By Victor Oluwayemi, PhD
Nigeria and its handlers from the days of yore are a mixture of non-humourous complications. The country has never for once enjoy anything worthwhile in the last 40 years of its almost 64 years of its existence as an independent state.
Everything, even if they work in other climes, becomes impossible whenever they encounter the geographical expression, called Nigeria. It’s then not surprising that the country is ranked amongst the failed/failing states in the world. Scholars have theorised and experimented all sorts of variables to understand the nature and character of the Nigerian state and proffered solutions. Yet, all postulations and findings have always fallen flat on their faces. What a country!
Since the unfortunate advent of the All Progressives Congress to the highest seat of power in Nigeria in 2015 through the taciturn and tone-deaf Muhammadu Buhari administration, Nigeria has become more unfortunate, as everything had spiraled out of control and cascaded down to the abyss.
Despite being rated as one of the most promising African countries about 15 years ago, the fall of this country has been monumental.
While Nigerians took to tribalism and religion to vote one of the most terribly flawed with heavily loaded morally corrupt-baggage-laden characters, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s extremely fragile peace has been further threatened. The kingmaker is now a king, and he seems very frightened and agitated at the news of peaceful protest, despite his acclaimed otherworldly mastery of difficult issues.
Since the news of proposed nationwide peaceful protest from August 1, 2024 against hunger, bad governance and smothering policies of Tinubu administration came out, sleep has taken a complete flight from the eyes of the man , who purportedly tamed Lagos Atlantic. As I projected some weeks ago on this page that propaganda and misinformation of the BAT government cannot help him in governing Nigeria as desired by the populace, it is obviously that the people now see through the state-sponsored lies and half-truths to further pauperize them.
Tinubu and his defunct Action Congress of Nigeria sponsored and led series of protests #OccupyNigeria in 2012 against the Jonathan administration, to hijack the country from the People’s Democratic Party. The protests with series of other manipulative schemes orchestrated by the opposition group then led to the national enthronement of the APC.
Who is afraid of a peaceful protest? The people have been pushed to the wall through the satanic policies of the pseudo-progressive and capitalist federal government. Everybody who honestly earns a living is perpetually feeling strangulated by the Tinubu administration, and he expects the people to keep quiet and be patient while they continue to die in droves of hunger and bad governance.
Tinubu and his co-travellers have been preaching patience and endurance for the past one year in the saddle. Not a single policy of theirs is favourable to the common man, while the government continue to their wasteful and lavish lifestyle.
The federal government should have been more thoughtful and engaging in their policies and programmes before pushing them to the people, who they claim to serve. Since he became the president, Tinubu has never for once engaged in a town hall meeting or media chat. What a popular democrat!
Thousands of people have been killed and abducted since May 29, 2023, when he became the president. Yet, Tinubu never called for any discussion with the stakeholders to address the issue of continuous bloodletting and abduction, coupled with never-seen-before hunger and absolute poverty in the country.
Now that the people have decided to vent their anger and displeasure at the rulers, he has been calling for all kinds of meetings and issuing press statements to dissuade the youth from protesting.
The president should remember that he was neither tear-gassed nor shot at when he called and led fuel subsidy protest in 2012. Why should he be afraid of a peaceful protest which is the constitutional right of the people? The #EndSarsProtest of 2020 was hitherto peaceful until the government and their hoodlums began to attack peaceful protesters, which led to irreparable losses of lives and billions of properties.
The threats of the military, police and DSS to stop the planned protest cannot work. If the government likes, they should make all associations, traditional, political and religious, release press statements on distancing themselves and discouraging the youth from the protest. Nothing will stop the protest unless the people begin to have a new lease of life with some level of ease and comfort.
Has Tinubu forgotten that even during the colonial and military eras the people protested against the policies of government? It is in the best interest of the country for the government not to sponsor any counter protest against the proposed nationwide peaceful protest. Instead of the military, police and DSS issuing threats to the people, they should rather ensure that adequate security is provided for the protesters.
Every protester is a citizen and stakeholder in the Nigerian project and must be protected against any group or gang that may want to hijack the protest. Better for all the state security formations to listen to the voice of reason in carrying out their functions, and the government to urgently address the problems in the land before protests metamorphose to revolution and anarchy.
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