THE LESSON FROM ADAMAWA RIOTS  

 The authorities should speed up the implementation of palliative measures to cushion rising costs  

Apparently triggered by the current hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy on petrol, some residents of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, recently broke into some privately-owned and government warehouses including that of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Besides seizing food items, the hoodlums attacked people with machetes. They also broke into business premises and homes, carting away property.  

Although the situation has calmed after the government hurriedly imposed a 24-hour curfew across the state, we hope that the authorities have learnt sufficient lessons from what happened and why. “They drilled holes in the wall of the warehouses, they didn’t break the doors,” observed the State Deputy Governor,Kaletapwa Farauta. “The government is very mindful of the fact that our people are hungry, and our people are suffering. We accept that, but we condemn what has happened because that will not take us forward.”  

The Adamawa incident is nothing but a warning to the government that time is of the essence. Misery is walking the streets across the nation. Online video footage reminiscent of the 2020 riots, showed residents of Yola looting sacks of grain, cartons of pasta, noodles, spaghetti, salt and cooking oil and other household items from a NEMA warehouse and others. Workers in Oyo State have also been protesting to demand palliatives, an upward review of pension allowances, and payment of salary deduction among others. Indeed, in more than 25 states of the country today, salary arrears are mounting and so are pensions obligations. Even worse, millions are simply idle. Thus, the challenge of the moment is how to contain a spontaneous eruption of social unrest in the face of rising costs of living.   

President Bola Tinubu has embarked on the country’s boldest reforms in decades, scrapping the expensive petrol subsidy, and floating the naira. The exercise has led to soaring costs at a time when Nigerians are already struggling with the highest inflation in nearly two decades. Last Wednesday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) mobilised thousands of Nigerians in a protest to officially declare their pains with placards screaming, “Let the poor breathe;” “incessant increase in fuel prices both responsible for inflation, hunger, and poverty.”  

But following a meeting with President Tinubu at the State House after the nationwide protest Wednesday, Joe Ajaero and Festus Usifo both NLC and TUC leaders, decided to halt further protests on the strength of the President’s commitment to address the issues raised by labour. These include bringing on stream the Port Harcourt Refinery which has been perpetually down despite the billions sank into it, in December, a negotiated wage increase for workers, and a workable road map to the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) alternative by next week, among others. The question however is when? How swift can the government be?  

 The lack of progress in implementing earlier wide-ranging proposals is a pointer to why many are viewing statements from the Presidency with caution. This is not helped by unrestrained official profligacy. At a period that Nigerians are told to sacrifice more with policies that make their lives more difficult than ever, should government officials not be sensitive to the cost of governance? On the day President Tinubu pledged commitment to workers cause, he sent a list of 20 ministerial nominees to the Senate in addition to the earlier 28 names for ministerial appointments. Such a huge number of federal cabinet members is unprecedented. These, in addition to a barrage of advisers and special assistants.   

If there is any lesson that the authorities, at all levels, should take from the Adamawa riot, it is that they should not take the people’s present lethargy for granted. It only takes a spark before the streets go up in flames.