It Is Almost Better For The President To Have Kept Silent Than To Make This Kind Of Broadcast

Organizers of the #EndBadGovernance protest have accused President Bola Tinubu of being out of touch with reality as touching the needs of the masses in Nigeria.

The organizers of the protest stated this while reacting to the nationwide presidential address by Tinubu on Sunday in response to the protest which has engulfed some major cities in the country since Thursday, August 1.

The protest organizers submitted that it would have almost been better for the President not to make a speech than to have made a speech which failed to address their demands nor ignite any trust in the heart of the masses.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Sunday, the National Coordinator of Youth Rights Campaign, Micheal Lenin, expressed disappointment with the President’s speech. He said the President in his speech, only justified the violence against protesters and journalists while dismissing the demands of the protesters.

He said, “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 should just address the nation when the protest was being mobilized and when it started to escalate, but 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 decides 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.”

Emiola Osifeso, representing the Take It Back Movement, disagreed with the president’s claim that the protests are politically motivated. He added that the protests are a lawful response by Nigerians who have become frustrated with the policies of the current government.

In his words, “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.

“These protests were mobilised for by the flagrant extravagance of political office holders in Nigeria for the past 14 months while asking Nigerians to be patient in our hunger and hardship – which they claim to be our sacrifice for the nation. It is almost better for the President to have kept silent than to make this kind of broadcast in which he continued his attitude of ignoring the legitimate grievances of the Nigerian people, by delegitimizing our protests as politically-motivated.”

On his part, the Initiator of Creative Change Centre, Omole Ibukun, said the President’s speech was filed with empty promises and vague assurances.

He said, “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 added that the policies of the Tinubu government are anti-people and only about pleasing the political elites, who are his friends.

He said, “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 much the President is incapable of meeting the Nigerian masses at the point of their needs, but 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 these benefits have not trickled down to the masses for 14 months now. This is why we are protesting.”

Ibukun added that “The President’s call for dialogue rings hollow as much as his acclaimed commitment to democratic governance, given the fact that he has not only ignored the demands of those he claims to want to dialogue with consistently, but he has also suppressed and disregarded the human rights of those he claims he wants to dialogue with.”

Protests Continue

Lenin, however, said the protest would continue massively on Monday, calling on the citizens not to get tired.

He added that the weapons of violence and propaganda deployed by the government would not work and the protest would continue until their demands are met.

He said, “We, therefore, call on Nigerians, to come out in large numbers to continue these protests on Monday until our demands are met. The two-pronged approach of violence and propaganda has failed.

“The violence and repressions are just attempts to silence and control us, and the propaganda cannot sway or fool us. The struggle for a new and better Nigeria continues. We must not be tired.

“The future of Nigeria depends on our determination at this moment. We must continue to organize, resist and build till we have a country that prioritizes the people over the profit and power of a few people. The struggle continues!”