The planned August 1 protest is ill-timed, to say the least. The palpable mood of despondency over the state of the country partly stems from the fact that after 63 years of independence and 25 years of democracy, Nigeria has yet to find its bearing.
But President Bola Tinubu is the latest man attempting to steady this desperately stranded ship. Having assumed office just over a year ago, the president has eschewed the volatile vindictiveness that was the trademark of his predecessor. His valiant attempts to unite the country as a necessary precursor to development are commendable.
It has not been easy in a country that is ill at ease and Nigerians are entitled to their frustrations about the high cost of living in the country. Indeed, democracy invariably gives priority to the voices of those who live under it, recognising their rights, especially their right to free speech, its most important building bloc.
However, it appears that there are many Nigerians who neither appreciate the intractability of their country’s problems nor the ingenuity needed to fix them. The ignorance of these Nigerians is especially evident in their failure to acknowledge the fact that it would take time to fix their desperately ailing country. In fact, time is the ultimate curative in the pot of medicine needed to resuscitate Nigeria.
Nigeria has many problems to contend with. The least Nigerians can do for him is to give him time. It is telling that since Nigeria returned to democracy, former soldiers have done 16 years as president out of a total of 25 years. Tinubu, ex-presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Musa Yar’adua, who have no military background, split the other eight years between them. But of this trio, Tinubu is perhaps the only true democrat at heart. He was once exiled for advocating democracy in the country, and he is unlikely to deploy the kind of force former President Muhammadu Buhari tragically unleashed on protesters in October 2020 at the Lekki Toll Gate. In the spirit of democracy, the protest is likely to go on.
While the government must at every juncture reiterate the right of protesters to protest, those who protest must heed counsel that Nigeria deserves better. There are no good leaders without good followers, and good followership means courage and forthrightness. Courage necessarily means a willingness to admit difficult truths; one of which is that the president has not had enough time to fix Nigeria’s many problems.
Nigerians will fix their country when they are ready to have a country that works. Tinubu is just one person despite the enormous constitutional powers at his disposal as president. As long as he remains the first citizen of the country, it will be unconscionable to absolve him of rightful blame, but it will also be unjust to apportion unnecessary blame to him. If Nigeria is to find its way out of the current doldrums, it will require layers of accountability springing from the grassroots and cooling to the highest office in the country. Without this, it will even be impossible for a saint to fix Nigeria.
