By Abdulrasheed Ibrahim
Honestly, this is not an interesting period for the country. While some Nigerians are threatening to go on protest to demonstrate to the government that they are suffering, the government is busy mobilising prominent Nigerians to prevail on Nigerians not to go on with the protest. There is no doubt that it is the constitutional rights of the Nigerian citizens to hold peaceful protest or demonstration, but the question is that in this part of the world, can we truly have a peaceful protest or demonstration?
Organizing a peaceful demonstration to some extent is one of the differences between the White People and the Black People as in the exercise of such right, while the former may display high level of maturity and comportment, similar thing may not be guaranteed about the latter particularly in the African Continent. The historians will not forget easily in recent time the incidents such as “Arab Spring” in Tunisia which eventually spread to Egypt, the “EndSars Protest” in Nigeria as well as the one that happened few weeks ago in Kenya. Except we want to call a spade a spoon, what prompted this set of protests were as a result of poor governance which most governments in Africa have subjected the Africans to despite the abundant natural resources the continent is blessed with but unfortunately lack of good and visionary leaders have deprived Africans the benefit of these wonderful resources.
In Nigeria, many till day are still licking the wounds of the ENDSARS PROTEST which at its initial stage then the leadership refused to take very serious until it was hijacked by the hoodlums and caused a lot of destructions. President Tinubu and his disciples must have seen the handwriting on the wall as the threats and fears already generated by the planned protest must have informed his decision to invite those that matters particularly the Ministers, the Governors, Religious and Traditional Rulers among others across the country pleading with them to prevail on the Nigerians to shelf the planned protest. I am of the view that by the fears already instilled in the minds of the President and his disciples, the Nigerians that are planning the protest have won the battle by getting the message across to the Tinubu Government that there are hardship and suffering in the land even if they had pretended not know or those closer to President are not telling him the truth that the Nigerians are seriously suffering. The fact that the President has been inviting people to Aso Rock is an indication that the Government of President Tinubu is afraid and as such Thomas Jefferson, a former President of the United States of America have been justified when he said: “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny”.
With the present situation, if the protest is no longer to hold, the Nigerian people have already won in the sense that the government is already jittery and agitated. Forget about the boost going round on the part of the government that they are not afraid as that was only meant to safe face.
With the level of hunger and suffering presently on the ground all over the country now, it will not be in the interest of anyone to carry out any protest whether in a particular venue or on the street that will not be peaceful. I am not denying the right of people to stage protest but with the way some people have already been frustrated and suffering from hunger and starvation, peaceful nature of the protest may not be guaranteed as some hoodlums who are desperate may hijack the protest to perpetrate criminal activities. There are people that have become so fed up of living and depressed that they now resorting to committing suicide like hanging themselves on the trees, jumping into rivers and climbing the communication masts shouting they are fed up living. There are those that would go to the midst of a gathering and blast off themselves. Can this set of people be allowed to be part of any protest or demonstration?
We unfortunately live in the part of the world where a lot of positive things are expected from the politicians when they are going about campaigning in preparation for the elections promising this and that but when they eventually get to power, they become something else and dash the hope of the people that entrusted them with power. If it took President Tinubu 30 years to prepare and eventually become the President of this country, what had been his plans for this country for that long period? One believes he must have been well familiar with the problems facing this country and the way to go about solving those problems before showing interest in contesting for the Presidency. Are what we are witnessing now were his plans for this country? I agree with those that have said his pronouncement during his inauguration as the President that “The subsidy is gone ” was a great blunder on his part and was not well thought of. The clamour might have been on the ground for long that the subsidy should be removed, but do you just remove subsidy suddenly without adequate plans on the ground so as not to hit hard on the people? Now that it has been removed, what and where are the benefits that have accrued from it to the people? The removal of the subsidy was done in haste without deep thought on its negative effect on the people and no reasonable plans on the ground to cushion its effect on people .
Production and availability of foods is very important in the lives of the people anywhere in the world. Foods first and every other things follow. Even leaders themselves cannot survive without foods. Despite the availability of vast fertile land in this country that are useful for the massive and large scale production of foods, the Government unfortunately is not serious about this aspect of the economy. There are varieties of food that can be grown and produced within a very short period from different parts of this country. President Tinubu once talked about production of Maize (Agbado), but till day I still continue to wonder why we are yet to have the Agbodo Revolution in this country in term of its massive production from the different parts of the country. Four years is enough for a very good Leader with great ideology to make meaningful and positive impact in the lives of the people as far as revolution of foods production is concerned. From day one this was the area the government should have hit the ground running by directing various States’ Governments to make large portion of land available for the production of foods with serious Federal Government financial intervention and supervision in that direction. The foods, fruits and livestock that can be produced in this country are unfortunately being imported into this country. If those countries have not taken agriculture serious, they will not be able to export their produces into this country. If Tinubu Government and his Governors really want to get it right, it is not too late to spring into action by listening to the right people that can honestly and frankly advise the government on the best way to go about this .It is not about rhetoric or phonetic but about vision and action. Those who are planning the protest have rolled about the video clip of Asiwaju Tinubu in 2012 playing the role of his title by leading a protest against the government of the day then. With the speech read then by Asiwaju during that gathering the present situation in the country now is worse than what was happening that time which he was condemning. If the present situation is comparing to what was happening then it was like jumping from frying pan to fire, President Tinubu might not have been sponsored by any cabals as he has claimed, but the best way for him to appreciate and compensate Nigerians that voted him to power is good governance that will alleviate their long suffering and hardship.
What has happened to the plan that the vacant lands in the various federal universities would be used for agricultural purpose? Has any step really be taken to actualize that? This can only be answered those government officers that made that pronouncement. It is not proper for the government to wait until people cry out about the high cost of foods or its scarcity before government officers begin to advise them to go farming.The government must create the enabling environment to make that possible. There must have been solid plans on the ground to take care of this if the government is really concerned about the welfare of the people as according to Bill Clinton, a former American President : “The glory of a good government is the welfare of its people…Good government rests on the rock of responsibility”. But sadly in this part of the world we have government officers living extravagantly and wasting of the commonwealth of the country without due regard to the welfare of the people. The number of vehicles that form the entourage or conveyor of our elected leaders are not exemplary enough. It is as if they are not sensitive to the lives and plights of Nigerians.
It is equally baffling that President Tinubu that earlier said he would implement Orasanye Report that had recommended the need to merge some government bodies and departments together to avoid unnecessary duplication of responsibilities, the same government still go about creating different offices contrary to the spirit of that report . While the government is dragging foot on the revival of its own Refineries to boost the local production and supply some government officers and people are trying to frustrate a private citizen trying to make one a reality in this country. If the government allows the efforts of owner of the DANGOTE REFINERY to be frustrated that will surely discourage the foreign investors from investing in this country as rightly observed by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina of African Development Bank that: “The whole disparaging of Dangote is uncalled for. It is self-defeating .And it is very bad for Nigeria. Who will want to come and invest in a country that disparage and undermines its own largest investor? Investing is tough .Pettiness is easy. It sadly sends a signal that the price for sacrificing for Nigeria is to get sacrificed”.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote deserves to be commended for his commitment and contribution to the economic development of this country as he has created a lot of job opportunities for Nigerians. He has succeeded where the government has failed and also in a country where many of its rich people are not interested in investing in the country except engaging in capital flight to the other countries. If the level of energy diverted to other businesses including the Oil and Gas by many rich people in this country are equally diverted to the agriculture, there is no way we would not be talking about many Millionaire or Billionaire farmers in this country today, but since agriculture is seen as poor people’s business and the government itself lack interest in such venture the starvation and collapse of industries become the order of the day. The Almighty God bless us with fertile land for our own benefit but we still expect the same God to come down from the heaven to assist us to till the land for food production.
In the other parts of the world those that see agriculture as a serious and important business are making it by becoming millionaires and billionaires. There is this Al- Rajhi Brothers in Saudi Arabia by names Sheikh Sulaiman Bin Abdulaziz and Saleh Abdulaziz with great investments in Poultry and Agricultural plantation. They are the owner Al-Qassim Dates Farm in Saudi Arabia which is in the desert but ironically in this part of the world where we have large portion of fertile to do serious agricultural plantation, those that have the means as well as the governments that have the financial capacity are not focusing their brain and policy towards that area of agricbusiness that has great prospect as predicted by Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina that : “By 2030, the size of the food and agric business in Africa will reach $ 1 trillion. So, if you are thinking of how to make money, that is the sector to be in”. Are those in government in Nigeria thinking along that line? It is not too late to get it right.
Among the major problems confronting the growth of agricultural sector today is that of the security where terrorists disallowing people from going into their farmland or herder allowing the cattle to straying into the farm land to destroy crops. If the government can place on the ground a very sound and good security network while specific areas are earmarked or designated for livestock and animal ranching with enabling law that provides effect sanction, sanity will surely return to that sector. Since the issue on the ground was prompted by hardship, hunger and suffering being faced by the people ,the earlier the government begins to get it right at all level the better. With brilliant, patriotic and visionary people on the ground whose advice those at the helm of affairs are ready to heed to the future of this country is prosperous if the right things are done.May our hope not become hopeless,God bless Nigeria!
NOTE: Anyone is at liberty to disagree with my above submissions as I will surely appreciate a balanced, fair and objective rebuttal.
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:abdurasheedibrahim362@gmail.com
28th July 2024
