Some prevalent social forces are in a dramatic action. We are all playing different characters in a socioeconomic and political theater so that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu can decode the right message as he approaches 100 days on the throne. In the context of unfolding governance, the verdict of 100 days in office determines the perceived quality and direction of any government.
More than two months into the new administration, Tinubu’s self-evaluation is always positive and faultless. But external evaluation gives a contrary result. Even where common sense will disagree, he will make his government look like a saint. When our spirit is at its lowest ebb and requires a lifting, Tinubu’s assurance is that we will soon see light at the end of the tunnel. How soon? We have a president who loves us dearly and cannot hurt us as he repeatedly asserts. Nevertheless, some of his policies look very tough, unfriendly and only the masses feel the unbearable pains. They are advancing the cause of some empirical social forces which have devastating effects on the people.
Shortlist of social forces includes poverty, corruption, population dynamics, inequality, marginalisation and the rest. These forces act as a formidable front, overwhelming us as well as informing our behavioural pattern. When these forces are let loose, people troop to the streets demanding for social justice. Sometimes, they go out of control to produce a scenario of violence.
Therefore, the socioeconomic context must always supercede the political interest of the president on policy-making so that a new lease of life will be launched to dwindle the effects of rising social forces. Tinubu should avoid the clash of his self-centered political forces with a seemingly ravaging social forces. Accordingly, the government must be wary of the repercussions of social forces advancement as it evolves policies and programs. The government must not allow the escalation of social forces which will be an invitation to an impending doom through unfavourable policy designs.
The very first day Tinubu was sworn in marked the consolidation of our existing social forces. Through an awful and inappropriate timing of the infamous declaration of ‘Fuel subsidy is gone’ just immediately after taking an oath, before we knew it, high cost of fuel and living escalated further. However, there was nothing in place to cushion the fresh and severe agony. This shows that the project was poorly executed. The government’s pre-occupation is that it has saved about N1 trillion from subsidy withdrawal in two months. But the question is, how have the masses fared in these two months? Will the fund be accounted for? Are we going into another terrible experiences in which governors were given huge fund as bail out, Paris Club bonanza but eventually squandered it without facing the wrath of the law?
Tinubu must be conscious of the many forces that are protruding and are deemed to mar his 100 days performance. These days are like cosmetics for political office holders to beautify their government. In just 200 days, the late Murtala Mohammed created a modern Nigeria. How will Tinubu want us to remember his 100 days in office? Does he
want us to remember him for waging a war against our neighbour, the Niger Republic? If war erupts, can he contain the potency of the new dimension of losses of war? We are at a new level of poverty and Tinubu is beating war drum. Food is becoming luxury but Tinubu wants to facilitate more hunger through war. There is a general sense of insecurity in Nigeria but Tinubu is poised for a battle that will strengthen detrimental social forces and the casualties are unpredictable.
There is a strong chemistry between his policy of subsidy removal and the rise of negative social forces. We have never heard it in the history of Nigeria where ‘ hoodlums’ spontaneously forced their way into wharehouses and looted foodstuffs. This occured not as a result of organised violences. Are we getting the message correctly? While it is bad for people to take the law into their hands, it is also disheartening for the government not to address the lingering frustration of the people even if it is on a short term basis. These ‘hoodlums’ know that some people in government are living ostentatiously where there is deepening squalour among the citizenry. These are ‘socially dislocated’ citizens.
Not long after what some called ‘Yola mayhem’, the Nigeria Labour Congress went for peaceful protests across the country. It was another period of social forces in action. It was suggestive for the government to take its own action in accordance with the yearnings of the people. The protesters registered their grievances against the harsh economic predicament in the country. Sadly, the government is yet to digest the true meaning of that protest as it has settled for a legal battle against the union. The proposal that the labour union will shut down the country on 14th August, 2023 will mark another action by social forces.
What are the lessons of the rise of these forces for Tinubu? Tinubu must deploy a strong political will to decipher how these forces can be minimised to the barest minimum. It is in this regard that Tinubu ought to understand the language of the NLC’s demonstrations. The simple language is that social forces such as hunger, poverty, inequality are engulfing the nation and the flame is horrible for everyone to see. The powers that be must wake up from deep slumber and give us the best action within these 100 days. Any pretension or demonstration of insensitivity to the plight of the common people will aggravate matters.
These harmful forces are sending a warning signal. They are not static but they are moving forces that keep recurring, re-enforcing their power, building new areas for destruction to make construction very difficult. How can we compare our living before Tinubu’s subsidy removal outburst and the agony we are passing through? This is a clarion call to our government that the lacuna between the haves and the havenots has reached an unacceptable proportion. The government may not see this action in its form of hidden destruction, but stark realities as manifested in the deteriorating living condition can serve as an eye opener.
Tinubu’s 100 days in office has entered a crucial stage. The current action of social forces is defining the government in a bad light. But at the expiration of 100 days, Tinubu will surely tell us that he has achieved a lot. However, the continuous rise of the social forces, if untamed, will be the template for our verdict.
Abdullahi writes from Ringim, Jigawa state via [email protected]
