By Sunny Igboanugo
Anyone that has pity, should direct it to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). They need it right now, more than they need the public microphones and loudspeakers – the tools of their trade, which have followed them over the years like a second clothing – their visible accoutrements in the past when men were men and did not live in mortal fear. How are the mighty fallen!
Specifically, please donate your pity to Joe Ajaero, the President of the union for the junior elements in the Nigerian workforce. Have you seen him lately? Didn’t you see what he has been reduced to? The once boisterous Joe, who was the terror itself to the Ministers of Power, who handled the privatisation of the electricity sector under former President Goodluck Jonathan, now seems a shadow of himself.
I should know who Joe was, because, more than many Nigerians, I was right there in the locus in quo, when the transformation in the sector was going on and had more than a passing knowledge of who Joe was to the big ogas at the apex of the top echelon of that building at the Federal Secretariat in the Central Business District (CBD), in the heart of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Joe was a name that was mentioned in whispers lest it struck the wrong chord and the walls echoed the sound into the wrong ears. That was when he was the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), a position from which he moved into his present office in 2023, after first failing to clinch it at first in March, 2015, when he lost out to Ayuba Wabba, his predecessor.
Today, all that is gone! Gone are the energy, the vibrancy, the audaciousness – the strong, bold and authoritative roars, now replaced with nothing more than the faint, almost inaudible and insipid sound – no more than the whimpering of a death-threatened lion facing the last days of an agonising fate.
What has led to this sudden transition? Well, I’ll tell you – right away. It is the APC-effect. You’ll ask further, what is this one? And I’ll answer – APC-effect is a disorder that the sufferer gets by simply breathing in a special preparation the All Progressives Congress, the party that came into power in Nigeria in 2015 released into the firmament, which creates immediate mental numbness and inability to articulate or project critical thinking.
You may have heard of Stockholm Syndrome – that coping mechanism to a captive or abusive situation – that makes a victim develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time! More like it. But this variant – the APC-effect is even deeper and more complex. It was developed by the masters in the game – crafts-men adept in the use of all the local ingredients and tools replete in Nigeria to achieve their purpose.
Let me illustrate. There is this local story about oturupopo – the woodpecker – the bird that uses its beak to design and even cut down trees. It once boasted that the day its mother would die, all the trees in the forest would be brought down to celebrate her. Now, on the fateful day, when the mother died, fate played a big one, as the woodpecker developed a huge boil on its beak, rendering its tool and capacity useless.
I explain! Every keen observer in the country and beyond, knows that God, the all-knowing creator, handed a special gift to every segment of Nigeria. The Igbo man has a special gift for business and transforming his environment. Failure stares you in the face if you try to engage or compete with the Igbo in any sort of business – from selling biscuits to importing heavy-duty equipment. You can only try.
Your land remains fallow and underdeveloped because the Igbo man has not discovered it. Once he comes around that mundane, banal and unused environment is electrified and enlivened. Mud houses soon transform to storey-buildings and items, hitherto termed useless, become valuable and sources of income. See, in Lagos alone, how Alaba International Market, Trade-Fair Complex, Ago Palace Way, places, which only yesterday, were completely uninhabitable lands, some of them complete swamps have become thriving entities.
On the other hand, a large percentage of Nigerians will go hungry and many yet battle with protein deficiencies the day agricultural items from the North cease coming into the South. From cows to rams, chickens to fish, grains of all kinds, potatoes to yams, onions to peppers – rice, yams, groundnuts, apples, mangoes and oranges many Nigerians look up to that part of the country for sustenance.
The Yoruba are the voice of Nigeria. Outside having their fair share in other areas of the economy, the Yoruba views on any issue, in the main, more or less influence national views if not represent them. What they lack in the features the other two represent in Nigeria, the rest lack in shaping public opinion or setting national agenda. Their inputs in this regard are either complementary or playing catch-up.
That the media are today dominated by the Yoruba, takes root from this tendency. The bulk of social crusading and civil society activism are embedded and expressed through the voices of prominent Yoruba, past and present. Right from the heydays of Nigeria’s political build-up outside the historic activities of the founding fathers, the names of Fumilayo Raansome Kuti, Wole Soyinka, Tai Solarin and Gani Faweihinmi, ring louder than many of their contemporaries.
The likes of Segun Okeowo, who led the famous Ali Must Go protest, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who through his music became the conscience of the nation, Alao Aka-Bashorun, of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), era who fought the military fearlessly, alongside Patricia Kuye, the female activist and lawyer who came after, Femi Falana, Beko Ransome-Kuti among others, had led the pack.
Even Bola Ahmed Tinubu, today’s President of Nigeria alongside other leaders of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) like Adekunle Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, Ayo Adebanjo, Ayo Opadokun, Alani Akirinade and the rest who practically confronted the Ibrahim Babangida-Sani Abacha juntas, had played individual and collective roles in this regard.
Therein lies the koko, as we say here. Remember the case of Ali Bongo – yes – the Gabonese President? I’m sure that picture of him sitting helplessly in his palatial building is now replaying in your head. Quite pitiable, if you ask me. He had pleaded with his countrymen to – go and make noise? Did anyone listen to him? No! His pleas – very passionate – came to naught, because, those that were supposed to “make noise,” were his captors.
Same with Brother Ajaero! Those to make his noise are his captors – the APC! That’s the boil on the beak of the oturupopo. Yesterday, he would have simply run to Bourdillon and the din from the emitting noise therefrom, would have deafened even the whales in the Atlantic Ocean. But pitiably, Bourdillon has moved to Aso Rock. Would a kingdom battle against itself? Never! Didn’t the bible say so?
Yes! Bourdillon became Aso Rock since 2015 when the APC moved in. And in there are many rooms with large beds where very insider has found luxury. Who would blame them for settling down, relaxing and sleeping comfortably? Ayuba Wabba, never pretended. As an insider himself, he knew any attempt to hero-act would be futile. He simply found his own room, went to bed and slept for eight years.
Now, see where Ajaero’s heroic attempt landed him. The other day, he was pumelled to a pulp in Owerri, despite being nwa-afor – son of the soil. The baptism of fire was delivered by the APC iron hand. And nobody said piim! I’m sure he might still be undergoing some Ogwuma and Aboniki therapy till date. Even the privilege of travelling out to enjoy the cool breeze of Oyibo land, where his predecessors went to unwind occasionally, has also been denied. There APC machinery is making sure of that.
Just imagine the Nigerian firmament of today, had Bourdillon maintained its original address! Just picture! If your memory is no longer that sharp – I know you have a lot befuddling your head right now – Google will help you. Just type in Ojota Protest and refresh your memory. Don’t bother about the faces you see there. Don’t ask where they are. They are still here with us – alive, well and kicking.
However, things are different now. They have each found their own beds in the Aso Rock mansion. Many of them have discovered the hidden nectars of life and cannot savour its sweetness enough. Some have even found new interests – like hunting games in the bush, while others, having lost out in filling Room Number 16, have now concentrated in their business of winning souls – if you say misleading souls, na you sabi. Some, yes, you still see them on television – their voices still strident and their passions, virulent yet, but their fancies are now different.
So, to whom does Ajaero turn? Is it to his brothers in the East, who are busy on phone negotiating for the next container of goods, which he knows he would sell – because whether the soap lathers or not, ladies must have their bath? Certainly, the Igbo man has little time for protests. It’s a waste of time and they’re not cut out for it.
Does he turn to his fatalistic friends in the North? No dice! That too won’t gel. There, they leave everything to Allah, because they believe He is the only one that gives power. So, challenging anyone with power is akin to challenging a superior authority.
Does he look beyond the shores to his friends abroad? Nada! They will not help, because they are the most beneficiaries. My people say when the streets are empty of hoodlums, it means hunger for the harlots, for the simple reason that the loot they get from their victims end up the brothels. The ugliness here is the reason for his friends in Europe and America to enjoy the best things of life.
For all you care, pity the antelope in the vice grip of the lion, grit your teeth at its pains as the lion’s claws dig into its flesh, but remember the death of that lion is nigh if it shows mercy, listens to you and allows its victim to go. Who will fill the vaults of their banks to enable them lend at almost zero per cent that would recreate the Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerbergs or Elon Musks? Who will come with sacks full of raw cash to buy a whole street in London or Atlanta? Who would wash his hands with champagne in the pub with glittering lights and naked women and lavish piles of dollars at the casino in Las Vegas?
So, you see why you must pity Brother Joe and his NLC? The situation that created Ojota, has multiplied a thousand times over. Like joke, fuel moved from N68 to N142. Then, we the victims were told its over. It is now fully deregulated. We adjusted. Then they returned and we wondered why. Didn’t you tell us you no longer have a hand? We were greeted with silence as it moved to N189. We resigned to hope and prayer. After all, the wise one is coming.
With the brain of Socrates, Aristotle and even Einstein put together the Bourdillon of our time would change everything with Renewed Hope, they had boasted. After all, wasn’t Bourdillon the creator of Lagos – a fallow wasteland infested with wild animals and dangerous reptiles – now transformed to a mega city that makes Luxembourg ugly.
But Bourdillon came! Now, the money the poor man was saving to buy fan, cannot even buy one of the blades. Just like Fela Anikulapo Kuti predicted in his song, his hope of enjoying cool breeze has evaporated. Enjoyment can never come his way. From N187, fuel moved to N550, then N580, N600, N617, N870 and now N1,300!
Now, Ajaero, seems wiser. He seems to have understood how hot water kills the tortoise! His now feeble voice of protest, seems to betray that much. I’m sure his people must have spoken to him in that tone that reflects the obvious – nwokem baa n’uno. Go inside and rest. But does he need to be told? Nobody in Nigeria today needs be told that the situation is worse than the dreaded period of Sani Abacha, reputed to be the most despotic and brutal in the history of Nigeria. But what could anyone do? Oturukpokpo’s fate – APC-effect!
Worse still, unlike Festus Usifo, his counterpart in the Trade Union Congress (TUC), who apart from being a somewhat collaborator – I heard him the other day defending why fuel must cost so much – is not only an insider, but qualifies for a room in the Aso Rock mansion, Ajaero does not enjoy the same status.
Reason? He is an Igbo man. APC has a special place for Ndigbo. No Igbo man has a room in Aso Rock mansion. None has equal status in APC as the other ethnic groups in Nigeria. Never mind those prancing about – whether governors, lawmakers or party faithful – they’re merely pretending. They all know they’re simply enjoying senior jokes and when the chips are down, would be shown where they belong.
That of course would be outside the mansion, somewhere in the scotching sun, where they will be cleaning their brows with their hands as they sweat it out under the inclement weather. That is what he must also contend with. It will even be a miracle if he survives the NLC job. For that is also a privilege. So, for my Brother Joe, you have my pity! Let others donate theirs too!
Sunny Igboanugo is a veteran Journalists.
