Hardship Protests: A Note to Nigerian Youths and Federal Govt, by Usman S. Sarki, PhD
By Usman Suleiman Sarki
Nigeria, a multi-diverse country, has its citizens divided along ethnic, religious, political and cultural affiliations holding divergent views on social, economic, political and socio-cultural policies of the past and present governments.
These divergent views usually give rise to both positive and negative reactions from the masses particularly when the government policies negatively affect the wellbeing of the citizens.
It is against this backdrop that a section of populace often resort to organizing protests to express their dissatisfaction with government policies that undermine their welfare as one of the mechanisms of enforcing change(s) of such policies.
It is democratically legitimate for citizens to hold peaceful rallies to register their dissatisfaction against any policy or action(s) that temper their fundamental rights, but that has to be done within the ambit of law without causing any chaos capable of undermining public order.
At this juncture, I want to advise my fellow Nigerians, particularly youths to play their cards with caution on the protests currently being planned by anonymous persons whose actual objectives were hidden under the current economic hardships bedeviling the country.
We must duly acknowledge the plights that the Nigerian masses are going through due the the current economic downturn courtesy of the fuel subsidy removal by the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, looking at the ongoing widespread security challenges, the said protest is certainly not the solution to the problem especially when looking back at the previous protests and their consequences (i.e. the June 12, 1992 post-election protest, fuel subsidy removal protest 2014, EndSARS protest 2020 etc). Despite the involvement of some high-caliber personalities in these protests, it is unfortunate that little objectives were achieved from these demonstrations.
Read Also:
Learning from the previous experience, it is imperative to draw the attention of fellow youths to the implications of their participation in these protests because of the following reasons:
1. Although the constitution recognizes peaceful protest by recognized persons or groups, however, it is dubious that in this case of protest, no single individual or groups have openly and legally identified himself/itself as the organizer of the rallies and is willing to take responsibility for whatever may be its aftermath.
2. The anonymity of the organizers is a loophole for the successful conduct of the protest as it may be used as an opportunity for hoodlums to infiltrate and carry out their evil plans against some people (including the protesters) or the government.
3. The protest may cause more harm than good to the common man as it may halt all forms of socio-economic activities in the country including essential services such as medical services that require emergency.
In light of the foregoing, I recommend the following measures instead of the planned protest:
a. Town hall meetings should be organized to deliberate on the volatile issues to come up with appropriate and workable solutions to the current economic hardship. All State and Federal legislators representing each local government should attend and equally communicate the resolutions of such gatherings to their respective chambers for implementation.
b. The State and Federal Governments should introduce and implement social programs capable of alleviating poverty right from the grassroots level and beyond. This could be achieved through the provision of subsidized foodstuff, reduction of electricity tariff and fuel prices, tuition fees at all levels and reduction of tax rates.
c. Federal Government should summon a meeting with leaders of trade unions and other recognized civil society organizations to acquaint them with its current efforts in addressing the economic hardship and other challenges bedeviling the country.
d. The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with other security agencies should invest more efforts towards combating insecurity across the nooks and crannies of the country.
Dr. Usman Suleiman Sarki, a staff with the Department of Sociology, Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, wrote via: [email protected]
