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Tag: Hunger protest

  • Form Government Of National Unity Or Resign –  Ex-APC Chieftain

    Form Government Of National Unity Or Resign –  Ex-APC Chieftain

    “In truth you have united Nigerians with your bad government and hunger.”
    In a scathing open letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Hon. Uche Onyeagucha, former National Welfare Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has called for some radical changes in the Nigerian government.
    Onyeagucha, who gained prominence as a pro-democracy activist and previously participated in high-profile protests, criticized the current administration’s handling of national issues.
    The letter, dated August 5, 2024, comes amidst widespread protests against hunger and poor governance, which began on August 1.
    Onyeagucha asserted that the president’s recent address to the nation exacerbated public discontent, stating, “Your contempt and or ignorance about the level of hunger and anger against your administration was perfectly captured in your Broadcast to the Nation on Sunday, 4th August 2024. Your broadcast to the Nation has added serious fuel in the flame.”
    In his letter, Onyeagucha presented President Tinubu with two stark choices: “You should dissolve your Government immediately and proclaim the formation of a Government of National Unity,” he writes. “I pray that God will touch Nigerians to accept this option in the light of the contempt which you displayed against Nigerians in your Broadcast.”
    Alternatively, Onyeagucha suggested, “You should resign as President and proceed immediately on Exile to enable Nigeria start on clean slate again.”
    He warned that failing to act on these options could lead Nigeria into severe political, economic, and social crises, stating,
     “Your failure to consider any of these options would very likely drive Nigeria into a Political, Economic and Social crisis of huge proportion.”

  • A critical analysis of President Tinubu’s Post-Protest Speech to the Nation

     

    …the crafters of the speech made a fundamental mistake of relying on the president assuaging the pain of the citizens by regurgitating and enumerating the different policies his government has enacted to ease the pain his reform polices especially the removal of oil subsidy and floating of the forex has caused, when in fact empathy was needed.

     

     

    Compared to what happened recently in Kenya and the bombastic prediction by the planners of the “EndBadGovernance” protest, President Tinubu and our dear country just dogged a huge bullet. We are very fortunate to have averted what could have been catastrophic conflagration. Our country is still standing, thank God. So it was totally appropriate and expected that the president would address the nation. I listened to the president’s much anticipated speech, this morning as I was heading out to the airport relieved that my flight had not been cancelled by the protest.

     

    It was a beautifully crafted and well delivered speech with the right cadence. It included a laundry list of various policies that have been taken by the president’s government to reposition the economy for sustainable growth and to ease the the pain of some of his critically needed but painful reform policy like the oil subsidy removal. The president also provided the contextual underpinning for some of the painful policies he has had to implement

     

    However, the crafters of the speech made a fundamental mistake of relying on the president assuaging the pain of the citizens by regurgitating and enumerating the different policies his government has enacted to ease the pain his reform polices especially the removal of oil subsidy and floating of the forex has caused, when in fact empathy was needed. As great as some of those policies might be, their impact are probably longer term ame will not address the immediate needs of the populace for relief from the economic Armageddon that confronts them daily as they try to eke a living and survival in an economy that is close to comatose. Presidential speeches are usually not the best forum to discuss arcane complex policies that might not be understood by most citizens especially those who are hurting. What good does a government credit policy for nano and micro-enterprises do for a hungry man?

     

    The president’a speech was ended on the usual empathy, “I feel your pain” piece when it should have been front center from the onset.

     

    The president would have been better served had he started with the “I feel your pain” piece rather than at the end. It would have been great had the president stated the speech with “I heard your message loud and clear”. As your your president, I feel your pain and know daily struggles. While we have done so much to ease your pain, your protest tells us, we need to do more.

     

    The other missing piece in the president’s speech, was the failure of the president to tell the citizens, what he will do differently in response to protest! It would have been great has the president talked about what he would do to reduce the cost of governance, to make his administrative bureaucracy lighter, more nimble and more aligned to the the country’s economic reality and the sacrifice that the citizens have been called up to make. That was a big and regrettable omission in the speech.

     

    Yes, as commander in chief and the chief security officer, it was important that President communicated his commitment to maintaining law and order as mandated by the constitution. But his role as empathizer in chief could have been given more prominence than it was in the speech.

     

    Overall, it was a good speech, timely, much needed and well delivered.

  • Hunger Protests: Don’t be agents of destruction – Emir Sanusi

    Hunger Protests: Don’t be agents of destruction – Emir Sanusi

    The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has appealed to the people of Kano and beyond to refrain from being used as agents of destruction, as protests resumed in the city despite a curfew.
    The emir made the appeal at a press conference held at his Gidan Rumfa palace on Friday evening.
    He expressed concern over the looting and vandalism of public and private properties that occurred during the protests.
    He described the events as a setback to the state, the northern region, and the country at large.

    Other Stories: hunger-protest-d-day-in-nigeria/

    The Emir’s plea came as protesters regrouped in Tudun Wada, Nassarawa Local Government Area, after Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf relaxed the curfew to allow for Jumaat prayers.

  • BREAKING: August 1 Protest: Protesters march to Presidential Villa

    “We are marching to the Villa, bad governance must end”, one of the protesters angrily told DAILY POST.
    Thousands of protesters demanding a change in the economic situation in the country are marching towards the Central Business District and Presidential Villa, Abuja.
    DAILY POST reports that many of the protesters, mostly northern youths are currently marching through Berger Junction, Wuse Market towards CBD.
    “We are marching to the Villa, bad governance must end”, one of the protesters angrily told DAILY POST.
    Many government facilities around the central business District have been shut down, including Wuse market and business plazas around the district.
    Some commercial banks have also shut down their doors over fear of attacks.
  • Protesters Shot Dead In Niger State

    Protesters Shot Dead In Niger State

    The victims were said to have been killed while security operatives were struggling to dislodge a group of protesters who mounted barricade on a section of Abuja-Kaduna highway.

    At least six people have been reportedly killed while some sustained injuries in the ongoing #ENDBADGOVERNANCE protest in Suleja, Niger State.
    The victims were said to have been killed while security operatives were struggling to dislodge a group of protesters who mounted barricade on a section of Abuja-Kaduna highway.
    Daily Trust had reported how passengers and motorists were trapped on the road for hours.
    Some policemen who were around the barricade could not control the youths who outnumbered them.
    However, a reinforcement team was sent to the scene where pandemonium occurred.
    Among those killed was said to be Yahaya Nda Isah, a resident of Hassan Dalatu Road, Suleja, who was hit by a stray bullet.
    The bullet reportedly hit Isa on his bike in front of the Suleja Police ‘A’ division where protesters had assembled.
    A nephew of the deceased told Daily Trust that his uncle was on his bike when the bullet fired to disperse the protesters hit him on his chest and he died on the spot.
    “He was my uncle. He was not even protesting. He was passing in front of the Police ‘A’ division where some people were protesting when stray Bullet hit him on his chest and he died. As I speak with you, I am in his house alongside other mourners. It’s unfortunate”, he said.
    Another victim was simply identified as Mallam Abu also said died on the spot.
    One of the residents who did not want his name mentioned told Daily Trust that 3 other people were shot at the same scene while 2 others were shot at the Suleja Junction on Abuja-Kaduna road but could not confirm if other victims were dead.
    Another resident who said his shop was not far from the Suleja Police “A” division said he had to close to run for his life.
    “We heard people shouting and gunshots were heard for about 20 minutes at Emir Roundabout. The situation in Suleja is ugly”, Bala Abdullahi, another resident.
    Spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said some hoodlums also attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze but they were dispersed by security operatives.
    “The miscreants attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze, they were dispersed by the Police and military. Kaduna road and toll gate was cleared”, he said.
    When contacted over the phone, Wasiu Abiodun, Police Public Relations Officer in Niger, said, “Let me verify and get back to you.”
    However, he had not sent his response as of the time of filing this report.

  • Government by Cash gifts and palliatives: Ineffectual Tokenism to Citizens’ Miserys

    Media report has it that senate President Akpabio recently announced President Tinubu’s approval of 50,000 Naira monthly stipends for 10,000 youths in the Niger Delta area. I hope that news is not true, otherwise it would tone-deafness on steroid. It is a demeaning policy that reduces Nigerian youth to Pavlovian dogs in his classical conditioning experiments who can be taught compliance with food.

     

    Nigerian youths do not need cashgifts, nor bribes, nor tokenisms or palliatives, call it what you like. It is an insult to them. They need an educational infrastructure fit for human learning, not the filthy chicken pens in which they are packed like animals called schools. They need a functioning economy with modern infrastructure that stimulates economic productivity and job creation.

     

    As much as I am a supporter of President Tinubu, his alms-seekers’ pan-handling, hand-out tokenism palliative policy is like putting bandage on a cancerous bedsore. Sharing envelopes of bags of rice might work for vote harvesting during political campaign. It is not a sustainable model for governance. It is demeaning, belittling, insensitive, and an insult to us all.

     

    If today’s protest falls apart like some hope it does because of the suspicion that it may be a misguided ethnic and political conceptualization and branding as “day of rage” as an alleged attempt at upturning the result of a failed presidential bid. It is hoped that President Tinubu and his team see that as a temporary reprieve to give him a chance for course correction and a massive restructuring and pruning down the huge bureaucracy that has become part and parcel of the culture of government by political patronage with layers upon layers of special assistants to special assistants, with no portfolio nor value addition to governance in Abuja and all over the states and local government capitals. It must stop now.

     

    That is low hanging policy shift that does not need any legislative action, just executive order to send the signal to the populace of shared sacrifice and a listening presidency.

     

    The bubbling explosive tension in the country is palpable. You cannot pack megaton of explosive TNT in a hot combustible room and hope and pray that one day it would not detonate and bring down the house.

     

    The time for presidential action is now, not tomorrow. Like the explosion of the pile of ammonia fertilizer which eviscerated blocks upon blocks of Beirut taking with it the homes of the poor, the powerless the rich and powerful, will be a child’s play unless decisive action is taken is to avert the looming catastrophe.

     

    Our country is siting on a huge pile of TNT that is on the verge of explosion. Only quick and decisive action by all layers of government, federal, state and local government can save the country.

     

    May God bless Nigeria our country. May God bless our president Tinubu, our governors and all those who have willingly sought leadership positions of our country and have been honored with such huge responsibility. May He give them the wisdom, and prick their conscience and sensibilities if they still have any left, to do the right thing for the long suffering, long abused, long deprived Nigerian masses. If they fail to do so, they must be prepared for the spontaneous ire and rage of the people that is likely to sweep them off their exalted position of power.

     

    A word they say is enough for the wise. The clock is ticking and the day of reckoning is literarily at hand.

  • Attempted Jailbreak?: Gunshots In Imo Capital

    There was pandemonium in Owerri, the Imo State capital yesterday as sporadic shooting was heard across Owerri, the state capital.
    While some wondered if the gunshots were a result of an attempted jailbreak, a security Eons Intelligence in post shared on X attributed the shooting to unknown gunmen.
    It wrote: “At 1130 am today 31st July, 2024, Owerri Prison under attack by Unknown gunmen as prison armed Squad in gun duel.
    “Reinforcement from military and other security formation ongoing.”
    It further tweeted, “Report of sporadic shooting across Owerri Municipal by UGM. Suspected Hoodlums also attacked the UBA bank at Wetheral Road.
    “Avoid the area until normalcy is restored.”
    While some witnesses attributed the gunshots to unknown gunmen, sources from Imo State capital, who witnessed the incident told SaharaReporters that the shooting could not be from unknown gunmen.
    According to one of Sahara Reporters sources, the shooting is simultaneously going on at the Okigwe road, World Bank, Control, in front of Government House, Onitsha road, Amaku-Ohia – Akwaku road, and Aba road and Wetheral Road.
    The source said: “We believe that the Governor Hope Uzodimma and his administration were behind the shooting to scare and send fear to the people who might be planning to come out tomorrow to participate in the nationwide ‘Day of Rage’ protests against hunger and misgovernance in Nigeria, and in the state.”
    “You must have seen the video of Owerri, the State capital, it has been completely deserted. In those videos do you see security agencies moving around to contain it. That shows you that the shooting was government plan to scare would be protesters from coming tomorrow. That’s is the main agenda.
    “Police, military and other security agencies are resided in the capital, with increased checkpoints in every streets in Owerri, from where did the so called gunmen came in from.”

  • Why I Don’t Support Hardship Protest – Sunday Igboho

    Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has kicked against the nationwide protests planned for August 1 over the hardship in the country.
    Igboho in a statement issued late last night, said: “I, Chief Sunday Igboho, am issuing this press release in response to the planned protests by some unknown and faceless individuals, who are working to disintegrate the country.
    ‘’Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assumed office on May 29, 2023, he has implemented revolutionary policies, which his predecessors lacked the political will to pursue.
    ‘’These bold steps have, unsurprisingly, unsettled those who believe it is their birth right to rule Nigeria. And in response, there have been attempts to undermine his administration, particularly on social media, with the aim of creating discord between the government and the people.
    ‘’Recently, we have become aware of notices from unknown individuals threatening ’10 days of rage’, beginning August 1, 2024, under the slogan ‘Tinubu Must Go!’
    ‘’While the right to peaceful protest is enshrined in our constitution, it does not extend to calls for an unconstitutional regime change. It is worth noting that during President Buhari’s eight-year tenure, there were no such protests for regime change from the Southwest, even when our people faced oppression and atrocities by Fulani terrorists.
    ‘’Our protests were focused on protecting our communities, not on destabilizing the country.
    The Yoruba Nation Movement and I firmly declare that we will not participate in any protest aimed at using the Southwest as a battleground for political upheaval.
    ‘’We stand resolute in our belief that the Yoruba nation will not be a launchpad for disintegrating Nigeria. We recognize that economic hardship is a global phenomenon, not unique to Nigeria.
    ‘’Since my release from the unjust detention orchestrated by former President Buhari and his then attorney general of federation, Abubakar Malami, I have traveled extensively across Europe, the Middle East, West Africa, and North America.
    ‘’Everywhere, people are facing challenges, and governments are implementing palliatives to alleviate these hardships. In Nigeria, PBAT’s government has introduced measures to reduce food prices and increased the minimum wage from ¦ 30,000 to ¦ 70,000, demonstrating a commitment to improving the lives of the working populace.
    ‘’Let us be clear: the protest is politically motivated. We call on all Yoruba people and well-meaning Nigerians to reject this movement. The Yoruba Nation unequivocally opposes any such protests.
    ‘’Like President Buhari, President Tinubu must be allowed to complete his term in office. The path to change lies in democratic processes—through the ballot box or a referendum. Those who seek change must wait until the next elections in 2027.
    ‘’We urge our members and the broader community to resist any temptation to participate in these protests, as they do not serve the interests of the Yoruba people or the nation as a whole.
    ‘’We also issue a strong and unequivocal warning that we will firmly resist any individuals or groups attempting to instigate violence under the guise of these protests. They are strictly warned to stay off the streets across Yorubaland on the designated protest days and in the future. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.’’

  • Confusion As Wike’s Office Refuses Protest Organiser’s Letter Requesting Use Of Eagle Square

    The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has stirred controversy by refusing to acknowledge a formal request from the Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement, a key organizer of the upcoming nationwide protests.
    The Take-It-Back group had written to Wike, seeking permission to use Eagle Square in Abuja from August 1 to 10, 2024, for the demonstrations.
    The letter, signed by Damilare Adenola, the Director of Mobilization for TIB in Abuja, emphasized the necessity of having round-the-clock access to the venue during the protests.
    Despite this, Wike asserted at a town hall meeting with critical FCT stakeholders on Saturday that his office had not received any such letter.
    “No letter was sent to my office requesting to use Eagle Square for the demonstration,” Wike claimed.
    This denial has led to accusations from Adenola, who suggested that the issue could stem from either bureaucratic delays or Wike’s unwillingness to admit receipt of the letter.
    Adding to the dispute, a source disclosed to SaharaReporters on Monday that “Wike’s office refused to acknowledge TIB’s letter requesting use of Eagle Square.”
    This revelation casts doubt on the minister’s earlier statements and has intensified the debate surrounding the protests.
    In a move seen as an attempt to suppress the planned demonstrations, Wike encouraged residents to disregard the protests and instead participate in celebrations with traditional rulers receiving their certificates on August 1.
    He also dismissed the protesters as “faceless,” a characterization that has provoked a strong response from the organizers.
    Adenola, speaking in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, described Wike’s label of “faceless” as a “double insult,” highlighting that the protest leaders are “hungry Nigerians” and “unemployed Nigerians roaming the streets.”
    He stressed, “The greatest motivation of this #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest is hunger.”
    Adenola also clarified that the protest’s demands were formulated through democratic discussions among young Nigerians, reflecting their widespread frustrations.
    He emphasized that the Take It Back Movement is part of a larger coalition, not the sole organizer of the protests.
    “Take It Back is one of the organizers of this protest, but not the only organizer,” he stated, underscoring that the leadership of the protest comes from the collective will of the Nigerian people, not just a single entity.
  • Man Stripped Of Traditional Title For Supporting Nationwide Protests

    Man Stripped Of Traditional Title For Supporting Nationwide Protests

    The District Head of Bosso in Minna Emirate Council in Niger State, Alhaji Mu’azu Adamu Laka Bosso, has relieved one Abdulahi Isah, aka Biodun, of the title: Wakilin Matasan Bosso.
    According to Daily Trust, the traditional title holder was reportedly dismissed for supporting the planned nationwide protests.
    In a letter titled: “Letter of dismissal”, Mu’azu, who did not give the reason for the sack, said: “I hereby write to inform you that you have been dismissed from your title as Youth Leader of Bosso (Wakilin Matasan Bosso) with immediate effect from 28/07/2024. You should no longer call yourself as Youth Leader of Bosso.”
    However, speaking in an interview Tsalle Daya, a Hausa programme on Prestige, the district head said that Biodun was stripped of his title for declaring support for the forthcoming nationwide protest over hardship.
    The district head was cited as saying his domain would not condone any act that would lead to breakdown of law and order.