The Nigerian middle class, mea culpa and the burden of history

Haven endured President Muhammadu Buhari’s catastrophic governance of the country and management of the economy, many members of the Nigerian middle class that actively supported, campaigned and voted for him are now expressing regrets and even apologising to the many Nigerians they convinced to vote for the retired general. While some started their mea culpa a year into his administration when it became obvious that the president wasn’t interested in providing direction and carrying out rational reforms to reposition the economy as he promised but was only interested in continuing his jackboot, command and control, antiquated and failed economic policies of the mid 1980s, others started theirs only after it became clear to them that the President was morally and temperamentally unsuited for governance or even to fight corruption. It was particularly tortuous for the latter as they watch his notoriously invidious and clannish style of governance. Most of them pleaded ignorance and naivety, and, above all, a strong desire to evict former president Jonathan as reasons why they uncritically accepted the candidacy of Buhari and the fantastic promises of the APC.

But this may not be entirely correct. Like I argued in a previous article, a careful examination of Nigeria’s political history shows that the Nigerian middle class are the greatest supporters and defenders of the status quo no matter how terrible that status quo is. Being part of the exploited class but with professional knowledge or privileged positions in the civil service, they often offer their services and knowledge to the exploiters for hire. Consequently, they have become the greatest advocates of the ruling class, the greatest defenders of Nigeria’s politics of plunder, neopatrimonialism and prbandalism. Being part of the exploited class themselves, they often speak the language of the downtrodden until they are noticed and called to the service of the ruling class where they have proved especially useful in fashioning strategies to further the exploitation of the downtrodden.

I also argued that one of the hallmarks of the Nigerian middle class is that they do not accept responsibility for any of their actions. They advise; they help legitimate regimes; they run ministries and agencies but when things begin to go wrong, they take the first exit door and begin to point accusing fingers at the ruling elite. Any wonder they are now distancing themselves from the candidate they actively supported and campaigned for?

No! They cannot plead ignorance of history; of the disastrous rule of General Buhari in 1984/85 and the great hardship his rule engendered as a result of his antiquated ‘command and control’ economic management system; of the shocking ignorance, unpreparedness for governance, partisanship, and clannish nature of General Buhari. All they needed to do was pick up a book on Nigerian government and politics or just Google to read about the General’s disastrous rule in 1984/85. How many of these repentant fellows will claim not to have read “The Crimes of Buhari” a powerful article penned by no other person than Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, in which he detailed the atrocities of Buhari’s regime in 1984/85, concluding then that “to invite back into power a man who did so much to destroy a people’s self-esteem, dignity, and faith in law and justice, is a sign of self-abasement, lack of self-esteem, a slave mentality that dooms, not only the present, but succeeding generations”. Only that in 2015, even the Nobel Laureate had himself denounced what he had written and was uncritically and actively campaigning for the general.

Truth is; the APC had a deal with most sections of the Nigerian middle class and they helped delivered; cleaning up and reconstructing the image of the General to one that will greatly appeal to Nigerians. Others who knew the antecedents of the man simply choose to ignore his past hoping he would have learnt his lessons and will deliver on his promises this time.

But history, like an unforgiving master, has a way of punishing those who neglect or disregard it. History is being repeated and the president has not changed a bit. Rather, he has deteriorated and his ignorance and incapacity for governance has become starker.

But for members of the middle class, especially those adept at offering their services to the ruling class, this is not just another profitable enterprise. It has turned into a nightmarish adventure. The economic roller coaster and great suffering in the land is not affecting the poor alone. True, prices of consumer goods and services consumed mostly by the poor have tripled. But the steep decline in the value of the naira has also affected the prices of luxury and aspirational goods and services demanded by the middle class also. All of a sudden they have woken up to discover they can no longer afford to send their children to schools abroad again; they can no longer jet in and out of the country as they wish and even if they manage to travel, they could only afford economy class ticket as against their preferred business class ticket. Even the fanciful cars they had always bought is now largely above their reach and they had to make do with imported used (tokunbo) cars. Just like the poor, the middle class is now preoccupied with the mere exigencies of living and can no longer afford the hi-life they had always craved for.

Just like it happened in the late 1980s and 90s, Nigeria’s robust but fragile middle class that expanded greatly from 2002 due to deliberate government policy is now shrinking and at the risk of disappearing entirely. Their fat salaries have been eroded by the steep decline in the value of the naira and they are realising they cannot afford to shop in those foreign boutiques and stores in Victoria Island and Ikoyi again.

I hope the time this wind blows over – hopefully in the nearest future – the Nigerian middle class will have learnt two important lessons: to take history seriously and to act in the interest of the country always.

Christopher Akor