Nigeria is at a crossroads again. There is a mobilisation for nationwide protests from August 1-10. The problem may not be with the protests but with the demands and their elasticity. The demands are legion. The protests have a tone of similarity with the ENDSARS in terms of its take-off demand. The “ENDSARS protests went
Nigeria is at a crossroads again. There is a mobilisation for nationwide protests from August 1-10. The problem may not be with the protests but with the demands and their elasticity. The demands are legion. The protests have a tone of similarity with the ENDSARS in terms of its take-off demand. The “ENDSARS protests went awry when the initial demand to end Police brutality started adding other demands after the government had agreed to disband SARS. Whatever happens, the people’s right to protest must always be protected. It is one of the hallmarks of a democratic society.
But the pertinent questions in the instance of the impending protests are: Is there hunger in the land? Without mincing words, the answer is Yes. Can Protests end hunger in the land? The answer is probably No. Is the government bad? Probably yes, because life has become more difficult for its citizens and those leading in government are not living an austere lifestyle. They provoke the masses with the purchase of new presidential aircraft and SUV vehicles worth N160 million for almost five hundred persons in parliament and perhaps more on the executive side.
The recent protests in Kenya, which have motivated the protesters to rise in Nigeria have resulted in a wave of deaths. After two days of what started as a peaceful protest, the police cracked down on the protests nationwide. The first casualty was the felling of 30-year-old Rex Masai. This triggered the intensity of the protests; protesters became more defiant and several public buildings were set ablaze. The original cause of the protest was the introduction of a finance bill that was going to raise new taxes. Police officers switched and upped their resistance against the protesters by changing from using water cannons and tear gas to firing live bullets.
Protesters’ Demands
>A poster mobilising for protest
In Nigeria, protest organisers want ten-day protests from August 1-10. Can a ten-day protest be peaceful given the volatility in Nigeria? Let us examine the protesters’ demands. The overall theme is “to end anti-people policies, overtaxing, and electoral fraud”. What do they want the government to do? To end subsidy scams and reverse fuel price to below N300 per litre; bring tertiary education fees back to their previous rates by reversing subsidies; restore electricity tariffs to affordable levels for the public; return import duties to their previous rates; publicly disclose and reduce the salaries of all Senators and House of Representatives members and the Speaker.
Others are to establish an emergency fund to support SMEs; make INEC independent of the Executive branch with transparent processes for appointing its chairman; enact a law mandating INEC to electronically transmit live electoral results; reopen national borders; reform EFCC; declare a state of emergency on inflation and reform the judiciary.
These are not demands fixable by a fiat. They are even beyond what executive orders by the President can achieve. Some of them need amendments to the constitutions and laws of the land. Those demands relating to matters of elections, such as the INEC chairman’s appointment, and transmission of election results may have made one of the spokespersons of the President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, accuse opposition members in the Labour Party and those who supported Mr Peter Obi in the last election to be the anchors for the protest.
Hear him: “Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action. The protest planners are also the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020.
“ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness. IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their agenda. Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today.
“They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’,’Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’. They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election.
“As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason.
“Labour Party failed presidential candidate, Peter Obi has come up with his misleading, half-truth statistics again. The big question is why this economic review at this time? The motive is clear: he wants to work up his mob plotting to destabilize the country from next week,” Onanuga tweeted.
NLC President Lends Support to Protests
The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Monday, lent its support to the proposed protests warning the government against any attempts to suppress Nigerians’ fundamental right to express their views, particularly in the light of the planned nationwide protests.
Comrade Joe Ajaero, NLC President
The NLC called on the government to engage the protesters constructively, rather than resorting to measures that could undermine citizens’ rights to voice their grievances. The labour union also called on President Bola Tinubu to listen to the cries of Nigerians over hunger and widespread hardship in the country. This led to the emergence of nationwide protests under the hashtags #TinubuMustGo and #Revolution2024.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said, “As the date for the widely reported national protest looms, the Nigeria Labour Congress urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to invite the leadership of the protest movement for discussions on their grievances.
“The truth is that millions of Nigerians are angry about the state of the national economy. A situation where most Nigerian families are forced to eat one miserable meal a day and eating from the dustbin beckons for serious intervention by the government.”
Ajaero referenced a recent country living standards index assessment by the National Bureau of Statistics, which established that about 133 million Nigerians lived below the extreme poverty line. “When these statistics are added to the millions that are being recruited into the armies of the unemployed and under-employed Nigerians, one can easily situate the hardship, pain, frustrations and despair that many Nigerians are going through right now. The truth is that Nigerians have been hard-pushed and super-pressed right against the walls of deep deprivation and acute want”
Prof Utomi Threatens Bayo Onanuga with Lawsuit over Fake News
Prof. Pat Utomi has challenged Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga to show proof of his alleged involvement in the planned August 1 nationwide protest or face a N500 billion lawsuit.
In a statement personally signed by him, on Monday, Utomi, a supporter of Peter Obi and the Labour Party, denied the allegation, saying he has been away from the country for a long time. He advised Onanuga to withdraw his statement or provide evidence of his claims.
“If there is no evidence of Mr. Onanuga’s false assertion, I will assume it reasonable that the object is to water the ground for false treasonable felony charges that can result in the claim of one’s life. I intend to therefore proceed to the international criminal and other human rights courts if a reasonable explanation is not forthcoming;
“I will also have no choice but to institute a claim of N500 billion for fake news, hate speech and intent to procure State murder of an innocent citizen. If judicial capture makes justice problematic in Nigeria, I expect that I can trust extra-national institutions and global human solidarity,” Utomi said.
DSS on Manhunt for Protests Organisers
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested one Aliyu Sanusi in Sokoto State for allegedly printing and distributing materials related to the forthcoming protests. He was arrested on Monday evening in the Sama Road area of Sokoto, the state capital.
Human rights activist and Convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore, shared details of Sanusi’s arrest on his X platform (formerly Twitter). Sowore, who was also a presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 and 2023 general elections, has demanded Sanusi’s immediate release.
In his post, Sowore criticized the DSS for what he described as “lawless” behavior, calling for the immediate release of Sanusi. Sowore is one of the faces identified with the proposed protests.
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