The period from 1st to 10th August was the most challenging time for our nascent democracy and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his cabinet members. It was when Nigerians vented their anger, frustration, and dismay to political officeholders with grave consequences. Some people lost their lives, and some lost their personal belongings in addition to the devastating hunger with ravaging alacrity that swept many communities. Many of us had premonitions of the likely unpleasant outcomes of the protest. We prayed for a swift government intervention to ease the hardship and end the agitation for the demonstrations. Some optimists or mischief makers went beyond the limit. They fabricated the supposed speech of President Tinubu, assuaging the protestants with measures to address the causes of the protests, which the presidency promptly denied. Later, the President addressed Nigerians when the protests were flaring unhindered. As the demonstrations had unknown leaders, miscreants caused mayhem and stole properties for their gains. Some of the guns-totting security personnel displayed their trigger-happy acumen, cutting down the lives of some protestants. It was a national calamity that must be avoided to prevent Doom’s Day. What are the key messages from the protests? Nigerians sent a clear message to the authorities that they should be put at the center of government policies and that the continuation of failed policies from previous administrations only exacerbates the situation with no progress towards prosperity. The government must rethink the way out and create hope for the future.
Several years of embezzlement, mismanagement of public funds, and lack of transparency have been directly linked to bad governance and erosion of the people’s trust in their leaders. These were the covert reasons for the protests. President Tinubu should work hard to change the narrative for a glorious future. Here are the comments from my esteemed readers for your reading pleasure.
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Thank you, Prof. Othman.
I dove my cap for you and said more grease to your elbow. You have objectively and painstakingly analyzed the issues and proffered solutions to them. Nothing is left out of your masterpiece. One cannot help but concede that it is timely, rich, stimulating, and rewarding. I will circulate it to those who matter within my reach, especially those in power, to see, learn, and implement if they are serious and willing to change for the better.
I can’t thank you enough for continuously living above board to save the face of academia, especially in the social sciences, which appears to be sleeping and making empty noises without action. Thank you immensely once again. May Allah SWT give you more wisdom to sustain the tempo of enlightenment and better our lots. – Dr. Musa Ajiya
Well done, Prof., for this is an excellent package. This article will only go down well if it reaches the main target that can check themselves on the issue of promoting bad governance in Nigeria. These include our President, Vice President, Senate President and his other members, Speaker of the House of Representatives and his other members, State Governors, Ministers, Special Advisers, and all others in positions of power. They need to read your enriched article to avoid the doom’s day, which may explode anytime if those in power fail to realize their mistakes and continue to rule us on like no man’s business. It is high time Nigeria calls for a change of governance from bad to good leadership. With this call, Nigeria will overcome all the problems that have been bedeviling the nation for decades. Let all hands be on deck. Nigeria will survive. Amen. – Engr Dr. Yemi Oyelade
Sir, it is not that they don’t know the right things to do, but they will never do it. They are not there for us but for their selfish gains. Even those items you mentioned in the president’s speech are to deceive us right at the point of delivery; they are just to reduce the tension of the protest. The issue of reduction of customs duties on essential food items and pharmaceutical goods has been mentioned for more than a month now; instead, prices of goods are soaring at high rates daily. This govt means something other than business when it pronounces anything. Or do we correlate the attack on the NLC house in Abuja and the arrest of many leaders relating to the protest? We are in the military-civilian era. It seems the government himself is contented with the looming doom. Sir, I want to believe that the government has better packages than other professionals. But they will never do it because they are not there for our benefits but theirs. Their intention is to enslave us to build their own lives. Unfortunately, somebody has said that most Nigerians love their oppressors, called leaders. That is why many Nigerians are attacking their colleagues to support a lousy government. – Anonymous
Thanks for looking deep, Prof! Whether we like it or not, our inability to feed ourselves is haunting us heavily now, when we would have doused the tension when it started shooting up our heads. Eight percent (8%) of our farmers have left their farming areas, somewhere they can only have a garden for themselves, not to mention farming for business because of insecurity. Hammering on this and the government taking drastic measures against this demonic lucrative job will bring us back to a time of surplus. But we still have a long way to go in solving problems because new ones crop up daily, marvel. How can crude oil be sold upfront? Another talk for another day. Nobody is talking about that; we are all pretending crude oil was sold upfront and the money stolen. – Dr Engr Bernadette Jolaiya
