By Donu Kogbara
LET’S hope that President Jonathanand his allies have learned a few humbling lessons from a totally avoidable strike that exposed a Government that has become increasingly unpopular to global embarrassment.

Looking back at nationwide protests that attracted support from respectable citizens from all classes, income brackets, ethnic backgrounds and religions, it is clear that Nigerians are tired of being taken for a ride and taken for granted.

A few more comments and complaints about recent events:

*I contacted some of the government officials I know last month to discuss the fuel subsidy issue. Some reacted like decent human beings and were willing to listen to my concerns and explain their positions. But most reacted so arrogantly that I concluded that they deserved a few hot slaps!

And I’m glad that they’ve been comprehensively humiliated. If they were European or American, they would have been forced to resign. But they are Nigerian, so we are stuck with them. For now at least.

*I’ve been based abroad for a while, so I observed the drama from a distance. But I passionately cheered the protestors on from the sidelines; and I was almost moved to tears by the fact that so many ordinary folks had the guts to publicly register their disapproval of an Administration that has spectacularly failed to inspire confidence.

Affluent professionals
*Some of the people who hit the streets are affluent professionals or entrepreneurs and can effortlessly pay higher fuel prices; and I heartily salute them for courageously choosing to leave their safe, luxurious comfort zones to compassionately identify with the suffering masses.

*Broda Goodluck is very lucky that I am not a trade union leader! As far as I’m concerned, the TUC/NLC teams that negotiated with the authorities behaved like cheap dates by caving in too easily. Their critics say they were heavily bribed and I have no idea whether this depressing rumour is true or false.

All I know for sure is that I’m deeply unimpressed by the feeble deal they accepted. If I had been in their shoes, I’d have driven a much harder bargain. I wouldn’t have trusted the ruling elite that has betrayed us for too long to deliver on promises to invest in infrastructure at unspecified points in the future.

I’d have insisted that the savings that will flow from the subsidy reduction concession be immediately channelled into tangible benefits for the majority. I would, for example, have urged workers to keep up the pressure until every child had been assured of a free school place, starting next Monday.

*The current crop of Nigerian trade union ogas need to be aware a) that they already had a credibility problem before the strike commenced and will completely lose relevance over time if they don’t pull their socks up and b) that they are dispensable…in the sense that legitimate dissent against inadequate governance does not necessarily have to be controlled by them. Populist uprisings in “Arab Spring” countries, for instance, were not stage-managed by any Comrade

This or Comrade That.

*Various diehard Establishmentarians have talked as if it is a crime to wish that Jonathan and/or the PDP would be ejected. These fascist reactionaries carry on as if anyone who dares to despair of the status quo is a dangerous element with a murky Nigeria-destroying agenda. It’s as if not wanting Jonathan or the PDP is tantamount to committing treason.

This small group of strutting bullies and dishonest fantasists needs to be boldly reminded that its personal interests are not synonymous with the collective interests of a nation that not only existed long before they barged into the corridors of power but will definitely thrive without them

Unpatriotic security risk

*The idea that every Opposition politician is an unpatriotic security risk is insulting and ridiculous. Some opposition politicians have what it takes to become great Presidents. Some would, given a chance, probably do a much  better job than Jonathan.

*Governor Peter Obi of Anambra annoyed some of us by describing Jonathan as a “statesman” when the strike ended. According to my dictionary, a statesman is “a person who exhibits great wisdom and ability in directing the affairs of a government…”   I hope that I can be forgiven for  wondering whether Governor Obi is tired of APGA – the piffling, near-invisible minority party he belongs to – and angling to join the almighty PDP!

*I was so sad when I heard that Northerners were fleeing the South because they feared reprisals for the Christmas Day church bomb and had, in some cases, been attacked. Many Northerners in Southern cities have been harmless, apolitical cattle herders, butchers, security guards and sincere friends to indigenes for decades. And it is such a terrible pity that they are now being punished for Boko Haram’s terrorist outrages.

*What’s tribe got to do with it?! I am very angry with the South-South natives who believe that we must silently swallow everything Jonathan throws at us because he is from our area. They are trivializing subsidy protests by playing the ethnic card.

They appear to be convinced that Jonathan is only being criticised by non-Ijaws! I am even more upset with Niger Deltans who go one step further and either try to intimidate other ethnic groups or threaten to blow up the oil pipelines that criss-cross our region. Many Yorubas flatly refused to support Obasanjo for a Third Term – even though Third Term would have extended the tenure of a Yoruba President. And I’m simply not willing to be any less objective.

*Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining and Christians and Muslims were united in their opposition to various injustices…and wound up, in Kano and Lagos at least, standing side-by-side and helping each other. Nigeria may yet become the tolerant melting pot that it ought to be at the mature age of 52!