The long-awaited protest tagged #EndBadGovernance” which was organised in response to poverty and hunger in the land was suddenly hijacked by street urchins and turned bloody. In Kano State, there were reported cases of looting sprees, shops and government buildings were destroyed and valuable items carted away by hoodlums.
Besides Kano, other states including the FCT, witnessed chaotic protests that resulted in the loss of lives and destruction of properties.
Whether the 10 days planned protest is being funded by opposition or infiltrated by foreign mercenaries as alleged by government, the truth remains, Tinubu’s twin policies of subsidy removal and floating of the naira are the trigger of the cost of living crises in the country.
Since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 29, last year, the prices of goods and service have continued to soar beyond the reach of an average Nigerian. Currently, food inflation has stubbornly defied government’s measures and risen to an all-record high of 40 per cent.
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The removal of subsidy came at a wrong time when 133 million Nigerians are already in multi-dimensional poverty. The menace of insecurity has contributed significantly to the high rate of inflation with many farming communities being sacked by rapacious bandits.
The Dangote’s ambitious 650,000bpd capacity refinery which will address fuel scarcity, reduce importation and provide stable forex supply to the economy, has become a subject of needless controversy between the business conglomerate and government regulation agencies.
If not for the violence that unfortunately marred the supposedly peaceful protest, Nigerian youths who flooded street in their thousands to protest against hunger and call for the entrenchment of good governance have a genuine demand for government to consider.
While it is within the ambit of the law to protest, caution should have been exercised to avoid destruction of lives and properties, as witnessed. The protesters should not have taken cover from their fundamental rights to infringe the rights of other law-abiding citizens. It has also been observed with dismay, how our security personnel threw their profession or expertise to the winds and used live ammunition to disperse protesters.
President Tinubu’s speech against hunger protest on Sunday failed to address the lingering issues raised by the protesting Nigerians. One had expected the president to have talked about insecurity in the North, how it has affected food production and the efforts by his government to bring back the displaced farming communities. Nigerians had expected him to talk about fixing our moribund money-guzzling refineries which will have crashed the fuel price.
While President Tinubu took time to explain his government’s reforms in critical sectors of the economy and why Nigerians should exercise patience, he has failed to come to terms with the stark reality that one year since the commencement of his much-talked reforms, many Nigerians are gradually being pushed to poverty and hunger.
Therefore, it is high time President Tinubu understood that his policies are not bearing the expected results and hurriedly set machinery in motion to review them to reflect public interest.
Ibrahim Mustapha, Pambegua, Kaduna State
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