History has an uncanny way of repeating itself, whether as a farce or reality. Few events in history mysteriously repeat themselves at different epochs, and bore an uncanny resemblance.
Both Napoleon Bonaparte 1812 and Adolf Hitler 1941 attempt to invade Russia and Soviet Union during winter, but ended up in Waterloos with large casualties on Napoleon and Hitler armies differently.
The United States financial crisis of 2007-2008 tagged as “Great Recession” bears similar resemblance to the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. Another issue is the remarkable similarities in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, the two former U.S. presidents, and the coincidence in the names of their successors called Andrew Johnson born in 1808 and Lyndon Johnson in 1908 respectively.
The PMB redesignation of the Naira at the twilight of his administration with attendant hardship is similar to what he did as a military head of government in 1984 in which Nigerians were given two weeks marching order to deposit and exchange the old naira notes for the new one.
The PMB atavistic ambivalent appearance in the midst of all this hullabaloo connotes that, one; he is hell-bent in forging ahead irrespective of Nigerians feelings of hardship and discomfort as enunciated in his speech.
Secondly, he realized that the policy is carried out without the benefit of wise counsel or careful deliberation, thus, since it has been implemented, they have to make little amendments and remain bold-faced to forge ahead.
Thirdly, he is in government but indirectly not in control of day-to-day policies and implementations. Therefore, the-so-called cabal has hijacked, bewitched and remote-controlled him to do their bidding.
That is why he is dilly-dallying, and vacillating between whether to obey the Supreme Court pronouncement or to circumvent it. In this precarious situation, his action to bypass the Supreme Court pronouncement portrays a great danger to democracy, just like the “vote buying” he intends to nip in the bud.
I saw a trending video of an old man begging the banker to give him new money to buy his daily prescribed drugs. A middle-aged man protested in the banking hall by standing naked, requesting for his money.
Some Nigerians make quick money by selling their space on the queue for as much as one or two thousand naira. The point-of-sale (POS) operators took advantage of scarcity of new Naira notes to increase their commission from 1% percent from ten thousand Naira to 25% from ten thousand.
The harrowing experience is that Nigerians now use money to buy new money in Nigeria. What a shame and poorly implemented cash swap that destabilized the already inflation sagging economy. Costs of goods are rapidly increasing, but people’s wages are not. Then, the minimum wage is inconsequential.
The verdict of history may not be kind to PMB because of the anti-people policies imposed during his first and second incarnation as the leader of Nigeria.
Although in the area of infrastructural development, he achieved a lot more than his predecessors in this republic, but this will pale to insignificance, looking at the skyrocket inflationary trends, grand foreign and local debts, free fall devaluation of Naira, glaring insecurity and pervasive action of bandits terrorizing every nook and cranny of the country.
In all this, the North is adversely affected more than other parts of the country. They lost lives, farmland, and live stocks to bandits who raided their communities at intervals. School children were rustled and a lot of them abandoned schools.
Objectively, PMB might have good intentions, but the majority of Nigerians perceived him as a wicked leader at this material time due to chaotic cash shortage that forced people to queue endlessly at Automated Teller Machines (ATM) points to withdraw the money which is not forthcoming.
The people believe that the government created artificial scarcity by printing new notes disproportionately compared to the quantity of the old currency mopped out of circulation, coupled with scarcity of petroleum products occasioned by the increment in the fuel prices. The PMB olive branch of elongation of the duration of acceptability of 200 Naira note in his speech is inconsequential to an average Nigerians who bears the brunt of his misgovernment and policy inconsistency.
Few years ago, Ghana redesigned and redenominated its money for a period of almost three to four years seamlessly without stress. The U.S. has mapped out how its dollars will be redesigned and released in sequential order within the period of eight years from 2026 to 2034 with gradual introduction of the denomination from the smallest to the highest.
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The question being asked by Nigerians is why are policies haphazardly implemented and executed by the Nigerian government? The currency redesign is shabbily carried out; the fuel subsidy removal is lingering, biting and poorly handled; ASUU strike negotiation is inconclusive; Nigerians are frustrated and face the worst experience of their life under PMB presidency.
The president’s gory experience in Kano, where his convoys were pelted by his ardent supporters who used to welcome him to his acclaimed stronghold with funfair, is a testament to the fact that ordinary people are not happy with his anti-people policies. According to Rufai Adekunle “the stomach is an unforgiving organ, if you starve it, it will punish the mind and every other human component”.
The protests in Oyo, Kwara, Edo and Delta states are ominous signs of bad omen. The APC presidential candidate and Governors attacked their own Federal led Government and took it to court, the opposition parties PDP and Labour Party who are supposed to benefit from the crisis are playing “ostrich policy”.
How the whole contrivance will end is a matter of conjecture because nobody really understands PMB state of mind in all these ripples that are being steered. The man PMB is a proverbial leopard that cannot change its spot. In 2011, he cried for Nigerians during his campaign in Abuja. Today, Nigerians are crying of excruciating pain inflicted upon them by his administration. What an impression and a pathetic way to end his presidency.
Bello, a social commentator, writes from Canada
