THE world is in turmoil today, and in W.B. Yeats’s words, things have fallen apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Peace has been truncated in Kenya, Nigeria, the UK, Bangladesh, and Venezuela, among others, with deaths, injuries, and arrests trailing citizens’ widespread protests.

Of course, the right to protest is constitutionally enshrined, but violence, looting, arson, police brutality and killings cast a blot on the recent protests. Seventeen persons were killed during the #EndBadGovernance protests in Nigeria, 61 in Kenya, and over 290 in Bangladesh, among others.

The protests have broadly been against corruption, injustice, inequality, poverty, economic hardship, hunger, unemployment, the immigrant crisis, poor governance, lack of accountability, and election malpractice.

However, leadership failure remains a recurrent decimal across all the world’s regions. Many leaders have failed to provide proactive, conscionable, and inclusive leadership that addresses widening inequality among their citizens, hence the protests.

While leaders live in luxury, followers wallow in abject poverty. The consequence is protests erupting everywhere. This might continue if leaders don’t rise to the occasion.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global energy and food markets amid decades-high inflation. Food, energy bills, and rent have skyrocketed globally, triggering untold hardship among the poor. Hardship will lead to pent-up anger, grumbling, and eventually mass protests. If not managed well, it will degenerate into violence and disrupt public peace.

Only proactive leaders can stop this by ensuring the redistribution of wealth and arresting the widening global inequality.

UNCTAD predicted that global economic growth would dwindle to 2.6 per cent in 2024, making it the third straight year it would fail to recover to its pre-pandemic rate of 3.2 per cent.

The UN body lamented the rising inequality in the labour market “with workers in both developed and developing countries earning a reduced share of income.” It prescribed structural reforms and investments and coordinated global efforts to improve employment and income.

The World Bank reported that 712 million people, nearly one out of 11 people globally, live on less than $2.15 a day. UNCTAD projected Africa’s growth to be 3.0 per cent in 2024, up slightly from 2.9 per cent in 2023.

For Nigeria, the economy is struggling, the cost of living has aggravated, the naira is down, and hyper-food inflation, insecurity, and hunger threaten livelihoods. The NBS says food inflation hit a record high of 40.87 per cent in June, surpassing the previous month’s 40.66 per cent. The UN predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030.

According to the World Bank, approximately 87 million Nigerians live below the poverty line, making it the second-largest population of poor people in the world after India. Angry youths who felt disillusioned and disconnected from the country’s leadership sought to end ‘bad governance.’

They urged President Bola Tinubu to halt anti-people policies, return fuel subsidies, increase the minimum wage to N300,000, and ensure electoral reforms. The sudden removal of the petrol subsidy by Tinubu worsened the economic situation. Citizens have been asked to tighten their belts by the ruling elite unwilling to make sacrifices by cutting the huge cost of governance.

National Assembly members recently acquired N160 billion Sport Utility Vehicles, and a new presidential jet is being planned for the President at a time that requires austerity measures. This insensitive disregard for the plight of struggling Nigerians is a recipe for further protests.

The Kenya Finance Bill protests, known as #RejectFinanceBill2024, destabilised the East African country. Angry youths opposed the government’s tax hike in a mass protest replete with violence. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported that at least 61 people were killed during the protests, accusing the police of using excessive force and live rounds.

Although President William Ruto withdrew the bill and dissolved his cabinet in response to public pressure, he reappointed many dismissed ministers. This has further angered the protesters. Unappeased, protesters are now threatening renewed demonstrations to demand accountability and adherence to the rule of law. For Kenya, it’s not yet Uhuru.

A knife attack that left three girls dead and 10 others injured sparked the UK far-right riots, exacerbated by misinformation suggesting the attacker was an immigrant and radical Islamist. Asylum seekers and other categories of immigrants were targeted amid clashes with police and injuries to 10 riot officers. Businesses were looted and over 420 arrests were made, and some suspects were already sentenced.

Europe has, over the years, drawn thousands of migrants escaping war, poverty, and natural disasters. According to the UNHCR, 5.2 million refugees and migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflict-ridden regions have entered Europe. This puts pressure on European countries, including the UK, as many immigrants are finding it difficult to fully assimilate into the European ways of life, thus brewing tensions amid the clash of cultures.

Far-right groups are feeding on these fault lines, but analysts blame past conservative leadership of the UK for treating the far-right groups with kid gloves over the years. If the far-right rioters had been reined in earlier, the riots could have been avoided.

The Bangladesh bloodbath remains unforgettable. Students protested a quota system that allocated 56 per cent of government positions to various groups, including descendants of 1971 War of Independence fighters and loyalists of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The ensuing clashes between protesters, security forces, and ruling party supporters resulted in over 230 deaths, leading to the fall of Hasina’s government on August 5. Since the anti-quota protests began in mid-July, the death toll has risen to 560.

After his contentious victory in Venezuela’s presidential election on July 28, Nicolás Maduro has faced widespread condemnation and mass protests. In response, 25 people have been killed and over 2,000 arrested in a government crackdown, with Maduro continuing to threaten a harsh ‘iron fist’ approach to the demonstrations.

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, announced that the court is investigating the killing of 100 people by Venezuelan security forces during opposition protests in 2017.

Leadership failure is exacerbating the debilitating effects of many crises in a world struggling to contain the Sudan and Libya crises, the Russia war in Ukraine, the Israeli-Hamas war, the Israeli-Hezbollah tension, the Haiti gang violence, and unrelenting weather-related disasters across many regions of the world.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, at least 39,897 people have been killed and 92,152 wounded since October in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during Hamas-led attacks, and more than 200 individuals were taken captive. Qatar, Egypt, and the US have planned a new round of ceasefire talks for August 15.

Over 500,000 military and civilian casualties were said to have been recorded in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Perhaps many of the troubles bedevilling the world today could have been averted if there were proactive leaders.

According to the 2023 Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum, the world faces a turbulent decade post-COVID-19. The most severe risks include inflation, cost-of-living crises, trade wars, widespread social unrest, geopolitical confrontation, and nuclear warfare threats.

Only strong pro-people leadership can help humanity navigate the next decade, which, from all indications, will be turbulent amid rising poor governance, inflation, economic hardship, and weather-related disasters. (The PUNCH Editorial)

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