by Uche Igwe

Truth be told, watching Amaechi’s style, one will say that far from a derogatory intention, his true purpose in making that declaration is to challenge the long dead fighting spirit in the average Nigerian to take up his fast – waning right to fight and challenge governance decay and impunity.

Since Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, the Governor of Rivers State and Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, spoke about the timidity of Nigerians and the impossibility of a revolution, many people have gone for his jugular with a barrage of criticisms. Some of those points made by his critics are valid. But we must examine such a statement with deeper retrospection. For those who know Amaechi closely — he is not a ‘real’ Nigerian politician. That is not to say that he does not play politics or have held political positions — but that he is somewhat different from what we know about a typical Nigerian politician. A Nigerian politician lies, prevaricates and changes like chameleon. He is your friendenemy in the morning and your enemyfriend in the midnight. He says something in the night and denies it in the morning. But Amaechi, many people have said, is neither of these. It has been said by those who know him well enough that if that man tells you anything, then you can take it to the bank. Be that as it may, as someone who has been in the political arena for more than 20 years and who has held several high level positions, such a verdict about Nigerians is very and unsettling. Are we really timid? Is the elasticity of our patience limitless?  I will attempt to examine this statement from three perspectives.

First is that it seems to me an empirical indictment on some of us who call ourselves the remnants of revolutionary elements within the media and civil society. How have we fared in our role as the voice of the voiceless and the conscience of the society?  Do we still reflect the views of those whom we represent or have we sold out? What is our relationship with the political class?  Where is the calculated rudeness of journalists and the unruly mobilisation of civil society needed to keep the greed of politicians in check? Amaechi ’s statement suggests that we (the media and civil society) must urgently review where we stand both by day and by night. Therefore, timidity here can be figurative.

Now, wait a minute, Amaechi was a former student leader in this country. I am sure he participated in, and probably led, many student demonstrations during his time. What has become of the student movement today?  When you hear about the National Association of Nigerian Students or any other student group, how do you feel?  Student unionism in Nigeria has transmogrified to a sort of dubious industry.  Student elections have now turned to a do-or-die-affair akin to typical electoral contests in the wider Nigerian political space, not because of the value they want to add but for the opportunity it creates for them to line up their pockets.  If you look at the rot in the educational system, you will see that there is a lot to occupy a committed student movement. But those days are gone. What we now have is an aggregation of clueless government apologists waiting to become instruments in the hands of politicians to pursue a predetermined and anti-people agenda. Such movements have become highly fragmented and polarised by the same divisive tendencies that have polarised our polity. So, who will fight who? That purity of purpose that was the propelling force behind those who successfully prosecuted the “Ali Must Go” protest in 1978, the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria riots in 1981, struggles against tuition fees in 1984 and the demonstrations against Babangida’s Structural Adjustment Programme in 1989, to mention but a few are now completely nonexistent. Instead, you see students gathering to demonstrate in solidarity with corrupt politicians and genuflecting before dubious individuals as far as you will “mobilise” and “demobilise” them.

Let us now look at what almost happened in January 2012 during the demonstrations against the sudden removal of fuel subsidy by President Goodluck Jonathan. The last might not have been heard about what happened behind the scenes but what I know is that there were two sets of activists.  One set demonstrated in support of the policy while another set demonstrated against it. A group I know of divided its members into two, with one part participating in each part of the divide. Of course, they assembled back together in the evening to share their collective booty and map out strategies for the next day and share their loot. Of course, we are all aware that as soon as the demonstrations began to show signs similar to the Arab Spring, the labour movement truncated the exercise by withdrawing its “ground troops”.  It later went into a negotiated “settlement” with government and suspended the strike indefinitely.

To many observers, January 2012 was a lost opportunity. The consequences of sudden removal of subsidy cut across several classes and Nigerians were united in their anger against a government that is insensitive to the plight of the citizens. Those who know better believe that the country came very close to a revolution. But what happened, the “activists” at the forefront of the demonstrations went into what we called a “closed door” meeting and decided to truncate the popular will of the people.  They called it “closed door meeting”, but as it turned out, many still term it the real coup against the Nigerian people.

So, what does Amaechi mean by the unending elasticity of our patience? Could it be that he knows a few things that we, the ordinary Nigerians, do not know? Does “We the people” still constitute any form of discomfiture to the elite? I align myself with the thought that even though Amaechi has implemented many people-oriented programmes, he cannot claim to be speaking on behalf of the people. After all, he has been a member of the political class that takes pride in insulating itself deliberately from the pulse of the man on the street. If we examine his statement with greater more objectivity and fewer sentiments, we may, however, come to the conclusion that he might have said the truth. The level of corruption and bad governance evident in the country has become so incestuous and unacceptable that something needs to give way. Our leaders have failed us continuously and the civil society is now yielding to the readily sedative balkanisation of political contractors. The average Nigerian is angry and helpless. The time to rise above this apparent timidity for courage is around the corner. Nigerians may soon decide to wake up from their slumber and rise up against their oppressors.

Though Amaechi might have alerted us to it, he will not be spared when the chips are down …and he knows it!

Truth be told, watching Amaechi’s style, one will say that far from a derogatory intention, his true purpose in making that declaration is to challenge the long dead fighting spirit in the average Nigerian to take up his fast – waning right to fight and challenge governance decay and impunity. Such a statement should therefore, be a wake – up call to the people. And, in fact, those who are criticising him on the basis of that singular declaration might have unwittingly aligned with those who are benefiting from the present state of indolence of the Nigerian people and who fear that his comments may wake up the sleeping tiger in and bring forth the anger and wrath from the Nigerian people.

The rising inertia of the Nigerian people in the face of rising acts of bad governance is so manifest that even Nigerians daily mock themselves with the classic level of the elasticity of their patience. It is Nigerians who tell the story of how, when citizens of other nations are forced to their limits, with their back against the wall by their leaders, they fight back in the form of a revolution that sweeps and cleanses the body polity of the nation: But in Nigeria, when the rulers push the people against the wall, the people do not fight back…instead break through the wall in continuous retreat from their oppressor-rulers!

Amaechi’s statement must be seen within the context of a caution to the people to stop breaking walls in retreat against bad governance but to rise up to challenge any form of bad governance from any of the nation’s leaders, Amaechi inclusive.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.