Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again is a 1977 satirical comedy on poor political leadership written by the late Ola Rotimi. 45 years after the play was written and with the benefit of huge advancements in technology, it would not be presumptuous to believe that the malady of bad leadership would have long been solved.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. The nation still reels from the leadership curse that has tended to stifle economic growth and development. The unfortunate byproducts of poor leadership today are high insecurity levels, intractable government debt burdens, rising poverty levels, and a total collapse of social infrastructure and institutions, among several other malaise.
The recent federal government announcement of a likely ban on commercial motorcycle operations across the country and a similar ban on mining activities have again shown us our leaders are far from devising creative initiatives to solve the many problems bedevilling the nation, particularly the insecurity situation. The announcement also showed a lack of empathy for the citizenry who continues to suffer the brunt of misguided government policies.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Thursday, 21 July, after the National Security Council meeting, revealed that the issues “deliberated border on logistics being used by the terrorists, Boko Haram and bandits in the act of executing their unfortunate act of terrorism.” And that after it was “extensively deliberated upon, the government is considering a restriction on the use and distribution of motorcycles, which is the most conventional logistical means being deployed by terrorists.”
The second likely ban announced by the minister was mining. According to Malami, “Issues of funding of terrorism and the terrorist acts were discussed and deliberated upon and considered.” The government determined that terrorists get funding from the mines. And the best solution to stop that is the possibility or otherwise of suspending for the time being mining activities.”
These sectors, mining and logistics, are economically viable sectors where well-meaning Nigerians earn their livelihood, households depend on them for their supplies, and businesses seek materials for business continuity. The mining industry contributes about 0.3% to the GDP and it is expected to grow to an estimated 10% by 2030 if the Nigeria Mining and Mineral Act (NNMA) of 2007 is ably amended. While the said amendment is yet to be passed by the National Assembly, the state and local governments remain unperturbed and their deceptions are largely responsible for the proliferation of illegal mining and the illegal barter of mined minerals for weapons to terrorists.
The transport and logistics industry, on the other hand, is a thriving industry. What with the growing e-commerce industry. With the characteristic poor road networks, the two-wheelers have become a huge means of mobility, especially within the hinterlands. City and urban dwellers depend on the two-wheelers to move goods and persons from one point to the other, especially given the bad traffic situation within city centres, deplorable road networks in the suburban areas and absence of road networks in the rural areas.
This impending ban further throws up the government’s predilection to always look for what seems the easy way out of any situation, often unwilling to put in the hard work required to think through a problem and come up with creative solutions. And the go-to template is always to ban, which has proven repeatedly to be ineffective. Yet, it persists in these circles of bans.
Years ago, the government banned tinted glasses because terrorists used such vehicles to attack their targets. Twitter was banned because users’ utterances could not be regulated, cryptocurrency was banned because the central bank could not capture it within its operations, the national basketball teams were banned for two years – though that was reversed – importation of wheat was banned, bushmeat killing and eating was banned to curb the monkeypox scourge, and the list goes on.
Not one of these bans was ever effective. And, there is nothing to suggest that if the government does go ahead with this latest madness it would succeed. The reason is simple: government and its security agencies lack the logistic and human capacity to enforce such bans. In any case, they are difficult to implement without leading to unintended consequences. The proposed bans, for instance, are bound to worsen an already bad unemployment situation in the country, which will push many to crime to survive and that will further worsen the already precarious security situation. Entire industries that feed off of the commercial motorcycle business may likely collapse; manufacturers and importers of motorcycles, spare parts dealers, motorcycle repairers, logistics industry, and e-commerce business, among others. It will be the same situation in the mining industry.
Has the government even considered what it would do with the millions of commercial motorcycles in the country; will it scrap them? Burn them, as it takes delight in doing in such a situation? Or perhaps simply ship them off to the high sea and dump them there? Or better still, since we like to play #Big Brother as a country, gift them to Beninese, Nigeriens or Malians?
With the growing spate of unemployment, absence of functional infrastructure, and insecurity scourge, it is, therefore, strange that the same government that has always drummed the need for the entrepreneurial drive to address these social failures will turn around and criminalise these enterprises simply because it has refused to adeptly explore more effective ways to tackle the terrorism scourge.
What tended to happen during these inhuman bans is that the government effectively cut off genuine businesses while inadvertently giving the criminals the free hand to operate unhindered. A case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. Bans have never truly deterred criminality; they simply usually bring out criminals’ ingenuity, something the government obviously lacks.
Genuine commercial motorcyclists and miners, if the government goes ahead with the ill-advised ban, will be callously cut off from their sources of livelihood, throwing millions and their families into further misery and poverty. It will force businesses within the value chain to scale down if not totally shut down. These are businesses and individuals who are genuinely registered and have the requisite permits to carry out motorcycle or mining businesses.
It is difficult to believe that the government “extensively deliberated” upon what needs to be done to check terrorism in the country, as mentioned by Malami. For if it did, how inclusive was this “extensive deliberation”? Were the critical stakeholders within the ecosystems consulted during these deliberations? If they were, they would have come up with better alternatives to bans to checkmate terrorist activities.
Thankfully, with advancements in technology, such as artificial intelligence, location mapping and digital surveillance, biometric identifiers, use of analytics to determine terrorist targets, improved data sharing, and smart ID cards, the government can easily checkmate these criminalities. These are far cheaper and more humane options than bans that will only exacerbate an already unpleasant situation.
For instance, does the government has a comprehensive database of motorcycles and their owners, including those used for commercial purposes, at least the genuine ones? What has the government done to regularize the registration and licensing of commercial motorcycles for proper monitoring of their activities? Who are the owners of the mining titles the government issued? Have they been profiled to determine those sympathetic to the terrorists? Since the government has determined that the mines are funding sources for terrorist activities, why is there no comprehensive surveillance in place to catch those responsible?
In any case, one should not jump too far ahead. The ban has not happened yet. It is doubtful, however, that government will go ahead with this madness because even the government will lose heavily in forfeited taxes from the businesses and individuals within the ecosystem. But then, one can never put anything past this government that has gained notoriety for strange behaviour. It is important though that all well-meaning Nigerians speak up now against this planned ban before Our Husband Goes Mad Again.
Adebola is a PR professional and public commentator
