Breaking: Call off the Nationwide Protest against Hardship and Dialogue with Government – NBA Tell Protesters

OUR CALL ON GOVERNMENT AND APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE OF NIGERIA ON THE PLANNED NATIONWIDE PROTEST

Distinguished Colleagues,

1. We have consistently and in no unclear terms, called Government’s attention to the sufferings of the people of this country and the need for Government to take clear and decisive steps to revamp the economy and get Nigerians out of hunger and poverty, caused largely by incidents of the insecurity across the country. The current state of the nation was engendered and sustained by corruption in its different forms and shades, in both public and private sectors. While this cannot be solely blamed on the current administration, we had on the subject of National Security, vide my letter of 12 June 2023 to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, called the attention of this administration to the need for informed investments in the security sector of this country. This was absolutely necessary, because of the direct impact of insecurity on the economy and the prosperity of our people. We impressed upon the President as follows:

“Your administration must neither be afraid nor ashamed to make the right investments in the security of this country. What Nigerians require is a well thought-out, informed, all-inclusive and purposeful intervention, with as much information made available to the public, to the extent permitted within the parlance, so as to reassure Nigerians of the sincere commitment of government in the area of security. This is necessary to build back the confidence we individually and collectively need as a people. Government must be transparent; the people must, by deliberate and conscious investment in manpower development and equipment purchase/procurement, be taken out of the state of fear, which decades of bloodshed and flourishing criminal activities have plunged the country into; the psyche of Nigerians must be recovered from the place of despair and despondency! The right people must be given the task of implementing security plans and policies. To achieve this, respect for professionalism must be the primary consideration in all deployments to be made by your administration. We in the NBA would hold Your Excellency accountable to your commitment to prioritise security. As rightly affirmed by Your Excellency “neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence.” There is no denying that our present-day experience is one that has hampered the prevalence of prosperity and justice in many respects.”

2. We also addressed the issue of the economy, where we referred to the withdrawal of fuel of subsidy, (which was commended by many experts as a bold, necessary, and desirable decision), and called on the President to ensure that the sufferings or sacrifices of Nigerians count for something. we said:

“With the level of infrastructural deficits in many respects and the reliance on petroleum products as the primary source of power for most businesses, entrepreneurs and private users, there is the urgent need to put in place policies that will help cushion the effect of this otherwise laudable decision before its positive impact will begin to be felt or noticed within our socio-economic space. We note Your Excellency’s call on Nigerians to make sacrifices and bear the pains of subsidy removal with the assurance that, “the government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of lives”. This assurance, offers a genuine basis for the sacrifices expected of Nigerians and the NBA shall on behalf of Nigerians, watch out for the fulfilment of this covenant. Your Excellency, the pains and suffering of our people must never be taken for granted; it must count for something.”

3. Further to the above, in a State of the Nation Address delivered on the 14 February 2024, we, amongst other things, made observations and recommendations to Mr President on the economy thus:

“It is said that Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa. There is an expanding market in all economic sectors including manufacturing, financial, communications, technology and service and entertainment sectors. Our reality today tells a different story. Our economy is dwindling, the Naira is on a free fall, prices of food stuff have skyrocketed, our future economic outlook seems to be on the negative trend. Inconsistent economic policies have largely led to weakened economic fundamentals including sluggish economic growth. The direct result of these is the low standard of living, alarming rate of poverty, high unemployment rate and the wide disparity in the socio-economic status of the Nigerian population. It would not be surprising given this current reality if the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty has increased. The state of insecurity has equally impacted negatively on food sufficiency and food security as a nation. Those who rely on farming as their sole means of livelihood, have been thrown into abject poverty, because they no longer can go to their farms. While this administration may argue that it is only 7 months into office and it is not the cause of present-day experience, the fact remains that it is this government that has the responsibility of stemming this negative tide. As a government that prides itself with the credentials of Mr President who revolutionized and transformed the economic fortunes of Lagos State (which is not in doubt) and other egg-heads who have excelled as economic experts, it would be disappointing and embarrassingly so, if this administration, did not anticipate this situation as a fall out of the previous administrations and made provisions for how to exit this economic quagmire. Nigerians need to know, as we all are entitled to, in concrete terms, the plans this administration has to bring about the changes that will revamp our economy. It is the engagement with government that educates and informs Nigerians of the strategies for the recovery of our economy that will give Nigerians the hope to continue to persevere and remain resilient as we have always been. Not to do so, will cause a complete loss of confidence in the ability of this administration to truly deliver on the renewed hope agenda, and would be recorded as a monumental failure on the part of Government. President Tinubu must take seriously the cries of ‘we are hungry’ by Nigerians across ethnic and religious lines.

Going forward, we recommend that the Government must, as a matter of urgency, announce deadlines for specific fundamental economic steps to be taken towards economic recovery. This will enable all stakeholders to assess the performance of government in regard promises it has made and become a basis to hold government accountable to the people. Secondly, the Tinubu administration must show demonstrably a commitment to diversification of the economy. There is so much talk by Ministers on what the government wants to do in the areas of agriculture and solid minerals. It is time to back up talking with concrete deliverables.

Thirdly, we need to deal with our security challenges. As earlier stated, we simply cannot dream of economic growth amid rampant insecurity. Economic activities nationwide are presently grinding to a halt because of the threat of bandits, terrorists, and criminals.”

4. We, had on the same date, 14 February 2024, written a letter to Mr. President, wherein we made observations on the state of insecurity in the country as follows:

“It is no longer news that Nigeria, across its length and breadth is bedevilled by challenges of insecurity in alarming proportions. From the ravaging activities of bandits, terrorists, to the scourge of kidnapping for ransom and other forms of criminal activities. Bloodshed have become a daily occurrence, and the news of these dastardly incidents pervade the airwaves and psyche of Nigerians, sending shock and fear to the populace. These criminal activities have left many Nigerians homeless, many families and businesses completely destroyed and these incidents, rather than abate are clearly on the rise. From the kidnap of pupils and their teachers in Ekiti to the continued onslaught on the people in the Northwestern states, the killings and massacre in Plateau, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, the destruction of electricity infrastructure in Bauchi; the murders in Anambra, Imo, Enugu and other parts of the country, not excepting the Federal Capital Territory – the seat of the government of the federation. There is literally no part of the country that is not enmeshed in one form of insecurity challenge or the other.”

5. By the turn of the year, precisely on 12 June 2024, as part of the 2024 Democracy Day celebrations, we issued a statement where we, again, called Government’s attention to the challenges in the economy and the plight of the people. This is what we said:

“There is no gainsaying that Nigerians are passing through hardship on account of the mismanagement of our resources by successive administrations in this Country. Notwithstanding, it is the responsibility of this Government led by President to proffer solutions to our challenges. After all, government is a continuum and one of the governance and political credit which accrued to the President from his days as Governor of Lagos State, is his ability to assemble men and women with the intellectual sagacity and experience, to address challenges and turn around fortunes for the benefit of the people. This was done in Lagos State and there is considerable high expectation that, it will be replicated across Nigeria. While, as many have said, and I do not have a basis to disagree that, it may be too early to fairly assess the performance of this government given the state of the nation at the time it took over, it is doubtful that some of the appointees of Mr President have keyed into, or do understand the vision of this administration founded on the renewed hope agenda.

There is need for more energy, focus and purposefulness to be injected in certain areas of this administration; to compliment the work and efforts from other quarters to achieve a holistic delivery of the benefits this administration intends for Nigerians. There is need for Government to self-evaluate and be bold about taking decisions in favour of productivity in governance for the benefit of the people.

It is on record that tough, bold and apparently unavoidable decisions have been taken by this administration, with the attendant consequences on the living standard of many Nigerians. It is important that more interventions are made to assuage the sufferings of the people, and this will greatly help in managing the expectations of Nigerians and assure the citizenry current hardship is only temporary. Government actions must elicit the confidence that, sooner than later, the sufferings will cease, as that is the only way to make the sacrifices worth the while. Nigerians should be able to see light at the end of the tunnel, and I am confident that with the right deployment of resources (human and material), under a purposeful supervision, this is achievable. I will conclude on this by reminding Mr President that exactly a year ago, he assured Nigerians that “the government I lead will repay you through massive investment in transportation infrastructure, education, regular power supply, healthcare and other public utilities that will improve the quality of lives.” Nigerians are waiting and the expectations are high!”

6. It is clear from the foregoing that, not only is the NBA aware of the plight of the people, particularly by reason of its large network of 130 branches across the country, we have also consistently spoken to the issues and called Government’s attention to the need for urgent intervention in line with our responsibility to hold Government accountable on behalf of the people. We have also, engaged with government officials at various levels, on the need to focus on people-driven initiatives and policies.

7. Therefore, given the fact that the insecurity and the economic hardship do not appear to be abating, it is not difficult to see that the call for the nationwide protest, rightly or wrongly, and the seeming heed to the call by some Nigerians, is simply a reaction to the prevailing hardship across the country. Also, the fact that Nigerians are largely unaware of efforts by government, to salvage the situation, has no doubt, fueled the dissatisfaction of the people against government at all levels.

8. As earlier noted, Nigerians need to be convinced of the sincerity of Government in taking us out of this quagmire. The efforts by Government in dealing with the present economic hardship must be communicated to Nigerians at all levels in simple terms, accompanied by tangible interventions that will provide the necessary succour to alleviate our sufferings in the immediate, while giving us reasons upon which to place our hopes and general aspirations in the long term, for improved welfare and standard of living. Nigerians are a resilient and hardworking people, who deserve the respect of their leaders. Understanding and true followership need to be reciprocated with purposeful leadership; Government has the responsibility of translating its purposefulness and sincerity into concrete benefits to the people.

9. While in the few times that I had the opportunity of engaging with Mr. President, his sincerity in dealing with the affairs of this nation and achieving amongst others, his promise to take majority of Nigerians from poverty to prosperity is quite palpable. It is however doubtful if there is a robust understanding or alignment by some of Mr President’s appointees with this noble resolve, towards achieving the renewed hope agenda.

10. It is therefore important that Mr President undertakes an evaluation of the performance of his appointees with the view to injecting more energy into the administration and close all the loopholes that would not allow the sincerity of Mr President to translate into tangible benefits to all Nigerians. This, for me, is one way we can successfully deal with these issues, and it is with, in the words of Mr. President “a change of mind, a change of attitude and a change of approach to governance.” We all, as Nigerians, must quit playing politics with the lives and welfare of the people. We must resort to measures devoid of any political, ethnic, religious, regional, and other primordial sentiments in order to guarantee our exit from the myriads of challenges that we now deal with as a people.

11. In our letter to the President on 14 February 2024 mentioned above, we did observe that:

“Some Nigerians have lost, and many more are fast losing confidence in the ability of the Federal Government to deal with the security situation in Nigeria. At this time, when public confidence in the sincerity of government in dealing with insecurity is at its lowest ebb, I strongly recommend a government/people engagement, that will at the minimum, inform the people (to the extent that security protocol may allow) about what is being done to secure the nation. Alternatively, let there be clear indicators that, indeed, government is sincerely paying attention to the plight of the people and is committed to its constitutional responsibility of providing security for the lives and properties of Nigerians.

Unfortunately, however, government posturing appears to be far from this expectation. When for instance, in the face of these challenges and daily experiences of Nigerians, the National Assembly embarks on projects for their personal welfare, involving humongous amounts of money and the requests are indulged by the Executive, that is not a posture that will give Nigerians any hope. …”

12. The members of the three arms of Government, must be mindful of their conducts and ensure they do only such things that will be consistent with the sincerity of Government to deliver its programs and policies for the benefit of the people. There must not be any posturing that will appear to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians, giving our current economic realities.

My Appeal to the Protesters

13. I must begin by making it clear that, this is not about “protesters” versus “non-protesters,” it is about our dear country Nigeria, and no more – there cannot be any interest greater than Nigeria. Truth is, we all are protesters in one way or the other. It is how we protest and where we express our protests that differ from person to person, or from one group of persons to the other. So, in essence, it is about all of us. I have also not set out to talk about the legality or otherwise of the planned protest. While the importance of conducting ourselves in a lawful and orderly manner cannot be overstated – representing our respect for the supremacy of the rule of law, my appeal is to our collective duty as Nigerians, to see to the peace and order in our country which is necessary to guarantee its existence. We must all remember that our individual and collective aspirations can only be realised if Nigeria remains in existence. Therefore, dissatisfied as we may be with the state of affairs, we must find reasons to exercise restraint/caution, by avoiding anything that could cost us our dear Country. We need to have Nigeria in place before we can fix the anomalies and challenges that confront us on a daily basis – the leadership, the economy, security, and our general wellbeing, are only relevant when we remain an entity – one indissoluble and indivisible Nigeria.

14. As I indicated earlier, it is not in doubt that there is hunger in the land. The fear of insecurity has caused many to flee their homes and are, therefore, unable to cultivate their farmlands to feed, trade or practice their occupations. They have been thrown into misery and penury. Many Nigerians have lost their sense of worth, are living in dehumanizing conditions and human dignity is no longer what they long for, but survival. We have for these and many other reasons, become vulnerable. While not discounting any of our distasteful experiences, this is the time we must, for the sake of Nigeria, try very hard to hold back from any act or omission that could have a devastating effect on our existence as a Nation.

15. Only few months ago, we experienced a strike action that has cost Nigeria a fortune; the loss we suffered was colossal and it is our common loss. While that strike may have been resorted to in order to get the Government’s attention on the matters being discussed at the time, we did not have to inflict such heinous injury or damage to our nation’s economy just to get Government’s attention. At the end, our situation became worse than what it was before the strike, thus adding to our challenges as Government’s ability to deal with those issues was further diminished, by reason of the negative impact of the strike on the economy.

16. According to economists and financial analysts, strikes (as well as protests) come with considerable adverse economic consequences, including but not limited to work stoppages, reduced production related to lost workdays, stalled infrastructure projects, and delayed service delivery, often amounting to huge financial losses. It has been estimated that the cost of a one-day strike in Nigeria can be as high as 100 million dollars. Social unrests and the attendant fear have severe long-term effects, such as decline in investment. They send the wrong signals to foreign investors thus resulting in capital flight. This affects foreign exchange as it puts undue pressure on our currency, thereby worsening an already bad economic situation.

17. At this time, when we are all burdened and distressed by the hardship in the country, our vulnerability is heightened and suggestions which would ordinarily be dismissed with a wave of the hand as unreasonable and non-beneficial, begins to get attractive. Difficult as it is, this is the time to sit back and allow the voice of reason to prevail. The voices we hear and hearken to will determine our actions/reactions and the consequences therefrom. We must be careful about those we lend our ears to. Not everyone who speaks to the issues we are dealing with does so for altruistic purposes. Many have their selfish pursuits, while some others are simply waiting to cash in on the protest to unleash mayhem on the people, our properties, and the country as a whole. Unknowingly, some of us have become ready tools in the hands of these detractors with sinister motives, who do not mind the collapse of our nation.

18. We will all recall that prior to the 2015 elections, prediction from the West was that the 2015 elections were not going to hold, and that Nigeria was going to plunge into civil a war and disintegrate. This caused many to sell their properties and flee the country. To the Glory of God, we defied that evil prophesy, went on to hold elections and remained indissoluble and indivisible. We still stand as a nation to the shame and disgrace of our detractors. In October 2022, (less than two years now), Nigerians were alarmed by the threats of a possible break up. Prophets of doom were at it again! They predicted that Nigeria would not survive to see the conduct of the 2023 general elections and suddenly, we saw foreign nationals close down their embassies and were evacuated out of the country. Again, to the Glory of God, we conducted the elections, we did not disintegrate, and we are standing as a nation. In a statement issued on the 14 of March 2023, we observed as follows:

“With all the emotions surrounding the general elections, particularly the Presidential elections, I quite understand how quickly one may forget how far we have come as a country in our journey towards a more perfect electoral process. We are not where we should be, but we definitely have made some progress. Needless to recount the human and material losses we suffered as aftermaths of previous general elections; the fear of disintegration as a nation and even recently, the “prophecy” of doom which saw many, if not all, foreign nationals evacuated out of Nigeria by their respective governments; they moved out with their pets (dogs and cats) signifying lack of hope and confidence in our survival and continued existence as a people.

The movement by the foreign nationals out of Nigeria was sudden, almost spontaneous, created a terrible sense of emergency, and heightened concerns/fears about the security and stability of this nation. But these same nationals sneaked back into Nigeria. There was no drama when they came back; they joined in monitoring/observing the elections that were not to hold, were we to go by that prophecy of doom. When whatever made foreign nationals to scamper out of Nigeria in October 2022 either ceased to be or was overcome, we were not informed. We also, at least speaking for myself, do not know what caused the anxiety that was responsible for that exodus. Whatever that was, we weathered the storm.

That we are here today not only thinking about the possibility of the conduct of the elections, but that Presidential and National Assembly elections have actually held, is in itself one of the greatest successes recorded by us as a nation. The level of cynicism and suspicion about the holding of the elections was so palpable that many Nigerians either contemplated moving their families out of Nigeria or already did so. The situation became so bad that insinuations of military takeover were so rife which necessitated the spokesperson of the Defence Headquarters, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, to make a public statement and reassure Nigerians that the Nigerian Armed Forces has no intention, desire, and/or plans to do such an uncivilized, unpatriotic, unlawful and unconstitutional act.”

19. Without trivialising the seriousness of our challenges and experiences and the corresponding right of the people to express their dissatisfaction with the current state of the affairs, I would be complacent to think or assume that our detractors and naysayers may not either be interested in the planned protest or are directly instigating and encouraging the same.

20. It is against this background, that I most humbly appeal to Nigerians, particularly, those that have decided to embark on the planned street protest to have a rethink and take a second look at what could be the possible outcome of embarking on such exercise to our security, economy, and existence. Our past experiences with mass protest are that they are usually hijacked by unscrupulous elements who use the opportunity to commit heinous crimes and thus turn an otherwise peaceful protest into a riot. Whatever we are going through right now, cannot be compared to the experience of a civil unrest and the chaos that could ensue therefrom. Needless to mention nations that are currently going through wars with the attendant carnage and destructions. We do not even want to imagine what the experience would be, and we must forbid it.

21. My humble call and appeal, therefore, to both Government, the organizers and/or proponents and supporters of the planned protest, is to call off the protest, come together for a frank and sincere discussion on what must be done to immediately begin to turn around the plight of the people for good. Mechanisms should be put in place for government/people engagement on a regular periodic basis. Timelines for certain specific actions should be put in place and implemented as the circumstances dictate. We call on members of the National and State Houses of Assembly to immediately engage with their constituents based on the plans of Government at the federal and subnational levels to address the demands of the people. We further recommend that a National Security Summit be convened, where serving and retired military, police, intelligence, and other law enforcement officers will assemble to reexamine our security situation, proffer workable solutions and implementation strategies. Traditional institutions and religious leaders should be co-opted and given specific tasks in this regard. Civil society organisations should be engaged at all levels of the proposed dialogue and in the monitoring of the implementation of the decisions that may be reached.

22. God bless the good and hardworking people of Nigeria,

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

 

Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON, SAN

PRESIDENT