Uncertainty as North split over planned protest

Going by the schedule released in various online platforms, the EndBadGovernance protest is expected to kick off nationwide on August 1.  

With only five days to the commencement of the planned action, there are no indications, despite concerted efforts mainly by the government to ensure the protest does not hold, that those pushing for it have recanted. 

Rather, posters, in support of the mass action, ostensibly from the organisers, whose identities are still unknown, have been flying on various social media platforms. 

Our reporter observed that due to the early notice served about the plan to mobilise citizens nationwide, the issue has generated mixed reactions across the country with some in support of the idea and others moving against it.

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While the clamour for protest against mainly the economic policies of the current administration and the security situation in the country started from the Southern part of the country, the idea now commonly referred to as “zanga zanga” has come to resonate more in the North.

As early as February, when the current administration was yet to clock a year in office, protests erupted in some southern states of Nigeria like Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Edo, but cascaded down to the North with major towns like Ilorin, Kano and Yola joining the demonstrations.

Civil society groups, including Take It Back Movement! Education Rights Campaign; Coalition for Revolution and the Socialist Workers League took the matter further by protesting on June 12.

As the pushed for the planned August protest gained momentum youths from the North appear to be excited about it and began to warm up to the mass action, leading to fears that it might disrupt social and economic activities in the region.

A prominent tiktoker, Junaidu Abusalma Abdullahi, was said to be one of those instrumental to promoting the idea among northern youth through the social media.

Only last week, another youth in Kano,  Bashir Abubakar was accused of producing #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria T-shirts.

Other than that not much is known about the organisers of the planned protest.

Even the government seems uncertain about where the idea is coming from as its organs point at different directions.

While presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga accuses opposition elements, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) says it is the work of some fifth columnists in the Diaspora.

The Directorate of State Service (DSS) said in a statement that it knows the organisers, but did not provide details. 

The reaction in the North has led to the involvement of clerics in the issue. But rather than douse tension, their involvement has served to divide opinions on the proposed action.

While prominent clerics like Sheikh Kabiru Gombe, Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir and Sheikh Aliyu Sokoto and Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, among others are rallying against the planned protest, the likes of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and Ibrahim Khalil Danshagamu, insist there is nothing wrong with it if done in a peaceful manner.

Sheikh Gumi supports the idea of a peaceful protest as he views it as a means of conveying the grievances of the citizenry to the government.

Sheikh Jingir, on the other hand, is against it, saying the idea is conceived to make the Muslim-Muslim ticket of President Tinubu look bad.

“Just because there is hunger now in Nigeria, Christians against a Muslim-Muslim ticket, and Shiites and hypocrites who don’t like the Muslim-Muslim ticket are now calling for you to come out and protest. May Allah undermine all planned protests,” he said. 

Danshagamu said he is in support of the protest because it is an opportunity for people to claim their rights from the government due to the hunger and insecurity in the land.

Leader of Hisbah in Kano, Sheikh Daurawa said he is against protest because Nigeria cannot allow what happened in Syria, Sudan, Libya and Iraq, where, according to him, protests were hijacked.

“There are people that want the country divided and have stockpiled arms and money waiting for the right opportunity. That’s why we are trying to prevent protests, not that we are afraid,” he stated.

As expected, the government is doing all it can to ensure that the protests do not hold, taking measures that include appealing to citizens to refrain from actions that could lead to anarchy, and involving the security agencies to caution against breaching the peace.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the president has listened to all concerns and assured that efforts are on to address the challenges.

He said, “We also discussed the issue of the country generally and Mr President has asked me to again inform Nigerians that he listens to them, especially the young people that are trying to protest.”

Opposition figures like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have, however, criticised the federal government and its agencies for trying to abort the planned nationwide protest.

Atiku said it was ironical that those who protested against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 are the ones trying to stifle other peoples’ rights to protest now.

But the government has said on several occasions that it is not against protest, but against the violence that may follow it if it is hijacked by certain elements.

An opposition lawmaker, who prefers not to be named, said given the ease with which the people were mobilised to join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) strike a few months ago, the fear of government that the protest may be hijacked is not out of place.

“Remember that even the Endsars protest was hijacked while lives and property worth billions were lost,” he said.

It, however, remains to be seen if the protest would hold given the sharp division among major stakeholders.