Why I Won’t Partake In Planned Protest – Shehu Sani

• Sani shared his experience as peaceful protester urging others to follow suit.
• He said Nigeria is a democratic nation where people can express opinions, criticize the government, and protest peacefully.

Shehu Sani, a former senator from Kaduna Central, has announced that he will not be joining the planned August 1 protest, citing concerns about the lack of identifiable leaders and clear direction among the organizers.

Speaking to journalists in Kaduna, Sani highlighted the crucial need for peaceful protests to have visible leaders, drawing from his own experiences participating in protests led by prominent figures like President Bola Tinubu, former President Muhammad Buhari, and the late Balarabe Musa.

Sani emphasized that peaceful protests with clear leadership are essential to prevent them from escalating into violent and destabilizing events.

He urged protesters to adopt a similar approach, emphasizing the importance of leadership in maintaining peaceful protests.

According to him, Nigeria is a democratic nation where people can express opinions, criticize the government, and protest peacefully.

He said protests without leaders could lead to chaos and anarchy, citing the events that happened in Kenya and Sudan, which led to the breakdown of law and order and the decimation of the security forces.

Sani also commended the Kaduna state government’s stance on protests, stating that they would only support protests with identified leaders who could take responsibility in case of a breakdown of law and order in the country.

He said, “It is important that we bring back our conscience to the fact that Nigeria is a democracy. People have the right to express their opinions, criticise the government and protest peacefully.

“I have been a protester all my life and President Bola Tinubu has also been a protester, but we were peaceful protesters that demanded justice, freedom and people’s friendly policies.

“Now, the problem we are having now is that there are issues that we need to address. A protest needs two things: firstly, it’s a purpose. Of course, its purpose is to show that people are suffering in the country.

“But also, a protest needs a visible leader. When a protest has no leader, the tendency of that protest to metamorphose into violence is apparent,” he said.