NIGERIA: A Beleaguered Nation in Confusion at Eve of Elections & Fela’s “Ojúelégba” Metaphor
By ‘Tunji Ajayi
In my last columnar feature entitled “BOLA TINUBU’s ENTANGLEMENT IN HIS OWN VICARIOUS LIABILITY WEB: A Potpourri of Gaffe & Controversies” I promised its continuation in Part 2 (See Ohio Wesleyan University Press, USA., February 10, 2023). But I hereby plead passionately with my readers to permit a little digression, while promising to continue Part 2 later. King Sunny Ade’s description of his feats as”Ojúmó kan ìlù kan” aptly fits the “run of news” in Nigerian social and political space these days. The music maestro meant that his skills are so diverse such that his audience should always expect novel feats each different day. Writers, historians, journalists and newshounds wake up each day to see different events from the unexpected to the expected; and from the gory to the bizarre happening almost every minute in Nigeria begging for reportage, analysis and commentaries. And one key determinant of news worthiness in journalism is “run of the news” which refers to the profuseness and importance of stories emerging in a geographical space, be it socio-political, or economic.
Confusion is a breeder of controversies and reactions. That perhaps explains the highly perceptive music maestro Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s invectives in his “Beast of No Nation” (BONN) released in 1989. Fela became so uncomfortable about the pervasive oddities that ravage the African society wherein human conducts, quite often assume bestial and horrendous level. He thus asked a rhetorical question: “. . . which sense be that, na animal sense”. His expletive was apropos, especially when humans behave horridly; while the animals whom God had placed under his dominion behave reasonably better. Chicken feed first their own chicks. But, just like our greedy politicians steal and hide billions inside toilets and coffins, man hide food from their own kids. Animals don’t kill themselves for fun. But man engages in genocide defending God or for no reasons. Fela was puzzled why there is hardly unity within the powerful United Nations, an organization established to foster unity amongst her members. And so he asked: “Who and who unite inside United Nations? No be there Reagan and Libya dey . . . Israel versus Lebanon . . . Iran versus Iraqi. . . Wetin unite inside United Nations . . . where “one veto vote” of a so called super-power nation can nullify the wisdom and resolutions of about 92 members”. Is it not puzzling that human’s behavior often gravitates more towards bestial state than normalcy? It is no wonder why God admonishes that human should go to the seemingly inconsequential animal - an often disdainfully-treated insect to acquire knowledge: Hear Him: “Go to the ants you lazy one, see its ways and become wise, although it has no commander, officer or ruler, it prepares its food even in the summer, it has gathered its food supplies even in the harvest.”(Prov. 6:6-7) That explains the wisdom of the ant. The small ant.
Nigeria, a nation that lives on the ocean but washes her hands with spittle, is obviously in an abysmal state of confusion, wants, poverty and squalor. It is one of the largest oil producing nations in the world, being exported since 1960. Yet it doesn’t have ordinary premium motor spirit (PMS) for her citizens for local consumption. For unbroken eight years since 2015 till the eve of her general elections in 2023, her citizens are still queuing up and sleeping at the fuel stations struggling to buy the scarce product at scandalously prices of between N250 and N500 per liter depending on locations. Yet her ruler doubles as the executive president and Minister for Petroleum who found no solution to the importation of the finished products from foreign lands at huge costs to the nation. What a nation with selfish leaders running endless rat race! Aren’t Bob Marley’s lyrics in his “Rat Race” more apropos to Nigerian’s perennial problems and dismal situations than elsewhere? Hear him: “Oh, what a rat race. Some a lawful . . . some a gorgon-a, . . . some a hooligans . . . in this sphere rat race. . . . Oh, it’s a disgrace to see the human race in a rat race”. And Marley lays his conclusion bare: “In the abundance of water, a fool is thirsty”. For how long will the self-acclaimed Africa’s giant continue to be thirsty under the pang of poverty and squalor!
In his “Pafuka” Fela the Afro beat legend likens Nigeria to an ever-busy “Ojúelégba” junction in Lagos mainland where “. . . motor dey come from left . . . right, north and south” but “policeman no dey for centre” resulting in confusion. Thus, a nation where multiple confusion and attendant insurrections occurred like in the past few weeks could be likened to a state under interregnum – A nation of “Ojúelégba” mold without traffic warden at the vantage point for vehicular direction.
If government, as defined by an English writer Edmund Burke, is “a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants”. Truly, men, as he said “have a right that these wants should be provided for by this wisdom.” But where is the wisdom eloquently promised to apply to provide for security of lives and properties, and run the economic, social and political affairs of the nation on behalf of the people for their benefitis? Nigerians in hunger had literally been sleeping at the fuel stations in search of fuel which is central to daily commercial and social activities for months now. Without it movement is impeded, private and industrial services are halted. Where found, its prohibitive prices often have spiral negative effects on the prices of essential daily commodities and services. Indeed, endless queuing up at the fuel stations amounts to huge man-hour loss, which affects economic growth of a nation. Human health is also threatened etc. Yet in the face of immobility of the populace due to the above, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was vociferous requesting the registered voters via various media slogans to travel to their respective wards to collect their permanent voters registration cards (PVC). Many could not collect their own due to the obvious lacunae. Many had earlier been reportedly burnt by yet to be identified hoodlums and arsonists till today.
At the heels of this bedlam was the sudden change of the nation’s currency design by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Naira which many referred to as mere re-coloring. The denominations were N1000, N500 and N200. Though the CBN initially opened the window of opportunity for Nigerians to return the old notes in exchange for the new ones latest by January 31, 2023 date when the old notes were expected to seize from being legal tender, it is inexplicable why the new notes remained so scarce in circulation. Neither could they be obtained easily either in the commercial banks nor the automated teller machines across the nation. Thus, a jigsaw puzzle was created by a key government institution, the CBN who ostensibly acting through its head, the Governor, relying on a section of the act empowering him on currency issuance. Godwin Emefiele allegedly did the currency coloring nocturnally without the knowledge of the Ministry of Finance or the national assembly. Neither did the National Executive Council (NEC) have the opportunity of discussing the huge project on which members would probably have brainstormed and apply collective wisdom to ensure trouble-free policy. Astute management provides for “contingency” plan which ensures ample opportunity to pre-empt every course of action and have alternative plans. Only proper consultations and brainstorming with all stakeholders would have achieved this and saved the nations from current upheavals.
However, Nigerians found themselves entrapped after depositing their old bank notes in the banks to meet CBN deadline, only to discover that the bank had no sufficient new notes to swap. Neither could the famished Nigerians be helped by Point of Sales (POS) private business owners to meet their daily currency needs. Many of the POS dealers, who obviously had neither access to neither new currency notes nor the old ones any longer, were charging customers withdrawing with their ATM card as much as 10% on every transaction. Thus, with deep chagrin and dismay Nigerians were literally buying their own money earlier kept in the banks hurriedly. What a trap, a cul-de-sac adding more to their anguish! A drawer now needs as much as N2,000 to withdraw every N10,000 from his bank account with the ATM Card! Nigerians became like a herd without a caring shepherd. They need to queue up to buy fuel at the fuel stations. They must queue at the INEC Office to collect their PVC. Now they must queue up at the bank that should not pay beyond a maximum of N20,000 per day as directed by the CBN. They must queue up at POS points to buy their own local currency to find money to eat, since the new notes were not readily available!
Many Nigerians became irked for being unable to get help from bank tellers to withdraw their money earlier kept barely few days before; and went uncontrollably violent. The CBN and the commercial banks traded blames, as the former accused the latter of hoarding new currency notes. Commercial banks argued the CBN didn’t supply sufficient new notes. Nigerians watched with disbelief as many angrily went naked, wailing and weeping in the banking halls. Footage of a woman who went wild, stripping herself naked due to frustration, sobbing inconsolably while regretting her children hadn’t fed for days was a gory scene. Many banks and public facilities were reportedly vandalized across the nation. There was mayhem in Lagos, Benin, Ibadan, and Abeokuta where an angry demonstrator was reportedly shot by the police. Whatever the motive by the government, many citizens decried the timing of the unpopular currency re-design. The nation boils with intense anger. The CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, also an APC member, who had earlier lost his party presidential candidature bid in the APC primary elections on June 6, 2022 to Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu was allegedly “sick” and travelled abroad while he was reportedly summoned by the House of Representatives to come and explain to the House the urgent CBN currency re-design policy and the cash withdrawal policy. Quite often most of our leaders do fall “sick” requiring urgent overseas medical trip whenever they are being asked to account for their actions.
Even when Mr. Emefiele “bows to pressure after threat of warrant of arrest on him for the last time and appeared before Reps panel Ad-Hoc Committee”, as the Premium Times puts it in its January 31, 2023 edition, the CBN boss did not show any sign of remorse for shunning their earlier invitation for so long. Those who are familiar with paralanguage in communication studies would know that Emefiele’s body language before the national assembly on the day reflected his awesome and untouchable personality. While the nation boils in anger, he was reportedly moving in and out of Aso Rock to converse with Mr. President. No flaming fire ever boasts of crossing to the other side of the river without having a strong secret backer. In law the maxim is “Qui facit per alium, facit per se”. Whatever an Agent does is deemed to have been done by his Principal, unless he expressly repudiates his actions. Only President Muhammadu knew beforehand and approved every bit of Emefiele’s new naira re-design policy being alleged to have been targeted at some political gladiators and money bags being rumored to have stock-piled humongous Nigerian currency to buy and influence votes at the elections. The trio of Buhari, Bola Tinubu and Emefiele are in the same political party, the APC. At his Ogun State presidential political rally, Tinubu pointedly said: “We will use our PVCs to take over government from them. If they like let them create fuel crises, even if they say there is no fuel, we will trek to vote. They are full of mischief, they could say there is no fuel. They have been scheming to create fuel crisis, but forget about it. Relax, I, Asiwaju have told you that the issue of fuel supply will be permanently addressed.” Tinubu came harder on his perceived adversaries: “Let them increase the price of fuel, let them continue to hoard fuel, only them know where they have hoarded fuel, they hoarded money, they hoarded naira; we will go and vote and we will win, even if they changed the ink on naira notes. Whatever their plans, it will come to naught. We are going to win.. . ”
Thus in "A Potpourri of Gaffe & Controversies” I latched on Bob Marley’s claim in his “Running Away”: “. . . It is better to live on the house top, than to live in a house full of confusion . . . .” and I wrote further: “Our Bola Ahmed Tinubu, alias the city boy . . . has more adversaries in the “city” than in the outskirts. The city’s vindictive and rancorous men know their Tinubu inside out. That explains why the Yoruba dictum states: “Èhìnkùlé l’òtá wà. Inú ilé ni as’eni n gbé. Ení mo’ni ló n se’ni . . . A man’s arch-enemies are persons of his own household. ” If in his “Who the Cap Fits” the reggae music star says: “Only your friend knows your secret, so only he could reveal it”, could it be that Tinubu’s party - the APC and President Buhari for whom he vouched and worked so relentlessly to win the 2015 highly competitive presidential elections after he lost three successive times “knows” what we do not know about our Tinubu? Where then is the moral scruple if a chief beneficiary in 2015 and 2018 of Tinubu’s largesse and “benevolence” suddenly turns an angel and now decrying and hounding his benefactor? There is Tragedy in Comedy; and Comedy in Tragedy. Wise man makes sense even from foolish talk. Any lesson here to learn? This is encapsulated in a Yoruba dictum: “Bí a bá n bá’ni se òré, à máa n fi ààyèìjà s’ílè ni” – When friendship blossoms, it is wise to provide for days of quarrel. If history now shows that APC may fight APC without counting cost of election losses, and a friend today may fight a bosom friend to a pulp tomorrow, it shows that everything in life is ephemeral. Nothing lasts for ever. President Buhari may mount the soap box to campaign for Tinubu’s success. Good. But like I wrote earlier in “A Potpourri of Gaffe & Controversies”: “Duncan in ‘the tragedy of Macbeth’ had implicit trust in his friend Cawdor. But when Cawdor showed his true colour with candor, Duncan lamented in a mournful tone: “There’s no art to find the minds construction in the face.”
Nigeria is no doubt in a state of confusion. The Supreme Court gave an interim order to the government to allow both the old and new currency be traded in as legal tender until the determination of the subsisting order on February 22, 2023. The hitherto renowned reticent President Buhari made his speech on February 16, 2023 that only the old N200 notes be re-circulated to co-exist with the new note to meet dire needs of the public for 60 days. A speech which seemed to have preempted and countered the Supreme Court’s submission. Not less than 12 state governors hurried to the court to challenge the President’s submission; while the old N500 and N1000 cease to be legal tender. Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State literally asked his state through a state broadcast ordering his state to ignore presidential speech and accept the old bank notes. Who really are serving the interest of the masses? Ambrose Bierce, an American writer answers: “Politics: a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” Let the deep call to the deep. A word is enough for the wise.
Nigerians have now experienced a re-emergence of another slave trade era under Buhari government when billions were paid as ransom to free kidnapped victims from the claws of their captors in a sovereign nation. Of recent, many Nigerians who cannot access their funds in the banks are now employing the age long forgone “trade by barter” as they exchange materials for food stuffs to be able to feed themselves and their family. As Nigerians groan in pain of Emefielous draconian currency-swap policy, only the APC can save APC from APC’s destructive claws. But like Ellis Havelock, an English writer and psychologist once wrote: “Every artiste writes his own autobiography” by his own performances. President Buhari and his political party have no doubt written their own indelible autobiography for many coming generations to appraise. Vabum Satis Sapienti.
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*Tunji Ajayi, a creative writer, author and documentary producer writes from Lagos, Nigeria. (+2348162124412; +2348033203115)
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