Ruler: Finally, against all entreaties not to stage the protest, you disobeyed my command to stage the protest? Citizen: That is true. Nigerian government hears only the language of protests/violence.

Ruler: But I told you, your so called protest will be hijacked by miscreants and urchins hired by my political enemies to score political point, has my prediction not come to pass? Citizen: You did not obey rules of democracy, socio-political engagement and constitution by subjecting the process to rule of law.

Ruler: How do you mean? Citizen: In civilized democracies governed by constitutions and laws, citizens as free men retain the inalienable rights to associate, assemble and to protest against misrule and autocratic governance and government coordinate and protect them.

Ruler: You mean, Nigeria is not a civilized democracy founded on constitutionalism and rule of law? Citizen: Absolutely, yes. Nigeria is a primitive feudal autocracy.

Ruler: What an audacious calumny! So, I am running a primitive, feudal autocracy not democracy based on constitution but on autocratic laws? Citizen: Gbam! Nigeria is lawless and everybody is lawless including you.

Ruler: Youngman, you are degenerating to gratuitous insults which the constitution and the laws of this country prohibit so, watch your tongue! Citizen: Your reaction is typical of a country without charter of freedoms and your threats are symptomatic of autocracies.

Ruler: You can see your ignorance driven by mischief. Nigeria as Africa’s largest democracy remains a source of pride to leading democracies, especially Britain and USA. I remain one of the architects of this democracy having joined NADECO-compatriots to fight the military autocrats to relinquish power and which goal materialised on May 29, 1999. Citizen: There you go again to exhibit the lack of understanding of the country you claim to know and rule.

Britain and USA regard Nigeria as dedicated neocolonial facility not as an important member of the world community. Nigeria is rather regarded as the ‘sickman’ of Africa and not as a beacon of democracy and constitutionalism. Nigeria has a basic law not a constitution. What you are practicing is autocratic feudal government.

In the first place, Nigeria has never had a constitution properly so called because none has been made by the people in their constitutive sovereign power. Each constitution has always been made pursuant to the consent of an autocratic ruler which started with Lugard’s Letters Patent, Clifford Constitution, Richard Constitution, Macpherson Constitution, Lyttleton Constitution and Robertson Constitution, all having the imprimatur of the Monarch of Britain.

The 1963 Constitution was a mere amendment of the 1960 Robertson Constitution while the 1979 Constitutions was Obasanjo’s Constitution while the 1999 Constitution was decreed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar. Constitution is not the act of any ruler or his chosen class of people.

Constitution is an agreement freely made by the people in their sovereign constitutive power. Ruler: I can see, you are a dangerous subversive and you have said enough to earn you a chat with my DSS, NIA and the police. Citizen: Once again, your descent to your natural zone of autocracy where you can do anything without restrictions confirms you are not ruling according to people-made Constitution and the laws.

Ruler: Lest I forget, you have not answered my question about why you disobeyed me to stage a ‘endbadgovernance protest’ against the government. Citizen: Do you acknowledge the bad economic and social situation of Nigeria, especially the stagflation, the uselessness of the naira and your intentional luxurious lifestyle and members of your ruling class?

Those are the triggers! Ruler: You must be an irrepressible subversive. Imagine, you are answering my question with question. How do you mean by your statement about the economy and social situation.

What do you know and how are you affected? Citizen: So you do not even know how I am affected by the economic situation and social situation of Nigeria? Well, I am a civil servant on grade level 5. My monthly salary is a little above N40,000.00.

I live in one room apartment with my wife and four children. My four children are condemned to attend public secondary/primary schools because my economic situation cannot afford better options. Each month, after receiving the salary, we live from hand to mouth feeding on odds and ends, mainly garri which we soak and drink.

The monthly rent is N6000, while electricity takes N5000. I trek over ten kilometres to work because bus fare takes N400 each day. We are at the mercy of death if any sickness occasions.

Nigeria is rather regarded as the ‘sickman’ of Africa and not as a beacon of democracy and constitutionalism

But even in this my situation, the rural populace whose parlous and dire condition is indescribable envy me. Ruler: You have been thought by my enemies (Peter Obi and Atiku) to reel out graphic data about the economy which the IMF and World Bank have given us a pass mark and have projected that the economy will grow at over 3% this year.

Citizen: That shows you are very far from reality. Ruler: You’ve heard of our Renewed Hope Agenda? Better cure yourself of laziness and key into it to better your condition. Citizen: How? Ruler: By joining my All Progressives Congress and work for my second term in 2027, and who knows you may be lucky to be appointed a Special Assistant in one of the local government councils we recently liberated from governors through judicial revolution.

Citizen: Are you aware of the many casualties in the protesters’ clash with your security operatives? Ruler: That’s why I opposed protest because Nigeria is not ripe for public protest as the protesters will always clash with security agents especially when they are hijacked by my enemies masquerading as politicians but who are indeed bad losers.

They can’t wait till 2027 to try their luck again. Citizen: The violence was as a result of lack of coordination as the police refused to issue public permit and make elaborate arrangement to coordinate the protest despite application by lawyers for the protest organisers.

Ruler: Which responsible government allows a bunch of irresponsible political enemies to stage public protest especially where intelligence has revealed that the organizers are working for regime change barely one year after winning a very costly election fought with hard earned naira and US dollars? Citizen: Is there any lesson to be learnt from the event?

Ruler: Certainly, no lesson except if you mean how the security agencies will better quell a future occurrence. Citizen: You mean the government is not attentive to the demands of the protesters? Ruler: What do the protesters mean by bad governance? Is there anything like bad governance?

Our Renewed Hope Agenda is progressing along my party’s trajectories. Let the protesters define what they mean by ‘bad governance’ and then we can listen and learn. The protesters are sponsored by those we defeated since 2015 after we rubbished their economic agenda of removing fuel subsidies and deployed agitations to mesmerize them. The sponsors are baby-politicians in this arcane game of politics.