At the end of the first day of what protesters titled #EndBadGovernance, I had expected President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the protesters and encourage them to get off the streets. Still staying away from them some two days after, greatly surprised me. I developed more worries when the media became replete with reports of calls by different people urging the president to speak to the protesters. If his aides had convinced him to say nothing because they imagined that the protests were politically motivated, I had hoped that calls by non-partisan groups such as the ‘Coalition of Pro-Democracy Groups for A Better Nigeria’would make the president to have a rethink and act quickly. 

One of the civil society groups, ActionAidNigeria probably spoke the minds of many when it argued that ‘in the face of widespread protests and rising public discontent, it would be disheartening for President Tinubu to remain in the background, sending spokespersons to address the nation on his behalf.’ The implication of ignoring such groups was that Tinubu was inadvertently telling the nation that the previous impression that he was a listening president was inaccurate. Whereas it is true that the president had much earlier assured the nation that the long-term benefits of his reform agenda outweigh their initial pains, it is exceedingly difficult to be patient with inescapable hunger. In such circumstances, previous pleas cannot easily justify current silence. This is why in public communication, there is merit in saying the same thing many times with fresh gestures.

Besides, communication officials in the cabinet had a duty to explain to the president and other officials that not everyone comprehends certain statements at the same time or in the same way. Some people are victims of selective hearing because what they choose to understand from a statement is usually the part of the message which confirms their own predisposition. In fact, to say that the gains of a reform would soon overcome the pains is difficult to appreciate by those who understand the term ‘soon’ to mean soonest or shortly or within an hour or thereabout. When soon means until when a citizen no longer has any source of livelihood, it is unfair to expect such a citizen to remain patient in grave hunger. Otherwise, what would sustain such patience and dissuade the hungry from protests or even riots?

It is also unrealistic to believe that everyone has the capacity to understand the real meaning of a statement. Those who think so erroneously assume that the process of communication is complete as soon a message is passed from one source to another. But in reality, it is hardly ever so without a feedback mechanism which confirms that the receiver understood the full meaning of the message passed by a sender. 

When related to President Tinubu’s reform agenda, there is ample doubt if many heard what he said and if everyone among those who supposedly heard actually understood it. In Nigeria, it is more difficult to ascertain the tendency of spokespersons to disseminate information to citizens in King’s English rather than the local language the people understand.

This was what the military had in mind when they established a modern town crier, the National Orientation Agency NOA in 1993 to publicize government activities in the different states and local government areas to the understanding of citizens. As at today, because NOA is not properly funded, it exists only to pay salaries to workers. Structures and facilities for performing the functions for which it was set up have become obsolete. Which other framework does government have to mobilize and enlighten Nigerians on government policies? At inception, one strategic mandate of the Agency was to prepare a weekly report to sensitize the government on the reactions of the people to public policy. In the last decade or so, even the government lost interest in the reports, making it difficult to obtain the correct reaction of citizens to Tinubu’s current reform agenda.

The point to be made is that Nigeria’s public communication system has become ineffectual. Apart from Information Minister Mohammed Idris and Presidential Media Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale whose conciliatory diction is no doubt good for government, too many other people who are generally intemperate are busy derogating from the credibility of government. For example, the anti-Igbo sentiments which were deprecated during elections have no place during governance. Although the statement credited to the senate president that those who want to protest can continue while the rich is eating has been denied, it may have exacerbated the protests which is not helpful to the polity.

The argument that the protests are political is not as convincing as the reality that many protesters are more bothered about the unaffordable costs of living in the country. As Governor Uba Sani stated in his reactions to the protests in the Northern part of the country, 70 percent of Northerners live below poverty line while 60 percent are financially excluded. The governor added that of the 18.3 million out of school children in Nigeria,65 percent live in the North hence the protests were more patronized there. In other words, the greatest motivation for protests in the North was economic. President Tinubu needs to listen to Uba Sani who is anxious that the cost of governance should be substantially reduced to boost the economy

While a few people may have joined the protest because of political differences, some factors such as ethnicity and religion that usually influenced negative gatherings in Nigeria appear absent this time around.

At the Ojota protest ground in Lagos last Friday, Muslim faithful participating in the ongoing nationwide protest paused their demonstrations to observe the Jumaat prayers. Social media, photojournalists did not miss the beautiful opportunity to project shots showing how their Christians colleagues were standing guard while Muslim faithful observed the prayer. The report established beyond reasonable doubt that the two religious groups were united in the protest against spiralling inflation and poverty.

At the end of the 2023 elections, Tinubu became president of the nation and not that of one political party. Consequently, those party supporters making statements that elicit hate for his government should be called to order. At the same time, those who do not have the authority of the presidency should stop making statements on behalf of the president. If the decision of President Tinubu to ignore the protesters was influenced by party chieftains, our considered opinion is that the president should rise above the approach. What is needed now is for Tinubu to address the protesters so that the protests can be put behind us. As a matter of fact, some of them told the media in Abuja two days ago that it is only the president’s address that can take them away from the streets.

The fear that the President may not have what it takes to change the minds of protesters cannot be a strong one considering how he handled the fiery issue of the new minimum wage and got the Nigerian Labour Congress and governors to stay on the same page. The idea of the president listening to calls to address the protesters could make some of them drop their anger without evening getting a full grip of the expected address. In addition, nothing stops Tinubu from letting the target group recognize that it is easier and cheaper to conclude the reform agenda than to scuttle the journey half way. It would also not be too much for him to set up a committee that would include some of the protesters to recommend how to fast forward the reforms.

The last few days of protests and the negative effect on our economy and international image ought to put Tinubu in a different posture to reduce the size of his bloated government. It should push him to persuade the senate to emulate the House of Representatives by giving up a substantial portion of their huge emoluments and stop their commercialized oversight. An agreement by all our leaders to lead by example will help to make the entire nation see the need for everyone to be patriotic. For example, leaders should stop diverting palliatives away from the vulnerable for which they are meant. By some sheer luck, the protest may open the way for positive dividends to the nation.