From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, which finally got underway last week as proposed, have left in its trail pains, tears, sorrow, blood and deaths, especially during the first day in many parts of the country.
It expectedly came in different dimensions across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). While the first day was a total shutdown in most parts of northern Nigeria, where it was characterised by violence, killings, looting, and mass arrest of protesters by the security forces, the subsequent days witnessed a gradual return to normalcy in many places.
Despite the threats, counter threats, court orders, and other desperate measures the government deployed to counter and stop the hunger protests, thousands of Nigerians had converged on certain designated areas, poured into major roads and streets, resisting restriction orders in their determination to register their displeasure over the precarious state of the nation.
The economy hitherto on pause mode was drastically affected, with banks, markets, and offices put under lock and key. Vehicular movements and virtually every other business activity were completely grounded, while most roads were deserted, specifically on the first day, for fear that the protesters might unleash violence on them.
The build-up to the demonstration was laced with trepidation and anxiety. The unfavourable security and intelligence reports had apparently jolted and tensed the presidency, the national, state leaderships, chieftains, and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as they desperately searched for solutions.
Their palpable fears were hinged on the possibilities of hoodlums and miscreants hijacking the protest and capitalising on the opportunity to vandalise certain critical infrastructure, public facilities, wanton looting of private businesses, supermarkets, shops, molestation of individuals, and in extreme cases, making the nation ungovernable.
True to their fears, the casualty figures were incalculable and the damages devastatingly unprecedented. By the end of the first three days, unconfirmed preliminary reports put the death toll at 21 persons; the injured were well over 185, while the number of arrests was close to 2000.
As expected, the protests did not hold in almost all the states in the South East geopolitical zone, comprising Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia, and Ebonyi, just as it was very mild and peaceful in some other states like Plateau, Taraba, Delta, Edo, Benue, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun among others
However, the real hostile theatres of violence, and maximum or mild severity of damages include the FCT, Abuja, Kano, Borno, Katsina, Jigawa, Yobe, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto, Adamawa, Gombe, Niger, Lagos, Rivers, Cross River, Bauchi among others.
At the height of destruction and to underscore the gravity, and intensity of the actions of the protesters, no fewer than four states of Yobe, Borno, Kano, and Katsina hurriedly declared dust-to-dawn curfews.
True to its threats, journalists covering the protests were arrested by the security operatives, sponsored thugs, and miscreants suspected to be deployed by the government to counter the protests were brought on many vehicles just as certain persons were profiled as sponsors of the protests.
Apart from the monumental losses incurred by locking up businesses like banks, offices, and shops for some days, the looting, and vandalisation of critical infrastructure and public facilities, the monetary worth of losses was roughly estimated at N10 billion.
Notable among the destructions include the vandalised and looted yet-to-be-commissioned Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) Industrial Park. The ICT Park, intended to serve as a commercial hub for digital innovation and entrepreneurship in the northwest, was designed to include laboratories to provide capacity building for ICT start-ups and enhance entrepreneurial activities.
As if they did not know the enormity of their requests, the protesters, particularly in far northern Nigeria, apparently exceeded their boundaries by demanding a military takeover of government and even preferring a Christian/Christian joint presidential ticket.
At the peak of the tense atmosphere, the statement from the military authority to confirm the severity of the situation had warned that the Armed Forces would not fold their hands and watch while the country went up in flames.
Visibly rattled by the gravity of the destructions, looting, and criminalities perpetrated by the miscreants during the protests, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, had warned them to desist from anything or actions that could lead to mayhem and further destruction.
In what looked like executing a scripted action, he warned: “Let us avoid anything that will bring mayhem within our communities. We have seen the level of destruction that was carried out just on Thursday. So, you can imagine if this continues for so long.
“What we saw at the beginning, was some semblance of a very peaceful demonstration, but which was quickly taken over by a bunch of criminals that didn’t mean well. And if you remember, we had warned that there were individuals who were ready to cause mayhem once this started.
“I want to appeal to Nigerians to understand that the Federal Government is doing the best it can for the country. The armed forces and the entire security agencies will not stand by and allow that to continue. We want to warn those that are at home, those that don’t want to listen. We will not fold our hands and see our country destroyed. We will take action, and the action will be taken professionally. Anyone that is caught will be taken to the courts to be dealt with.”
Curiously, apart from the casualties, what became a serious source of concern to many political analysts was the sordid silence of President Tinubu in the face of the killings and destructions in the first three days of the protests. As if he has completely transmuted from a pro-democratic leader to an authoritarian leader, he kept mute when the security agents allegedly mauled down some of the hopeless citizens with live bullets.
Many critical observers were worried over the silence as security agents unleashed unimaginable and unprecedented brutality on despondent Nigerians with countless teargas canisters freely used on them, and all other manners of weapons of cruelty deployed to crush the protesting hungry Nigerians.
Many died, and many are still gasping for breath and struggling for survival at various hospitals across the country, yet they did not deserve his pity, nor did he give a hoot for the initial three days running.
In the seriousness and doggedness of the protesters that caught across religious and tribal backgrounds, to ensure that their demands are attended to, there were also some comic reliefs as exemplified in the inscriptions on the posters they were carrying.
The one that trended very well was from the lady who wrote that bad governance was responsible for her inability to secure a husband at 32 years and northern youths demanding the crash in the prices of drugs and substances. The most comic one actually came from a very young boy, who blamed the inability of English premiership football club, Arsenal to win a league trophy on bad governance in Nigeria.
However, beyond the geopolitics of the protest, opinions have been sharply divided, since the duration of the protests, on President Tinubu’s petrifying silence in the first three days despite thunderous appeals for him to address citizens, and on the professionalism and the justification for the excessive force or brutality the security agents used against the protesters.
More importantly, tongues have continued to wag over the intervention of the national leadership, chieftains, and leaders of the ruling party, in managing the situation and whether the protest actually recorded any success.
In the consideration of the National Secretary of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), High Chief Peter Ameh, the Bola Tinubu-led administration has been clearly insensitive in its failure to stop the brutal handling of the protesters.
CUPP, in a statement it issued, alleged that; “the presidency failed to respect principles and authorities in their engagement with the protesters. The use of excessive force or brutality by military or police against protesters is a violation of human rights and unacceptable in a democratic society.”
“Democracy is built on the principles of freedom of expression, assembly, and the right to peaceful protest. In a democratic system, law enforcement agencies are expected to maintain public order while respecting and protecting the rights of citizens, including protesters. Excessive use of force or brutality can lead to serious physical harm, emotional trauma, and even death as we are witnessing since the beginning of the #Endbadgovernance in Nigeria protest.
“International human rights standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, emphasise the importance of protecting the rights of protesters and preventing excessive use of force by law enforcement.”
Aligning with both the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had lampooned Tinubu over his failure to address the nation despite the crippling effects of the nationwide protest in the first three days.
The opposition party had expressed disappointment over Tinubu’s refusal to tell Nigerians his urgent steps to reduce the price of petroleum products, stem the fall of the Naira and ensure speedy provision of foodstuffs among other critical issues to revamp the productive sector, stimulate employment, and restore stability in the polity.
PDP, in a statement from its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, noted that Tinubu’s initial silence sent a very dangerous signal and heightened public apprehension that the APC-led government is insensitive to the feelings of the citizens and the overall sorry state of affairs in the nation.
“It is indeed worrisome that President Tinubu remained silent as Nigerians are on the streets demanding good governance, protection, security, and welfare, which are the primary purposes of government. The world is watching in horror as operatives of APC-controlled security agencies assault, shoot and kill unarmed protesters, with thugs allegedly mobilised by the APC also unleashing violence on innocent Nigerians.”
Another concern in many quarters was the ineptitude and lukewarm attitude of the leadership of the ruling party and many of the appointees and elected persons serving the administration to stand up to be counted in defending the President.
Angered by the attitudes of the APC-led state governors and appointees, an apologist of the ruling party, Daniel Bwala had described as sad the actions of the governors elected on the party’s platform, the ministers appointed by President Tinubu among others for keeping mute and taking cover while the protest against bad governance raged on.
Assessing the situation, Bwala, in a post on his verified X account condemned their failure to address the protesters in their respective states to defend the President if they indeed shared his vision.
He wrote: “I was actually expecting all the APC governors who share the vision of Mr President for the reform to engage with the protesters in their respective states and calm them down. I also expected all the ministers and cabinet members of the @officialABAT administration to go to their respective states and engage in dialogue and address the peaceful protesters.
“I also expected all appointees of Mr. President to flood the airwaves, TV, radio, zoom, and social media, engaging with the protesters and or millions of Nigerians who are not protesting but share views one way or the other. Adversity defines loyalty, not longevity or proximity. But alas, the majority took cover and were silent. This is disingenuous and unfair to the man who appointed you. Sad.”
As the tempo of the protest continued to wane each day, many Nigerians have concluded that it did not actually produce the effective result seen in other countries because Nigeria is dominated by criminally minded political individuals, protected by the corrupt security apparatus, aided by dishonest judiciary, supported by greedy religious/traditional elites, motivated by gullible masses driven by tribal parochialism, and projected by the compromised fourth estate of the realm.
Unfortunately, many were disappointed when President Tinubu finally spoke to the country as his long uninspiring speech failed to adequately address the fundamental charter of demands, particularly the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, and floating of currency among others.
Expectedly, the speech re-echoed the same rhetoric which has dominated his previous addresses that usually chronicled his achievements and utopic prospects of turning round the declining economic fortune of the country, ending with the mantra of ‘I feel your pains’.
To many pundits, the President’s speech was watery because there was no promise of concrete plans and deliberate measures to fix the four faulty refineries and other demands by the protesters.
Perhaps, the biggest takeaway of his speech is where he said: “My dear Nigerians, especially our youth, I have heard you loud and clear. I understand the pain and frustration that drive these protests, and I want to assure you that our government is committed to listening and addressing the concerns of our citizens.”
On the victims of the protests, Tinubu said: “I am especially pained by the loss of lives in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, and other states, the destruction of public facilities in some states, and the wanton looting of supermarkets and shops, contrary to the promise of protest organisers that the protest would be peaceful across the country.
“The destruction of properties sets us back as a nation, as scarce resources will be again used to restore them. I commiserate with the families and relations of those who have died in the protests. We must stop further bloodshed, violence, and destruction.”
Despite the hostile emotions that have greeted the high handedness of the security agents on the protesters, President Tinubu said: “Our democracy progresses when the constitutional rights of every Nigerian are respected and protected. Our law enforcement agencies should continue to ensure the full protection of lives and properties of innocent citizens in a responsible manner.
“In conclusion, security operatives should continue to maintain peace, law, and order in our country following the necessary conventions on human rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory. The safety and security of all Nigerians are paramount.”
But whatever attitude President Tinubu displayed in handling the protest did not come as a surprise to former APC national vice chairman, Northwest, Salihu Moh Lukman who argued that, “So far, President Tinubu is turning out to be the most inaccessible President in Nigeria’s political history. Even Gen. Sani Abacha wasn’t as much inaccessible.
“Terribly, President Tinubu has turned out to be a brash politician who is resistant to accountability and would destroy all the democratic structures that enforce accountability. If using the election to register citizens’ opposition against the reckless disposition of the President, then Tinubu is fading away.”
He added: “Having reduced the National Assembly to a rubber stamp and made it incapable of checking the excesses of the executive, President Tinubu has crashed all available democratic structures capable of enabling Nigerians to influence decisions of his government.”
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