It is often said that you don’t share an opinion on an economic matter until you know a critical mass of economics, the same holds for the law and some sensitive others. But I can bet that there’s virtually no Nigerian who doesn’t understand suffering- the topic that this Nigerian now wants to talk about.
I want to look at that part of the naira redesign policy which I am familiar with; the face seen by the masses. And throw in bit of street politics, law and economics-as understood by the street.
Not many things have a few sides to them and the naira redesign policy is not one of them. And if the issues are opaque or complicated , it is so in the air-conditioned conference rooms of the villa, national assembly and the CBN towers-the streets have no such luxury and I hope those from the other side will pardon our manners.
They say there are three sides to the truth- your side, my side and the truth. And because the debate as to what is the truth is a preserve of those who argue for a living, I take the opposite side of the road and simply state my point of view so as to return to my place in the ATM queue, for some new Naira notes I need to join the petrol queue.
The matter here, as we see it from the street, is simple. Around the great mahogany table where the Nigerian largesse is shared, around the pot of the power porridge, there is a big contestation which touches on who should hold the sharing spoon, for power, who should decide who that person should be-and sundry matters.
The rest as we see is a shouting match, flexing of muscles and the vibration the underdog hears when such matters are on the table. This of-course is an oversimplification -mangled mutton not making a good sight but still made up of the same substance -the meat of the matter. There are finer points- points the poor masses have neither time nor the stomach for.
For years now we have been sinking under the economic weight but now even the grounds we are on is also sinking
Starved dogs ask for food, they do not ask to be cuddled- I won’t even make the pretension of wearing the arguments economic or political garbs; those fine nicknames. I will call them by their surnames in their rough guttural harshness. Buttered words will melt under the sun of reality that stares the ordinary Nigerian in the face.
The luxury of such pretentions is reserved for the men in suit and Babarigas in air-conditioned conference halls; the street have no such facilities and the banking halls that usually offer us AC (and charge us via SMS fees) have stopped letting us in, without a fight.
The only problem is that if we say Nigerians are seeing “shege” because of this policy, it is the same as saying “the sun is hot”, to men who rarely the spend one minute in the sun. It does not have the same meaning to a hawker of pour water. So as a result our leaders know what we are passing through yet they don’t understand.
I asked a friend yesterday to tell me the story of the naira is her state and she first sighed deeply, reminiscent of the way a woman prepares to discuss a difficult child delivery. Being that, bringing up the memories is it itself a difficult delivery. “One thousand cost 400 naira and you cannot get more than two thousand” I guess that was the black market price. I asked about the bank rate. “The banks in my area were not giving any new notes”
And because her work does not let her cook in the money she has been skipping breakfast as vendors only accept cash in her area.
Now to the political gladiators. I believe that the hardship which we have been subjected to, has earned us the right to be heard. You say you hear when we scream, we now want you to feel. The water is now boiling. We have returned to a community of hunters and gatherers but this time we gather naira and fuel.
Those using our institutions as weapons remember that none of your battles would have had the weight it now has without the opportunities this country offered you, so our peace and progress should not be sacrificed to settle personal scores.
If its indeed the enemy you are fighting then provide alternatives before you poison the village stream. If truly the end justifies the means, does this still hold true if the means is the people. Up there they either lose or gain power-down here we lose lives.
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The proof that the Nigerian masses desperately look forward to the coming general election as a re-election of our aborted destiny, is the fact that up till now there has not been any widespread protest. And for this sacrifice the political elites may not understand the full weight of what we have had to endure.
For years now we have been sinking under the economic weight but now even the grounds we are on is also sinking. We use to take recourse in your tears but now the eyes don’t even have water to shed.
The only thing within Nigeria still calm is perhaps only the president. An eight-year sojourn in the school of suffering we look to this year as the year of our graduation-please do not postpone it.
It is easy to forget the sound of rain on thatched roof once you moved to the king’s palace but we will remind them, the 99% of us.The hunt for survival hasn’t been this difficult and uncertain within our borders. Those clips you see showing the desperation in banking halls and petrol queues, are not comedy skits.
Here at ground zero of the Naira redesign policy, the temperature is unbearable and we only hope that the institutions of democracy that serve our leaders so well can serve us now in our hour of greatest need, we also hope that the sacrifices being made by the masses for the coming elections will be reciprocated in a way that lets our collective will stand.
We hope our votes count so we don’t have to find another way to make this suffering count.
A little bird say that the gladiators are fighting to freeze the old money supply so that which has been set aside to undermine the elections will go to nought. Another little bird said it is just a primitive power play.
When people spend their waking hours chasing fuel, cash and protection for dear life, as we now do, what is left to meditate on the shenanigans of the privileged few?
After each day searching for the Naira and prospecting for fuel, we are in no mood to listen to the arguments, we only hope that you allow Nigeria to win. We only hope that the side for Nigeria, wins because there’s the fear that if the election is manipulated to subvert the will of the people , the pent-up anger already accumulated, will be enough to form a critical mass for a a social bomb. And when some people pray that such a bomb may consume all those that have kept Nigeria behind, we alway say “amen”.
Dr. Abanni is a medical doctor, an award-winning poet, student of School of Politics, Policy and Governance(SPPG),Art editor, social activist and seeker of truth and Chairman of Samson Abanni Foundation. He writes from Asokoro, Abuja
