The 10-day nationwide anti- hunger protest being planned for August 1-10 is in parts an intrigue that is portentous of anarchy. It is an ominous echo of disaster. Ordinarily, protest is a normal, legitimate and constitutional right of every Nigerian, provided it is conducted in a peaceful manner.
Truly, the situation in the country at this stage has become a bummer, deserving of angst and protest. The level of hunger and deprivations stalking the land has almost peaked into a slough. But we can hardly afford the kind of protest some vile characters are planning.
It is 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.
Like we posited earlier, the hunger and misery ravaging the larger population are becoming rather unbearable. Accentuated by the consistent spiraling inflation, shooting the prices of goods and services almost beyond the rooftops, the situation of things has drawn most Nigerians almost to their wits end, their survival instincts having been stretched to fervid limits.
The negative outlook of the economy, arising from the government’s harsh reforms, is becoming grimmer and grimmer. The latest report of the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) put the headline inflation in the month of June, 2024 at 34.2 per cent from 22.8 per cent in June, 2023 and 34.0 per cent in May, 2024.
The food inflation rate for the month of June, 2024, according to the NBS report, was 40.87 per cent on year-on- year basis, representing an increase of 15.62 per cent compared to the 25.25 per cent rate recorded in June, 2023. This, the bureau said, was sequel to increases in prices of items such as millet whole grain, garri, guinea corn, bread and cereals class, yam, groundnut oil and palm oil.
“The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending in June, 2024 over the previous 12-month average was 25.25 per cent, which was 11.31 per cent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in June, 2023(24.03),” NBS explained.
Manufacturers and other organised private sector operators last week cried out, lamenting that they are reeling under the weight of increased costs of doing business.
The operators, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN), the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture( NACCIMA) and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association(NECA), at various fora last week, attributed the socio-economic woes confronting the nation to what they called hastily implemented government’s policy shifts at the inception of the current administration, without corresponding plans to cushion their negative effects.
The President and Chairman of Council, NECA, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi, at the 67th Annual General Meeting(AGM) of the association on Tuesday July 16,2024 in Lagos, lamented that the combination of fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate liberalization has significantly created market distortions and increased the cost of doing business, leading to a contraction in business activities since mid-2023.
He said these challenges “have pushed many of our businesses into the realm of mere subsistence,” adding that a number of the private businesses continue to exist due to the sheer determination and doggedness of the owners and investors who are committed to supporting the economy.
Adeniyi, who commended the government for some policies aimed at improving the operating environment, listed key concerns of businesses, which include depreciation in the value of the naira, increased customs forex rate for clearing cargoes, business antagonistic regulations, proliferation of provocative taxes/levies and overbearing oversight function of the National Assembly.
The MAN also identified foreign exchange(FX) volatility, inadequate power supply and high inflation as some of the topmost challenges manufacturers contended with in the first quarter of this year. This, the association said, led to a further surge in production and distribution costs by 20.7 per cent within the period.
The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said: “The subdued performance of the(manufacturing) sector is attributed to some ongoing harsh economic reforms that have compounded the problem.
“This is confirmed by the finding of the(Manufacturers CEO Confidence Index, Q1’24) report which reveals that forex scarcity, inadequate power supply, high inflation, rising energy cost, multiple taxation, policy inconsistency, exhorbitant interest rate, poor infrastructure and high logistics costs are the top 10 challenges depressing productivity in the sector.
“MAN expects government to frontally address insecurity, improve electricity supply, promote fiscal sustainability and ensure policy consistency.”
The Director-General of NACCIMA, Sola Obadimu, also lamented that the cost of doing business “continues to rise almost on a daily basis, adding that the development is not healthy for business operations or planning.
“Due to rising interest rates, MSMEs may not have the financial capacity to borrow. Large businesses may also prefer to downsize rather than borrow at current rates.
“With depressing production due to high cost of funds, unemployment may worsen with the possibility of an increase in crime rate. Unfortunately, in the midst of all these, there seems to be a deliberate effort to aggressively pursue tax drive policies. Certainly, there is need for an improvement in public finance management to ameliorate the harsh economic environment.”
To be fair, the government, especially at the federal level, has, in its own way, demonstrated that it is not unfeeling to the people’s strindent yelps of pain. It has attempted to mitigate the hardships through the students loan policy, making soft loans available to categories of vulnerable Nigerians and doling out grants, in cash and kind, to the vulnerable population.
From time to time, food palliatives are also dished out by the Federal Government through states to vulnerable Nigerians. The latest of such palliatives was the 20 trucks of rice despatched to each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory last week for onward distribution to vulnerable segments of the society. According to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, each of those trucks contained 1,200 25kg bags of rice.
However, many of the governors owe their people serious explanation as to what they are doing with those palliatives being sent to them or how they distribute them. This is because the vulnerable population for whom they are meant, hardly get them in many states. Cries of hunger remain strindent in most states in spite of the palliatives.
The long wait for succour has stretched the people’s forebearance to fervid limits. So, they are justified if they decide to let out pent up emotions through protest. It is their legitimate and constitutional right to do so, as long as it is peaceful and orderly.
However, some of those seizing the initiative to mobilize for the August 1-10 planned protest have their ulterior desire that is far from being noble and patriotic. They are intent on formenting trouble to even the score. They are a constellation of egregious, opposition elements on a vengeful mission. They are being fuelled by their rabid bull headedness and bad losers mentality.
Many of them were part of the bellicose vanguard who threw all caution to the wind in their rabid, Machiavelli-style desperation to get their master to power at all cost during the 2023 presidential election war. They lost. But they are yet to overcome the pain of the loss. They have, therefore, been baying for the opportunity to extract their own pound of flesh.
From the gravine, they were also part of those who hijacked the EndSARS protest. The protest had begun so well on October 8, 2020 and was progressing peacefully until hoodlums hijacked it and turned it into one of the most violent protests ever witnessed in Nigeria.
Within 48 hours, no fewer than 30 BRT buses, 17 police stations, public buildings and media houses were burnt down during the sponsored orgy of violence that overtook the EndSARS protest.
They are mobilizing again. You only need to watch and listen to viral audios and videos and discern the litany of threats and vituperations emanating from some of the irreverent elements mobilizing for the August 1-10 protest. You will think they are preparing for war!
Unfortunately, credible civil society groups, clerics and a broad spectrum of well-meaning Nigerians are unsuspectingly mobilizing for the same protest. The momentum is gathering. A Nigerian governmental organization(NGO), Community Advocacy for Peace and Strategic Leadership Initiative(CAPSLI), also had a presentiment of the whiff of trouble and admonished against it.
The NGO last Thursday raised serious concerns about the 10-day planned protest, saying it would have adverse effects on national security and public safety. “Intelligence at our disposal indicates that subversive elements, who have an axe to grind with the current political leadership, are currently recruiting vulnerable people to destabilize the polity, using the instrumentality of the planned protest as a disguise,” CAPSLI revealed.
In the statement, signed by its National Chairman, Akwuobi Francis, and General Secretary, Pius Pamela, the group acknowledged the challenges staring the masses in the face but posited that protests would only worsen the situation.
The group said: “From experience garnered over the years, there is the possibility that hoodlums and other enemies of progress will infiltrate the ranks of the protesters, thereby hijacking the process. This, no doubt, will trigger attacks with consequential negative effects on national security, peace and order in the polity.
“We, therefore, appeal to parents and guardians to rein in their children/wards, while stressing the importance of public support to enable governments at all levels deliver on their people-oriented programmes.”
We cannot agree more with CAPSLI. We plead with civil society organizations and other Nigerians who are feverishly mobilizing for the protest purely for altruistic intent. They should be wary of those who join them or those they combine forces with, to guard against playing into the hands of malevolent elements to avoid possible untoward consequences.
We have no other country than Nigeria. Of course, governments at all levels must be held accountable to the people, kept on their toes and be made to do the needful to mitigate the suffering and hunger stalking the land, but that should be done through well organized and peaceful protests and constructive criticisms.
Our country must survive. So, any protest threat laced with foreboding of violence is injurious to peace and national security. Security agencies must, therefore, be on high alert, switch on their ‘sixth sense’ on intelligence and stymie the evil agenda of the desperadoes before they hatch it. We must rein in heinous elements who, like the Biblical Samson, do not mind pulling down the roof over all of us through their irascible mode of protest.
