The Hardship In The Land And The Uncertain Future

These are perilous times for Nigerian citizens. The hardship in the land is extremely biting, pushing the masses to their limit of endurance. Prices have been soaring, drastically reducing the spending power of the populace. To put it succinctly, poverty and hunger epidemic has gripped the land.

It’s true that Nigerians have become accustomed to their perennial fate of always having to look back to acknowledge with regret that yesterday was better than today, the rapidity with which things have degenerated in the last eight to nine years has been extraordinary as against what the citizens have been used to. This is why a lot of public commentators have – justifiably too – warned about possible mass protests and even breakdown of law and order.

The fate that has befallen Nigeria wouldn’t have been difficult to predict over the years if not for our incurable optimism for a better future even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary. Stated differently, we appeared to have been too intoxicated by hope as not to see the fact that the normless manner in which our nation was being run all these years led to nowhere but a painful future.

A nation where the funds stolen by a single minister, Diezani, will fund the annual budget of several states collectively cannot hope for a future better than she’s having now. A nation where a mere level 10 civil servant is fraudulently making millions of naira is definitely being sucked to death financially, especially given the sheer ubiquity of such thieving officials across ministries, departments and agencies at both the national and state levels. We cannot hope for pleasant days when we have continued to subject the nation to mindless abuses.

What we’re suffering today is an inevitable consequence of our past actions. Over the years, Nigeria has been run with so much negligence as though it’s a no man’s entity. State officials, from Aso Rock to the least department in the civil service, have consistently failed to place the interest of the nation above every other interest, and the result has been our inexorable degeneration from bad to worse.

It’s for this reason that there has never been a time Nigerians have had it good. It’s always lamentations today and louder lamentations tomorrow. I remember vividly how people rejoiced on April 20, 1990, when news spread that the Babangida regime had been overthrown and the obvious disappointment that followed the realisation that the coup had failed. People’s joy at the prospect of an eventual “relief” from the hardship of the time, especially in the aftermath of the regime’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), was cruelly cut short.

However, down the years, the Babangida era became fondly remembered as those better days. I watched one commentator on TV, amidst the public anger trailing Obasanjo’s increase of petrol price from N20 to N30 in 2000, emotionally recall that petrol sold for less than one naira per litre under the Babangida regime. Similarly, the Goodluck Jonathan administration did not spare Nigerians the torture of having to remember the past as better days. He became pretty unpopular, paving the way for the success of the Buhari/APC “change” propaganda. But then, when the sufferings of Nigerians moved from bad to worse under President Buhari, the Jonathan era began to be remembered as the good old days. Today, it appears we will soon begin to have fond memories of the Buhari days.

As I have consistently emphasised in this column, what we have been experiencing is nothing odd; it’s a natural outcome of how our nation has been governed over the years. The life of a nation, like every other life, requires consistent nurturing to remain in good health. On the contrary, when it is subjected to consistent abuse, it does not only remain ailing, but its condition unstoppably degenerates. This aptly reflects the chequered journey of Nigeria.

Over the years, there has never been a fundamental shift in the approach to leadership. It has always been the same pattern – the government acknowledging the difficulty in the land, implementing reforms that amount to more difficulty for the masses, and promising that the suffering is merely an inevitable temporary experience that will precede better days. Sadly, the better days never materialise until another government comes on board with its own version of increased hardship in the name of reforms. We saw this with Shagari’s “austerity measure”, with Babangida’s SAP, with Obasanjo’s “economic reforms”, with Jonathan’s “transformation agenda”, with Buhari’s “change” agenda, and now it’s fast unfolding with Tinubu’s “renewed hope.”

The major driving ideology in these so-called reforms has been neo-liberalism whereby government’s direct intervention in the economic sphere is reduced, thus increasing the influence of market forces as the shaper of the economy. This is what has led to the removal of fuel subsidy, progressive reduction in electricity subsidy, floating of the naira, privatisation of the power sector, and the ongoing privatisation of the NNPC among numerous other reforms.

But ironically, rather than bring the promised relief, these reforms have over the years further impoverished the masses. The reforms appear to have achieved nothing but pulling the state farther away from the citizenry. In other words, the supports the citizens had over the years gained from the state by way of subsidy and others are being withdrawn while the pledged good effect of the withdrawal is proving elusive. Pointedly, the Nigerian state is receding, abandoning the masses to their fate.

Now, Tinubu’s government is following the same trajectory. History is repeating itself as government’s reforms (by way of subsidy removal and floating of the currency) are deepening the hardship in the land with the government urging the masses to bear the suffering with patience in anticipation of the better days that will follow.

I do not see the better days happening simply because we have failed to change how we do things. The forces that prevented us from witnessing the better days promised by Shagari, Babangida, Obasanjo, Jonathan, and Buhari are still very much with us. These forces are nothing but bad governance. Our major problem is not economic strategy but leadership ethos. Leadership at all levels – government, civil service, and other public institutions – has been too skewed to yield anything positive, irrespective of the nature of reforms implemented.

What we need is a leadership that will fight corruption, enthrone accountability, engender attitude change, and generally evolve good leadership and followership ethos in the country. This is the only way to arrest our nation’s continuous descent to doom. By focusing on pain-inflicting economic reforms and doing little or nothing about governance, we’re on a journey to hell.

The politicians are not helping matters. When in opposition, they criticise the incumbent for being insensitive to the sufferings of the masses. But then when they find their way into power, they start to toe the same path of pain-inflicting policies while urging the citizens to bear the pain with patience, just as their predecessors urged. This is what we saw with the APC in their role as the main opposition and eventually as the successor to PDP government.

This underlines the fact that our politicians of various parties are not different from each other in terms of ideological and moral conviction. What appears like ideological conviction in their speeches is nothing but mere rhetoric aimed at capturing power. No sooner they succeed than it becomes obvious that they have nothing really different to offer.

To me, the present Tinubu government has not appeared convincing in terms governing differently from others before him. We’re yet to see any radical shift in leadership ethos, such a change in trajectory that will drastically reduce corruption and whip everyone – leaders and followers alike – into the line. Unfortunately, our entire focus has been on economic reforms. Everyone is debating the appropriateness of the so-called reform policies and no one is talking about the appropriateness of the governing style. It’s time to change the narrative. Like I always urge, let’s begin to talk about governance.

Henry Chigozie Duru, PhD, teaches journalism and mass communication at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.