COLUMN – Emma Okah

 - Strike: Sunshine After The Rain

After a six-day devastating strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and civil society groups to protest the removal of subsidy on petrol (PMS), Nigeria and Nigerians came out thoroughly bruised. In hours after calling off the strike, business activities have picked up in many cities and people are beginning to rebuild their economic lives again.

 The last strike was unique in many respects. It was all about petrol, the all important fuel for generators, cars, bikes, one or two stroke engines etc. It came at a time when Nigeria was facing the dreaded Boko Haram scourge and the ASUU strike. The minimum wage issue has not been fully implemented in some states and yet the strike came knocking. There was alarming anger in the land and so the strike was an opportunity to shout at the FGN. It was nearly spontaneous with the civil society groups especially Save Nigeria Group engineering and pushing the organized labour to fight with exemplary courage. Nigerians spoke with one voice and the few who were defending the government decision to remove the subsidy looked leprous and lacked courage in the eyes of ordinary Nigerians.

 While the strike lasted, many people and institutions genuinely proffered solutions to the economic quagmire of the nation. Some others saw the regime as an opportunity to flog the FGN for daring to invite war to itself. That is Nigeria as well. Irrespective of where anybody leaned during this period, we believe that nobody wanted Nigeria to be dismembered. Our civil war experience (1967-1970) steadily signposts a constant reminder to any discerning mind that no matter what happens, it is better to dialogue than go to war. It is for this reason that we commend the stakeholders for using their hand instead of their hands to save the deteriorating situation.

Now that the strike has come and gone and the parties are ready to talk and resolve all the contentious issues, Nigerians expect that the lessons of the strike regime will not be in vain. Leadership should cause the sun to shine immediately after the rain. GEJ did not cause Nigeria's problems but his actions in office will go a long way to define his place in history.

So far there is a preponderance of opinion that leadership has been the bane of Nigeria since independence and as years roll by, the reality of this fact manifests more aggressively in our national life. Unfortunately, bad leadership and irreconcilable regime of impunity is gradually forcing hitherto humble Nigerians to stand up for their rights and pour venom on the government. The result is that in the years ahead, leadership will find it very difficult to take the Nigerian people for a ride on issues that touch their welfare. This is the reality of today.

We do not see Nigerians as very difficult people to manage. On the contrary, they are easily pleased even with little things. What has painted many Nigerians black is the failure of leadership to do right and summon the necessary political will and courage to enforce laws of the land. For various reasons, the President is afraid to touch some people, members of the National Assembly are greedy and have vested interests and the judiciary does not want to be left out in the craze to share from the public wealth by all means. So where are the patriots?

There is no country that does not have criminals of varying degrees from the top down the rungs. Even in the biggest democracies, there are many people who would do worse things and abuse their positions but the restraining line is that laws will take their toll on such deviant behaviours and punish the culprits with devastating finality. Therefore if a man knows that he will forfeit his stolen wealth and still go to jail, the chances are that he will be reluctant to steal from the public till. This is what is lacking in Nigeria and everyone knows it but no one wants to address the problem.

The National Assemble must do soul searching and purge themselves of their selfish inclinations. The ongoing investigation of the subsidy regime by the House of Representatives is highly commendable but many Nigerians are not excited because similar probes in the past did not yield any positive results. The Ndudi Elumelu Power probe readily comes to mind. After all the noise and spending of public funds to find out why the corrupt Obasanjo regime spent $16B on power without lighting one bulb,  the House of Representatives suddenly lost steam and began to blow a muted trumpet like Justice Oputa would say.

Whatever happens, this is another opportunity for the energetic House of Representatives to reinvent itself and assume the proper role of an intervener for the people they represent. The present leadership has shown traits of formidable leadership deserving of patriots but how far this will go depends on what they do in the months ahead.

The next level of sunshine that Nigerians expect is that the gluttonous attitude of Nigeria's public officers at all levels of government must be stopped. The Presidency must lead the pack and cut down on luxuries and outright wastage of public funds. This is a time to shed weight and any call for the people to make sacrifices will be meaningful if the burden is fairly distributed so that even the governed will appreciate that the government is honest about making sacrifices.  British Prime Minister David Cameron did not find it difficult to cut down his convoy of cars at a time the British economy was sick and that was a great sign of responsible leadership.

GEJ lays repeated claim to a humble beginning without shoes as a school child and given what God has done for him, the minimum Nigerians expect of him is that he should be the shoulder they can lean on. He must shun this mad rush for luxury because it does not sit well at this time. In fact, it stinks. How many aircrafts does the presidency actually need? How much food do they really eat and how many cars can they drive? Why are they constantly running overseas for minor health problems when the local hospitals are neglected? Why would many countries now depend on the exorbitant school fees they charge Nigerian students to support their tertiary institutions? Why should public officers be fed by the state when they earn salaries? Why are members of the National Assembly not engaged as part-time legislators?

Nigeria is dangerously drifting to a pathetic state with an endless list of sore points. As we fail to address them over time, these embarrassing habits become entrenched and assume intractable dimensions with every new comer hustling to take his own share of the public cake to the detriment of the poor. The time to have a rethink is now and only Mr President can set the pace, enforce the rules and lead the nation out of the woods. No country can make it to the top if it has to borrow money to finance a luxurious life style of its officials. It is for this reason that Nigeria makes itself a laughing stock when it claims that it would be one of the first 20 countries in the year 2020. It is clearly a case of self deceit and celebration of dishonesty.

Sadly enough, the position in the states and the LGAs is largely the same as what obtains at the federal level. Squandermania is the order of the day. Where everyone else is equally at fault, no one will have the moral courage to check the other. That is why we believe that the president must live by direct examples instead of precepts. Nigerians have been beaten enough by the rain. Even nature admits that after the rain, comes the sun. Let the sun begin to shine in Nigeria from today.###