Abuja is the seat of Ecowas. It houses most of its institutions. Ecowas can only be stable if Nigeria is stable. It goes without saying that Nigeria has a population of 217 million (2022) which constitutes about one-sixth of the population of the African continent. One out of six Africans is of Nigerian origin.
The country has oil and natural gas and is well endowed with mineral and natural resources. It is well endowed to be a force of example if the diversity of its population is well managed and the federal approach to government fully put in place to ensure a balanced and proportionate development of the country in the interest of all the people in Nigeria.
The current situation in Nigeria is however very alarming. The last election witnessed voter apathy and all the predictions that the social democrats will make a strong showing did not materialize. Democracy can only survive in a country if the people either have trust in the government or in the opposition that is capable of replacing it. Where such trust does not exist or is marginal, street demonstrations would become the option which if not properly handled does lead to destruction and bloodshed.
Such a situation does not serve the people or the government. It is important for governments to accept the criticisms and concerns of the people and to be seen to be making maximum effort to address them. When a crisis develops, it is important to call a national conference of all stakeholders to involve everyone in addressing it.
Readers may recall that before the demonstrations in Nigeria, the government was being praised internationally for taking a bold move only for people to find out that the information was false news. It was reported that the president had reduced his salary by half and reduced the number of ministers and many other reforms that were supposed to contribute to poverty reduction. The false information which was given worldwide publicity should teach the sitting government a lesson what popular measures could be taken to restore public trust.
These measures should be taken with speed to stabilize the situation in Nigeria so that it could continue to contribute to the stability of countries in the sub region. All heads of state in the sub region should become more alert to the concerns of the citizenry.
