Nigeria’s Democracy Amidst Biting Hunger

Democracy is the most effective platform ever conceived to promote active participation of citizens in governance. The provision of basic necessities, including food and shelter, among others, are irreplaceable requirements for the survival of this ballot system of government defined as “the government of the people by the people and for the people.” When people are confronted with the absence of these basic necessities, democracy becomes endangered.

Progressive Decline

Since the advent of Nigeria’s unbroken democracy on May 29, 1999, the welfare conditions of the citizens have progressively declined, with over 50 percent of the population entrapped in the bottomless pit of poverty. For a nation that is poised to celebrate its 64th Independence on October 1 this year, it’s repulsive that Nigerians are pouring into the street to protest against rumbling hunger. Nigeria has now become a pathetic metaphor and a by-word for a country that is so rich, but yet so poor.

Amidst the vast ocean of prosperity, government policies have turned our country into oases of treasures for a few in the corridors of power, with the masses subjected to the scorching heat of horrifying deprivations. There will always come a time when people become weary and wary of the chains of oppression clamped on them. There’s always a limit to oppression, and the people are no longer willing to bear the pains.

The 10-day hunger strike, organised by the “Take It Back (TIB) Movement” is officially ending today. During the period the demonstrations lasted, some states, especially in the north, got engulfed in violence, with scores of lives reportedly lost. Though the police have denied using live bullets to disperse the protesters that were infiltrated by urchins and petty criminals, the fallout of the exercise has thrown several issues as lessons for both the present and future. The protests turned out gruelling, as financial institutions resorted to shutting their operations in some states to avert the destruction of life and property. The protests also witnessed the waving of flags by the protesters who were calling on the military – some say some foreign nations – to come to the rescue of the citizens.

Battling Protesters

The secret police on Wednesday announced that it arrested some Polish citizens in connection with the flag-waving exercise that the military authorities described as a treasonable offence. While the protests lasted, it was the tension and the fear of uncertainty that rattled the country. In the modern world that we live in, neither the military nor any foreign nation can salvage us from what is ailing us as a nation. The first two days of the protests turned Abuja into a battleground, as security forces and urchins were engaged in a fight to dislodge the latter that had taken over the suburbs for control.
Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa and lately Plateau also joined the league of states where these brigands were baying for blood. The fallout of the protests, especially in the north, has revealed the reality that the citizens are almost losing confidence in democracy. Despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s promise of “Renewed Hope Agenda” meant to address the failure of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s policies, the present gloom has become a renewal of hopelessness. The strike that is ending today reveals a disturbing scenario that the incumbent administration is devoid of a carefully knitted kitchen cabinet that can rise for the good of the people when it matters the most.

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Rejigging For Future

Even when distraught citizens expected so much from the August 4 presidential broadcast, many, including yours sincerely, dismissed the speech as hollow, with nothing to cheer about. The speech was a regurgitation of the past that has become a proclamation of no effect. Sadly, the Tinubu-led government is being seen as devoted to re-enacting the tyranny on the majority. Covertly or overtly, the Tinubu presidency is being interpreted as recreating the Lagos scenario where he surrounded himself with his Men Friday. There’s nothing wrong surrounding yourself with cronies. However, what is important is whether these men and women are working for the general good of the country.
When the president told traditional rulers, who visited him a few days prior to the protests, that he does not have a cabal, not many people believed him. To deny the presence of a cabal in any administration is to play the ostrich. The influence of aides is overwhelming in a presidential system. This administration must understand that hunger has been the mother of most revolutions. While it may be easy for those in the power corridor to appeal to the people to exercise patience, leadership must know that hunger does not know the presence of monarchs. When the government is incapable of providing food and creating an environment for people to thrive, then, public confidence in democracy is irretrievably waned.
With the protest formally ending today, the Tinubu-led government should review its policies that have aggravated poverty. What the protesters are demanding is for the government to evolve templates for the pauperised citizens to have access to food. Government must not turn our country into a platform for only administering palliative measures. No nation develops on the plank of handing handouts for citizenry survival. The greatest threat to our democracy is hunger and not protests. The present government must display a nerving capacity to feed the citizens against the crippling hunger made worse by insecurity grinding Nigeria.