By: Ochi Maduabuchi
Across the country, different scenes played out. In a state, a crowd gathered, with their clothes reflecting the diverse backgrounds from which they came. Some held placards, others held nothing. They stood side by side, voices ringing. As someone chanted, responses tagged along. “What are we saying?” a voice asked, “we are hungry!” the protesters responded.
In another state, the attributed act of popping tear gas, the stinging sensation substance at the crowd, was a peculiar sight. As chaos reigned, protesters raced through the flames. In yet another scene, people marched together, holding banners, peacefully stating their standpoints. Across the country, Nigerians gathered to protest against the long-dated hardships the country had been subjected to. The outcry was simply #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria; a protest which lasted ten days.
How Did We Get Here?
Towards the end of the 8-year tough reign of the former President, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria experienced one of its highest levels of inflation. Inflation affected the prices of required goods by many Nigerians.
“We shall phase out the fuel subsidy yet maintain the underlying social contract between government and the people,” President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had announced his campaign plan. After the tumultuous election, deeply characterized by rife, President Tinubu got inaugurated as the President of the country. Pursuant to his words, President Bola Tinubu declared fuel subsidy gone on the very first day of his tenure. “On fuel subsidy, the budget as at before I presumed office and what I’ve heard is that no provision is there for fuel subsidy.” He paused before dropping the hardest hit line, “fuel subsidy is gone!”
The following months, price of fuel became surged and wildly irregular; like it is till today. Across states, pump prices jumped from around #240 in May to more than double. A scramble for fuel in a country blessed with it ensued. Long queues formed at petrol stations as people scrambled to get fuel to use as needed. A waiting list of cars that often take up one side of the road and crowds of people that have been at stations since 4 am, gathered almost everywhere in the country.
The price of food and almost every other commodity skyrocketed in the following year and many Nigerians has ever-since struggled to navigate around the ever-increasing prices of the Nigerian depressed economy. These experiences, increasing fuel rate coupled with weakening the purchasing power of the people, made the suffering of the Nigerian population even more acute. There was a pressure being built up, a pressure which would later explode in a way that the reigning government would not have wanted.
In his manifesto, President Tinubu promised to increase oil production to 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 and 4 million bpd by 2030 and increase the indigenous share of crude oil production to over 1 million bpd by 2027. The President also aimed to achieve full deregulation of midstream gas prices within six months, increase gas production by 20 per cent, complete critical gas infrastructure projects by 2027, accelerate the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and implement additional favourable policies to attract investment in deep-water assets within 6 months.
Like Nigeria, Like Kenya
With a national debt of around $80 billion, Kenya spends a lot of its yearly revenue on servicing its debt. But the plans of the President in power, Williams Ruto, to solve this issue, was to cut subsidies and impose extra taxes, on income and for housing, on the people.
In May 2024, in a bill titled “The Finance Bill, 2024”, the Kenyan National Treasury aimed to introduce a new tax reform, that would impose a 16% VAT on bread and an ‘eco tax’, which would have raised the price of items such as sanitary towels, nappies, packaging, plastics and tyres. And despite the intense rejections that came from the people, the national assembly seemed adamant to pass this bill into law. But the people weren’t going to take it down their throats, most especially the youths.
Under the banner #REJECTFINANCEBILL2024, Kenyan youths gathered together on social media, organised themselves and stood against the proposed bill. On 18th June 2024, ahead of the second reading, Kenyans took to the streets of the capital city, Nairobi, peacefully, protesting the passing of the bill.
However, the government still failed to listen. The Kenyan National Assembly pushed the bill into the next reading stage and matching their unyielding nature, the protesters did not let up. The protests continued and the government responded with force, bringing police to try and manage the protests that were still going on, even as the National Assembly tried to pass the bill.
“Sounds of gunshots have been heard as police battle protesters who are pushing to enter parliament in Nairobi where MPs have just passed the controversial finance bill,” a BBC live coverage reported.
“Several protesters have been shot outside parliament,” Citizen TV reported.
The people disapproved of the government’s policy, but the Government would not budge. The Government through its agencies rather responded with violence. But Kenyans were not deterred. They marched on the streets in the following weeks. On 26th June, 2024, President Williams Ruto announced that he would not sign the bill. By 11th July, 2024, the President furthered his action by dissolving most of his cabinet, leaving behind the foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi.
From Kenya To Nigeria
The struggle of the young people and working class in Kenya is still ongoing, and a resolution has not been finally arrived at. But going all the way to Kenya gives a good background to what is currently going on in Nigeria. Inspired by the actions and wins of their Kenyan counterparts, Nigerian youths would not want to take the bench seat. Starting online with the hashtag #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, currents of a protest that would hold from Thursday 1st till Saturday, 10th August, 2024, swirled within the online space.
Eventually, Nigerians defied the odds, especially the demonization of the human right to protest. While protest ensued, it was unlike the Kenyan experience. All the same, with handful warnings ahead of the future.
These events should serve as a rebuke to the current leaders of the University of Ibadan Students’ Union who have not only repeatedly expressed sentiments against the effectiveness of radical action, but have repeatedly frustrated students’ complaints or address it as a matter of fact. The continued postponement of Congress that concerns fees is detrimental to the struggle for a reversal of fees, and can only be seen as self-sabotage. The Students’ Union should take a a page from the book of history that has just unfolded recently.
