Oedipus Rex, that Greek mythology which has been popularised by Sophocles and Nigeria’s Ola Rotimi, presents to us a king who has demonstrated abundantly that a ruler cannot command everything. In that play, we are dealing with a contrast between the supreme will of the gods and the vain attempts of mankind to escape the evil that threatens them. Destined by the gods to kill his father and marry his mother, all of Oedipus’ efforts to avoid that prophecy only reveal his own impotence as a human being. But most importantly, the lesson we learn from the tragedy is that the leader is not all-knowing. Even as king or president, your knowledge is limited and incomplete, so you should listen. Listen to the people.

Today (August 7) is the seventh day Nigerians have taken to the streets demanding for an end to bad governance which has brought about hunger, poverty and disease in the land.

It's rather sad and unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this ugly situation because the on- going protests could have been avoided. But more worrisome is the fact that the first day of the protests was hijacked by some looters in states like Kano and Jigawa leading to mayhem and wanton destruction of lives and property. Again, the protests wore another face after the Presidential speech on Sunday 4th July 2024. As a matter of fact, one can say with considerable justification that the Presidential speech merely infuriated most Nigerians. In that speech, President Tinubu didn’t talk to us as Nigerian citizens. All through his speech, the President was very condescending talking at us and not to us. There was a huge contrast in Tinubu’s speech on Sunday. During his Presidential campaign, Tinubu spoke to every Nigerian, including farmers, and in a language they would understand. But on Sunday, President Tinubu speech was meant only for a particular class of people.

In his speech, the President was merely saying things instead of doing things. He was reeling off figures and talking about billions of Naira that we already know were a far cry from reality. He gave some of us a good laugh when he mentioned billions of Naira for student’s loan in Nigeria. For some of us working with Nigerian students we know that that statement was the grossest falsehood.

For example, it is the duty and social responsibility of any government to provide education for all its citizens. Advanced countries like US, France, Germany and UK have been able to do away with illiteracy because they have made education their priority. Even, small Communist countries like Cuba have trained scientists who have acquired the capacity to change sugar cane into a basis for motor fuel. Today, small Cuba can boast of a vibrant health-care system because it has invested in Education. Israel is the third biggest rice producing nation in the world today because Israeli Professors in the faculty of Agriculture discovered what is called ‘drift irrigation ‘, a technology with the capacity to transform arid land into fertile soil. Big Nigeria with all its thick, green vegetation from Sokoto to Port Harcourt, imports 740 trucks of rice to be distributed among the 36 states in the country. This is shameful and ridiculous.

In the second place, it is preposterous and asinine to give loans to poor students who have no hope of getting employment after graduation. How would a graduate repay a loan when he/she is jobless, and the mother is frying akara (akwese or beans cake) by the roadside?

Again, the Presidential speech was full of rhetoric bordering on micro and macroeconomics jargon unknown even to some Professors of Economics.

Angered by such brazen show of insensitivity some Nigerians began to fly the Russian flag especially in Northern and North Central Nigeria. I must concede that the act of flying a foreign flag in Nigeria is unpatriotic and retrogressive. But any careful observer would agree that such an act is a subtle invitation for Russia to sponsor the Nigerian Army to seize power the same way it has done in neighbouring countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. But the truth remains that underlying all these is hunger, frustration, poverty and desperation.

After the Presidential speech the Governors of Plateau and Kaduna imposed a curfew on their states when it became apparent that the anger of the hungry protesters had become uncontrollable.

Besides, there are two other things that could not miss the eye of even the most indifferent spectator during the protests. The first is the brutality of the Nigerian Army and police. The two manhandled and molested armless protesters and killed some Nigerian citizens during the protests.

As a matter of fact, it became apparent that the military was in charge of the affairs of the nation at some point. What with threats of arrest and punishment coming from the Nigerian Army’s helmsman. For good three days, the President was visibly absent, and we citizens were just scared that perhaps in no distant time martial music would replace the chants and demands of the protesters.

The second Is that, more than ever before, the protests have revealed the intolerable gap that exists between the rulers and the ruled. While thousands of Nigerians were on the streets demanding for better conditions of life, some Nigerian politicians flew abroad with their immediate families for fear that they may be attacked by the protesters. At the same time, others in Nigeria remained in their cocoons and sanctuaries with their wives enjoying chicken and champagne. For our leaders, the protesters were just a hungry and disgruntled lot asking for bread and what they call in Nigerian parlance ‘pure water’. No where was disparity illustrated with more completeness than in Benin where hungry protesters had a good time when they stumbled over a truck fully loaded with rice.

But all these could have been avoided if only we had a listening President.

The protesters gave the Nigerian government good notice. Besides, the protesters have a constitutional right to make their demands. Lamentably, we have a leadership that is insensitive. Our leaders are only interested in gallivanting the globe to purchase property in almost all the leading state capital cities of the world while their citizens die every day at home for a general lack of basic amenities.

I am done. It remains for me to end where I started. President Tinubu should learn from the tragedy that befell Oedipus in Greek mythology. President Tinubu must realise that despite his wisdom and elevated office, he is only a human being.

Four more days for the protests and the four days are still pregnant. What will the four days deliver: baby or monster?

•Doki, a Professor of Comparative Literature, is Head, Department of English, University of Jos.

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