The #EBG Protest: Picking the Pieces
The Advocate By Onikepo Braithwaite Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com
The Advocate
By Onikepo Braithwaite
Onikepo.braithwaite@thisdaylive.com
The #EndBadGovernanceinNigeria Protest (#EBG) should generate a good amount of food for thought, at least for any right thinking government. Of the utmost importance, is the fact that the people are starving, and palliatives can never be a substitute for sound economic policy. They are just a temporary measure, at best. Swift action is required. If a policy unleashes more suffering and hardship than good on the people, then there needs to be some rejigging, because ignoring the plight of the people is neglecting their welfare, and by virtue of Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended in 2023)(the Constitution) the security and welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government.
Fuel Subsidy
The Protesters’ first demand is the reintroduction of fuel subsidy, in order to reduce the astronomical cost of living. I have said before that an independent auditing body of repute should have been engaged, to audit the activities of NNPC, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all other related agencies, to among other things, ascertain exactly how much fuel Nigeria has truly been importing, how much fuel we actually require per month, and how much has gone to subsidising scam and corruption. That way, the funds being diverted to subsidise scam, could have been stopped, and perhaps, the subsidy phased out in stages until we have a proper local refinery regime in place, instead of the cold turkey policy that was implemented by the Tinubu administration.
The Dangote Refinery (DR) and any other functioning refinery, are low hanging fruits for putting such fuel regime in place; but, instead, our ears are filled with stories of sabotage against DR by Government Officials, instead of the FGN encouraging it to be up and running, so that Nigerians can benefit from it.
Simply speaking, if we had been paying a subsidy on importation of 10 litres of fuel a month, but our actual requirement is 2 litres, then it would mean 8 litres is a scam! I recall about 10-12 years ago or so, when several companies were indicted for subsidy scam, some were accused of claiming from NNPC or PPMC (I can’t remember which body), for refunds on cargoes that were never even imported!
Or could the Federal Government impose price control policies for essential goods and commodities, to ease the hardship on the people? – see Item 62(e) of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution and the Price Control Act 1977 (PCA) (though fuel, and not most of our staple foods apart from flour, milk, sugar and salt are included in the Section 4 First Schedule to the PCA- this can be rectified). I’m sorry to say, but, a good number of Nigerian traders have a penchant for taking advantage of situations, to earn astronomical profits on the goods they sell. But, beyond palliatives, economic policies must be reviewed. Nigerians have no money to eat.
Ethnicity/Tribalism
Another low hanging fruit for thought following #EBG, is the worrisome issue of ethnicity/tribalism. Some argue that the North didn’t show this much enthusiasm for protest during the eight-year Buhari administration, not even during #EndSARS, because President Buhari is a Northerner. But, now that we have a Yoruba President, with #EBG they went on a rampage with gusto and aplomb. The fact that Russian flags were flown and paraded around Kano, coupled with treasonable calls for military intervention, is also a great support for the tribalism story of North against the Tinubu administration. These days, the habit of reducing everything including the most important matters to issues of ethnicity and tribalism, I find rather awkward, particularly at such a time as this, because poverty and hunger have no tribe or race – everyone suffers when they have no food to eat, even animals too, that’s why they are always on a hunt for prey to devour! I will discuss the issue of hunger further, below.
However, the bitter truth is that, all over the world, there are many negative stereotypes/discriminations like racism, tribalism, gender and religious discrimination and so on, and that’s why, globally, there are all sorts of laws and international charters against discrimination – see Section 42 of the Constitution. And, while it isn’t too surprising when the uneducated and uninformed display their ignorance, it is shocking when we realise that those who are expected to know better, are cut from the same cloth of lack of knowledge – they are shallow and sciolistic. Many also use these divisive stereotypes for their own personal gain, for instance, in politics and the workplace – take Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump, for example – his fixation on race and his unintelligent comments, even about US Vice President and Democratic Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris’ ethnicity and origins, more or less portray him as a racist; but, this will certainly earn him votes among bigot groups like the KKK and other White supremacists.
In 2017 or so, I recall writing about what was at the time called ‘the Kaduna Declaration’ – some mindless Northern Youth groups had given all Igbos in the North a three month ultimatum to leave all the Northern States, and at the same time, called on all Northerners in the South East to return home. Recently, a hateful online media handle operated allegedly by an unenlightened Yoruba group, Lagospedia, called for an ‘Igbos Must Go’ Protest, that the Igbos must leave Lagos. What nonsense! Like I said in 2017 and I repeat now, firstly, Sections 41(1) & 43 of the Constitution guarantee freedom of movement and the right of citizens to acquire immovable property in any part of Nigeria. I had stated unequivocally then, that the Kaduna Declaration was a threat to national security, and I reiterate that position today concerning the Lagospedia tweet. It goes beyond just being reckless; it is a criminal offence, which for one, falls within the purview of Sections 51(1)(b) & 62 of the Criminal Code Act 2004 (see Section 417 of the Penal Code) – that is, exciting hatred or contempt against any class of persons in such a way as to endanger public peace; this offence attracts 3 years imprisonment or fine or both, upon conviction.
In the Nigerian context today, tribalism/ethnicity is simply a distractionary tactic – instead of joining hands to peacefully demand good governance and accountability from all tiers of government, without which Nigeria can never progress, instead we waste precious time hating and fighting ourselves based on ethnic sentiments, and achieve nothing as a people. We have taken our eyes off the ball!
Hunger
Back to the issue of hunger, another low hanging fruit for thought. While we cannot divorce the policies of the Federal Government from the pervasive hunger in the land, it is time to take note of some other facts, as hard or bitter as they may be.
It has been repeated frequently, that the level of hunger in Northern Nigeria is higher than in the South, meaning that there appears to have been a deep-seated starvation up North over the years, not just today. The issue of insecurity/ Herdsmen/Farmers crisis which have plagued the Northern States more, has worsened matters, as people are not able to go to their farms anymore for fear of being killed, maimed or kidnapped. If the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) doesn’t tackle insecurity seriously, then this situation will persist, and the prices of food stuff may never become as low as they should, despite the fact that Nigeria is blessed with an abundance of arable land. Even in the South, there are areas where people cannot go to their farms.
State and Local Government: Joint Responsibility in Good Governance
However, I don’t think it would be speaking out of turn to state that successive Northern leaders have failed the North mostly. In over 60 years since Independence, Nigeria has had more Northern Heads of State, ruling for long periods of time, and in the last 25 years of democracy, indigenous Governors of the Northern States. Could the anger in the North, therefore, be more deep-rooted than #EBG? A rebellion against their own leaders as well?
Unfortunately, because of Nigeria’s culture of lack of accountability and failure being a stimulant for promotion, for instance, we have Governors like Abdullahi Ganduje and Bello Maitawalle who were not exactly paragons of good governance in their States, who have been rewarded with new positions; with Ganduje who is now facing charges filed by Kano State Government against him and some others for the diversion of N57.4 billion being made the Chairman of the ruling APC, and Maitawalle who couldn’t secure Zamfara State, strangely being appointed as Minister of State of Defence.
Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, doesn’t restrict the primary purpose of government to the Federal Government only. Section 5(2) of the Constitution more or less replicates the powers of the Federal Government for the Federation, in the State Government for the States, setting limitations to State Government power in Section 5(3) of the Constitution. Additionally, Section 7 of the Constitution also provides for democratically elected LGCs whose functions are clearly stated in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, including the provision of primary, adult and vocational education (see Section 18(3)(a) & (d) of the Constitution) and the provision and maintenance of health services in the area covered by the LGC. See the case of AG Lagos State v AGF & Ors (2003) LPELR-620(SC) per Samson Odemwingie Uwaifo, JSC where the Supreme Court held inter alia that the legislative power of the House of Assembly gives the States the exclusive function for the planning, layout and development of their respective areas. Also see the case of Knight Frank & Rutley (Nig) & Anor v AG Kano State (1998) LPELR-1694 (SC) per Muhammadu Lawal Uwais, JSC (later CJN) on the functions of the LGC. A good chunk of governance, lies in the hands of these two tiers of government.
I saw on the internet that UNICEF stated that, presently, Nigeria has up to 18.3 million out-of-school children, one of the highest, if not the highest number in the world. The FGN has nothing to do with primary school education. Education is not on the Exclusive Legislative List; Items 27 & 28 on the Concurrent Legislative List inter alia empower the FGN to deal with University, post-primary, technological and professional education. Primary school education is the preserve of the State and LGCs – see Item 30 on the Concurrent Legislative List & Section 7 Fourth Schedule to the Constitution Paragraph 2(a). Why have the State Governors and LGCs not been called out, for their failure to meet their own Section 18(3)(a) of the Constitution primary school free and compulsory educational objectives? For instance, the 2017/2018 academic session, the National Common Entrance Examination (that is, Primary to Junior Secondary school exam) cut-off mark was published for all the States. While Imo State had the highest cut-off mark of 66%, Sokoto was 7%, Zamfara, 12%, and Yobe, 20%. A cumulative failure of the Governments and LGCs in those Northern States vis-à-vis primary education; it didn’t have much to do with the Buhari FGN administration at the time. Even if there is a viable argument that insufficient funds are being budgeted by the FGN for education in Nigeria, the other side of the coin is that, if Imo State could have attained a 66% cut-off mark on that lean budget, the Northern States could also have done much better.
While the Federal and State Governments are meant to have properly equipped Teaching Hospitals, it appears that the LGCs are responsible for providing and maintaining health services in their areas (see Sections 17(3)(d) & 7 Fourth Schedule Paragraph 2(c) of the Constitution). All tiers of government have failed in this, but it is only the FGN that is held responsible for this dereliction. The Constitution puts food security in the hands of the three tiers of government, yet, the FGN is the only one being held responsible for the fact that even staple food stuff have been priced out of the reach of the common man.
Conclusion
Whether the #EBG has been successful or not, cannot be determined immediately, because while some of the demands may be able to be addressed immediately, many others require time. But, one thing the #EBG has certainly been successful at, is showing that Nigerians can no longer be taken for granted by Government. The Youths have started to demand accountability, and this is a good outcome, because without accountability in governance, Nigeria will continue to regress. Section 6(6)(c) of the Constitution ousts the jurisdiction of the courts to hold government accountable for not delivering good governance – see Chapter II of the Constitution) – this is an anomaly. The need for a free and fair transparent electoral process is imperative, in order to achieve better accountability in governance, by being able to easily vote out non-performers.
Nevertheless, there are low hanging fruits for Government to pick, to satisfy some of the #EBG demands immediately – increase the tempo of the fight against corruption; stop reckless expenditure; buckle down on the fight against insecurity; do a cabinet reshuffle and drop non-performers; get rid of all those useless government agencies, cut the cost of governance; do a downward review of the remuneration of all political office holders; reduce the electricity tariff; release the #EndSARS Protesters who have no charges filed against them and prosecute those who have forthwith; create jobs and opportunities for the teeming Youths. In short, collate the demands of the #EBG, and address them.
Finally, now that the LGCs have gained their financial autonomy, the excuses for non-performance due to lack of funds should be considerably reduced. LGCs have an important role to play, and Nigerians hope that with this new independence, a better crop of people will be interested in manning the LGCs, instead of lackeys of the State Governors. During #EBG, many Governors didn’t show up to be counted, in spite of the fact that along with the LGCs, they are directly responsible for the people of their States. Along with the FGN, the State Governments and LGCs must also be held accountable to Nigerians, for their own failures in governance. Luckily, the LGC Chairmen are not covered by the Constitution’s Section 308 immunity clause, which means that if they are caught with their fingers in the till, they can face criminal prosecution immediately.
