By Denrele Animasaun

People are always blaming circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get ahead in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”– George Bernard Shaw

Interesting times we live in, and what a week it has been. Young Nigerians took to social media with hash tag #IStandWithNigeria and then to the streets. They stood up and spoke out.  Across the country and abroad, they marched in their tens, hundreds and thousands to protest about the present living conditions in Nigeria. Whatever the motive of 2Face Idibia, he was right to start the conversation publicly and initiate a public protest. It was well intended and many millions of young Nigerians took up the mantle of responsibility.

It was well overdue and inspite, of the police leaning on 2Face to call off the protest because they said they could not guarantee the protesters safety, it went ahead without 2Face and the police could not do anything about it. The future really does belong to the young people  and they have been ignored for far too long, therefore the politicians should do more to improve the lives of our young people.  This neglect is a poor indictment of successive governments over the last couple of decades. We have a nation that has over 7 out of 10  young people who are not in employment, education or training. This is not something that the government should be proud of.

With the absence of the President, who we are told, remains on medical vacation, it is little wonder, why the nation is anxious and are wondering what actually is going on. Where is the Captain of the ship and what direction are we going? Is the Able second mate taking over to steer the ship through the political choppy waters?  One can only hope that the crew know because they are not telling the passengers (Nigerians). The Government won on an anti-corruption platform, and the country is waiting for them to deliver and the results is not forthcoming. Where is the Change that was promised?  The mantra of “Change begins with me” now seems so dishonest and hollow. Change cannot begin with some people and not with others, especially when the government demands change from those who do not have the power and lack the means to make the change: they do not have enough food, no substantial opportunities, employment, no health-care facilities or access to affordable staple food. So it is cruel when the powerful are rubbing salts in the wounds of the poor while they are going overseas to have medical treatment while the country’s health care systems crumbles, inaccessible or not working. It is obvious that some people are more equal than others.

One of the protesters commented that the, “government by the rich, for the rich, to make laws so that poor people suffer”. Sadly, this is the truth. Increasing poverty and the gap between the very rich and the poor are so wide and it continues to be so on a daily basis.  Nigerians are resilient and they have taken all the economic blows for too long by adjusting their lives accordingly but there is no more room to adjust.  The patience has worn thin and asking for anymore is unkind.

Honesty and transparency are needed to ensure that Nigerian can trust that the Government and they in turn should do right by Nigerians. PMB has extended his medical vacation, all we know that he is well and awaiting medical tests. One of the protesters said; “Nigerians are frustrated and tired of this absentee government,”. Everything that is wrong with Nigeria today is written on their colourful placard: “Unemployed people are hungry and angry”. It is cold comfort to call the nation, the biggest economy or the giant of Africa.  This accolade does nothing for Nigerians.  It is nothing and means nothing unless the man on the street can feel the difference positively.

There are pictures of officials visiting PMB in London, we could assume that it is to show that PMB is fine and well. The more this theatre and dramatics continues, the more peculiar and intriguing plot is becoming.  We can do without the amateur and this circus is not doing anyone any favour least of all, PMB and his cabinet.

There is too much fake news about the   president even before he was due to return to work after a two-week medical vacation in London. Now that he has extended his vacation, the rumour mill has gone into over drive.  This has been handled badly and it does not help that his appearance is shrouded in secrecy and it unsettles many as they are not sure what to think of the state of country.

Vice President Osinbanjo, has assured the protesters and Nigerians that the government   understands the grievances of the protesters and that the administration will implement policies that will address all issues raised. He said: “To those who are on the streets protesting the economic situation and those who are not, but feel the pain of economic hardship, we hear you,”

With the absence of the President, Vice President Osinbanjo has asked for calm and assured the young people in particular that the government is listening and they are working hard to make Nigeria a better place for everyone. Nice words, but this has been heard too many times. With the Gate House of the vice president costing Millions and Millions of Naira, little wonders these words fall on deaf ears. Are we really in the same boat?   Speaking at a town hall meeting at Kano, he said that he was confident everyone would come out of the current recession happy.  When will that be and how will it look and feel like?

What the government needs to understand is that the country went through trauma in 2009 during the illness of former president Yar’Adua. They were left in the dark and repeatedly lied to about the condition of the former president when it was obvious to everyone that he was not in the best of health.  The concerns are real and it would be helpful if this government could be honest and support the citizens with facts.

So this Monday, the young people spoke and the young people, regardless of their tribal and religious backgrounds, they all took to the street despite the warning by the police that the protest could not go on. They walked side by side, placards–in-hand demanding from the government an improvement to the living conditions for all Nigerians. Times are very hard in Nigeria for majority of Nigerians and as one young person put it so well-how long do the young people have to be patient and why are the older generation denying the young free education when in fact most of the older generations were recipients of free education.

This is not the time to say wait and see, that has been the mantra of successive administrations, and no discernible change to improve the lives of the young people, and in the meantime, the politicians cart off billions of dollars and leaving the country bereft of crumbling structures, substandard education, social care, economy, trade, devalued Naira, depleted resources, youth mass unemployment, poverty, sick and unhealthy citizens.

This is the harsh reality and the young people are aggrieved that the politicians are throwing away their future.  The time to listen to the young people is now, in fact, it was yesterday but now, will do. The young people have been deprived and ignored for so long and no amount of heavy handedness from the wealthy and the powerful will stop the young people from finding their way with or without the politicians.

The government cannot run a nation like Nigeria, like an organisation and treat ordinary Nigerians with contempt and disdain.  The young people are standing up and it is important to listen to them and it is advisable that the powers that be take note and start to make the sustainable and realistic changes.

It is a departure from the fatalistic stance. It is clear that people do not know how strong they are until strong is the only thing they have. The resilience of Nigerians has been sorely tested and taken for granted for too long. Many of these young people are not in employment, training or education. This is not what we should wish our young people, they deserve better than this and they are worth much more. Talk is cheap and time to change the mindset.

There is an urgency to put things to right and so there is an urgency to get it right and roll it out to the ordinary Nigerians.

Can the government make changes to high prices of food, petrol prices, high unemployment rates and a devalued naira make the lives of so many Nigerians bearable?

Nigerians are becoming unwell both physically and emotionally. For them, every day is life and death. They have to decide where their next meal is coming from, should they go to work and not get paid or how they can pay their children’s’ school fees.

This is the time to affect change and the time for the government to practise what they promise. A word of caution to the young people:

“When it gets down to having to use violence, then you are playing the system’s game. The establishment will irritate you – pull your beard, flick your face – to make you fight! Because once they’ve got you violent, then they know how to handle you. The only thing they don’t know how to handle is non-violence and humour.”-John Lennon

It is Time to See.

“In my language Igbo, the word for love is “ifunanya” and its literal translation is “TO SEE”. I would like to suggest today that this is a time for a new narrative, a narrative in which we truly see those about whom we speak. Let us tell a different story. Let us tell the story differently. Let us remember that the movement of human beings on earth is not new. Human history is a story of movement and mingling. Let us remember that we are not just bones and flesh. We are emotional beings. We all share a desire to be valued. A desire to matter. Let us remember that dignity is as important as food.” -Chimamanda Adichie