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Change comes by citizens’ solidarity 03 May 2016

France, a country that is no stranger to revolutionary calls for change, is in the grip of a new youth-led movement known as Nuit debout, loosely translated to mean “Up All Night.” It is the first major protest to confront the Socialist government of President Francois Hollande. At the forefront of the movement are young people whose job prospects are being threatened by the labour reform bill that seeks to make it easier for employers to lay off workers, increase working hours, and impose a surtax on short-term contracts that are helping a lot of young people who do not have permanent jobs.   

Nuit debout started on March 31, 2016 when thousands of people set up encampment in the Place de la République, a public square in Paris. It soon spread to over 30 cities across France and neighbouring countries in Europe. They claim not to be politically aligned; they gather to share ideas about creating a fairer world. Anybody who likes to share an opinion is given the microphone to speak for two to five minutes. They discuss issues ranging from housing to environment, refugees, feminism, minimum wage and the economy. There are other activities that take place like poetry reading and concerts.

Whether or not the movement is a sign of a broken political system, the nuitdeboutistses, as the protesters are called, coalesce around a particular notion: They want a better society. Their meetings and the attention they have received is a demonstration that, indeed, there is power in the will of the people. This harks back to the demand for change made by the French commoners in 1789, a move that led to the French Revolution of 1789-1799. In the three-estate system that existed at the time, the commoners who belonged to the third estate and constituted 98 percent of the population had little voting powers compared to the smaller but more politically-powerful first and second estates, comprising the clergy and French nobility, respectively. Although it had its moments of deadly violence, the French Revolution was a defining moment in French and European history, demolishing feudalism and absolute monarchies.

True change happens when people are united by common ideals and they believe in something greater than themselves. All through history, great nations were birthed when people became united by a certain creed. For the French, Americans and other advanced democracies, the people were persuaded that popular sovereignty and civil liberties were preconditions for socially inclusive societies.  

Nigeria, a country whose social conditions are far more deplorable than France’s, cannot agree on what change it desires. Some people argue that Nigeria itself is a product of a “forced marriage” hence the lack of agreement. Public commentaries on the fractured political system are short on intellectualism and long on bigotry.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) came along with a Roadmap to a New Nigeria. The party, which was a coalition of some opposition parties and opportunistic members of the People's Democratic Party, told us the movement for change in Nigeria had begun. The APC promised to create jobs, fight corruption, provide housing, build roads and power infrastructure, and provide social welfare for the disadvantaged in society.

Almost one year after becoming the ruling party, economic policy under the APC has simply gone off the rails as evidenced by the deteriorating social indicators. Unemployment climbed to 10.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, from 8.2 percent in the second quarter of last year. Youth unemployment has reached 50 percent. Inflation rate, which was at 9 percent at the time President Muhammadu Buhari's administration was inaugurated on May 29, 2015, rose to 12.8 percent in March 2016.

President Buhari, who pledged to promote social harmony and establish a "Conflict Resolution Commission" to help prevent and resolve civil conflicts within the polity, does not reckon that the hundreds of lives lost in the wake of attacks by marauding Fulani herdsmen warrant his personal remarks. Even more disturbing is the politicisation of what is clearly a humanitarian crisis.

You have to ask yourself, where is the moral outrage? Are the vast majority of Nigerians simply longsuffering or useful idiots? Our blithe indifference to leadership failure is the reason we cannot agree to constructively challenge the government about the gap between its rhetoric and our falling standard of living.

No doubt, Nigeria has had notable social activists. But a lot of them often sell-out when they are given ‘juicy’ government appointments. For reasons of expediency, they forget their principles. For them, the end has justified the means.

The illusion of APC’s change is sufficient evidence that real change cannot be left entirely for politicians; it has to be driven by the people. At a certain juncture, instead of blowing off steam on social media and in local bars, blaming the other ethnic group, we must find the courage to have dialogues among ourselves in very constructive ways. We must demand to have leaders to whom the life of every Nigerian has value. To do this, we need a renaissance of solidarity among the citizens, especially young people. If a particular group of people feels marginalized or is hit by an unfortunate contingency, the rest of the country must stand by them.

We must end this 'otherness' mindset, move out of our ethnic cleavages and forge a new Nigeria where opportunity is not defined by ethnicity and social class and people can only be limited by their aspiration, innovativeness and hard work.