In January this year, I strolled briskly into a privately owned radio station in Ibadan to air my views on as many crucial topics that affect the lot of Nigerians particularly those from Oyo state – which is the centerpiece of my weekly column as possible. I’d honored the invitation to reconnect with my readers and the general public as the new year gathers momentum and hope of a better life under President Bola Tinubu’s administration gets as high as it could be. Partly, I was also at the station to give an account of my stewardship as the brain behind OYO101 (which clocked three years – having debuted in January 2021) and additionally to lend my voice to other critical national debate over the cost-of-living crisis rocking the country at that time.
When the host, a versatile and delectable voice on air, asked that I share my thoughts on the state of the nation, I tried to wed the negligence of the state governors to the ongoing mass suffering inflicted on the people especially as the ripple effect of the fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the exchange rate frighteningly and breathtakingly disrupted the status quo. In that hollow studio, I maintained a straight face, occasionally drawing the federal government to the mess the country was confronting. In the meantime, my contention stuck some cords but was later contested by the people who knew that those policies couldn’t have sailed through without the consent and express approval of the state governors. As the program progressed, those voices added that it was nearly impossible, given the country’s composition and the enormity of power in the hands of the state governors to have disruptive policies implemented without the buy-in of the 36 state chief executive officers.
In other words, the informed listeners who phoned in knew exactly who to hold to account as economic hardship bit harder while it pushed people to the brink of desperation and depression. While I shared that sentiment, I feel the narrative that the fuel subsidy removal for instance was the handiwork of the President or the federal government alone wasn’t grounded in facts and data. Reading the memoir of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, former Minister of Finance and the current WTO Director General titled Fighting Corruption is Dangerous offers such an insightful and grounded data to the complex of political dynamics and power-play between the President and state governors in Nigeria, particularly in matters of policy that may upend the status quo of the vulnerable in the society. In one instance, Madam Okonjo-Iweala noted that the effort to remove the fuel subsidy by the GEJ administration was ratified to take place in phases, adding that behind her back, the state governors went ahead to force the former President to announce the removal on the eve of the new year in 2012. Recalling her grim shock, the financial expert asserted that the blackmailing of a sitting President by the governors shows the extent to which powerful people can go to have their ways and exert maximum influence on issues that will favor them. In essence, that narrative also speaks to a broader and deeper perspective of what justice entails.
As a college student, one of the things I know for sure is the definition of Justice: give everyone what they deserve. Simple. Unambiguous. Understandable and finally, practicable. Handed down to me by one of my lecturers, I committed the meaning of Justice to heart forever. So, anytime the word pops into the public, I quickly fish out the meaning without any fuss. Again, I am reminded of the definition of Justice as the images of impoverished northern insurrectionists falling in the court room ricochet beyond Nigeria.
The nationwide attention that courtroom scene gathered and commanded gave a hint about what we prioritize as a nation. The opposition, as usual and expected quickly latched onto the public discontent, echoing similar sentiments, concerns, angst while calling on the federal government to act in defense of dignity and respect of those acclaimed minors. The disturbing images of those hungry-looking, poverty stricken and malnourished children standing trial for protesting against the government policies caught many off guard. But as the noise against their incarceration rented the airwaves, the President, sidestepping the Judicial process swiftly proclaimed that the sins of the accused are forgiven.
He added, though subtly, that attempt to overthrow the legitimate and democratically elected government during the protest, is also overlooked and that the guys can sin no more. The President equally ordered all cases against them to be dropped. In utter obeisance and submission, the court that was trying the so called ‘minors’ quickly obliged and in matters of days, the protesters were handed over to the Kaduna state government who dressed them like some lost sheep who needed a new kind of identification – reminiscing the heydays of pardoned Boko Haram members who threw in the towel but were absorbed into the society with fanfare.
In addition, the Kaduna State government also handed them cash and smartphone as a way of empowering them. After the photoshop, the boys were released to the wild world where they were tricked to fly the Russia flag during the #Endbadgovernment protest while asking the military to boot out the current government out of office. While the northern insurrectionists are now united with their families, the fate of their western counterparts hang on a thin ice. Just a few days ago, we read in the news that the Yoruba Nation agitators, 27 of them in numbers have pleaded not guilty to various allegations levelled against them.
Recall that on April 13, 2024, armed insurrectionists, dressed in military regalia stormed the state secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Oyo State and attempted to declare a sovereign Yoruba Nation. After a series of gun duel with the combined team of the nation’s security apparatus, the insurrectionists succumbed to the firepower of the nation’s supremacy. While the accused have been charged on conspiracy, unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful assembly, treasonable felony, and felony, the state government has said it will continue to push forward with its prosecution. And this is where it gets interesting. When the Ibadan incident happened, all hands particularly in the southwest were on deck. And the President, who also hails from the region jettisoned political differences in the interest of national security. In months that followed the Yoruba Nation agitator’s insurrection, the reality of an average Nigerian has seismically shifted as well. Motivated by the economic hardship and the promise of a more secured and prosperous independent nation, those agitators, out of ignorance and poverty thought they could have their ways in hijacking the government of the day. Sadly, they met their waterloo and have been languishing in prison for attempting to take over the government through the backdoor.
In short, both the northern and western insurrectionists are the same in motive, intention but differ in execution. Implying that they both ought to face the same extent of the law to deter future insurrectionists. Instead of allowing the vehicle of justice to stay on course and deliver result, the government fell into the ditch of propaganda and mischievous claims like the North will remember. If leadership, stripped of its pompous definition and jargons remains the ability to shake things up in a way that ordinary people can absorb, why should the President allow the noise distract him from setting the record straight in dealing with insurrectionists whether they are from the North or West or any part of the country?
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @GbadeTheGreat on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
