•Nigeria must address its economic and other challenges before they become a festering sore


The continent as indeed the entire world was jolted by the scenes of violence that broke out in the wake of the jailing of former South African president, Jacob Zuma, by the country’s highest court – the constitutional court – on June 29. The former South African leader had, late last month, been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for contempt after serially ignoring the order of the court to answer questions before a judicial commission of inquiry established to investigate corruption under his watch.

In the week characterised by wanton looting of shopping malls and destruction of properties, at least 212 people were confirmed dead, with scores injured. Most affected were cities and towns across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which surrounds the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg.

So much for Africa’s Big Man Syndrome; it is a tribute to the resilience of the country’s institutions, particularly the legal system and the police that the one-time freedom fighter and later president could be forced to bow to the majesty of the law when it mattered most. For, up until July 7 when he turned himself in, not only did the former president act as if he was above the law, his son, Edward, was quoted as warning of the possibility of “blood on the floor” if his father was arrested. Such had been Zuma’s disdain for the law and due process in the months since the trials began that must have left the ordinary citizen not only bewildered but wondering whether anyone could ever call him to account.

It is unfortunate that the moment had to come at a huge cost to the country still reeling under the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a country in which more than 74 percent of youths under age 25 are known to be jobless; in which 43.2 percent of the entire population of eligible workers have nothing to do and where official statistics put the percentage of the chronically poor at 50 per cent.

That the former president is culpable in the events of the past week is merely stating the obvious. He it was that precipitated the crisis by his open defiance of the court process; and through his seductive anti-apartheid rhetoric carefully worded to touch on raw nerves poured fuel; not least the goading of his hordes of supporters – many of whom had gathered outside his homestead armed with traditional spears and sticks – to actively confront the law in what was supposed to be the mission to frustrate his incarceration; these were mere bits and pieces of a well-laid choreography. Coming from an individual who once had the privilege of serving as number one symbol of the Rainbow Country, it is not only irresponsible but tragic. More than personal failings however; it emblematises the moral crisis that the African National Congress (ANC) – the party of Nelson Mandela – has been thrown by a faction of its misguided leadership.

In all, the law must be allowed to run its course. Not only for Zuma but some 2,500 already in custody. They deserve their comeuppance.
However, just as the Cyril Ramaphoza-led government is expected to get to the root of the violence and ensure that those found to have played a part are appropriately sanctioned, we also expect the government to be humble enough to see the event of July 7 – for what it is – a measure of the bitter frustrations of the people with the ANC government, particularly its inability to deliver on its promises some 27 years after being in power. For, while the violence and the associated looting are clearly inexcusable, just as intolerable is the level of unemployment, the pervasive poverty and inequality, the cronyism and mind-boggling corruption that have berthed the phenomenon of state capture.

The ANC government should treat these as cancers deserving no less than exorcism. For the Nigerian government, it is a lesson on how tiny sparks can become a conflagration when left unattended to. If anything, that, at least was the take-away from last year’s #EndSARS protests.