who had canvassed for it and others in government who have opposed it had anticipated. The fact is that the entire architecture of the protest has in the last few days transformed into something like a sinking ship from which every passenger has been scrambling to bail out despite the obvious sense of panic and anticipated danger in official circles. This sense of anxiety has pushed the government into overdrive in its reaction.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
While simultaneously mobilizing the security agencies, traditional rulers, tertiary institutions, parents and other stakeholders against the planned action, government has pushed out a slew of measures aimed at assuaging the concerns of those threatening to protest. There is a reason I’m not calling them protesters in this instance and I’ll come back to that shortly. But government is not leaving anything to chance and has been deliberate in its response even when we all know the best response is to address the immediate food, transport and security needs of Nigerians now, not in the future. If this government, including its counterparts in the states and local governments, could do that now and cut down on wasteful and ostentatious expenses across the board, then it would have no need for panicky responses.
Two days ago, President Bola Tinubu signed the minimum wage bill into law. Hours after that, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, promised police protection for those planning to protest. Days before this, the president and several other key figures in his government, including leaders and members of the National Assembly, had assured Nigerians that they had heard the grievances of the people, particularly the youth that are the expected foot soldiers of the protest. All of this sounds good but none of it can bring food to the table immediately.
Political leaders have assured Nigerians they have heard their cries while carefully increasing the decibel from its propaganda machine that paints a picture of chaos and end-time disaster that any protest is bound to result in. This picture of chaos is accompanied with veiled and sometimes not-so-veiled threat of reprisals on persons found participating in any violent act. They concede the right of the people to associate and protest but at the same time affirm the right of others to operate without hindrance and the duty of the state through the security agencies to protect everyone, including the protesters.
But amid the back and forth between the government and its agents pushing against the protest and those asserting their right to protest, the anti-protest campaign continues to gain traction, with many drawing attention to the fact that no one of significance has openly identified as the face of the protest aside those that have issued bland statements of support for it. None of the prominent civil rights activists known to have led such protests in the past had identified with it. Key opposition figures like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi that have spoken in support of it have been quick to qualify their position. The best any of them could do and the farthest they would go was affirm the right of the people to protest.
They have been eager to remind the world that today’s rulers who would not hear a word about protest were in the vanguard of previous protests against a sitting government that eventually lost power. The security agencies’ claim that some foreign elements, including fringe groups like Boko Haram, were standing by to muddle the waters seemed to have found listening ears. Foreign agencies, embassies and high commissions in the country do not appear to have an appetite for any protest and have issued their usual travel advisories to their citizens. Even the United Nations has not been left behind as it took the unprecedented step of advising against any protest at these times.
All of these warnings have fed into and lent support to the position of government that the protest is liable to be hijacked by hoodlums waiting on the sideline to cause trouble in the manner of the #EndSARS protest of October 2020. The deep wound from that episode is yet to heal nor has the smoke from it settled. These and other considerations have obviously left every person or politician of consequence wary of being associated with the protest. The likes of Omoyele Sowore, ever ready to join any anti-government protest, has been doing so this time around from the distant safety of America when he appeared on Channels Television’s “Politics Today”. None of the known leaders of the #EndSARS protest could be seen anywhere making a case for the latest protest. Not Falz, not Mr. Macaroni or the civil rights advocate, Segun Awosanya.
In short, this #EndBadGovernment protest is a near orphan with no known parentage and is looking increasingly like a headless mob. Aside those hoping to launch a career in activism, no prominent person or visible group would own this protest despite the cacophony that has been created around it on the social media. This means, should it go ahead and should any unfortunate consequence follow it, nobody will take responsibility. Which is why it’s safe to refer to those behind it, not as protesters but people threatening to protest. At the end, they may not go beyond issuing threats from the safety of their homes while a few drifters convinced of their own irrelevance take to the street. This is why tomorrow’s protest, projected to last all of ten days, seemed doomed to fail barring any unforeseen circumstances.
It was motivated by and seem borne of the support of sore losers who can’t yet live down the loss of the 2023 elections. They’ve been casting around for a way, any way that could lead them to victory, including inciting regime change. The spontaneity that can lead to or justify the violence that many feared could be the outcome of a protest led by faceless groups or individuals has been undercut by the many days and weeks of meticulous planning either to execute or forestall it. Shorn of its spontaneous element all that is left is artifice, an organised mob action, that will invite the justified ire of the authorities should it get violent.
Yet, there are good reasons for Nigerians to protest at these times. If not for any other reason than that the entire machinery of government, from the federal and state to local government, has the urgent need to address the cost of living crisis in Nigeria now. Enough time wasted already.