By Kemi Yesufu
Youths in different parts of the country joined the #EndBadGovernance protests on Thursday, August 1, despite appeals from the Federal Government and governors, the majority of whom called for dialogue, rather than youths taking to the streets.
The appeals by the government, some religious leaders and traditional rulers didn’t stop young people from keeping to their threat. They stepped out in their numbers on Day-1 of the planned 10-day protest, triggered by the high cost of living and economic hardship suffered by the majority of citizens. Nigerian youths, as masters of social media shared pictures from peaceful protest locations like Lagos, Oyo and Rivers. But as the protests gathered steam, news filtered in, again on social media and mainstream media, that the demonstrations had turned violent in places like Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa. With the introduction of violence and destruction into the protests, the fears of the government became a disheartening reality.
Pictures and video clips from locations where the protest turned violent shocked and saddened many Nigerians, including this writer-more distressing were the pictures and viral clips of the vandalization of the Digital Industrial Park (DIP) in Kano built by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
Protesters broke into offices at the Kano DIP, carting away state-of-the-art equipment worth millions of Naira. The generator room of the centre was also set ablaze. The Kano DIP is one of six located in each of the country’s geo-political zones. The six DIPs built by the by the NCC are expected to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by digital innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes. The parks are also designed to provide broadband services and for techies to have access to constant power supply. The Kano centre designed to serve the North-West region was ready for commissioning with hopes that it would be pivotal to raising generations of young digital entrepreneurs.
As news of the vandalisation of the Kano DIP spread, with many condemning the looting of the NCC-powered facility, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, took to his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle to lament the unwarranted destruction of DIP Kano, just days before its scheduled launch.
“Sad to learn that our Digital Innovation Park in Kano slated for launch next week to support our technical talent accelerator (3MTT) has been set ablaze and looted by protesters. Alongside #3MTT, this building is set to host our buildathon holiday maker programme for secondary school kids starting next week. A slight setback for our journey to deepening our workforce for technology while creating job opportunities for the youth. Millions of Naira down the drain”, he lamented.
The minister later took to X to assure the public that the Kano DIP will be renovated while sharing a YouTube link from the 3MTT Cohort 1 Hackathon-Kano Sub-Regional Finals 2024. “To our @3MTTNigeria community and all the amazing young talent in #Kano, your dreams are valid! This was just a few weeks ago at our #3MTT Hackathon in Kano. We are already getting support to make sure the park is renovated for your use”, he stated in the post.
If the Kano protesters ignorantly cut their noses to spite their face, their much revered monarch, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, knowing how much of a setback had occurred, visited the centre a day after it was ransacked. He condemned the actions of the protesters, saying, “Today is a sad day for the people of Kano due to what happened in the state. We sympathize with the entire indigenes of Kano”.
He added: “What happened is unacceptable and the people of Kano should ensure that it does not happen again. The agents of destruction would hijack peaceful demonstrations and use that opportunity to cause mayhem, effect loss of lives and destruction of properties.”
While the minister’s promise must have brought smiles to youths from the North -West region, who recognise the value and the life-changing opportunities the Kano DIP represents, it is the responsibility of the NCC to bring the ministerial promise to fruition. The minister’s post on X is akin to a policy statement. It basically means the NCC enjoys ministerial backing for the burdensome task of restoring the Kano DIP. Beyond the ministerial pronouncement, NCC would be needing real support from its parent ministry until the facility is fully restored.
NCC’s uses vehicles such as its six Digital Industrial Parks to achieve its goals of promoting universal access, encouraging economic growth and enhancing social inclusion. The agency would therefore have to count it losses, assess the level of damage done, cost the necessary repairs and reinstallation of stolen equipment and then, proceed to restore the Kano DIP. The NCC which has displayed a culture of excellence over the years has been tested by the sad event in Kano, but it has to stoically record it as a setback which it must move past in timely fashion.
Beyond the NCC, the Kano State government as the host state of the Digital Industrial Park must improve security around the facility to prevent a repeat of the August 1st attack in the near and distance future. States seeking to attract national and internationally sponsored developmental projects like the Kano DIP must begin to protect these massive investments and orientate their citizens on their importance and usefulness.
In the long term, the Kano State government and the North-West by extension, must significantly reduce the number of unemployed and uneducated youths who are easily incited to violence and the kind of destruction unleashed on the NCC’s Digital Industrial Park built to improve the lot of youths of the geo-political zone. Reducing the large number of disenfranchise youths who are easily recruited for violence is directly linked to reducing the high number of out-of-school children in Kano and the North-West.
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