Nationwide protests: Random musings

By Ochereome Nnanna

I received so many good wishes from friends across the social media space. I am particularly humbled by the efforts of those who took out space on Facebook to say the nice things that people only say of you when you die. These are: Chief Ireke Agbeze (Utuagba Igwo II of Abiriba); road safety czar, Nnamdi Ike-Akabogu; Ovie Okukulabe, Chukwube Emmanuel, Ifeih Ichaba Tony Oshoke (Welfare for life), Tayo Ibrahim and so many others.
Come tomorrow, Nigerians will come out in their multitudes for a nationwide protest initially billed to last for 15 days. It is coming under different hashtags: #EndBadGovernance, #EndHunger, #EndHardship, #TakeItBack, etcetera.
These themes are dramatically different from that of #EndSARS protest of October 2020. They are far more existential. Our very lives are on the line. We want a “change” from bad governance to a better one. How can you achieve “change” under a regime that was elected for 48 months but has only spent 14 months? The fear of our rulers is that people are calling for a military takeover or revolution.
Those harbouring dreams of “change” outside the boundaries of our democracy are playing with fire. A “revolution” will put everyone in danger because the hatred quotient in the system is too explosive. A military intervention is also a quixotic adventure. How are we sure that the new rulers won’t be Muhammadu Buhari’s boys who would pursue his Janjaweed/Fulanisation or even Jihadist agenda – with a loaded gun? How are we sure of anyone in uniform?
That is why I like the attitude my Igbo people have adopted towards the impending protests. It is no longer news that, officially, Ndi Igbo are boycotting the protests. This is quite different from those who have received bribes to publicly announce their “withdrawal” from a protest they have not even embarked upon.
Contrary to the speculations of traducers, Igbo boycott of the protest has little to do with the fear of being targeted. When aren’t they targeted? During the #EndSARS mayhem, their shops were looted. Political thugs profiled them as being responsible for the destruction of Lagos State Government property and the ransacking of the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu.
Also, after the 2023 presidential election, they were similarly profiled, attacked and disenfranchised. Boycott or not, they will be targeted. Igbophobia is a spiritual and mental illness akin to anti-Semitism which targets the Jews. It is Satan-inspired, and does not require anything to provoke it.
The logic of Igbo boycott of the protest is simple. In 2023, Nigerians had four clear choices: Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso. Obi, propelled by the pan-Nigerian Obidients Movement, provided a clear alternative for change. In the end, Tinubu emerged ahead of the rest, going by Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s INEC results. Tinubu is no stranger in Nigerian politics. His track records before, during and after his dominance of Lagos were not hidden. We all saw the trickeries he deployed during the campaigns, yet he scored enough votes to make it into Aso Villa.
Nigerians made a choice. They must bear the consequences of their choice, so that next time, they will think straight. That is the Igbo position. Definitely, we are all in the system, suffering together. Ndi Igbo culturally and historically have the capacity to handle and defeat adversity. They are the only major group you have hardly seen on the social media opening their mouths and nostrils wide and crying of hunger in the streets.
You hardly see them carry bowls and beg in the streets like the others. There is an Abiriba proverb: “The rat that gave me a bite and I survived, if it brushes you with its tail, you will perish”. This is the level of self-confidence that drives the Igbo boycott, not fear of being targeted.
As for those who are rushing to Abuja and their state capitals to collect handouts and announce their “withdrawal”, let them continue. The Federal Government and the state governors regurgitated APC’s “fake bishops” trickery to trigger cash-and-carry media conferences by all sorts of hired groups to announce their withdrawals. These will not stop the protests.
The demands of the protesters can be met through drastic measures. The president’s mandate for the NNPCL to supply Dangote and other refineries with crude oil in naira is great. He must follow this up with offering the crude at a discount to enable these refineries supply the domestic market at affordable price.
He must disband his humongous cabinet, chase away political jobbers and constitute a smarter cabinet copying the Olusegun Obasanjo model. He must expose and deal with terrorism financiers and oil thieves, even if they are his family members, and forge a contract with the citizens to flush out terrorists insecurity from our forests.
He must unfold an ambitious package of bailouts to rejig industrial manufacturing and agricultural productivity. Tinubu must end his dependence on ethnic and religious manipulations to survive in politics. There is an untapped goldmine of support base awaiting him when he wakes up the patriotic instincts of Nigerians. If he does these, he will not only end hunger and hardship, he will also end bad governance. That is what we want. Anything else is postponing the evil day, which will return bigger, soon!
Thank you, my friends!
I marked my official 64th birthday on Monday, July 29. I dedicated this year’s birthday to my Jehovah Rapha, because He has proved the Igbo name: Chikadibia (God is greater than doctors) true in my life. Oh Lord, we thank thee!
I received so many good wishes from friends across the social media space. I am particularly humbled by the efforts of those who took out space on Facebook to say the nice things that people only say of you when you die. These are: Chief Ireke Agbeze (Utuagba Igwo II of Abiriba); road safety czar, Nnamdi Ike-Akabogu; Ovie Okukulabe, Chukwube Emmanuel, Ifeih Ichaba Tony Oshoke (Welfare for life), Tayo Ibrahim and so many others.
God bless you all!

Ochereome Nnanna is a Public Affairs Analyst.