How FG’s Communication Lapses Fuelled Protests

Ejiofor Alike reports that it was a missed opportunity and demonstration of lack of effective coordination of governance as the agents of the federal government abandoned a coordinated response and resorted to threats, inflammatory utterances and intimidations against the #EndBadGovernance protests’ promoters, which may have fuelled the widespread violence and loss of no fewer than 17 lives in last Thursday’s protests

When the threats of #EndBadGovernance protests against the administration of President Bola Tinubu became real, many Nigerians had expected the president to deliver a state-of-the-nation address to unveil far-reaching measures that would restore the confidence of Nigerians in government.

In such an address, the president should have highlighted stringent measures his administration would implement to cut the costs of governance and curb the flamboyant lifestyles of government officials and their defendants, who have continued to flaunt opulent lifestyles in the face of the poverty and hunger ravaging Nigerians.

On assumption of office, rather than embarking on cost-cutting measures to reflect the precarious state of the economy he inherited, Tinubu continued to run an expensive government like his predecessors.

His administration also continued to sustain the “We Vs they” relationship between the ruling class and the governed, which had eroded the confidence of the people in government.

As the #EndBadGovernance protests approached, a state-of-the-nation address should have highlighted deliberate steps his administration would take to pacify angry Nigerians.

But the president retained former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tradition of issuing press statements on sensitive national issues that required a presidential address.

Didn’t the president learn from the mistakes of Kenyan President, William Ruto, who had wasted time until after massive youth-led demonstrations had claimed about 39 lives and caused a devastating destruction of public and private facilities before he moved to pacify Kenyans, proposing spending cuts and scrapping the Finance Bill containing the provocative tax increases that fuelled protests in his country?

 In the absence of a presidential address, Tinubu’s administration should have also come up with a centralised and coordinated response to placate the masses and calm frayed nerves instead of the uncoordinated and provocative utterances by the different agents of the administration, which further enraged Nigerians.

One of such inflammatory comments was made by Vice President Kashim Shettima who had accused Nigerians in the diaspora of being the brains behind the planned protests, and described them as “idiots”.

Speaking at a wedding ceremony in Maiduguri, Borno State, Shettima who also labelled the organisers of the protest as bandits, said: “The only way we can show solidarity with the governor is for our people to shy away from dancing to the tune of the bandits and idiots who are fomenting mischief from the comfort of Australia, Finland, and the United States—all the so-called social media influencers.”

Shettima may have underestimated the level of hardship and public discontent in his home state until violent protests and bomb explosions rocked the state last Thursday, which prompted the police to impose a curfew, making Borno one of the three states in the North where curfew was imposed.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had also mocked Nigerians, saying he and others would be “eating” while Nigerians were protesting.

Concluding his speech at the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Youths and Women Group Sensitisation Conference organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Akpabio said: “Those who want to protest can protest, but let us be here eating.” 

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Nyesom Wike, had also issued threats to the organisers saying the nation’s capital was not available for any nationwide protests, and accusing ‘failed politicians’ of being behind the protests.

But Wike recanted on Thursday when he realised too late that Nigerians were really angry with the government due to bad governance.

Another provocative utterance was made by the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, who accused the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, his kinsmen and supporters of being the ones behind the planned protests.

 It is on record that while some states in the North were burning with no fewer than 17 people killed, Obi’s Anambra and other four states in the South-east were calm and peaceful.

However, Onanuga, who had established a reputation for his ethnic slur against Igbo during the 2023 general election, was blaming Obi and his kinsmen, threatening that the former Anambra State governor should be held responsible if the protests turned violent.

All these provocative utterances were coming after President Tinubu, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had begged the Nigerian youths to cancel their planned protests and await the government’s response to their concerns.

With President Tinubu and the agents of his government singing discordant tunes, many had wondered if some forces within the administration had a hidden agenda.

In early July, the Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, had warned President Tinubu of what he called a ‘political coup’, claiming that there were saboteurs in his government.

With the utterances from the agents of this administration, it was not surprising that the first day of the protests was characterised by deaths, massive looting and destruction of public and private facilities in the North, which had refused to protest against former President Buhari, whose administration plunged Nigeria into this acute poverty and a frightening level of insecurity.

The widespread violence in the North had forced the governments of Kano, Borno and Yobe states to impose curfew.

Reacting to the protests, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbedokun lamented the orgy of violence, stressing that the activities of the protesters showed that what was being instigated was mass uprising and looting, not protest.

He added that those who were in the forefront of promoting the idea of the protest were not around to lead it.

“The destruction so far has been mind-boggling. There has been destruction in Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, FCT Abuja, Niger, Jigawa. Police stations have been destroyed; there have been attempts to take over government houses, looting of government infrastructures, several warehouses and shops have so far been looted and, in several instances, completely destroyed,” he said.

“In places like FCT, Kaduna, Kano and Gombe, among others, we recorded incidents of unprovoked attacks on security personnel, where one policeman has been reported murdered and others seriously injured,” he added.

“Today in Borno State, we recorded one incident of explosion which occurred in the crowd of protesters killing four instantly and severely injuring 34 others, many of whom are presently on the danger list,” IG explained.

As the uprising dies down, President Tinubu should take bold steps to ensure that the lifestyles of the agents of his administration reflect the acute poverty in the land, while verifiable measures should be implemented to promote good governance, curb corruption and unite a divided people he had inherited from his predecessor.