Come February 06, 2017, there shall
be a peaceful protest against this government. Sad. Sad because this government
came to power with so much goodwill that hasn’t been seen from the populace
since Hope ’93 election which a certain self-ascribed evil genius (I wonder
though if there is any ingenuity in evil) scuttled what would have seen Chief
MKO emerge as the president. We, the people of Nigeria were so patient with
this government for six rudderless months without ministers. The pump price of
petrol was increased from eighty seven to one hundred and forty five naira yet
because of our hope that this government would bring change, we accepted even
without commensurate economic palliative. This administration has spent twenty
one months and yet there is no clear cut economic policy, the naira is still
falling with such a great determination to reach the end of the chasm. Prices
of food stuff and common house hold items have skyrocketed and there is no end
in sight to this economic chaos. The lives of Nigerians have become more
ordinary, very inconsequential that mass killings are rewarded with terse
statements from the government. On insecurity, shall we talk about the menace
of the herdsmen or the ‘unintended’ bombing of an IDP camp by the Nigeria Air
Force in Rann killing over two hundred vulnerable people or the upsurge in the
rate of kidnappings? Kudos though with the progress in the war against Boko
Haram.
An anti-government protest is not
unusual, this is a privilege that democracy brings with it and the people can
decide to use that privilege when it becomes apposite to do so. In 2012, there
was an intense protest against the Goodluck Jonathan administration when he
removed fuel subsidy. We, the same people then are still the same people now.
The same way the people used their right to reject what was detrimental to
their commonwealth is also the same way the people will use their right during
this upcoming protest. Hunger and economic hardship do not recognize political
affiliations, whether APC or PDP so it is pure mischief for the government to
try and play the victim and read political meanings to this protest. Hope
deferred makes the heart sick. The people are just sick and tired of the
ineptitude of this government. This should be simple enough for the people at
the helm of affairs to know but this is Nigeria, the giant of Africa does not
reckon with simple things, after all, giants are made of tough stuffs.
I am not surprised that this
government through the various spoke persons and other shallow thinking,
politically biased individuals and groups have tried to discredit this protest
and the leading figures spearheading it. The Senior Special Assistant to
President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina wants us to believe
that those who are calling for the protest are
people who supported the last government and are still angry that they lost the
last election. According
to him, "…don’t forget the last election and how it went. Somebody scored
12.5 million votes, another scored about 15 million votes. There are some
people who are still in that election mode. They have not
gotten out of it and till today, they are still living and
"rheumatisizing" about the past. What they don't know is that that
past is gone and gone forever. Majority of those calling for the protest are
still in election mode. Majority of them are people that have resolved not to
see anything good in this administration simply because the man they wanted
lost at the polls"
This line of thought is just very sad
and he should know that there is a thin line between being a Man Friday and
living in denial. It also shows that it is the president and his team who are
still living in the past if they never let any opportunity pass them by to
refer to the last administration as the cause of their present poor
performance. Someone should please tell them that we were aware of the failings
of the Jonathan government that was why we voted President Buhari to usher us
to a glorious future and give us a clean break from a reckless past. This now
seems like an impossible task for this government. For the records, I support
the upcoming protest but I did not support Goodluck Jonathan in the last
election. I won’t forget how a brother who rides with me to church on Sundays
stopped following me because I just became repulsive to him, he couldn’t
understand my love for Buhari. Thankfully, our relationship is better, now when
he sees me he jokingly says ‘bro Yomi, I told you o, you didn’t listen’.
President Buhari and his team would
do themselves a greater good if they see this protest which is a combination of
‘wailing wailers’ and ‘collective children of anger’ as a wake up call, he is in
the second year of a four-year term, that is half-time. He still has the
opportunity to go to the dressing room with his team, assess the first half,
make the right substitutions and necessary change in tactics and come out
stronger, upturning the game to our admiration and relief in the second half. We are watching and so also are our voters’
cards.
follow @AbayomiGOmotayo on twitter
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