By Uzo Amadi
A recent publication took President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to task for what it described as bad governance that has brought hardship upon Nigerians. In one breath, the article lambasted the administration for failing to prevent the protests by engaging with their leaders, and in another, it acknowledged some notable steps taken by the President. These include the approval of a new minimum wage at record speed, concessions to the Dangote Refinery that could help bring down energy costs, and efforts aimed at stabilizing key economic variables.
These acknowledgements are worth examining, because while criticism is healthy for democracy, balance is equally important. No Nigerian administration operates in a vacuum, and no set of policies can succeed without the active participation of the people they are meant to serve. Leadership can only take the people thus far — it is the people who must plug into government policies, internalize them, and run with them for the nation to move forward.
Take the matter of food prices. The President has been urged to tackle inflation, the depreciation of the Naira, and in particular, the stubborn cost of staple foods such as rice and garri. These are legitimate concerns. Increased domestic rice production has not brought down prices, and garri, once the poor man’s food, is now far from cheap. But here lies the connection between insecurity and food scarcity: farmers cannot plant or harvest in safety if their fields are under threat from bandits, kidnappers, or armed herders. The farmer-herder conflict, if not contained, will continue to choke food supply and drive up prices.
This is where State governments’ operationalization of the recently approved Forest Guards becomes critical. Our forests, now hideouts for criminal gangs, must be reclaimed. Forest guards, if well-trained, equipped, and integrated with community intelligence networks, can protect farmlands, secure rural communities, and ensure that agricultural production is not disrupted. Food security begins with physical security.
The Tinubu administration’s approval for States to set up Forest Guards is not, and should not be seen as, a mere cosmetic gesture. It is a step in the right direction. It is a strategic policy tool. But like every other Federal government policy, its success will depend not only on government funding and oversight, but also on State governments’ actions and on citizens’ collaboration. Communities must key into it, provide information, support local enforcement, and take ownership of their own safety.
On the economic front, policies such as the Dangote Refinery concession are forward-looking. If properly managed, they can lower energy costs, reduce import dependency, and stabilize the naira. But here again, the people have a role: we must support local production, patronize homegrown goods, and reduce the appetite for imported products that drain foreign reserves.
It is easy to forget that governance is a partnership, especially when governance is viewed from the prism of partisan politics. The President may sign the laws, approve the budgets, and initiate the policies, but the real transformation happens when the people embrace those policies and make them work. The current challenges in the country like inflation, insecurity, naira volatility, are complex, but they are not insurmountable if leadership and followership pull in the same direction.
We must know that as we hold leadership accountable, we must also hold ourselves accountable. A nation is not built by government alone — it is built by the synergy of government action and citizen responsibility. This shared responsibility must become our national ethic.
*Uzo Amadi @uzocamadi@yahoo.com, writes from Abuja
