Hardship: Messages From Concerned Nigerians To FG 

AUSTIN OBOH 

Angry reactions against the worsening state of the nation came this week from prominent Nigerians, including former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, and former Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Archdiocese, Cardinal John Onaiyekan. Their interventions underscored the appalling hardship Nigerians experience presently. Incidentally, one of Nigeria’a foremost activists, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to carry out, along with other activists, another nationwide protest from October 1. This, however, will throw the country into another precarious condition, according to critics. 

FLAMBOYANT LEADERS, HUNGRY CITIZENS 

While assessing the state of things in the country, Cardinal Onaiyekan called for a policy review by the Federal Government to minimise the current economic hardship in the country, pointing out that “you can’t tell someone to be patient with poverty while we see the people who are supposed to address our poverty live flamboyantly.” 

He made the call in an interview with journalists on the sideline of a Marian Concert organised to mark the 2024 feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Abuja. 

According to Onaiyekan, “There is a limit to what people can handle. You can’t tell someone to be patient with poverty while we see the people who are supposed to address our poverty live flamboyantly, building huge mansions and having fleets of cars without caring how they are fuelled, whereas the rest of us are queuing to get a few litres of fuel. There’s a need to review some of the policies that are giving rise to the kind of pain and poverty that we are not familiar with. We are not used to this. The middle class is now being completely wiped out. Everybody is now becoming poor.” 

Similarly, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria’s last military head of state, called on the federal government to come up with measures to alleviate the present hardship in the country. He spoke on Tuesday in Minna, Niger State, when he hosted a delegation of Campaign for Democracy (CD), a Civil Society Organisation (CSO). 

He noted that hardship appears to have gone out of control and urged the government to put measures in place to address the hardship in the country. 

His words: “Everybody is crying because of this hardship and it seems to be getting out of control. People cannot afford three square meals, the issue of transportation, the hike in fuel price, the hike in school fees for the children and the lack of funds in everybody’s pocket is making life difficult for everybody. We will continue to encourage the government to introduce measures to soften the hardship. The federal, states and local governments should see how they can cushion this economic hardship.” 

He said as far as he was concerned, giving palliatives to the people was not the answer to the high prices of food and other items across the country. 

“The answer is the need for the government to flood and saturate the communities with food. Let the government buy food and sell it at lesser prices, so people can buy the food items of their choice, depending on their income,” the former head of state said. 

Recall that on June 12 (Democracy Day), about three months ago, Atiku and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) berated the APC administration for insulting the democratic ideals for which the hero of the Democracy Day celebration, winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election annulled by the military, Moshood Abiola, died. 

In a statement, he signed, Atiku said: “The past nine years has thrown up a regime of extreme hardship manifested in excruciating poverty and unprecedented levels of violence and insecurity upon our people. Sadly, the ruling APC is to blame for bringing forth this dawn of gloom.” 

He had added: “But the opposition political parties are even more guilty than the ruling party for the seeming lack of capacity to come together and galvanise a coalition that will retire the ruling party and articulate a plan of good governance that will earn the conviction of Nigerians.” 

He also said: “Today, the failings of the opposition parties to uphold the functionality of their existence is the major threat to our democracy. The earlier they realise that the fortunes of Nigeria lie in their forging a coalition, the better it will be for our country and the people.” 

He explained that the secondary purpose of declaring every June 12 as Democracy Day “in our country is to commemorate the history of the long journey of becoming a stable democratic country.” 

According to Atiku, “Truth be told, there’s no substitute to democracy as a form of government. Whereas our current democratic dispensation is a quarter of a century old, it will not be out of place to pay tributes to the sacrifices made by many patriots, chiefly among them Basorun MKO Abiola and his beloved wife, Alhaja (Mrs) Kudirat Abiola, Tafida Shehu Yar’Adua, and Alfred Rewane, among many others. 

“The historical timeline of the struggle that birthed this democracy is abundant with a series of coalitions and alliances amongst the political leaderships of that era to flush away the vestiges of military and dictatorial governance in order to return power to the people. 

“It is commendable that for 25 years we have witnessed an uninterrupted season of electoral politics. It is an unprecedented epoch in our history. 

“It is worthy of celebration and commendation must go to the people of our great country. I must also congratulate the political class for having embraced the rectitude of nurturing a democracy, as well as the civil society. It is important that all stakeholders continue to do their bit to ensure the sustainability of our democracy. But our democracy is not yet virile if it continually fails to deliver the promises of prosperity and liberty to the people.” 

The PDP had also criticised the APC federal governments since 2015, for desecrating the democratic principles, legacies and values which the late Abiola laboured and died for. 

In a statement, National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said: “It is distressing that our nation is observing the Democracy Day under a system that relishes in brazen violation of the constitution, election rigging, stifling and manipulation of opposition, muzzling of dissenting voices; undermining the judicial system and other democracy institutions in desperation to turn Nigeria into a one-party state. 

“More disquieting is that all the progress and gains made by successive PDP administrations in entrenching democratic practice in Nigeria have been reversed by the APC administrations. 

“Nigerians can recall with nostalgia the glorious days of the PDP at the return of democracy in 1999 to 2015, which period witnessed the expansion of democracy practice and dividend; notably the conduct of free and fair elections; adherence to the rule of law and principle of separation of powers, economic transformation, resulting in Nigeria becoming a preferred foreign investment destination in the world.” 

PROPOSED OCTOBER PROTESTS 

Given the present scenario, human rights activist and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, recently announced that more protests were coming in October. 

He spoke after he had been detained at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday. Sowore said he was detained at the airport by the Nigerian Immigration Service upon his arrival from the United States. 

He wrote on X.com: “I have just arrived in Nigeria from the USA at MMIA in Lagos; upon reaching Nigerian Immigration, my passport was seized, and they told me they had orders to detain me. This is not unexpected because I have always known that it is part of the broader clampdown by the fascist @officialAbat regime on dissent and their fear of the upcoming #FearlessINOctober revolt.” 

He was released shortly after and supporters who had protested his detention at the airport cheered and celebrated when they saw him. 

In an interview on Arise TV later on Sunday, Sowore addressed the planned ‘Fearless In October’ protest scheduled to commence on October 1, 2024. 

He said the protest was “part of a series of protests organised by Nigerians. We started on August 1, which was part of the ‘End Bad Governance’ protest. It was supposed to be a continuation.” 

He continued: “There were 15 demands that the government did not even attend to. Instead, the Federal Government arrested and detained a lot of people. They tied them with bogus offences, very outrageous offences of treason – for carrying placards. So, this is going to be a continuation of that.” 

He said the mobilisation for the October action had been on since the end of the #Endbadgovernnance protest which was held in August. 

“Everybody is aware, the government is aware of this. Everybody is looking forward to it because it’s a matter of right that Nigerians have to not allow this government to obliterate them with hunger, starvation, and incompetence,” he said. 

He added: “It is treason to arrest, detain, and forcibly charge citizens with crimes that the government committed. And it’s not the first time I was accused of treason. In fact, I heard about the offence of treason in 1992 at the University of Lagos when we went and did Babangida Must Go. And the police arrested us at Western Avenue Police Station, asked us to start writing statements under duress, and said that we wanted to overthrow the government. That was the period that Olusegun Mayegun was President of NANS. 

“I was charged with treason in 2019 by Buhari, so I’m not new to these bogus offences of treason. But that is not our focus. Our focus is that we have a country to liberate and a people to save. So whatever offences are thrown our way, we should not be discouraged. It’s up to the people to determine what constitutes the offence of treason. And I must say to you also that in 1994, Tinubu was accused of treason. If you remember when he was accused of bombing the Ejigbo depot by Abacha. So that was why he left Nigeria on exile. But in our case, we are not going to go on exile simply because the government is afraid of our package.” 

VOICES OF CAUTION 

But former British diplomat, David Roberts, has warned against the protests, saying foreign interests might be behind the organisers. 

Recall that a group, the Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens, had on August 28, 2024, in Osogbo, threatened to stage protests larger than August’s if the federal government failed to bring down the high cost of living by October 1, 2024. 

Roberts, who was director of the British Council in Nigeria, warned that foreign interests might use Nigerians’ genuine concerns to destabilise the country. 

He said: “In light of the wide use of Russian flags in the last days of rage protests and taking this new revelation by the U.S. Secretary of State, Nigeria ought to be very careful about the proposed October 1 protest,” the former envoy said in a statement yesterday, adding that “Nigeria should take more care and alert its citizenry to the truth about such platforms and their agents. At a briefing in Washington last week, Blinken accused an African media outlet of working for Russia, contrary to its claim of mainstreaming Africa’s interests. 

Recalling that many of the August protesters in the North displayed the Russian flags, Roberts admonished the federal government to take the threat of another protest in October seriously and take measures to nip it in the bud. 

The federal government, in the wake of the August protests against the rising cost of living, said the demonstrations were backed by external bodies and subsequently charged a Briton, David Wynne, and 12 other Nigerians with treason. 

Regardless, a United Kingdom-based Nigerian accountant and investment expert, Patricia Adenike Balogun, has urged Nigerians to have faith and confidence in the capacity of President Bola Tinubu to turn around the economic fortune of Nigeria. 

According to her, President Bola Tinubu is well endowed with all accounting and management tools, including the right leadership qualities, to transform the Nigerian economy to a prosperous one. 

Speaking from London in a Zoom interview with Nigerian journalists in Abuja, Balogun said accountants were the best set of professionals that could lead a country out of recession because they were visionaries, innovative and risk takers. 

Balogun, an accountant herself, said the president could leverage on his background in the profession to task his professional colleagues on planning policies capable of reviving several sectors of the Nigerian economy made comatose by the harsh situation in the country. 

She said government should reduce the tax burden on small businesses in order to help them navigate and survive the current economic challenges. 

“Accountants like President Tinubu are best to lead a country out of a recession. They are visionary, innovative and risk-takers. Although traditionally viewed as professionals who focus on numbers and data, their role is more dynamic. He has been trained with the capacity to drive growth and embrace innovation. Their analytical skills as accountants give them the capacity for data-based decision-making.” 

She credited the accounting profession with facilitating the development of trail-blazing IT software currently driving innovations such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA) embraced by the Nigerian government, as well as FinTech and e-commerce platforms. 

She said: “Accountants have the capacity to drive growth and we are innovative. The analytical skills of accountants that make them excel in analysing data are very crucial in a time of economic uncertainty because we use the data we analyse to back the decisions we make. We have the risk assessment method of finding financial risks, along with different scenarios, to produce healthy outcomes. We have very good capacity in strategic planning. 

“We know how to use multiple scenarios and models to differentiate which features will facilitate planning for risk-mitigation. We are very good at problem solving. When you have financial challenges, if you bring an accountant, they are able to use their skills to basically adapt and find changing landscapes in implementing different corrective measures in terms of the time of economic action. 

“In terms of being leaders, we create, we use data, we analyse data, and we are able to use them to bring financial health back to a business, to an organisation or to the country at large.” 

Balogun stated that accountants had been drivers behind the adoption of the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) that has enhanced transparency and accountability within companies and within the country generally. 

According to her, “During the privatisation policies of the 1990s and early 2000s, the accountants put together measures to help in ensuring that business outcomes were achieved. In the agricultural sector too, the nation should not underrate the advantages that accountants and the accounting profession can bring to bear on the nation’s search for socio-economic solutions. 

“Accountants have the capacity to drive growth, and we are innovative. The analytical skills of accountants that make them excel in analysing data are very crucial in a time of economic uncertainty because we use the data we analyse to back the decisions we make. We have the risk assessment method of finding financial risks, along with different scenarios, to produce healthy outcomes. We have very good capacity in strategic planning. 

“We know how to use multiple scenarios and models to differentiate which features will facilitate planning for risk-mitigation. We are very good at problem solving. When you have financial challenges, if you bring an accountant, they are able to use their skills to basically adapt and find changing landscapes in implementing different corrective measures in terms of the time of economic action.” 

All eyes are on the Federal Government to review some of its policies that have impoverished the masses in order to pave way for reforms with human face.