EndBadGovernance: In Southeast, Hunger protest turned merrymaking get-together

By Ifeizu Joe 

The recent protest in the country, which was codenamed #EndBadGovernance, which was geared at making the leadership of the country to intervene in the skyrocketing prices of food items was totally boycotted by all tbe states of the South East last week.

Though there were no physical meeting and movement of large number of people in the various cities in the Southeast, there are many who believed that South easterners joined the protest, but in a totally different way.

Days before the protest, there had been warnings by various Igbo leaders and groups, calling on Igbo not to join the protest. The likes of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo sociopolitical group made press releases dissuading Igbo at home and in the diaspora from participating in the protest.

Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives joined in the call when he made a video calling on Igbo to boycott the protest. He warned that if Igbo joined in the protest, especially in other towns outside their area, the tendency is that people of other regions may skew the protest to their against them, and accuse Igbo of being the masterminds of the protest, with the intention to vandalize their properties and also loot them.

Heeding to some of this calls, the first three days of the protest witnessed a total boycott by Ndigbo, and has remained so. THE RAZOR correspondent who monitored trends across the South East noticed that there was no protest anywhere in the South East. In Lagos and Abuja, and other parts of the country, Igbo traders also failed to join a herd of protesters who stormed the streets to ask the president of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to reduce the cost of living and end hunger in the country.

In Awka, it was observed that Dr Alex Ekwueme Square, a public square which serves as a meeting point for protesters was deserted on August 1, and other preceding dates, when the protest held in all parts of the country.

Meanwhile, what looked like a different kind of protest was witnessed in several parts of the South East. Though the atmosphere of the country was tensed, leading to low vehicular activities in the zone, with markets, motor parks, banks and schools closed, but on the morning of August 1, youths formed football teams in various streets in most towns and played soccer as their own kind of protest.

Others were also seen in beer parlours drinking, eating and making merry as their own protests. Very early on the first day of the protest, it was almost a funny kind of greeting as people asked each other where they were going for their own protest.

Some youths who spoke to THE RAZOR in Awka while playing football on the popular Majuo Street in Awka said it is their own way of protesting. One of the youths who gave his name as Ejike said: “I own a shop at Eke Awka. We are here to do our own protest since they said today is set aside for protest. Market did not open, so we have to do our own protest here. We heard that in North people are burning properties already for the protest, but here, our own protest is to play football on this deserted main road. When they are done with their own protest destroying things, we will now go back to our markets.

“We are Igbo people, we can not be the worse hit in this country. If things get worse than this, all we can do is that because we are predominantly traders, if cost of living goes higher than this, we will also increase the prices of our wares. We are not joining anyone in their destructive protest,” the youth said.

What looked like a more funny protest was the gathering of people in videos circulated on social media, both in Enugu, Onitsha and Awka, where able bodied men gathered at drinking joints, treating themselves to drinks and chicken as their own kind of protest.

In Awka, at Aroma junction where some youths gathered drinking and eating and chanting songs, one of the youths, a printer, Mr John Nze said: “This is our own kind of protest. We are here to eat and drink and protest along with our northern and western brothers. We want to say that we are happy with the leadership of President Bola Tinubu. We did not vote for him, but we know that our northern and western brothers voted for him. So this is the time to reap the reward of their support to Tinubu, and we are here to urge our president to keep up the good work,” he said sarcastically.

Meanwhile, on a day when the country was protesting against hunger in the land, the governor of Anambra State was at Amansea, a boundary community in the state to flag off his game-changing agricultural initiative “Operation Farm to Feed”.

Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Christian Aburime said: “The pertinent question on the mind of Governor Soludo seems to be: how can a nation, a people, so enviably blessed with fertile, arable land mass and clement weather conditions be struggling with hunger? This has spurred the governor to swing into action with his new initiative, unveiled at Amansea, in order to galvanise Anambra’s citizens into embracing agriculture on personal and family levels.”

He said: “From sprawling rural homesteads to the modest backyards of urban dwellers, Governor Soludo envisions a state where every available plot of land becomes a bastion of food security. Of course, Nigerians can not afford to be waiting for Manna from heaven or from Abuja. As much as the government must take certain steps to address the rampant food inflation in the country, it is Governor Soludo’s belief that the long-term solution to our food crisis lies in the rich soil beneath our feet and the strength of our own hands. The timing of Governor Soludo’s initiative could not be more critical. As galloping inflation ravages the Nigerian economy, food prices have become the most visible and painful indicators of the nation’s economic challenges.

“Individuals and families across the country are grappling with impossible choices, forced to decide between putting food on the table and meeting other basic needs. There is, indeed, no easy choice.”

Meanwhile, the convener of Youths Earnestly Support Soludo (YESS), a political pressure group, Dr Nelson Omenugha who is special adviser to the governor on youth Empowerment said the protest failed woefully in Anambra because Governor Soludo intentionally lined up empowerment programmes which have kept youths of the state busy.

Omenugha stated this during an Empowerment workshop organized by the group in Awka, the state capital, on Sunday.

Omenugha said: “What we are doing today is a youth empowerment programmes for our members. In this workshop we have lined up several forms of empowerment for youths as a means of taking them off the streets and keeping them busy. We also have two members who just came back from a Chinese government sponsored trip to China, who will be speaking to us about mushroom farming. Our hope is to get members from here who will form a cooperative and farm mushroom. We will sponsor them as means of keeping our youth busy.

“That is the reason there is no protest in Anambra today. There is no protest in Anambra because Mr Governor, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo CFR proactively engaged various youth groups. The Governor has also done well in youth empowerment and the youths of the state are happy with him.

“When I was SUG president of Unizik, I dissuaded protest because if you protest and other nefarious elements take advantage and destroy things, you will still be the one to pay and at the same time you will be worse off than you were before the protest. That was why we intentionally met with youths before the commencement of the protest to tell them all these. And the governor in his wisdom has done well to empower youths in various ways, and today, our youths are useful and do not have time for any protest.

“There are many programmes which the governor has used to empower youths. The one youth two skills programme has given youths the opportunity to be useful. The farm to feed programme will further keep more youths busy, so we are not expecting any protest here because our youths are busy and Soludo has empowered them,” Omenugha said.