The hunger protest that ripped through the soul of the nation recently and the degree of bestiality that signposted it read much like a surreal fib. Fireballs of anger literally seeped through the streets of our cities and states for days. The fire might have simmered, but the sooty relics are still smouldering.
From the north to the south, save the southeast that was surprisingly quiescent throughout the period because the people decided not to participate in the protest, it was a ferocious display of angst. A hungry man, they say, is an angry man!
The level of inflation-induced hunger and poverty that are stalking the land is simply impalpable. Although headline inflation for July, 2024, according to the latest report of National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), dropped to 33.40 per cent from the 34.19 per cent recorded in June, it is like a drop in the ocean because the decrease is very slight(0.79 per cent). Prices of goods, especially foodstuffs, are still beyond-the-roof-top high. Misery and deprivations deepen almost daily. So does outrage heighten. Hence, the beastly displays are quite understood.
Sadly enough, however, we all came out of the protest with a bloody nose: The president who failed to seize the precious momentum in his state-of- nation broadcast; overzealous security agencies whose personnel failed to act professionally but caved in under provocation to hunt down unarmed protesters; the genuine protesters who had their constitutional right to peaceful assembly unfairly strictured and some sent to the world beyond and the rest of us who felt so disappointed at the manner the whole exercise was botched up.
Discernible watchers of events days to the protest would not be surprised that it all turned out this way, going by the hair-raising hysteria that seized the government and its security appurtenances over the protest at the planning stage.
The security’s microscopic intelligence network had picked the bothersome information that the protest would be disastrous and violent. The Directorate of State Service (DSS)specifically warned that some enemies of the country were planning to hijack the protest, slated for August1–10, 2024, not only to foist anarchy on the rest of us, but attempt a regime change.
We too saw what they saw. It is not as if we possess any power of clairvoyance, but from cognitive analysis of videos and audios that trended on social media as the organizers were mobilizing for the protest, we sniffed a whiff of trouble, that the kind of protest that some quite irreverent elements were planning was portentous of anarchy.
We had warned, in parts, that what they were planning was “a conspiratorial manoeuvre being orchestrated using the current hoopla against hunger in the land as a perfect disguise. It is a despicable contrivance capable of plunging the nation into chaos and bloodshed once again…”
Our surmise was a certitude, a bullseye for accuracy.
We took that position to warn a week ahead so that the security agencies would exploit their vast intelligence networks to ferret the organizers, sieve the grains from the chaff, hold down the heinous elements among them and thoroughly quiz them to fish out their shadowy backers.
This way, the coast would be clear for protesters with altruistic intentions to ventilate their grievances in a peaceful manner, as guaranteed them in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). But this was not to be.
It was perceptible from the beginning that the government and the security agencies were so panicky that they probably did not want even the peaceful protest to hold. So, with that mindset, anyone who dared to venture out to protest at all, to the security agencies, was either a rabble-rouser or a potential trouble maker to be dealt with.
Or how else can we situate the law enforcement agents’ predilection for firing live ammunition, mauling down defenseless protesters in this modern age? Agreed, many of the protesters in many states, especially the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Bauchi, Katsina, Jigawa and Plateau, as had been ‘predicted,’ actually crossed the red line and went on a despoiling, destruction and burning binge.
As a matter of fact, the alleged plot by fifth columnists to hijack the protest for sinister purposes appeared to be real. In some of the northern states like Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Jigawa, which were the hotbeds of fireballs, the protesters took all caution to the wind. Not only did they indulge in extensive degree of larceny, many of them, mostly underage, were raising either the Nigeria Army flag or that of Russia. They were openly calling for coup or Russian intervention!
The Kaduna senator and popular human rights crusader, Shehu Sani, gave a revealing eyewitness account of the situation penultimate week, especially in Kaduna, when he featured on Channels TV’s Politics Today. He said: “On Sunday in Kaduna, we saw people sharing money to some youths and sharing Russian flags to them also.”
He continued: “The next morning on Monday, we saw the youth in large numbers storming the streets with flags of Russia, looting and violently destroying public and private property.
“If anyone tells you that those protesters in the north brandishing flags were out because of hunger, it’s a lie. I can say it boldly and credibly that those boys were offered money and flags to stage a revolt against government to instigate a coup.
“Take it from me, there’s a deliberate attempt to overthrow the Tinubu government by some folks in the north here, who hid under the hunger protest to do what they plotted with flags in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.”
So, in many theatres of protest, the security agencies were clearly provoked. However, in many other places, they were glaringly impatient and overzealous; they did not act professionally. They allegedly resorted to firing live bullets, gunning down about 17 protesters. Reports said seven persons were killed in Kano, six in Niger, three in Kaduna and two in Jigawa. While one other person was allegedly shot dead in Kubwa express way, Abuja, four met their grisly end in Borno through an explosion.
Why will the law enforcement agents resort to using live ammunition when they were in possession of toxic gas and pepper spray? If those anti-riot instruments were inefficient in containing the protesters, did they not have rubber bullets that can effectively temporarily demobilize rather than kill rioters?
What about hapless and unarmed journalists who were doing their legitimate job of covering the protest but were seriously manhandled by the security people, even after identifying themselves with their Identity Cards? How savage can a modern security force be in quelling a protest by defenseless persons?
Our security agencies, especially the police, have a lot to learn from their counterparts in the United Kingdom, which had a similar experience almost about the same time. For over a week, cities of UK were literally set on fire by rioters protesting against asylum seekers after a misinformation trended on the social media following the killing of three girls.
The level of savagery the UK rioters displayed in such an enlightened country was simply unthinkable. They razed down buildings and police stations as well as attacked blacks with anything in sight, including acid.
But in the face of the volatile situation and the rioters’ vile displays, the UK police maintained their professional mien, even when many of them sustained injuries while trying to contain the conflagration. They did not kill any of the rioters. It is now that rioters are now being made to face their deserved retribution.
Then, President Tinubu somehow squandered a great opportunity to thaw the rioters with his state-of-the-nation broadcast and failed to trade tact for more time that he really needs. Throughout the broadcast, made the fourth day of the protest, the speech projected the president as a cavalier leader who appeared to be oblivious of the level of hardship and misery in the land. Yet, from his public conduct in the past, the president cannot be described as petulant and unfeeling because he has proved to be a listening and responsive leader.
Where is the missing link? The lacuna could probably be traced to the speech writer. And that is not fair to Mr President! Not only did he fail to address any of the protesters’ demands, he kept reeling off long-term measures his administration was taking to beat the nation’s tottering economy back to reckoning.
Yes, long-term measures that will revive, grow and steady the economy are also essential but much more essential are quick fixes that will tame the prowling ghosts of hunger. It is said that a farmer who has just cultivated a large swathe of land and planted yam on it will need to survive first by finding something else to feed on in the meantime, to be able to enjoy the bountiful yield from his large farm later!
Hence, what people need now is a carefully phased regime of immediate/short-term, medium-term and long-term measures that will balance the development equation. The immediate measures are to keep body and soul together so people could survive first to enjoy the fruits of the long-term measures Mr President was dishing out in his broadcast.
And the palliatives, in cash and kind, that Mr President keeps inundating the states with could have, to a certain extent, ameliorated the pangs of hunger but for poor distribution network that ensures that they do not get to their destinations.
The Federal Government keeps sending those things to the governors without a concomitant feedback mechanism to ensure they get to base. But the truth of the matter is that the palliatives do not reach the vulnerable population who actually need them. That is why the yelp of pains and hardships is so vociferous.
A recent case was cited of a governor who hoarded his state’s share of the latest palliatives of 20 trucks each containing 1,200 25kg bags of rice with an intent to re-bag them and divert them for campaign! But the hunger protesters were said to have stumbled on the warehouse where those items were piled up. They plundered the whole consignment!
The Federal Government needs to immediately put in place his own independent distribution network of his trusted aides and allies in each of the states to ensure a good and equitable distribution of palliatives among the vulnerable segments of society, to prevent a repeat of the hunger protest that could spew out of control next time.
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