This street protest will not harm democracy – ‘democracy’ will not be hurt at its birthplace or by its midwives. The protest is to reform ‘democracy’. But if perchance, democracy dies, not much will be lost. After all, to be reformed, and to be truly ‘born again’, one must first have to die in one way or the other!
The theory of it describes democracy as the “rule of people”. And, representative democracy, the variant we claim to practice, is said to provide citizens the means to have a say in governance, by enabling them to partake in the decision making processes of government, through their elected representatives; persons who are supposedly accountable to them, and who represent their interest. In practice, this is rarely so. As, once elected, these ‘peoples representatives’, turn unaccountable, representing every other interest, but the people’s. On this, and many other counts, ‘democracy’ falters. The one grievous misstep of our ‘democracy’ variant is that it has been assigned a price tag. Meaning it is saleable, it can be bargained for, and purchased. In which case the golden rule applies -‘He (or she) who has the gold, rules’
Chiefly because of this, the Nigerian variant of ‘democracy’ has turned shambolic. Elections are now farcical seasonal trade fairs, where the results depends on the amount of money spent. As is the case with mercantilist endervours, the rich political merchants, and their monied corporate financier counterparts, rule the roost. The political parties anchor their election campaigns on vote buying, the bribing of various groups, and on audacious electoral promises which they have no jot of intention to fulfill. Election-days are ridden with demagogic, thuggish violence, and voter turnouts are disappointingly low. Generally, elections are stolen – through brazen electoral legerdemains (voter register manipulations, computer BVAS frauds, etc), and by lawfare and judicial coups. Afterwards, power is handed over to parties with votes counts as low as 12% of the registered voters. Once ‘elected’ the so called winning party governs as an elected dictatorship (of the minority). It ignores and neglects the majority of its own members and supporters, especially the youths, who are deemed expendable cannon fodders; to be used and dumped. It gifts public offices and sincures to a close circle of ‘family and friends’, usually on the strict recommendations of an inner cycle of regime henchmen or “cabals’, and on cash n carry basis. In this way, it places sensitive ministries and agencies of government in the hands of incompetent and irredeemably corrupt dumbasses, who spend their time in office on character assassinations; dishing out vile insults, demagogic threats, and hate-mongering upon opposition elements – to the loud applauses of the ‘bought and paid for’ echo-chamber presstitudes of TV and newspaper punditry.
Nigerian democracy has become conflagrated by the insatiable greed of its ‘elected’ leaders and their dynastic oligarchic patrons, who take citizens for granted, regarding them as stupid inconsequential mulls or as called, in our local street parlance, ‘mugus’. They’ve made corruption their indelible trademark, wantonly raiding and looting the public purse at will. In the process, they sowed the economic crises which germinated a world-beating poverty that makes the gulf between the haves and have nots as wide as from earth to the Milky Way.
If ‘democracy’ truly meant citizens having a say in how they are governed as is claimed, and factually, it doesn’t, and if it’s alleged that the elected representative of the people have any care or regards for the interest of the people, why would they not bother to put to debate the double-whammy economy wreaking subsidy abrogation and Naira devaluation ‘presidential decrees’, and if found injurious, and not aligned to the best interest of the people, demand they be paused? Why would they not, first and foremost, console and compensate the hundreds of families who lost their properties and loved ones in mindless orgies of election violence, the victims of the demagogic greed of those now in power, before raiding the public treasury to reward themselves with vanity SUV’s purchases?, Why are they not overtly concerned about millions of graduate youths living in the hopelessness of unemployment? Why are they not howling mad, in their hollowed legislative chambers, over the ruined lives of hundreds of school children languishing in captivity in bandit camps around the country? And why are they not hurrying to appropriating money to cater for the wellbeing of the residents of IDP camps, those hundreds of thousands, who are living in sub-human conditions, and languishing in unimaginable deprivations and sorrow; the victims of internecine social crisis unleashed around the country by the demagogic patron-saints of ‘democracy’?.
Ever bold, this ‘democracy’ was quick to say ‘subsidy is gone’, and to ‘float’ the Naira, without consulting nobody, and without a jot of concern for the social impact on the people. Contrast this with the very similar SFEM scenario of the General Ibrahim Babangida led military junta in 1986. In that case, the military, with all the mortars, artillery-guns, MIGs and Alfa-jets at their disposal, opened and subjected the issue, from the beginning, to months of national debates, and consulted widely with every known shade of opinion and social interest – trade unions, academia, students and socio-cultural groups, etc Then, following arguments and counter-arguments, effected cushioning economic remediation measures before succumbing to the IMF/WorldBank compelled Naira devaluation. But, in the present time, when ‘democracy” makes up its bold mind no other voice can matter!
Hence, while commuters, workers and school children are stranded and forced to trek kilometers, because they cannot afford bus fares, ‘democracy’ luxuriates itself in N5billion yachts.
While public transport and private vehicle owners are stranded in filling stations with no fuel, ‘democracy’ acquires $150M presidential jets to assure its transportation.
While families go hungry because food prices have grown out of reach, ‘democracy’ satiates itself in N15B palatial mansions.
While factories and business places are closing down because of the high cost of energy, ‘democracy’ awards itself and its financier allies oil importation deals- to reap profit from ‘subsidy removal’ price increases.
While democracy is quick to reward its patrons and sponsors with N15 Trillion road contracts , it drives potentially jobless graduates, into pre-graduation debts with offers of ’student loans’, and demands the rest of us, the people, to lie down in silence, patiently take our ‘sorrows medications’, and wait for its “bold’ reforms to reach maturity!
Everywhere in the country, more and more people are mired in hopeless struggles just to make ends meet. With the unprecedented hunger and suffering becoming simply unbearable, the quite murmuring has turned to loud angry howls. Suddenly, deaf and dumb ‘democracy’ is surprised at why the people want to take to the streets. Well. ’democracy’, we’ve got news for you. It is all because, only the poor man feels this:
Gas price gone up
Bus fare gone up
The rent gone up
Light price gone up
The tax gone up
Car-parts gone up
School fees gone up
Tyme gone up
Scallion gone up
Bread price gone up
Onion gone up
Red beans gone up
Black pepper gone up
Chicken gone up:
Now the parents are angry, because their pikins are hungry.
They’ve got to find a solution to this pollution!
(Peter Tosh)
The government and its supporters accuse the people of thinking in the short term, of being blind to the bigger picture, the futuristic rewards of its ‘reforms’. But why should they be patient when the government is itself in ever greater haste to reward itself, its sponsors and agents, with the ‘dividends of democracy’. Why can’t government also make sacrifices, why can’t it say to its sponsors, patrons and agents, ‘you guys are already rich, so be patient, let ‘democracy’ first take care of the poor”?
A year plus, and ‘democracy’ have been very busy spending billions to ingratiate the extraordinary greed and consumerist opulence of predatory political and corporate elites, while showing contemptuous arrogance and disdains for the challenges of common people, and allowing numerous domestic problems to go untended. They voted to spend on themselves, expending scarce resources on glamour and vanity acquisitions, rather than on programs and projects that promote productivity and which benefit the majority of the populace. Alas, the magnitude of the pains being inflicted on people, the pangs of the hunger, and the insufferable arrogance of government has stretched ‘patience’ to its elastic limits. They can take no more. But beside the streets, what options do the people have?
They cannot run to their ‘representatives’. Gifted with multi-million Naira SUV’s, they have turned committed “on your mandate we stand” choristers.
They cannot run to the judges. Gifted with salary increases and ‘improved’ conditions of service, their justice is no longer blind. It sees gold.
They cannot run to the guardians of the houses of God. Gifted with sacks of money, and pilgrimage tickets to distant holy lands, the priests and preachers of the Bible and Koran are sided with their benefactors.
Hence the people choose to take their grief and tribulations to the time tested midwife of democracy: the streets.
This does not in any way implies that they seek chaos, violence or social disruptions. Nobody demands stability and security of lives and property more than the common man. People will never opt for street marches and protestations if the present conditions of their lives had not become unbearably untenable, to such extends, that any post-protest scenario cannot be any worse than maintaining the status quo. In any case, it is ironic that ‘democracy’ should fear the streets. After all, that is its birth place- considering the great and momentous ‘street actions’ that chased away the military and birthed ‘democracy’. So, if the people are returning to the streets, it is actually a home coming journey for democracy. It is ‘democracy’ returning home to its birth place, its roots – to relearn the forgotten lessons of its birth.
This street protest will not harm democracy – ‘democracy’ will not be hurt at its birthplace or by its midwives. The protest is to reform ‘democracy’. But if perchance, democracy dies, not much will be lost. After all, to be reformed, and to be truly ‘born again’, one must first have to die in one way or the other. But as most people can see, this ‘democracy’ construct is become too wobbly. Struggling to find any balance, it is going beyond faltering, and is beginning to tumble and to crash. The signs are all too glaring. Therefore, if perchance ‘democracy’ falls, it will not be because of the actions of street protesters. Rather, It will be from the sheer weight of the many contradictions, and too many, unforced errors of ‘democracy’ itself. As we know too well, things sometimes collapse by the force of their own weights.
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