By Adekunle Adekoya
Not a few Nigerians, especially me, expected that there would be something to hold on to when the President made his speech commemorating our National Day, October 1, yesterday morning.
As a newspaperman, I read the message more than three times, looking for that strand of a message that could give hope that at the end of the tunnel in which we have been thrown, there would be a glimmer of light, signalling hope that things would begin a turnaround for the better.
Alas, like so many other countrymen and women, numbering in scores of millions, it was not to be as the president opted to grandstand on what he thinks are achievements. The same old chorus, now sounding like a broken record, was recited to us — necessity of reforms, NELFUND, Credicorp, and all that. There was no talk about how we would soon pay less for petrol, diesel, cooking gas, or electricity.
Let me backtrack a bit. When Nigeria was Nigeria, we eagerly looked forward to October 1. As schoolchildren in the glorious 60s and 70s, every October 1, our teachers told us to come to school with our plates and spoons. Everyone of us got a plate of rice and a chunky piece of meat, with a bottle of mineral drink to drown it in.
Government worked so well in those days that the headmasters of primary schools got the funds with which to prepare these meals for their pupils well ahead of time. And it was a time when there was nothing like bank transfers, internet banking. The POS operator was an alien figure. Yet, things worked. If it were now, the funds will never get to the school headmasters, and the children would never get any food.
That time too, was when Nigeria was arguably the most secure country in the world, compared to what now obtains. A little over 50 years ago, in April 1976, I was in Class III in secondary school. Our Geography teacher, Mr Bayo Ogunnupe, decided to organise an excursion. That excursion took us to Kainji Dam in today’s Niger State.
Each of us paid 30 kobo — three 10 kobo coins for the trip, from our school, Remo Divisional High School in Sagamu, Ogun State. We went safely and returned safely, four days after we set out. If it were now, we would probably have been kidnapped, taken hostage, and ransom demanded for our return. In any case, no teacher would dream of such an excursion today, and no parent would allow his/her child/ward to participate. That is how bad things have turned out.
And talking about how bad things have turned out, one had hoped that the president would tell us a little of the good things he has done or plans to do to make things better. In particular, I expected a response to the threat of a warning strike by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC.
The JPNSC is made up of eight public sector unions — the Nigerian Civil Service Union, NCSU; Medical and Health Workers Union, M&HWU; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN; and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM.
Others are the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, AUPCTRE; Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers, NUPSRAW; National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers, NUPPPPROW; and the National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees, NUAEE.
On September 21, the public servants wrote to the president, beseeching him to find ways to bring the price of petrol down to N500, and also demanded a wage award, and commencement of negotiations for a new minimum national wage.
I support the demands of the unions, because it might make government really take action that will benefit all of us, including the insensitive ones in the corridors of power. If somehow petrol can be made to sell for N500, that would be a huge relief to all of us, rich or poor. If a new national minimum wage is negotiated, it means more cash in the bank accounts of workers and increased purchasing power, which will translate to reduced industrial inventory and other benefits to the economy.
But there was no word from the president on this issue. Maybe because he had been away from the country in the last three weeks. But if it was really the working vacation we were told it was, it means the president was getting information about the things that needed his attention on a daily basis. Or the threat of strike by public servants did not need the attention of the president? In all, the optics of government’s performance, as it relates to the welfare of the governed, is rather disappointing.
The disappointment is even deeper when you consider that we are in election season, a period when normal politicians should be doing anything within their power to please the people. Not so here. The contempt that those in government have for those they are governing is so thick and heavy one can almost feel it the way a porter feels the weight of a load.
If not, roads would not remain potholed for months and streets get clogged with garbage for months as is the case in Lagos. Is it because these people know they will be back in office after next year’s elections, whether we vote or not? If that, why not some eye service, which will be better than no service?
*Adekoya is a commentator on public issues
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