It is self-evident that similar looking nations often differ greatly in their economic and political development. This is because of a broad multiplicity of historical institutional developments, sometimes based on very accidental circumstances, and might have engendered far reaching consequences. The openness of a society, its willingness to permit creative destruction, and the rule of law appear to be decisive for economic development: There is no doubt, it is manmade institutions, not the lay of the land or the faith of forefathers, neither is it Islam, Christianity or shamanism that determines whether a country is rich or poor.
North Africa and the Middle East were shaken by the “Arab Spring” started by the ‘Jasmine Revolution’, which was initially ignited by public outrage over the self-immolation of a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, on December 17, 2010. By January 14, 2011, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled Tunisia for 24 years, had stepped down; but far from abating, the revolutionary fervor against the rule of privileged elites in Tunisia got stronger and spread to the rest of the Middle East. Thus, started the ‘Arab Spring’.
In its wake, Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled Egypt with a tight grip for almost thirty years, was ousted on February 11, 2011. That same year, Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured and killed on 20 October 2011 during the Battle of Sirte. There followed the uncertain fates of the regimes in Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen. The roots of discontent in these countries lie in the poverty and impoverishment of the people.
Recently, things fell apart in Nepal. The country had seen political instability and grinding poverty in recent times, but the gates of hell were flung open. The parliament was burnt down. The presidential palace was ransacked. The government fled. Ministers were dragged through the streets naked and chased into rivers. The youths said they had had enough. It could happen here too.
Fifty years ago, while addressing the annual induction night of the Rotary Club of Lagos on July 12, 1975, late Alhaji Babatunde Jose declared: “The gap between the haves and have-nots in our Nigerian society,…is growing, and, unless we made up our minds and in our actions to be our brothers’ keepers, the leper, who cannot milk a cow with his fingers, will break the milk bottle with his feet.”
He then asked them if they were ever deeply touched when they were alone in their cars, driving past bus stops where thousands of men, women and children struggle to take a bus.
“Are you worried”, he went on, “that your messenger has to leave home in the backwoods of Lagos at 5.30 a.m. to avoid being late for duty at 7.30 or 8 a.m? Are you disturbed by the fact that although your family and your servant’s family eat basically the same kind of food, the difference being only in quality and quantity, that your cook’s wife pays the same price as your wife for fish, meat, milk, tea and sugar?”
He asked if they were ever disturbed when children played on the streets, simply because the government had assigned the land meant for playground to other people for erecting private houses.
“Are you concerned”, he demanded, “by the sight of people sleeping on pavements, in shops and in kerosene tin-roofed and bamboo huts in Lagos while you and I live comfortably in Ikoyi and Apapa?” – Walking A Tightrope: Powerplay in Daily Times. (University Press 1987)
We can today paint a grimmer scenario of the predicament of the suffering poor. A friend complained last week about the effect of transportation cost for his domestic workers. They are now staying in his overcrowded boys’ quarters. This scenario is replicated all over the metropolis. Rent nko? This is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Yet many have wives and children who must go to school: The breeding of ‘out of school children’.
Why do we remain poor? Is our poverty immutable, or can it be eradicated? A natural way to start thinking about this is to look at what common people are saying about the problems they face and why they need to revolt against the oppressive regimes. “We are suffering from corruption, oppression and bad education. We are living amid a corrupt system which has to change;” says the people.
Following moments of open class warfare in the late 1960s and early 1970s, battles against the political and economic order became fragmented, trade unions were attacked, the legacy of the anti-colonial struggles was eroded and the history of the period was recast by the establishment to undermine its potency. In the post-Cold War era, a new phase of protest finally began to overcome these defeats. It was one of these putsches that terminated the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, one of the longest standing dictators of the post-colonial era.
The global anti-war movement of the new millennium led to the biggest coordinated demonstrations in the history of protest on 15 February 2003, in which millions of people demonstrated in over 800 cities, creating a crisis of democracy around the US and UK-led unilateral invasion of Iraq. Today Iraq is still in Democratic coma!
In the years leading up to and following the banking crisis of 2008, food riots and anti-austerity protests escalated around the world in what became known in Africa as SAP Riots (protests against the IMF induced Structural Adjustment Programs). In parts of the Middle East and North Africa, protests achieved insurrectionary proportions, with the overthrow of one dictator after another.
After the Arab Spring was thwarted by counter-revolution, the ‘Occupy movement’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ gained global attention. While the public urban square became a central focus for protest, social media became an important – but by no means exclusive – organizing tool.
The protestors today are speaking with one voice through the ubiquitous social media, about the corruption of the government, its inability to deliver public services, and the lack of equality of opportunity in the country. Nigeria’s internet usage has seen a remarkable increase, with a surge of 93.35% in monthly data usage to 1,000,930.6 terabytes in January 2025. This growth is largely attributed to the rise in Smartphone ownership, with 3G, 4G, and 5G connections reaching 98.67 million out of a total of 169.04 million connections. The country’s internet usage is also influenced by the availability of affordable entry-level Smartphones which have democratized access to digital services and streaming content and other avenues of spreading protest.
To the new protestors, the things that have held them back include an ineffective and corrupt state and a society where they cannot use their talent, ambition, ingenuity, and what education they can get. But they also recognize that the roots of these problems are political. Today, the army of unemployed youths has discovered their historic mission: vanguard of protests movements!
All the economic impediments they face stem from the way political power is exercised and monopolized by a narrow elite. This, they understand, is the first thing that must change. The ‘Lions’ of Bourdillon, Tigers of Malali, Leopards of Minna, the Pythons of Arondizuogu and other fat cats of the ‘Animal Kingdom’ must be tamed and chained. Their chokehold on our people is one main reason why we are not making progress. Not being captains of industries or commerce but, rentiers, and exploiters of the commonwealth, they have no visible investment in the welfare of society. Like the proverbial ‘sea anemone’ they are parasites who live on the hermit crab.
In fact, Nigeria is poor precisely because it has been ruled by narrow elite that have organized society for their own benefit at the expense of the people. Political power has been narrowly concentrated and has been used to create great wealth for those who possess it, such as the owners of the ‘Hilltop’ Mansions, Bullion van owners and presidential libraries. The losers have been the Nigerian people.
Whether it is in Asia, southern Africa and the Americas, poor countries are poor for the same reason. Countries such as Great Britain and the United States became rich because their citizens overthrew the elites who controlled power and created a society where political rights were much more broadly distributed, where the government was accountable and responsive to citizens, and where the great mass of people could take advantage of economic opportunities.
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England, transformed the politics and thus the economics of the nation. People fought for and won more political rights and they used them to expand their economic opportunities. The result was a fundamentally different political and economic trajectory, culminating in the Industrial Revolution. Late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana understood this maxim when he said ‘seek ye first the political kingdom and every other thing shall be added unto you’.
Though Nigeria became independent in 1960, it brought to power other elites as disinterested in achieving prosperity for ordinary Nigerians as the British had been. One set of colonial masters were exchanged for internal colonizers. In consequence, the basic structure of society did not change, and we stayed poor.
It is indeed difficult for ordinary citizens to acquire real political power and change the way their society works. But it is possible, because it had happened in England, France, and the United States, and in Japan, UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Singapore and Brazil. Fundamentally it is a political transformation that is required for a poor society to become rich. There is evidence that this may happen here too. A broad movement in society was a key part of what happened in these other political transformations.
There must be a conscious movement towards change or else there would be a wildcat movement for change which would be catastrophic. Let it be said that those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. When the poor and hungry are pushed to the wall, they turn back and eat the rich. ‘Aluta continua’.
When only the minority live in opulence to the detriment of the downtrodden majority, the noise in the marketplace will be loud. And one day, it may become audacious, a la Nepal! – Suyi Ayodele, Flat Out, Nigeria Tribune.
Rabbana atina fid dunya hasanatan wa fil Aakhirati hasanatan waqina ‘adhaban-nar. Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend
