The latest protest in Ivory Coast reflects the way many ordinary Nigerians feel about their own government

by Adedayo Ademuwagun

Thousands of Ivorians marched in Abidjan last Tuesday to protest the government’s ban of the sachets used to bag water, usually called pure water in Nigeria.

The government banned the sachets last month to cut down on litter and clean up the environment, but protesters said the move has put many people out of business and made things hard for many ordinary people.

Water sold in handy sachets is common in various African countries, including Nigeria. The water is at the very heart of the grassroots here. A lot of people in Nigeria earn a living from selling sachet water, and many people drink it everyday. So it’s not just a commodity. It’s essentially a part of living for the common people.

Yetunde lives in a low income suburb in Lagos. She says, “We don’t have a borehole in the house we live in and the house is not connected to the government’s water grid. So we have to fetch from a nearby house that sells borehole water. But for drinking, I buy bags of sachet water from the retailer on the street. The water is cheap and clean, so it’s perfect for my family. It’s what we drink at home.”

Last year, some media reports said the federal government planned to ban the sachets for health and environmental concerns. But this obviously didn’t materialise.

“It won’t materialise,” says Patience, who sells this water. “Nigerians won’t take it sitting down if they try it. The masses will resist it because it would hit them directly and not the rich people who drink water from fancy dispensers and bottles. It would be a sign that the government has lost touch with the realities of common people.”

Politicians sometimes introduce policies that directly hurt the masses, and they try to justify it by claiming it’s for some greater good such as public health or infrastructure. Most times, they force such a policy through without softening its immediate bite on the people, so these people feel mistreated and deprived, and they start to ask why these politicians whom they stuck their neck out and queued long hours under the sun to vote for have now grown so unfeeling and insensitive to their situation.

In Edo state, Adams Oshiomole had huge grassroots support before he became governor. The okada men in Benin heavily rooted for him and followed him with their motorcycles, and he made them promises. Then he won a second term. Then he banned okadas.

Felix runs a small barber shop in Lagos today. He lost his livelihood in Benin when the government was uprooting businesses and homes to make way for constructions.

He says, “I used to sell spare parts in a big container in Benin. But the government people came and told us to leave because they were expanding the road. They gave us no compensation. I had to move my business elsewhere. It ruined my business and I never recovered. I had to sell off the container and relocate to Lagos.

Like Felix, the okada men lost their livelihood and some of them had to pick up again from nothing. These people had kids and families to support.

Felix says, “I know some okada men who had to return to their village. They had no education or other training, so it was hard to find another work. These were the same people who stuck with Oshiomole from the beginning. People like me would be in a better situation today were it not for the man’s ruinous policies. I don’t support him, because he contributed to my current situation.

“How many of the rich people in government ride an okada? How many of them are trying to scrape a living beside the road? How many of them drink pure water? The answer is none. So they don’t know what it’s like to have a livelihood and have it snatched from you.

“Our politicians says they’re beautifying places and fixing things. But then, poor people lose their jobs without government relief and life gets harder for the grassroots. Last time I went to Benin, I had to trek more than a kilometre from the bus stop to the house because there were no okadas. So sometimes I just think, why don’t our governments care about us?”

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