CITIZENS COMPASS—Some organisers of #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest yesterday, said they were ready for the nationwide protests planned to kick off on Thursday, August 1, 2024.
They comprise a coalition of youth, civil societies, socialists and radical groups disclosed this during a press conference in Lagos.
They made it clear that “despite threat and intimidation, the #endbadgovernance *protest will hold,”
In Lagos State, the organizers said the take-off point for the protests would be Ikeja under the bridge at 7 a.m.
The press conference was jointly addressed by Joint Action Front (JAF), PRP Vanguard, Yoruba Revolutionary Movement (YOREM), Amilcar Cabral Ideological School Movement (ACIS-M), and Youth Rights Campaign (YRC).
Others were the Movement for African Emancipation (MAE), Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Precision, Electrical, and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA), and Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR).
The briefing jointly addressed by the Coalition said, “We thank you for hearkening to our clarion call by attending this press conference which is taking place at a very dark hour in the history of our dear nation. You are all witnesses to how over the past three weeks, President Tinubu’s government, his aides, security agencies, and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) have all been trying hard to disparage, calumniate, and demonize the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.
“They have called us all kinds of unprintable names. They have threatened all sorts of violence and personal harm against us. Their paid agents have threatened to attack us and kill us if we dare come out including the threat to deploy the “oro cult” against protesters in Lagos. They have accused us of several crimes including treason and of being sponsored.
“They have floated fake groups to pull out of a protest they were never part of in the first place. They have even gone ahead in the last few days to weaponize poverty by mobilizing the poor and most vulnerable section of society with a token cup of rice and a few naira notes to participate in state-sponsored “protest” to counter our protest. All the while they are doing this, the police and security agencies have either watched in silence or egged them on. The Department of State Security (DSS) on its part, that shadowy instrument of coercion that should have no place in a real democracy, has been most brazen in its contrived lies alluding to so-called foreign mercenaries coming to infiltrate protest and in its bugging of activist phones, infiltration, hostile espionage, and other covert operations to sabotage the protest.
“You will agree with us that all these brazen state-sponsored attempts to muzzle dissent and harass young people who felt the need to voice out their displeasure at the state of things in Nigeria is unprecedented. This is a new era of civilian dictatorship we are witnessing under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu – a man who claims to have fought for democracy but has now turned out as the hangman of democratic ideals. Any Nigerian who still has a little shred of human dignity left in them ought to be nauseated by the events of the last few weeks. What is at stake right now is not whether the protest is right or not. What is at stake right now is whether we as a Nigerian people are free or we are slaves in our own country because only a slave is shed of the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
“But in the midst of all these, one thing they have not dared to do is to address the fundamental reason why this protest has been called which is the anti-poor and neo-liberal capitalist policies of Tinubu administration that have thrown a majority of Nigerians including the youth, the unemployed, the working class, artisans, the traders, and the poor masses into an unprecedented level of hunger and hardship. Since May 29 last year when President Tinubu announced without any democratic consultation or debate with the Nigerian people, his ill-thought, wicked, and anti-poor International Monetary Fund (IMF)-inspired policy of fuel subsidy removal, our lives as we know it has been further transformed for the worse. Inflation has gone sky-high, and with it prices of food, energy, medicine, and other essentials.
The national currency has also been devalued twice which has also crashed the value of income and living standards. So bad is the situation that according to several estimates, over 26 million Nigerians are at risk of starvation this year.
“All that this government has done so far to try to ameliorate the situation has not worked. So-called palliatives have not gone to the real needy as they have been hijacked by ruling party politicians while support for rural farmers to enhance food productivity has ended up in the hands of political farmers. Yet in the midst of all these and while we are being told to understand and tighten our belt, official corruption has turned into a pastime as President Tinubu, the first family, lawmakers, and government officials continue to feed fat on our treasury by buying themselves luxurious jets, yacht, bulletproof vehicles and renovating residences and offices.
“It Is based on the foregoing that we believe that this protest must go on regardless of the threat and intimidation. To this extent, we announce our support for the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest. It will take place in Lagos state like other parts of the country starting from Thursday 1st August 2024. We call on all youth, students, unemployed, workers, traders, and all those who are affected by the condition of hunger and hardship to join us. The peaceful protest will be held according to the following schedule:
(1) TAKE-OFF POINT- Ikeja under Bridge, Lagos State.
(2) TIME: 7a.m
The Coalition lists its demand thus:
OUR CARDINAL DEMANDS:
(1) Reversal of fuel price to pre-May 29, 2023 level
(2) Reversal of electricity tariff to pre-May 29, 2023 level
(3) End to hardship and hunger
(4) Recall all victimized activists. Free all #EndSARS detainees
(5) End-to-school fee hike. For study grants, not loans
(6) Place all political office holders on minimum wage.
(7) Reverse all anti-poor and neo-liberal capitalist policies
(8) Fix public refineries and build new ones under democratic workers’ control and management.
(9) Reverse all privatization of public enterprises and place them under democratic control and management.
(10) End insecurity, police brutality and kidnapping
(11) No to illegal demolition/forced eviction
(12) Creation of decent jobs and payment of unemployment benefits to those unemployed.
(13) Prosecute all corrupt politicians and return all stolen wealth
(14) End security vote
(15) Free quality health care for all
(16) End to attacks on press freedom. Release all political detainees including journalists and bloggers.
In conclusion, it said, “We repeat that the protest is a peaceful one. Therefore we warn anyone coming to foment violence including arson and destruction to stay clear of the protest. We also warn the Police, DSS, and security agencies not to deploy their agents to infiltrate our protest to foment trouble to blame it on us later.
“Some have asked whether all of Nigeria’s problems will be solved by this protest. Many have said that it takes more than 10 days of protest to solve the socio-economic ills plaguing our nation. We agree with these arguments but we think that this protest is a first and necessary step. This is because it has become clear over the years that no section of Nigeria’s capitalist elite has the solution to the problems.
“This time the solution has to come from the Nigerian masses themselves which is why during this protest, Nigerian youth and poor masses must have the necessary democratic discussion about what kind of Nigeria we want. For us in this coalition, we consider that the fundamental reason Nigeria is in this mess is capitalism – a socio-economic system that makes a few people rich at the expense of the mass majority. This is why this coalition calls for system change – that is a new Nigeria where the wealth of the country will be used primarily to make life better for its people instead of enriching a few.”
