Tuface’s decision to lead a protest to register the
dissatisfaction of Nigerians with the performance of the incumbent
administration and to reiterate the value of government’s responsibility to the
people was his finest moment as a citizen and artiste. But it is also now, with
his Jammeh-like volte-face, his worst moment. His transformation into a
champion of democratic values and voice of the masses brought him added stardom
and value. His retreat has turned him into a revolutionary manqué. He deserves
our understanding and sympathy.
When on 24th January Tuface (Innocent Dibia) announced that
he was going to lead, under the umbrella of the Tuface Foundation, a mass
protest against the economic policies of the Buhari government, he immediately
attracted public interest. A multiple award-winning musician, a naturally
talented stage performer and author of at least two evergreen songs: “My
African Queen” and “If Love is a Crime”, TuBaba, as he is also known, sounded
like he was moving from art to politics, and seemed ready to answer to the true
calling of the artist as the conscience of the people.
Artists and creative persons have always led protests and
lent their voices to progressive causes. That much is the case in the United
States at the moment, where artistes have raised their voices and joined
protests to remind the “insurgent in the White House” that America is a land of
freedom, democracy and justice and not bigotry and tyranny. Here at home, Fela,
and his cousin, the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and others as
well, have shown the power of creativity and stardom as a veritable vehicle for
social change and justice. Artists and their art, and their movement from the
stage, or the printed page, to the public arena of action have always saved
humanity, by humanizing man. This has been the case from Sophocles, all through
time and history to Olanrewaju Adepoju, Beyonce and Kanye West.
But activism comes with a price. Tuface obviously didn’t
bargain for that. He received enormous support. His announcement of the
February 5, later February 6 protest energized the angry, frustrated Nigerian
base, and drew our unrelenting “children of anger” back into an overdrive on
social media. The international community also became interested, waiting to
see the effect of a protest driven by star-power in Nigeria. It was
coincidentally a season of protests across the world: in the Gambia, there had
been protests against Yahya Jammeh with a positive outcome, in the US, the UK
and elsewhere, Donald Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and
his misogyny led to protests on both counts, and in the case of the former, a
Federal judge has given a ruling that has resulted in the suspension of the
ban. In Cameroon, concerned citizens are protesting over discrimination against
English-speaking Cameroonians. In Romania, a sea of protesting citizens has
just had its way. There is all around the world, right now, a resurgence and
affirmation of people power, be it Brexit or left-wing activism in Europe.
Individuals and groups lead such moments in history- what makes them different
is the fire in their bellies and their readiness to command the revolution, at
great personal risk.
Nigerian hip-hop artist Tuface
It looked initially as if Tuface had that burning fire in
his belly, but he couldn’t make that leap between self-preservation and the
risks of rebellion. He had appeared on television. He spoke confidently about
the need for real change in Nigeria. He encouraged Nigerians to come out en
masse to support the movement. He even announced the color and dress code of
the protest. His wife stood by him and she, too, talked about her husband’s
convictions about national progress and good governance. Each time Tuface
appeared in the media, during those five minutes in the sun, he looked bright
and determined. But everything changed late Saturday evening. The recorded
video of Tuface’s volte-face, announcing the cancellation of the Feb. 6 protest
showed him looking dispirited, broken, ashen as if he had been shaken up and
chastised. He looked unsettled with his scraggy, uncombed beard. It is not
difficult to know when a man’s balls have been squeezed.
Tuface actually deserves our sympathy. He must have gone
through a lot of pressures that broke his spirit. His capitulation makes us
appreciate even better the heroism of those who always stood up to
dictatorships. His example is indeed a great lesson…And I mean that positively
for the fact that…Despite the massive support that he received, he also
received a lot of discouragement. An old ally of his, some guy appropriately
called Blackface was one of the first persons to blacken the idea of the
protest. Some Nollywood,
belle-forever-face-front-chop-money-money-finish-carry-go characters also opposed
Tuface. Some musicians too, although in the long run, Tuface was able to
mobilize the support of every section of the Nigerian community at home and in
diaspora. By Saturday when he poured cold ice on the whole thing, the protest
had even grown beyond him, much larger, with others seizing the initiative and
turning what he had thought would be a small show into a nationwide and
diaspora event. At that point, Tuface
was no longer the singer of sultry songs, but the symbol of a rebellion. The
enormity of that potential must have frightened him. He didn’t have the courage
to see it through. Leadership is about courage. A coward can never lead a
rebellion.
But we should struggle to understand his situation. He was
accused of having seven children from three women, which is an absolutely
stupid point. An artist does not have to be a saint. We relate to their art and
their engagements with society on the basis of the positive value that they
bring forth. It is also possible that
Tuface received pressures from his multiple in-laws, and even the Baby Mamas
defending their stakes in his life. The
official wife must have been accused of trying to encourage him to get into
trouble so he could get killed and she alone can sit on his estate. The Baby Mamas and all the in-laws must have
called to remind him that his children are still very young and he needs to be
alive to be their father and so he should think twice before going to use his
chest to stop Nigeria Police bullets. Family members, to whom he is obviously a
breadwinner, must have advised him to stay with his singing and dancing and not
get involved in politics. They would remind him how Fela’s mom got killed and
how Fela’s house was razed down, and how every artist who dared the Nigerian
government ended up in exile or in prison or with a strange motor accident.
The Nigerian government was, of course, unhappy with the
planned protest, and the idea of it created enormous confusion in Abuja and Aso
Rock. While the office of the Acting President spoke about the right to protest
and the government not having anything against the expression of fundamental
human rights, the Office of the President on vacation made it very clear that
the would-be protesters are enemies of the government of the day and sore
losers. Those two seemingly contradictory impressions from Aso Rock can only
point to one thing: high-level intrigue within. That is probably why the
Nigeria Police kept shuffling: we don’t approve of the protest, we do, we
don’t, we beg. The timing says it all
also. With the President out of the country, and the plan of the protesters to
welcome him with a Trump-like protest from Abuja, to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Uyo
and Akure, and in parts of the Western world, the damage would have been
incalculable. And Tuface would have been held responsible for leading the
sabotage. No Nigerian government since
1999 has benefitted from any mass protest. The anti-third term protest hobbled
the Obasanjo government. The Jonathan government never recovered from the
pro-fuel subsidy protests of January 2012. Tuface and his planned protest had
set the stage for a similar prospect for the Buhari government.
What Tuface imagined was a clean-hearted civil action would
have resulted in absolute panic, with some informal voices in and around
government doing dangerous analysis on ethnic and religious grounds. Reckless hypotheses such as the following:
(a) “so, as Baba hand over this thing to Osinbajo so, the only thing his
Christian brothers think they should do is to organize a protest in Baba’s
absence?” (b) “You don hear say Osinbajo’s office say people have right to
protest? So, Baba cannot even travel on vacation again. Walahi, these Yoruba
people cannot be trusted.” (c) What are
these security people doing? If they are loyal to Baba, by now they should have
invited that Tuface, and ask him about the two SUVs that Akpabio gave him and
his wife when they got married. They should show him strong evidence that the
SUVs were bought with Akwa Ibom state government money and he should pay back
the money or get ready to be sued for being an accomplice in a case of
diversion of public funds. (d) Or you
could have some people affirming the narrative that was put out by the APC and
friends of the government of the day viz:
“this is the PDP at work. Tuface must be an agent of PDP. Why are our
own APC people sleeping? Baba no dey around, they want to pull down the
country. So, Tuface is now working with Ayo Fayose of Ekiti, to embarrass Baba?
This Osinbajo, can we trust him?”
By pulling the trigger at this time, Tuface simply put a lot
of people under pressure and placed their jobs and loyalty at risk -no doubt
about it, they must have come after him with a sledgehammer to stop and
discourage him. Clear evidence: a counter-revolutionary #IstandwithBuhari
protest has already been announced to last for two days. The Tuface revolution
that has been abandoned by its main motivator teaches us more lessons about the
dynamics of power in Nigeria and the temperament of the resident power elite.
Will the protest now take place on February 6, without Tuface? Or will everyone
hold fire and down their tools of anger? What is certain, however, is that
Tuface is likely to sit at home tomorrow with Anne, his temptingly pretty wife
by his side, watching the latest episode of Big Brother Naija on TV, with
chicken and salad before him, and a bottle of wine, and one of his hands,
innocently setting the stage for the amorous prelude for child number eight.
With his wife telling him: “Don't worry yourself, dear, Nigeria is not worth
dying for. Who wan die make e go die. You have tried your best, my darling
husband!”.
That is how many would-be heroes become anti-heroes, and
their dreams die a-borning. If the protests go ahead on February 6 as many are
threatening, nonetheless, Tuface would lose a lot. If it doesn’t go ahead, he
would still lose. The torch of protest that he has lit may not burn on the
streets of Nigeria; it is burning already in the minds of the people. He may
have chickened out, but he has already achieved the goal of his initial plan.
He has by lending his star power to an anti-Buhari protest, expanded the
population of angry Nigerians. He has given voice to their anger and fears. His
withdrawal from action will not excuse him. Whatever anyone tells him, in the
long run, he would still be punished for his bravery and cowardice on both
counts. He should not be surprised if, for the next few months, he doesn’t get
invited to any concert, or performance contract, or if he gets to perform
anywhere, he could be booed off the stage. He should not be surprised if his
phones stop ringing, or if it rings at all, he could be told: “call me on
what’s app I beg, I don’t know if they are monitoring your calls.”
Let no one blame Tuface. His stage name Tuface is the name
of Janus: the two-face Greek god, who looks in two directions. When it mattered
most in his career, Tuface Idibia answered the call of his name!
Courtesy:
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