[STRIKER] The Protest: Facts Vs Fiction

Ahead of the ongoing protest, now in its Day 9 and winding down hopefully, Striker admonished that the best solution to any and all challenges emanating from democratic governance (or mis-governance) remains the deepening of the democratic culture – simply put, more democracy.

All the usual constituencies came to the protest party: the real protesters committed to peaceful demonstration against an unprecedented cost of living crises; directly facing the genuine protesters is the government that occasioned the crises (and its praise-singers, apologists, anti-protest protesters, media men and propagandists and the security forces); between the two are the usual suspects – hoodlums waiting in the wing to loot, anarchists and frustrated haters of the government who look forward to no positive reforms but just to discredit the government, then enemies of the state waiting to catalyse the peaceful protest into a violent insurrection for regime change. They all answered “Present, Sir!”

The Protest is in its 9th day of proposed 10, and losing steam. However, it has disappointed most of the predictions and thrown up various unexpected scenarios. While we continue to implore all to embrace democratic options opened for sustainable solutions, there is clear and present danger in the way certain officious and unofficial constituencies are twisting the protest narratives. They latched onto the protest demography to churn out falsehood that the unsuspecting may shallow for truth. Along the line, the Defence Big Boss has promised that should the protest continue to degenerate as is being witnessed in Northern Nigeria, he would have no option but to crush it. That is the danger.

The false narratives are: one, that the East instigated a potentially violent protest that was then  bought-into by the North and West while the East eventually refused to stage any protest in the 5 Eastern States but continue to encourage protest and violence everywhere else; and two, that the Northerners that never protested against the woeful performance of Muhammadu Buhari in 8 years as President are now up in destructive protests against a Yoruba President from Southwest, waving Russian flag, soliciting either foreign intervention or military overthrow of the government. In the first instance, the Easterners never instigated any protest.

READ: #EndBadGovernance: Organisers Plan One-Million-Man Protest In 36 States, FCT Saturday

The protest is a Pan-Nigeria consensus and has a nationwide root cause – an unprecedented prohibitive cost of living. The Easterners’ response was well advertised long before the commencement of the protest and it has objective reason solidly rooted in the fact that the East has been in a state of undeclared war worse than peaceful protests for years now. They never wanted Tinubu and never voted him and can only sneer at the rest of Nigeria as in “didn’t we tell you; face your baby.” Their unified abstinence is their own resounding protest in itself.

Secondly, the North did not join the #EndSars protest for two reasons. Firstly, they face an existential insecurity threat for years that made any call for reducing police, army presence a huge joke at that time. They needed more armed forces presence every square inch of their land in a situation where terrorists and bandits enter mosques to slaughter imams leading prayers, like goats.

Moreover, how many northern youth are into internet fraud much else being harassed by Special Anti-Robbery Squad? The root cause and objectives of the protest (before the goal post started shifting towards the end of the protest) was alien to Northern masses and political elites, they COULD and DID NOT join because it made no sense, not because their son was President, and the root cause of their violent outpouring in this protest has little to do with Tinubu, as acknowledged by many sensible analysts.

The clear and present danger is that, South-West vocal narrators must end their false accusations of both East and the North and face the government to do needful in making life easier for the commoners soonest as possible because should the Military make good their threat to violently repress the Northern protest, the historically confirmed response of the Northern commoners and their enemies-of-state elites is clear- ATTACK on all non-Northerners and their interests! Surely, counter responses from East and West will lead nowhere but to civil war and national disintegration!

Narrations and propaganda must be sensibly pursued even when defending the indefensible. We must be mindful of the holistic view and assume the big responsibility of preserving democracy and the nation through democratic responses to all governance challenges.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author. They do not represent the opinions or views of OSUN DEFENDER.