CBN, Moses, the people and God

Nigerians of all descriptions rose up in arms against the plan especially the one that sought to print 5,000 Naira note. As I usually do when any public issue in a field I do not quite understand comes up, I refrained from joining in the debate. Rather, I chose to listen to experts who I […]

Nigerians of all descriptions rose up in arms against the plan especially the one that sought to print 5,000 Naira note. As I usually do when any public issue in a field I do not quite understand comes up, I refrained from joining in the debate. Rather, I chose to listen to experts who I respect and who also sounded reasonable and objective in their intervention on the debate. What I heard from all those experts was that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the proposed measure. I further learnt that contrary to the major fear of many Nigerians concerning the planned 5,000 Naira note, the large denomination note was not going to fuel inflation.
  Yet in spite of these expert opinions and assurances, some tiny but vocal Nigerians took charge of the airspace and swore that Sanusi and his CBN were on the road to damnation. The civil rights community suddenly became experts in economics and econometrics and swore that the heavens will fall if Sanusi dared to go ahead with his ‘evil’ plan. It was as if a certain legion of demons of madness had ascended from the hottest parts of hell on our nation to cause mischief and anarchy. Absolute illiterates in the field of economics wore the toga of patriots and experts and went to war against the policy. Unfortunately, a fearful President Goodluck Jonathan who had newly ascended the throne prevailed on the CBN to soft-pedal on the matter. And that is how a policy which many experts said had some benefits for the national economy was killed by what looked like orchestrated agitation from the streets.
What still baffles me till today is that there was no single informed argument from the opposition to the plan yet our government bowed to inferior reasoning! Some of those who opposed the CBN plan then said the CBN should stop the exercise because a majority of Nigerians were opposed to it. They warned very darkly that since the voice of the people was the voice of God, defying the wishes of the people will amount to defying the very wishes of God himself. This dark hint on divine retributive justice was no doubt a blackmail to add effect to their stance.
   As I look back at the abortion of that policy proposal, my feeling is that the controversy raised a very important issue about public policy and the role of the ordinary people in it. But before I delve into that, let me first of all try to challenge some of the blatantly fallacious arguments that arose at that time. And the one I want to zero in on is the one that I consider not only fallacious but possibly blasphemous namely, that the voice of the people is the voice of God. Is the voice of the people in all circumstances the voice of God? The answer is an authoritative no.  Rather, I can even confirm from my in-depth reading of the Bible that in many instances relating to the people and their leadership, the voice of the people may actually represent the voice of Satan. Where is your scriptural evidence, Idang son of Alibi, I can hear some self-righteous cynics ask.
I invite you, dear reader, to read all of the Book of Deuteronomy which tells, in gripping details, the story of the Israelites and their God-appointed leader Moses who was given the mandate to lead them to the Promised Land. I rely so much on the Bible for my education and insight because all the stories and incidents recounted in it are timeless stories meant to teach, guide and direct us.  Here is Moses who was appointed by God himself to lead the Israelites. He did not stand any election and the people themselves knew it. He was receiving instructions directly from God. Yet, not once, not twice, not thrice, but many times, the people were always murmuring, grumbling and complaining against Moses and by extension God from whom he was getting directives for his policies and plans.
   In one incident, it is reported that some of the 600, 000 people Moses was leading from  Egypt to the Promised Land complained against him because they were tired of manna, the angelic food they were graciously given by God to eat. What followed? God, in anger, sent a plague to consume the ungrateful complainers, grumblers and murmurers.  My question is: If the voice of the people against leadership is necessarily the voice of God, why did God send a plague to kill some of the 600, 000 people who murmured and complained against Moses? Why did God not side with the people if their voices spoke his mind? This example is a certain proof that the voice of the people against the leadership on certain public policy issues may not necessarily be the voice of God.
I do not know the origin of this popular but fallacious saying that the voice of the people is the voice of God. This saying portrays God as an impotent, over-indulgent and rubber stamp monarch who is duty bound to grant acquiesce to or endorse the whims and follies of his subjects. But God does not operate like that. The human voice that represents him and one which moves him to act on our behalf is the voice of wisdom. That voice may be a lone voice but once it is in accordance with his will, he backs you up. If many foolish voices are raised in rebellion to leadership, God will not be with those voices, whether there are in millions or in billions.
  In another incident which again shows that God is not always with the majority, Moses sent out 12 persons to go spy out the land and bring him reports. When the 12 spies came back only two were in favour of advancing to conquer the land promised them by God. Ten were against. But the Bible tells us that the majority ten brought back ‘evil’ report while the report of the minority two was considered the good report. Here again, we learn something about God, voices and the majority. God is a monarch. He does not stand election. He therefore does not need the support of any majority to rule and reign. He stands with people who fear him; people who respect and obey his servants who are sent to lead the people.
Therefore, when we talk about majority, we should be careful to note that it should be the majority of expert opinions on a matter, especially one that requires some technical Knowledge. Even in the majoritarian democracy we are practising, it is not a majority of the people who decides who wins an election; it is a majority of ELIGIBLE and REGISTERED voters. I am not advocating a disdain for the opinion of the people. Rather I am saying that a government that is sure of its ground should not submit unreasonably to the wishes of an ill-informed people. Government should lead from the front and not from behind. Woe to a nation which is led from the streets.