Nigeria and the lessons from Nepal, by Ugoji Egbujo

A few days ago, things fell apart in Nepal. The country had seen political instability and grinding poverty in recent times, but this week it saw  the gates of hell open. The parliament was burnt. The presidential palace was ransacked. The government fled. Ministers were dragged through the streets and chased into rivers. The youths said they had had enough.

But how did the docile youths of Nepal, who had been content shining shoes  for politicians, acquire this uncharacteristic capacity for all-out irreverence? A few months ago, pictures and videos of the children and girlfriends of politicians had surfaced on social media. Their lavish lifestyles and accompanying exhibitionism might not be new. So the  spoilt brats and their thieving parents must have been caught off guard when the poor and jobless youths, rather than gawk and celebrate, showed indignation. The Gen Z youths of Nepal, pricked by state-funded sybaritism, branded the kids of their leaders “Nepo kids.” That tag stuck and sins of their leaders became inexcusable. 

 Nepal, like Nigeria, had been bedeviled by a profligate, prebendalistic, nepotistic, and indolent political class. The attempt by the roused Gen Z youth to hold the government accountable on social media irked their pompous leaders. The  scrutiny was demonized by the government as foreign interference orchestrating a clandestine conspiracy by disgruntled elements to truncate the fragile democracy of Nepal. The government lamented that  social media had become a tool for spreading fake news and sowing division and wondered why the social media platforms weren’t paying sufficient taxes. Nigerians perhaps are familiar with that format. In one fell swoop, the Nepalese government took  down on all  platforms, asking their digital yeoman regulators to switch off  social media. Nigerians have seen that movie before: governments lapsing into a bout of acute-on-chronic authoritarianism when youths unite to demand accountability.

The government thought it had all the aces. It is natural  for third-world leaders to take their  pauperised and traumatized people for granted. But once social media space was shut, the youths directed their energies to the streets to protest the muzzling of free speech. Rather than retrace its steps and avoid calamity, the conceited government, basking in its monopoly of the forces of coercion and resources for inducement, sent in the police to quell the peaceful protests. The police confronted the youths with customary arrogance and brutality. They didn’t foresee the explosion. The shooting and killing of youths rather than smother courage only poured fuel into the raging fire. The inflamed and leaderless  youths expanded their list of  demands  to include immediate  dissolution of the government. By the time the government realized it had stirred the hornets’ nest and lifted the ban on social media, the youths were already breaking into the parliament to  poke their  dirty fingers into the very eyes of power . Perhaps evolution had given the youths  a little more than  the slavish capacity for tolerance of  their fathers. The parliament was set ablaze, and political leaders started to flee. The youths besieged their homes. The Falcon could no longer hear the falconer and the  mighty had become prey to rampaging gangs who had hijacked parts of the process. Army helicopters darted across the sky like frenzied  Uber,  the distress cries of naked politicians in the claws of lynch mobs filled the air . By the time the fleeing Prime Minister threw in his resignation to quench the inferno, the Gen Z youths were dancing in his  bedroom.

The resemblance between Nepal and Nigeria goes beyond the first letter N. Nepal has huge tourist and hydropower potential bestowed on it by the almighty Himalayas. But most of its greatness has remained a mirage.  Nepal has the capacity to generate 83,000 megawatts of electricity from the glacial rivers of the Himalayas but it generates less than 2% of that capacity. Most of the revenue from tourism is wasted by a profligate and opportunistic  political class which is  more interested in political conquests and patronage than leadership. Its GDP per capita is about $1,447. Twenty percent of the population suffers multidimensional poverty. All those who can flee to greener pastures  have fled. Diaspora remittances  and mountain tourism constitute its economic live wire , much like Nigeria that depends on crude oil exports.   On the HDI, it ranks 145 out of 193 countries, slightly better than Nigeria at 163.   45% of Nepal is covered by lush forests. Sixty-five percent of citizens are subsistence  farmers. Most of its foreign exchange earnings come from remittances by Nepalese in the diaspora working their butts to dry bones  in Gulf countries. Nepal and Nigeria have  predominantly youthful populations, both with 60% of entire population under 30, making them potentially highly inflammable. 

The Nepalese army has stepped in to restore some order. As is the case with most revolutions,  public property bore the brunt of public anger . Looting has  contaminated the protests, and the ultimate outcome is now uncertain. Yet the youths have spoken. The youths are now going house to house to find and return stolen items to their owners and clean up their city . They are taking responsibility.  No matter what happens in the coming days, Nepal will never be the same. Politicians might regroup and retake power now or in the future, but they must have learned that while they can steal, they must not fling it into the faces of the people. The memories of naked ministers running down the streets, chased by youths, will be etched in the minds of all who aspire to public office in that country. The recent convulsions will chasten even the most aloof politician. Whatever room impunity will have in the new Nepalese order, it must remain eternal  wary of a recurrence of this September madness.

Nigeria at 230 million with a GDP of  477 billion dollars  is richer and larger than Nepal of 30 millon with a GDP of 42 billion dollars . But Nigeria is infinitely more prone to youth unrest .  We have a higher percentage of our population in multidimensional poverty—70%. Nepal has 20%. We have a higher population under 18. Nepal has better electricity per capita .  Nepal  has a better GDP per capita . Nepal has  had 13 governments in 17 years. They can plead instability . But Nigeria has had a fairly stable  multiparty party democracy for over 25 years so its stagnation can feel more frustrating. Both countries have stalled  but Nigeria’s is more unforgivable. Nigerian youths rose against  police brutality five years ago but were swiftly repressed. However with worsening  widespread economic hardship  and rising  youth unemployment, Nigeria is on the edge. A recent hunger protest was treated as subversion and quelled. The government should not put its faith in its muscles.  Nigeria must learn from Nepal.  There have been new calls to restrict social media for being a tool of disinformation. The government has started relying more on the  police and obnoxious defamation laws to muzzle freedom of speech. These mechanisms only catalyzed the catastrophe in Nepal. President Obasanjo believes Nigeria is a gunpowder keg case.

 Nigeria must learn these lessons. A third world  president can award multi-billion dollar contracts  without due process, but not to his friends and business partners.  Brazen disregard for manifest conflict of interest can incite the fury of the youths.  The dog that eats shit and carries it in his mouth attracts the flies. If our leaders must eat like gluttons then they should learn how to ‘chop and clean mouth’. Our  honorable  ministers can embezzle the life out of the treasury, but they should strive to stash their funds neatly abroad. They shouldn’t ride in Rolls Royces and splash mud into the faces of the people. Our politicians should learn to let sleeping dogs lie. The Nepo kids of our public office holders  can  live their lavish lives in London and France, nobody cares . But posting them on social media is going a bit too far. The youths here might be hungry, jobless, and docile, but it’s no use taunting them. The  Nigerian political class  must take the lessons from Nepal seriously. Social media is a vent. If you shut it, the smoke might have nowhere to go, and the country will choke.

Nigeria , beware of youth frustration. The political class must subject itself to  a collective ethical re orientation.  It’s urgent.The rebirth Nigeria needs can come without a rupture .

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