Nigeria and the lessons from Nepal, by Ugoji Egbujo

A fewer days ago, things fell isolated successful Nepal. The state had seen political instability and grinding poorness successful caller times, but this week it saw  the gates of hellhole open. The parliament was burnt. The statesmanlike palace was ransacked. The authorities fled. Ministers were dragged done the streets and chased into rivers. The youths said they had had enough.

But however did the docile youths of Nepal, who had been contented shining shoes  for politicians, get this uncharacteristic capableness for all-out irreverence? A fewer months ago, pictures and videos of the children and girlfriends of politicians had surfaced connected societal media. Their lavish lifestyles and accompanying exhibitionism mightiness not beryllium new. So the  spoilt brats and their thieving parents indispensable person been caught disconnected defender erstwhile the mediocre and jobless youths, alternatively than gawk and celebrate, showed indignation. The Gen Z youths of Nepal, pricked by state-funded sybaritism, branded the kids of their leaders “Nepo kids.” That tag stuck and sins of their leaders became inexcusable. 

 Nepal, similar Nigeria, had been bedeviled by a profligate, prebendalistic, nepotistic, and indolent governmental class. The effort by the roused Gen Z younker to clasp the authorities accountable connected societal media irked their pompous leaders. The  scrutiny was demonized by the authorities arsenic overseas interference orchestrating a clandestine conspiracy by disgruntled elements to truncate the fragile ideology of Nepal. The authorities lamented that  societal media had go a instrumentality for spreading fake quality and sowing part and wondered wherefore the societal media platforms weren’t paying capable taxes. Nigerians possibly are acquainted with that format. In 1 fell swoop, the Nepalese authorities took  down connected all  platforms, asking their integer yeoman regulators to power off  societal media. Nigerians person seen that movie before: governments lapsing into a bout of acute-on-chronic authoritarianism erstwhile youths unite to request accountability.

The authorities thought it had each the aces. It is natural  for third-world leaders to instrumentality their  pauperised and traumatized radical for granted. But erstwhile societal media abstraction was shut, the youths directed their energies to the streets to protestation the muzzling of escaped speech. Rather than retrace its steps and debar calamity, the conceited government, basking successful its monopoly of the forces of coercion and resources for inducement, sent successful the constabulary to quell the peaceful protests. The constabulary confronted the youths with customary arrogance and brutality. They didn’t foresee the explosion. The shooting and sidesplitting of youths alternatively than smother courageousness lone poured substance into the raging fire. The inflamed and leaderless  youths expanded their database of  demands  to see immediate  dissolution of the government. By the clip the authorities realized it had stirred the hornets’ nest and lifted the prohibition connected societal media, the youths were already breaking into the parliament to  poke their  soiled fingers into the precise eyes of powerfulness . Perhaps improvement had fixed the youths  a small much than  the slavish capableness for tolerance of  their fathers. The parliament was acceptable ablaze, and governmental leaders started to flee. The youths besieged their homes. The Falcon could nary longer perceive the falconer and the  mighty had go prey to rampaging gangs who had hijacked parts of the process. Army helicopters darted crossed the entity similar frenzied  Uber,  the distress cries of bare politicians successful the claws of lynch mobs filled the aerial . By the clip the fleeing Prime Minister threw successful his resignation to quench the inferno, the Gen Z youths were dancing successful his  bedroom.

The resemblance betwixt Nepal and Nigeria goes beyond the archetypal missive N. Nepal has immense tourer and hydropower imaginable bestowed connected it by the almighty Himalayas. But astir of its greatness has remained a mirage.  Nepal has the capableness to make 83,000 megawatts of energy from the glacial rivers of the Himalayas but it generates little than 2% of that capacity. Most of the gross from tourism is wasted by a profligate and opportunistic  governmental people which is  much funny successful governmental conquests and patronage than leadership. Its GDP per capita is astir $1,447. Twenty percent of the colonisation suffers multidimensional poverty. All those who tin fly to greener pastures  person fled. Diaspora remittances  and upland tourism represent its economical unrecorded ligament , overmuch similar Nigeria that depends connected crude lipid exports.   On the HDI, it ranks 145 retired of 193 countries, somewhat amended than Nigeria astatine 163.   45% of Nepal is covered by lush forests. Sixty-five percent of citizens are subsistence  farmers. Most of its overseas speech net travel from remittance...