There is panic and palpable tension in the country, caused by a planned nationwide protest set for August 1 to 10. The protest, according to the organizers, is to seek an end to bad governance. They are among others things demanding key economic and political reforms, insisting that Nigeria needs a major surgical procedure to stop it from the incessant bleeding resulting from monumental corruption and bad policies.
The promoters of the national protest are specifically asking for a return of the fuel subsidy regime, but this time it should be corrupt-free, pay Nigerian workers at least a minimum wage of N250,000 monthly, end banditry, terrorism and violent crimes.
Also, reform the nation's security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations.
Make education free and compulsory, and give Nigerian students grants instead of loans.
Scrap the 1999 constitution and replace it with a people-made Constitution through a sovereign National Conference followed by a National Referendum. Allow for diaspora voting during general elections. Maintain a single legislative institution. Aggressively tackle the issues bedeviling the power sector. Release leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu from detention, among other demands.
While some top government officials have labeled the demands as unreasonable and unable to achieve, we think that it is not. It is not an impossible list. Almost all of the demands are what has today contributed to the level of hunger and starvation facing Nigerians. People are suffering, and there is no better way to vent their spleen but to accept to take to the streets to protest. The
fact that some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are making flimsy excuses why the demands can not be met has further angered the agitators, their collaborators, and sympathizers.
It is, therefore, not surprising that despite the pleas, persuasions, warnings, and even subtle threats, those behind the protest have refused to back down. They have vowed not to retreat, insisting that the demonstrations will go on as scheduled. More so, it is within their inalienable rights as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
Interestingly, the organisers of the planned protest have revealed their identities. This was after agents of the government had tagged them "faceless." This development has further increased the momentum of the protest. Some of them include Tunde Thomas of the Nigerians Against Hunger, the Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential aspirant and convener of the Revolution Now Movement. To give the protest more backing, Lagos lawyer and popular human rights activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), has indicated that he is the solicitor to one of the groups behind the protest, Take It Back Movement.
Ordinarily, one would have expected the federal government to deal with this issue dispassionately by asking the groups to come forward and formally table their demands, then set up a committee with some of them as members and begin to work out modalities to address some of their demands, especially those easily considered as low-hanging fruits. This would have, in a way, halted the protest and presented the government as being sensitive.
But sadly, the government has taken the wrong route. State and Non-state actors have been invited to use well-known book
tricks to either blackmail the organizers or box them in a corner to drop their plans. The riot act read by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, last week can be considered as one of such underhand tricks. The IGP overreached himself, and the simple interpretation of his long list of conditions is that he was attempting to rewrite the constitution of the country. He doesn't have such powers. Asking that the organizers submit their details, proposed routes, and assembly points stifles their fundamental right to assemble freely.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is important to remind IGP Egbetokun that the power to issue licence or permit for holding public meetings, assemblies and processions is not vested in his office or hands neither is it with his Commissioners but rather with the State Governors. Police permit which is a relic of colonialism has been annulled on the ground of its inconsistency with the provisions of the Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on freedom of assembly, association and expression. So, any disruption or attempt to disrupt public meetings and rallies by the police and other security agencies can be resisted as it is illegal and contemptuous.
It is, therefore, in the best interest of IGP Egbetokun and his colleagues to provide adequate security for the protesters and ensure their safety. It is the duty of the Police and its sister agencies to fish out those whose mission is to cause violence during the protests and deal with them. Peaceful protesters should not be harmed, harassed or molested. We don't want a repeat of the Endsars protest, where defenseless Nigerians were shot at. If there are security concerns, those saddled with the responsibility should identify it and nip it in the bud. The organizers have already indicated their commitment and willingness to be peaceful, and we hope that they stick to their words.
We urge President Tinubu to warn his aides and members of his party from escalating the issue with reckless media statements. The mood of the country suggests dire straits. He must move with speed to act before it is too late. He has shown most recently that he listens with the way the issue of the new minimum wage was handled. He can do the same with the protesters. Otherwise, any attempt to use state power or brute force will rather embolden the protesters, make them to be more resolute and undaunted. The result of that might be an occurrence of the recent protest in Kenyan. We don't want that. Our priority is the interest of the people of the Niger Delta and Nigerians.
