“Days of Rage”: To Hold or Not To Hold?
Some Nigerians in various parts of the country, predominantly the Youths it seems, are determined to take to the streets from August 1-10, 2024, to protest against bad governance and economic hardship, in a Protest tagged,“Days of Rage”, despite the fact that others have changed their minds and withdrawn their initial decision to participate in it. There has been a massive ongoing debate, for and against, on whether the Protest should hold or not. In the words of one of the contributors to this Discourse, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, who despite being in support of the Protest holding, questions its title, saying:“The theme alone, is suggestive of an intention to cause havoc and mayhem”. Despite the calls of the Federal Government, Governors, Traditional Rulers, Leaders and various organisations, to dissuade those who may be behind this initiative from engaging in the planned Protest, and seeking the path of dialogue with Government instead, at the time of going to press, there was no indication that the Protest had been shelved. This Discourse would have been incomplete without comments from Femi Falana, SAN, who can described as one of the ‘Fathers of Protest’ in Nigeria. Sebastine Hon, SAN and Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, the Lawyer to the ‘Take it Back Movement’ that has applied for Police protection during the Protest, examine the legal regime on protests and civil disobedience. And, while Mr Hon prefers a situation of dialogue instead of Protest, giving suggestions as to what steps Government can take to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians, Mr Adegboruwa insists that the show must go on, as it is a constitutionally guaranteed right for citizens to protest, supporting his position with several examples of protest in the book of Genesis right from the earliest Biblical times of Cain and Abel, and how change was achieved through Protest
Comments of Femi Falana, SAN on Protest
“I think the Government is lucky this time. In 2020, there wasn’t a notice given by young people, before embarking on the #EndSARS Protest. I have followed the debate, and the concern/worry of the Government – the Government has not denied the right of Nigerians to protest for or against the Government, because that is a constitutional right. But, what I think the Government is worried about, is the possibility that violence might occur.
Again, from my experience in protest – I have taken part in protests for over 40 years in the country, young people or workers have never gone out determined to engage in violence. Violence has always occurred, going back to the 1970s, when unarmed students are shot. People are now distorting our history by saying ‘Oh, in 2020, people were violent’. No! The young people took part in the #EndSARS Protest; gathered in different places. In a place like Lagos, they gathered in Alausa at the Secretariat, they also gathered at Lekki. And, they were singing and discussing amongst themselves. People were giving them food.
What happened was that the attack on the Youths started in Alausa there, when a notorious transporter in Lagos, a notorious Union leader, sent the thugs to attack the unarmed Youths in Alausa. They overpowered the thugs, but the Police did not arrest or charge them. The same thing happened in Abuja, in Benin, in Port Harcourt and other places. And, of course, until the Government decided to unleash people you call hoodlums and thugs on the young people. When that did not work, the Government sent troops and soldiers to engage in killing of young people. In one week, about 99 people were killed in Lagos……So, the violence that characterised the end of the #EndSARS Protest was instigated, fuelled and sponsored by the Government.
This time around, I think the Government is beginning to learn from the past. Last year, the Nigeria Labour Congress wanted to have a protest in solidarity with ASUU during the strike. They said ‘Oh, you cannot go on strike, hoodlums might take over’. And, I drew the attention of the Government to the relevant provisions of the Police Establishment Act of 2020 Section 83(4); that during protest, Police shall provide adequate security for the Protesters. That is the law.” See the case of IGP v ANPP 2008 12 WRN 65 where the Court of Appeal upheld the fundamental right of Nigerian citizens to assemble freely and protest without any inhibition whatsoever, and on the duty of the Police to provide adequate security.
What Government Should do
“So, what is expected if there’s going to be a protest and there’s an announcement, is to ask the Protesters, where do you want to gather? So that, the Police can surround the place and ensure that hoodlums so-called or thugs normally employed by Politicians, deployed by Politicians during election will not take advantage of genuine protest in the country. And, I think that is what the Government should do. Identify the Organisers, and collaborate with them to ensure that violence will not occur.”
“Young people call it leaderless revolution. The officials of the Government know that their children participated in the Protest of 2020. I know my children participated in the Protest if 2020. And, when you ask the children, why don’t you have leaders that the Government can talk to, they say No, this is a sudden protest. We are compelled to have this protest. Once they know our leaders, the Government can easily call them and bribe them, or intimidate them and stop the protest. But, they had a way of contacting themselves. The Government can draw some lessons from that experience. How do you identify? Those who are issuing statements, those who are planning the protest; and then, engage with them productively. But, threats will not work. In fact, on some occasions, the desperation of Government also has a way of popularising such protest. And, when you start getting some leaders of some funny organisations dissociating themselves from the protest – you didn’t plan the protest with them! That will not work for the Government. Last year, the Ohaneje came out to say, ‘No’, Igbo people should not join the protest, led by an Igbo man by the way, Joe Ajaero. A faction of the Afenifere, said no Yoruba son should join the protest. That will not work. Nobody listens to such warnings….There are demands that are being made; the Government should address these demands.
It is also important for Governors, to really come out and let the people know what they are doing to address hardship in the country which no one is denying, suffering in the country which no one is denying. Then you still have Governors saying that we are not going to be able to pay a minimum wage of N70,000. That is not the kind of language that you expect leaders – the kind of statement that leaders should make at this point in time. A lot depends on the Government.”
Talk of Revolution? Really?
“When you talk of a revolution, you don’t go to the market to announce a revolution. There are objective factors in the country, for a revolution. But, whether the agents of revolution are around the corner, is a different matter. That word, revolution, is used loosely in the country….When people talk of a revolution protest or whatever, it does not mean that we are going to break the roof of our house. It is a challenge to the Government, that reforms are no longer working; you need radical measures to address poverty in the country; to put an end to importation of fuel into the country; to control your currency and not float it; to address Youth unemployment; to address insecurity in the country. For me, this is the message that the Government will have to take very seriously.”
“I think the Government of Nigeria, is lucky. In Accra, Ghana here, all the anti-Government protests are organised and staged by the opposition Party, the NDC. Whenever the NDC is in power, its the NDP that organises protests. In South Africa, even in Kenya before the Youth protest, it’s the opposition political party that organises protests in these countries. Here, we only expect Labour movement to stage protest. But, in some other countries, political parties do not talk only of elections; they also challenge the governments in power. So, protests of this nature are political, because the programmes of the government are also political….The duty of the Government is to look at the welfare laws of the country; how can we fund welfare in our country, to ensure that we do not have young people or political parties asking people to go to the street and embarrass the government.”
Conclusion
“I do not know the organisers of the Protest. I am a political person. If I am going to take part in a programme or event, I must know what it’s about. The people behind it, so that I don’t end up messing up myself.”
Femi Falana, SAN
Counting the Legal and Other Costs of a National Civil Disobedience
It is undeniable that there is a grand online and even a real time mobilisation of the Nigerian populace by yet-to-be-ascertained persons, for a widespread civil disobedience throughout Nigeria commencing August 1, 2024. The published reasons, which are quite correct, are the extreme hardship on the populace of recent. Nigerians have not had it this rough, I must admit.
To say that this poses no little psychological and mental apprehension is an understatement, going by our previous experiences as a Nation. The unfortunate #EndSARS happenings, are still fresh in our collective memory.
After critically examining the pros and cons of the planned mass action, I decided to voice out my views to the ongoing issues and see if this will contribute, even in the slightest manner, on the way forward.
Over-arching Constitutional Responsibility of Government
The Nigerian Government is under a solemn constitutional duty to plan, invest in, and execute policies on, the economy, in order to ensure economic growth and development, for the overall benefit of all Nigerians. Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution as amended has made comprehensive provisions in that regard. The said Section 16 falls under Chapter II of the Constitution; and Section 13 thereof, which also falls under that Chapter, provides in mandatory terms as follows:
13. It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution.
It is in view of these and several other constitutional and statutory provisions, that the Nigerian Government has always occupied the tall position of superintending the economic affairs of the nation. The question whether successive Governments, including this current one, have performed in this regard to the satisfaction of Nigerians, will now be briefly examined.
Successive Government Economic Policies
Even though Nigeria has been having some economic development plans and macro/micro policies since 1946, the ones in recent history will be briefly considered. The Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of 2017-2020, according to a State House publication, had the main objectives of ensuring ‘sustained inclusive growth to consolidate national cohesion; a structural economic transformation; improving efficiency in both the public and the private sectors; increasing national productivity and achieving sustainable diversification of production,’ in order to significantly grow the economy and achieve maximum welfare for Nigerians, “by ensuring food and energy security.”
Then came the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025, which is supposedly being executed. The Plan also has lofty objectives, and has seven cluster areas, namely: economic growth and development; infrastructural development; sound public administration; human capital development; social development; regional development and plan implementation.
Realities on the Ground
The fact that the poverty level in Nigeria is crying to high heavens, is a stark reality; meaning that successive Governments at all levels in Nigeria, have failed Nigerians woefully. A few empirical examples will show the depth of the problem.
As far back as May, 2015, the then Minister of Finance under President Goodluck Jonathan, Professor Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated that the Federal Government had borrowed about N473 Billion to pay salaries and fund the 2015 budget, blaming the shortfall on oil revenue in the preceding year. Fast forward to June, 2022, when the then Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Anamekwe Nwabuoku, announced at a retreat in Abuja, that there was an increase in Government expenditure due to rising insecurity and the social needs of the people, which made Government borrow in order to pay salaries. Also, as at February, 2024, at least 31 State Governments had borrowed from the Central Bank of Nigeria “Salary Bailout Facility” (SBF), the sum of N457.17 Billion to pay salaries to their respective civil servants. Borrowing to pay salaries?
The World bank reports that, between 2000 and 2014, Nigeria’s economy “experienced broad-based and sustained growth of over 7% annually on average, benefiting from favourable global conditions, and macroeconomic and first-stage structural reforms”. The Report went further to state that: “From 2015-2022, however, growth rates decreased and GDP per capita flattened, driven by monetary and exchange rate policy distortions, increasing fiscal deficits due to lower oil production and a costly fuel subsidy programme, increased trade protectionism, and external shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic”. The consequences of all these were summarised in the Report as follows: “Weakened economic fundamentals led the country’s inflation to reach a 24-year high of 31.7% in February 2024, which, in combination with sluggish growth, has pushed millions of Nigerians into poverty”. Currently, the World Bank projects that 40.7% of Nigerians are living below the international poverty line.
The figures above, albeit horrifying, are corroborated by the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) itself. In November, 2022, the NBS published the results of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey. It carried out this survey in collaboration with the National Social Safety-Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO), UNDP, UNICEF and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI). The survey revealed that 63% of persons living in Nigeria (133 million) were multidimensionally poor; and that while 65% (86 million) of them live in the North, 35% (nearly 47 million) live in the South. The current situation is worse, as shown above.
While the IMF had projected a 2.9% growth rate of the economy in 2023 and 3% in 2024, respectively, the CBN itself, through Mr Aloysius Ordu, a member of the Apex Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, was reported in March, 2024 as saying that the growth rate of 3% would make poverty level to double in Nigeria by 2025.
The worst of all the economic indicators, is the ever-growing inflation rate. Just between March and April, 2024, the rate jumped from 33.20% to 33.69%. If compared to the 18.8% rate of 2022, the picture presented is actually horrifying, while the future looks bleaker. There is no need to mention the spiralling exchange rate, which is compounding the woes of Nigerians.
Reaction by Nigerians and the Pregnant Doomsday
From cutting-edge newspaper, seminar and other academic discussions, Nigerians have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the way things are going on with them. The mother of all reactions is currently underway, according to online materials which have gone viral, namely, massive civil disobedience. I will, here, proffer some implementable immediate solutions.
Immediate Possible Justice
The Federal Government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should not fold its hands and or underestimate the gravity of the situation. While I accept that fifth columnists, who are Mr President’s political opponents, may be pushing for the planned public showdown; I counsel him to be meek and descend low enough, to engage frankly with the organised civil society. The idea of cracking down on civil dissent is counter-productive, especially when the citizenry has been pushed to the wall. This is an all-important first step; because dialogue achieves faster and more enduring peace, than crushing dissent.
Mr President should also, as a matter of urgency, make a nationwide television and radio state of the nation broadcast, where he will talk directly to Nigerians on the challenges his government is facing, and the way and manner he is going about tackling these challenges, making implementable and honest promises in the process. The Respective State Governors, should do the same.
National and State Assembly members should immediately convene townhall meetings and address Nigerians on the lingering issues, making similar promises.
Mr President should redirect the funds harvested from the removal of fuel subsidy, to hands that will make them reach the populace, rather than leaving same in the hands of Governors. Mr President himself recently asked Nigerians, to hold their Governors responsible on this issue. This is not possible. Rather Mr President should take advantage of the recent Local Government autonomy decision of the Supreme Court and redirect such funds to elected Local Councils, under a Special Presidential Intervention Scheme. Any State that does not have an elected Council in place, must be pressured by this to do so urgently. Once implemented, elected Local Government Officials will have no choice than disburse such funds correctly, for fear of facing the EFCC, the ICPC and even the Police – since they do not enjoy immunity against prosecution.
Further, Mr President should issue, as a matter of utmost urgency, Presidential Executive Orders, pursuant to Section 5 of the Constitution. On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon, faced with similar challenges, proclaimed Executive Order 11615, in order to provide stabilisation for prices of goods (except agricultural products), rents, wages and salaries. In recent US history, former US President, Donald Trump, on April 10, 2019, issued two Executive Orders on “Promoting Energy Infrastructure and Economic Growth.” Also, current US President, Joe Biden, on July 9, 2021, issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. These are just examples which Mr President may borrow from, and decide on how to style his Executive Order(s) and how he will quickly implement same.
Another important Executive Power the President should urgently utilise is the power to declare a state of economic emergency, pursuant to Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution as amended; and such declaration will be constitutional. In Sierra Leone, Section 19 of the Constitution of that country donates similar powers to the President of that country. Two declarations of economic state of emergency by the President of Sierra Leone were challenged as being unconstitutional in The State v Osuman, Unreported, cited in Commonwealth Law Bulletin, Vol. 15, No. 1 of January, 1989, but, was dismissed by the Apex Court of that country, which held that those proclamations were well within the powers of the President as granted by Section 19 of the Constitution.
Finally, Mr President, in order to achieve long term objectives in this regard, should tackle insecurity, corruption and abuse of office headlong. There must also be demonstrable utmost fidelity in governmental affairs, starting with Mr President down to the Local Government Councillor. The unwritten code that a poor person gets promoted to the rich club once he is elected or appointed into government office in Nigeria, should cease forthwith.
To fellow Nigerians, I hereby solemnly urge some restraint. Even though their (our) anger is justifiable, we must realise that civil disobedience may, if not properly handled, result in incalculable damage. I foresee some dangerous elements hijacking the process and pushing us, once again, to the precipice, resulting in fatalities and loss of economic investments. The organisers should offer an olive branch to the Government, with the latter accepting unconditionally and promising non-prosecution. Dialogue under this atmosphere, will achieve much more than the planned action. A stitch in time saves nine.
Chief Sebastine T. Hon, SAN, FCIArb, Abuja
