By: Dr. James Bwala
August 1, 2024, will remind many families, friends, and colleagues of the bitterness of losing loved ones. Those arrested or injured will live with certain regrets for failing their nation as a result of their participation in the uncalled protest. Those who bear evil marks will continue to urge other misguided youths on why they should continue on the path of destruction. And some mothers would wail again. Protest, as I know from my years of living, has never been peaceful, even though protesters have always creamed it with the salty test that it was going to be peaceful. They said it in their announcement for August 1, 2024. But it was not peaceful in the end.
I ran my eyes through some online reporting last night and went through some videos sent to me. It was another sad saying. The youths have lost their future again to some old, unmannered, and de-interested crocks who never meant well for the youths. These aged fathom killers stay in their comfort zones, and their children are living abroad, while the poor mother, who is struggling to make ends meet, was receiving the sad news of her dead child, who either left home as a protester or a security personnel to cause mayhem or to defend the integrity of the nation.
From Maiduguri to Damaturu and from Kano to Kaduna, going forward to Katrina, and down the Niger blood flows. These are the blood of the promising Nigerian youths wasted in a broad day light for another man’s greed and not sincerely for corn flour, as they tag hunger to the protest. As a Nigerian youth, I have participated in protests in the days of ignorance, and when I look back, it means nothing to me. Those we have protested for have gotten what they wanted, and we have been forgotten. That is why I have advocated for the youth to see reasons not to protest. But in life, there are numbers that they can only learn by experiencing, and I hope the injured and the arrested will learn from this.
When I add up the death toll from this unfortunate turn of events in our country from the few states I was able to get my hands on figures, Nigeria has lost thirty-two (32) young and promising leaders of tomorrow, as we often say. And now that they are gone, who will take their place tomorrow? The youths and all of us should learn something from the August 1, 2024 #Endbadgovernaceprotest or #hungerinthelandprotest, or whatever name it comes. Truth be told, these bad governance or hunger issues did not begin with the current administration. If Nigerians had been patient, especially the northern youths, for eight years under the Buhari regime, I see no reason why they are venting anger on the same issue against the Tinubu administration, especially since the move by this government has shown a positive light for an ailing country like Nigeria, as they would say.
I believe from what I have seen, heard, and read that the Tinubu/Shettima administration was able to achieve, and with what they are trying to achieve, there is hope, biblically speaking, for a tree that is cut at the drop of water. No Nigerian today would argue that the steps that make it possible for the local government to have autonomy are bad governance, after all. No one would argue that the signing of the Northwest Development Commission and Southeast Development Commission was not a positive note to bring development closer to the people of those regions owing to the negative issues impacting those regions. It did not look as if the government was not trying to find solutions to the cry of the people. Was the free import duty for food and drugs an attempt to frustrate Nigerians? The government has come to understand the conflict between NNPC and Dangote, and the president has given the marching order for the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery. Should I call this move #badgovernce? Or should I condemn the move that created the Livestock Ministry, which hopefully would end the farmer-herder conflict, and tag it #badgovernance?
Not to mention the successes achieved by our military, police, DSS, and other security agencies. These mentioned in the above paragraph are a few that come in handy as I build the lines in this piece, but I believe that for those who want peace for this country, these are enough evidence to say that the Tinubu/Shettima administration means well and is living in the renewed hope agenda-setting mantra. Bad citizenship is what I saw on videos sent to me from FTC, Maraba, Kano, Potiskum in Yobe State, and Maiduguri, my home state. I saw my brother and colleague Jesse Tafida taking a full length of his legs to escape to safety around Bullumttu, where bad citizens are attacking security operatives, and the sound of guns began to rent the air in a movie-like atmosphere.
That is Maiduguri, which is also the home state of Vice President Kashim Shettima. I had thought that the last place to experience such a horrendous outing was Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. But I was not surprised knowing the Bullumttu area is a gathering of multitudes from different backgrounds because a true son or daughter of Borno would appreciate the fact that with the coming of Kashim Shettima as the vice president, Borno stands to gain more. In fact, Borno has no reason to join in violent protests whatsoever. Our governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has never hidden palliative, and he never stayed in the government house to allow others to share the palliative. He is always on the field, even in the mine field of Borno, to ensure his people have the experience of good governance.
It is not uncommon in a classical place like Bullumttu to experience such unholy appreciation for the governor or the vice president. Nigeria’s northeastern state has been in conflict for over a decade, and the resultant is what was experienced on August 1, 2024, with the loss of four lives when elements of the Boko Haram were said to have infiltrated the protesters in order to cause chaos in the state. This was the reason for the government to take measures to ensure safety by imposing a curfew. But far away from Borno and in the Arise TV studio, a certain professor was trying to say that if he were to be the vice president, he would demand an explanation for the multiplier effects of the protest in the state. I think this political analyst and professor of strategic management, Okey Ikechukwu, has missed something about the content the protest in Borno State carried.
More than what is being traded in other states, for Borno State, it is about the terrorists and the fear of their infiltration, which unfortunately happened.
Terrorism or fighting terrorism, as he would want the VP to make demands, is not a classroom idea that is tailored to what the students must do to get it right or perhaps to pass an exam. It is an idea born of sudden and creative ills that focuses only on the destruction of life and property without recourse to what the end may be. So, Professor Okey Ikechukwu needs to undertake more research on issues regarding happenings in northeast Nigeria and first add to his knowledge before dishing out on what he knows practically nothing about or very little to gullible Nigerians who may believe that what a professor said is always right.
We should not be seen as condescending over matters of national interest; we must preach healing whenever and wherever we are faced with issues, particularly when we sit before cameras to speak to millions of people. Our youths have missed it, and it is our duty to educate them about the protest that many of them got into, knowing nothing of its meaning but destruction. These lives that have gone are minuses to our numbers, and killings, destruction, and all manner of evil perpetrated in the name of protest is not poetic and should be discouraged by all well-meaning Nigerians.
Dr. James Bwala, PhD, writes from Abuja.
