Nigerians youths are readying for protests despite attempts by the Federal Government to dissuade them from staging the demonstration.
Protesters say they will be on the streets to demonstrate against the cost-of- living crisis bedevilling Africa’s biggest oil producer.
At a meeting with the 16 organisers on Tuesday, Kayode Egbetokun, Nigeria’s police chief, said the protests will be confined in identified locations to ensure security for demonstrators.
However, Inibehe Effiong, human rights lawyer, said the protest will go on, noting that “the police has accepted that there is nothing that can stop the protest from taking place.”
“Rallies and marches should be done in a coordinated manner,” Effiong said on his X handle on Tuesday.
He also wrote a letter to the IGP demanding that he respect and protect the rights of the protesters. He asked the IGP to direct police commissioners in the states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ensure that protesters are protected during the course of the rallies.
In Kano and Sokoto states, there were placards on Wednesday, with inscriptions, ‘End Bad Governance in Nigeria’ and ‘We are hungry.’
Omoyole Sowore, one of the conveners of the protest, said on his X handle, “We urge Nigerian workers to boycott work and join #Endbadgovernance tomorrow: We ask those who may not be able join to stay at home.”
Read also: We shall enforce court order restricting protests to two locations – Lagos police
Damilare Adenola, director of mobilisation of Take It Back Movement, a non-governmental organisation, stated on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics that there was no going back on the protest in the FCT.
He said this in respect of the Eagle Square, which he said minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, does not want to release to protesters.
“The truth is that the Eagle Square is a public property. When I saw the video of the minister, I was amazed because I saw the minister asking us to pay rent, pay security fees and all that. My question to the minister is this: how does the minister expect a greater population of Nigerian youths who are impoverished, who have no jobs to afford to exorbitant he is expecting us to pay?” he asked.
Nigeria is facing a cost-of-living crisis that has seen inflation rise to 34.19 percent in June 2024 and food inflation skyrocket to 40.87 percent.
Cost of major staples such as rice, beans, yam, bread and garri have more than doubled in one year.
Young Nigerians blame the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate liberalisation for the galloping inflation in the nation.
“They are good policies with unintended consequences due to the government’s inability to provide transparent interventionist programmes to support Nigerians,” said Lagos-based Charles Ebi, a human rights activist, who said his N200,000 monthly salary is no longer enough to cater for his family of four.
Read also: Photos: Lagos police in full show of force ahead of hunger protest
Africa-wide disillusionment
There is a growing uprising sweeping across Africa where 70 percent of the population are young people and below the age of 30.
This growing frustration is pushing them to the streets to demand better governance amid rising cost of living.
Nigerians, especially the youth, are bracin for nationwide protests starting August 1, drawing inspiration from youth-led movements that have shaken the Kenyan government and sparked intense crackdowns in Uganda.
This is even as a youth-led planned cost-of-living protest in Ghana was quelled by a high court Wednesday.
The wave of protests is hitting African nations as the economy of various countries struggle from global inflation, covid-induced slump and internal economic mismanagement.
The Russia-Ukraine war and higher global interest rates have also affected emerging markets in Africa, but some countries like South Africa are reeling from this crisis as its inflation rate hit a two-month low of 5.1 percent June.
In Kenya, the government aimed to widen the tax net, sponsoring the controversial Finance Bill which triggered the unrest that has shattered the East Africa most advanced economy.
Kenya’s national debt stands at around $80 billion, about three quarters of its annual economic output, and 65 percent of annual revenue goes to repaying the country’s debt.
Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, said the recent wave of protests across Africa speaks to the level of corruption and bad governance rocking the continent.
“I think the protests are about bad governance, corruption, mismanagement, erosion of governmental institutions and high inflation,” Rafsanjani said, noting that people only protest when the governments fail in their responsibilities,” he said.
Rafsanjani, who doubles as chairman of Board of Amnesty International, Nigeria, however cautioned the protesters to shun violence and avoid any infiltration that might frustrate their agitations.
Adewunmi Falode, professor of History and Strategic studies at Lagos State University, said besides bad governance, which is the central cause of the protests, African leaders don’t communicate policy programmes enough to their citizens.
“African leaders don’t really communicate with the citizens even if they have good intentions,” the LASU don said, asserting that when people are in the know of various reforms of government and its consequences, there may not be need to protest.
Falode added that one of the values of democracy is timely communication between the government and the governed as this builds trust and transparency.
Josephine Okei-Odumakin, president of Women Arise for Change, told BusinessDay that the protests across Africa is an indication that the continent has not reached its zenith of development and civilisation.
Read also: August 1 protest: Organisers reveal locations, demands as IGP meets Falana, other activists
FG pleads for calm, patience
In a major push back against the nationwide hunger strike, the Federal Government, on Wednesday, reeled out gains of ongoing reforms targeted at revitalising the economy, appealing to citizens for calm and patience.
George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), who addressed a press conference alongside four other cabinet ministers, said the government is taking steps to address present economic hardship.
One of those steps, he said, is the ongoing delivery of 20 trailer loads of assorted grains to each state, expected to be distributed to the citizens, as approved by President Tinubu.
“This is intended to cushion the high cost of foodstuff,” he said.
He told journalists that farm inputs, including fertilisers, are being provided to farmers at highly subsidised rates to boost food production and reduce cost.
According to him, Tinubu has approved the release of 64 trailer loads of fertilizers in each state to boost agricultural production, while the Agricultural Land Development Agency has been repositioned to facilitate land preparation for farmers.
“We shall all enjoy endless prosperity. We therefore appeal to Nigerians of whatever persuation, belief, demography, gender and status to shun calls for protest against hunger by prioritising peace and progress.”
