By Kenechukwu Obiezu
Nigeria is currently entertaining a conversation over whether it is a country of clowns. The conversation was ignited by Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s Vice President. At an event in Abuja, Shettima described Nigerians celebrating the free fall of the Naira against the dollar as clowns. Particularly, Shettima chided them for their celebrations on microblogging site X.
Clowns imply a circus, and the use of the word by Shettima evokes memories of a 2018 interview of then President Muhammadu Buhari when he described Nigerian youths as lazy.
In what is quickly becoming a
viciously uncharitable cycle, it appears that Nigerian leaders not only insist
on foisting hardship on the country, but also on checking their expressions of
despair.
A cloud of despair rests on the
country. Rarely are a people ever asked to enjoy such a cocktail of
poverty and insecurity, but that is what has been served Nigerians. Either they
enjoy it or risk being called clowns by their Vice President.
Nigerians sharply disagree on
whom the clowns are. Their country was doing just fine before the All
Progressives Congress, APC, of which Shettima is a ranking member, posted a
seismic upset in the general election of 2015. Since then, things have all gone
south. Buhari pinged eight years of utter disaster. Eight months into the
administration of Bola Tinubu, his successor, the signs are ominous. Yet, it is
Nigerians who are clowns and not those who have made the country a laughingstock.
Like many other releases coming
from the corridors of power, Nigerians would have a good laugh over the Vice
President’s outburst because a people who boast a long memory remember.
In 2022, as the election drew
closer, Bola Tinubu as the candidate of the APC needed a running mate. His
decision to pick Shettima immediately set off a firestorm. The nomination of
Shettima, a Muslim, like his principal, risked upsetting the balance of a
country where religious sensibilities are notoriously harsh.
To get around the religious
issue, the APC planned an elaborate and very colorful circus.
On the day of Shettima’s unveiling as Tinubu’s running mate, some
political jobbers donned supposedly religious robes and posed as bishops. This
was to give what turned out to be a convocation of clowns a flavour of
acceptance wide acceptance.
Nigerians saw through it however
and at the end of the day, the APC, its leaders and the ‘bishops’ they hired
stood out as clowns in circus they had staged.
Shettima should know better. As
someone coming from Borno State, which was utterly laid waste by Boko Haram
while he was Governor, he should know of the pain and desolation that comes
from the mere fact of being a Nigerian these days. He should not only cut
people some slack, he should be able to empathise with them. When they share a
good laugh over the chaos his administration is trying to get a hold of, he
should find good humour in it rather than fire off graceless barbs.
Nigerians are a fair lot.
Long-suffering and hopeful, they usually give every new administration the
benefit of doubt. Despite Buhari’s unsavoury history, Nigerians gave him the
benefit of doubt for years until it was clear that he had no clue about the
cure a deathly ill country needed.
Shettima would agree that
though they are at their wit’s ends, Nigerians have extended the same courtesy
to himself and his principal. Despite the clear presence of incipient
cluelessness, Nigerians deliberately choose to look to the past for the
provenance of their problems rather than blame someone who has barely had time.
This is so the new administration can at least work. But it appears the dignity
is not being reciprocated.
Clowns? Words are easy. What is
not easy is the willpower to confront challenges as they come. What is
Shettima’s government doing about the Naira that has continued to plummet since
they took oath of office?
Shettima wants Nigerians to work
with his administration to turn the fortunes of the country around. While
Nigerians are not averse to hard work, as their achievements in many areas of
life show, they are no fools. They go only for what is worth their time and
effort. They want to see that what Shettima and his principal are doing is
worth it.
Shettima’s statement is full of
unfortunate contradictions. He runs the risk of antagonising the hands he needs
on deck. That he railed against them for celebrating on X means that he drops
into the microblogging site now and then to see what is happening there. It is
such a contradiction given that he must have secretly supported the actions of
the APC-led Federal Government to ban X(then known as Twitter)in the country.
It is a surprise that Shettima
used that word despite his retinue of expensively appointed aides which
includes one of Nigeria’s most polished public commentators and poets.
Shettima may soon turn all of
them to clowns unless he checks his overzealous penchant to cut loose
uncharitable criticisms and force support for his government. Genuine support
is freely given and never forcefully taken.
But Shettima may not understand
what volition is about. After all, we live in a country where votes count
for nothing or are forcefully taken rather than voluntarily given.
Despite their dire straits,
Nigerians know who the joke is on. Shettima surely knows too.
*Obiezu
is a commentator public issues (keneobiezu@gmail.com)
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