Organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protest which is an advocacy against hunger and hardship in the country have scheduled today to hold a one million man protest across the country to round up the 10- day initiative. One of the organisers of the protest and the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Mr. Juwon Sanyaolu, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, on Friday, urged Nigerians across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to speak out against the harsh economic condition, which he said, was biting harder on a daily basis. He wrote: “The Take It Back Movement (TIB), side-by-side with other organisers and organisations will on August 10, lead a monumental one-million-man protest in each of the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
“This event will mark a critical juncture in our nationwide #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria campaign, which began on August 1, 2024. It started as a planned 10-day protest but has evolved into a sustained and widespread movement, drawing participants from every corner of Nigeria and the diaspora.” The protest had degenerated into pockets of violence and police brutality in some parts of the country despite a national broadcast by President Bola Tinubu, asking organisers to sheath their swords and embrace dialogue.
Violence in North fuelled by hunger
Prominent voices in the northern part of the country have de- bunked insinuation that the vio- lent protest in the region is based on the serious economic disloca- tion the people are facing under the current Bola Ahmed Tinubu led government. Those who spoke with Satur- day Telegraph were a chieftain of the opposition New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Engr. Buba Galadima, former Special Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Mallam Umar Sani and the Spokesman for the Obi/Datti Organisation, Dr. Yunusa Tanko. When contacted, Galadima who stated that his party had warned Nigerians not to vote the current regime into office stated that hunger has been the driving factor fuelling the violent dimension the protest had taken in the North.
“There is nothing driving these violent protests in the North order than hunger that the people are hungry. A hungry man is an angry man but we warned the people not to vote this government into power, well, they never listened to us,” Galadima said. While refusing not to be further dragged into the issues around the protest, he however called on Nigerians to be prepared to vote out the current regime in 2027 if they feel that it has impacted negatively on them. On his part, Sani stated that contrary to popular belief, the people of the North had initially harboured some reservations against the former President Muhammadu Buhari led government but that President Tinubu’s economic decisions since coming on board have been badly received by the region. “This government initially from the start badly, the government enveloped (former President) Buhari’s anger who they believe didn’t work for the interest of the North who gave him (Buhari) majority votes.
“While people were complain- ing about their worsening situation in the North, President Tinubu without consultation, without any recourse to the legislature to feel the pulse of the people on the first day, right on the podium took two critical decisions,” he said. Sani stated that the twin decision to halt payment of subsidy on petroleum products and floating of the naira precipitated the anger of the North which manifested in the violence protest. He stated that the decisions brought hardship on the people just as the decision to float the naira without critically appraising the dynamic at play and how the decision will impact negatively on the local economy of the region. Apart from that, he also listed the decision of the current government to intervene militarily in the wake of the coup that took place in the Republic of Niger as another reason why the region erupted during the protest.
“You know, because of our long history of association with the people of the Niger Republic in the North, Niger is always since as an extension of the Nigeria, we feel that what separates us is the boundary, so when he decided to invade Niger, the general view and opinion is that he is against the North,” he said. Sani also listed the perceived frosty relations between the president and members of the northern caucus as another reason for the intensity of the protest, saying many have concluded that President Tinubu harbours some form of misgivings against them. On his part, Tanko used the current business situation in Kano State to illustrate the feelings of the people of the region towards the current regime. He stated that since coming on board of the current regime, the intensity of business transactions have reduced considerably thus leaving many youths and business owners despondent. “Kano is the economic hub of the North where we have thousands of trailers moving in and out of the state on a monthly basis. The economic downturn has really affected the people considerably. “It is unfortunate that the youths have nothing to do anymore. A lot of promises had been made to the people by the governments which were never fulfilled,” he said. He also faulted the recalcitrant posture of the government to call for a reduction of the price of petroleum products, saying if that had happened, the intensity would have reduced.
Angry orphans disguised as protesters in Zamfara
Indications also emerged that poverty was at the core of the violent protest in Zamfara State. This is because statistics have revealed that out of every 22 households in the state; only two could afford three square meals per day. The rate of poverty in the state compelled a large number of people to join the nationwide protest which they considered as an opportunity that may fetch them a means of survival. According to findings by some non-governmental organisations and other concerned authorities, Zamfara has the highest number of orphans who mostly lost their parents to banditry and other criminal activities in the state and are suffering total negligence by the governments and other well to do individuals. Saturday Telegraph can competently report that, the large number of orphans who have now reached the ages of maturity, have the impression that, the whole society hates them, therefore, they decided to disguise themselves as protesters to have committed what could not be ignored by the teeming security personnel that monitored the movements during the protests.
Recalled an interview with a protester on the 3rd day of nationwide protest identified as Aminu Dankwano, said he was supporting use of Russian flags and the calls for Vladimir Putin to intervene into Nigeria’s domestic crisis, adding that, “I lost my parents and three of my brothers to banditry, and the government is still doing nothing to inculcate hope for us that insecurity would come to an end. “I have nobody to share whatever grievances that encased my thoughts, I am feeling that, nobody cares to assist my living, neither the government nor from the wealthy clicks, therefore, my formidable belief is that they consider me as an enemy not a person that can contribute towards the upliftment of our state. “I don’t consider waving the Russian flag as crime, as well as vandalizing public or private properties provided I would get what I can convert to feed myself in the course of which security personnel may even pull their triggers in effort to secure normalcy”, Dankwano explained.
