- Protest organizers criticized President Tinubu for claiming protests were politically motivated, asserting they are a legitimate response to government failures
- They expressed disappointment in Tinubu’s broadcast, stating it justified state violence and failed to address the hardships faced by Nigerians
During President Bola Tinubu’s recent nationwide broadcast, a cross-section of the #EndBadGovernance protesters expressed disappointment with his assertions. They criticized the president for suggesting that failed politicians were sponsoring the protests, arguing that this demonstrated his disconnect from the reality on the ground.
Speaking to journalists, some protest organizers accused the president of justifying state violence against protesters and journalists while dismissing the protesters’ demands. Among the organizers who spoke at a briefing in Abuja were Micheal Lenin, National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign; Emiola Osifeso, representing the Take It Back Movement; and Deji Adeyanju of Concerned Nigerians.
Lenin stated, “We wish to express our sadness and deep disappointment at the latest broadcast by President Tinubu, which is his first address to the nation on the #EndBadGovernance protests after over three weeks since Nigerians started mobilizing to take to the streets and after scores of dead protesters and assaulted journalists from the first three days of the protests. Many had requested that the president address the nation when the protest was being mobilized and when it escalated. Still, most of us did not know that the president would only justify state violence on protesters and journalists while dismissing the demands of the protesters whenever he decided to speak. This, plus the failed attempt to co-opt the progressive and radical language of the protests, only shows how much President Tinubu is out of touch with the masses.”
Osifeso added that the president’s claim that the protests were politically motivated showed a deep disconnection from the masses. He emphasized that the protests were a lawful response to the government’s failure to address the hardships faced by citizens. “The claim by President Tinubu that our protests are driven by a political agenda to tear Nigeria apart is nothing but an attempt to call a dog a bad name so that he can easily hang it. It is a gross misrepresentation of the obvious facts that have become the economic reality of all Nigerians. These protests have been largely faceless and leaderless because it was a spontaneous response of Nigerians triggered by the deep multidimensional poverty, sharp inequality, barbarous corruption, and gross human rights abuses that we see every day before us. The protest was the lawful response of the Nigerian people to the failure of the Tinubu government to address these endemic systemic issues after over 14 months in power.”
Omole Ibukun, Initiator of Creative Change Centre, said the broadcast was filled with empty promises and vague assurances. “President Tinubu claimed to understand the pain and frustration driving our protests, yet the long broadcast was filled with empty promises and vague assurances. We must not forget that this same president and his ruling APC have deployed security forces, including the Army, the Police, and the DSS, to suppress the rights to dissent of protesters by using teargas on protesters, beating, injuring, arresting, and killing scores of protesters.”
Ibukun also criticized the president for highlighting economic achievements that did not reflect the actual conditions in the country. “To further confirm that President Tinubu’s disconnection from the masses borders on psychopathy, the president started reeling out economic figures in the typical neoliberal attitude that prioritizes some abstract economic growth over the immediate welfare needs of the people. The broadcast further confirms how incapable the president is of meeting the Nigerian masses at the point of their needs but is very capable of making policies that will benefit the private ‘investors’ of his elite clique at the expense of the public. The excess talks about economic growth and infrastructure development conveniently ignored the fact that these benefits have not trickled down to the masses for 14 months. This is why we are protesting.”
The protesters concluded by announcing that they would continue massively on Monday to show that Nigerians are serious about their demands, which the president has not addressed.
Discussion about this post