Where is Labour in all this? That was the worrisome question that tumbled out of the lips of an agitated Nigerian. He was expressing his frustrations about the state of affairs in Nigeria. The crisis in the petroleum products supply chain was particularly worrisome to him. His worry was not helped by the galloping prices of the products. Then he remembered that it didn’t used to be so in the past. If Nigeria was still the country he once knew, the Labour unions would not be quiet while life and living are grinding to a halt owing to the ineptitude of those in positions of authority.
Truly, Nigerians used to be a loquacious lot. They used to ask questions when the system was not working. Most often, they erupted in protest if government did not show signs of seriousness in fixing observed problems that threaten to rock the boat. But all that appear to have changed. The people have become suddenly reticent. They have become tongue-tied. The embarrassment that is the government of the day has taken the shine off Nigerians. They cannot believe that what they are experiencing is real. They see it as a bad dream. They are hoping to escape from it, sooner or later.
But how does someone whose sensibility has been deadened hope to help himself? What respite can we find in an atmosphere that has been enveloped by despondency and complacency? The answers to these questions do not come easy. That is why those saddled with them appear to have resigned to the situation. Indeed, they have lost their sense of proportion. Normalcy is no longer what we know it to be. It has acquired a new meaning in Nigeria. It is the reason why the outrage that should normally greet abnormal situations is no longer there. In Nigeria of the present day, the normal and the abnormal are hardly distinguishable. Both appear to be one and the same thing. One has necessarily dissolved into the other.
We should recall that in the past, Nigerians were given to complaining about bad governance. They expressed misgivings when things are not what they should be. That was why we had situations where the country’s Labour unions rose in protest against bad policies of the government. In those days, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was given to calling out workers for strike over unfriendly and anti-people policies of the government. Then, Nigerian workers used to occupy the streets of the country over increases in the prices of petroleum products. Civil society organizations, on their part, never gave government a breather. They took government on over repressive policies, including human rights violations. That was then. That was when the people had a sense of rage. Now, all that have died. Nigerians have frozen. They now behave like a hypnotized lot. They can neither bark nor bite. The people’s steely resolve has melted into a cold, impotent ash.
It could well be that the people are crippled by a situation they never imagined. Before the Muhammadu Buhari order, Nigeria was performing above average. Government, no doubt, needed improvements in certain areas of governance and the government that was making genuine efforts at improving the state of affairs in the country. Regrettably, the rapacious quest for power did not allow that to materialize. Driven by a mad urge for regime change, the government then was made to look impotent. Its critics said Nigeria was going under. They shouted their voices hoarse. They wrote off the government, describing it in very unsavory terms. Gullible Nigerians were taken in by the antics of those who set out to grab power. This was in spite of the fact that most of the charges against the government then were baseless. But those who engaged in the uncritical blackmailing of the government had a project on their hands. They were not going to let up until the government was pulled down. They succeeded.
Then as if Nature was out to punish the people for their foolishness, it foisted on them a new order that would bring about wailing and gnashing of teeth. Perhaps Nigerians are too shocked to talk today. They have looked back in time and are convinced that their problem is self-inflicted. They have realized with utmost regret that they were led by the nose. They are looking back with nostalgia about the order that they threw away. They recall with regret that time was when they moved freely in the streets without fear of molestation by hoodlums. They recall with nostalgic feelings that days were when they could travel from one part of the country to another without being killed or kidnapped by gun-totting marauders.
They recall that when the last regime was leaving, petrol sold for N87 per litre. Diesel sold at N125 then. But we know where we are today. These products are neither available nor affordable. They are now luxury items. The situation is so bad that yesterday now looks like Eldorado. The difference between the two is clear for all to see. The multiplier effect of all this is that the people are now eking out a living. Many have been thrown into the labour market, with attendant increase in social vices. The country today is ruled by terrorists and bandits. Killings take place every second of the day. Gun-totting marauders compete for space with security agencies. In today’s Nigeria, life has gone the Hobbesian way. It is short, nasty and brutish. This was a far cry from where we were when the new order bulldozed its way into office. What a tragedy.
Under the present regime, the Naira has crashed to an all-time low in the foreign exchange market. By the time the new order took over from the old, one dollar exchanged for about N170. Today, the exchange rate has gone haywire. Our national currency has lost considerable value to the extent that it can no longer compete.
Under the new order as well, prices of goods and services have gone beyond the reach of the people. The situation has never been this hopeless. It has become so bad that the people no longer know what to say or do. They have given up. They do not seem to have any sense of direction any more.
Indeed, where is Labour in all this? The question truly rankles. The NLC led by Ayuba Wabba should be embarrassed by the state of affairs in the country. How did the union lose its fangs? But Labour is not alone in all this. Where are the protesters of Ojota? Why are civil society organizations no longer enraged? Who sucked them in? Can all of this be about elite conspiracy? Little wonder the youths are angry.
