The much awaited speech by the president on the hunger protest tagged #EndBadGovernance in Nigeria which started on the 1st of August and scheduled to last for 10 days has been criticised and faulted by many prominent Nigerians, civil societies and the citizens at large.
The protest which had claimed lives and destroyed properties in a number of northern states elicited questions as to why the government was silent. The citizens had raised hope when it was announced that President Tinubu would be addressing the Nation at 7am on Sunday. The speech however did not address the pains of the hungered and angered citizens.
Prominent among the critics are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar; Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka; Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN); and a number of civil society organisations (CSOs).
The President in his speech had outlined reasons for the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, stating that these were part of necessary reforms for the growth of Nigeria. He also mentioned the different policies, loan platforms, tax suspensions and other interventions his administration has undergone to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.
Soon after the speech, keen watchers and observers have said the president’s speech was “uninspiring,” while the protesters said he did not show any sign that he is in touch with the realities in the country. Remember that the former Chief Whip Ali Ndume, had also said the President was not accessible, a statement which was tagged unguarded for which he was removed.
It was noted that aside from not making serious policy statements on fuel subsidy and a plan at redeeming the value of the naira, the 38-paragraph speech was completely silent on a fundamental issue – insecurity – especially in northern Nigeria, where millions of farmers have been chased away from their farms and homes.
The ongoing protest has been much more audible in the North, with protesters in Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Yobe, Borno, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), showcasing placards with messages of hunger, insecurity and increased fuel price.
The Southwest was not exempted from the protest with the exception of Ekiti State; stated in the South South including Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa experienced rigorous protests, but the South East have been unsurprisingly quiet given their decision not to be involved.
Wole Soyinka’s reaction
Reacting to Tinubu’s broadcast yesterday, the Nobel laureate expressed concern over the deliberate omission of the shooting and killing of protesters who are demanding for good governance. He compared the actions of the Armed forces to the performance of late stage pioneer Hubert Ogunde’s folk opera ‘Bread and Bullets’.
He stated that the state cannot serve bullets where bread is pleaded.
He condemned the reactions of the security agents who used live bullets and teargas to disperse the protesters, an action he tagged as tragic.
He said: “His (Tinubu) outline of the government’s remedial action since inception, aimed at warding off just such an outbreak, will undoubtedly receive expert and sustained attention both for effectiveness and in content analysis.
“My primary concern, quite predictably, is the continuing deterioration of the state’s seizure of protest management, an area in which the presidential address fell conspicuously short.
“Such short-changing of civic deserving, regrettably, goes to arm the security forces in the exercise of impunity and condemns the nation to a seemingly unbreakable cycle of resentment and reprisals.
“Live bullets as state response to civic protest – that becomes the core issue. Even teargas remains questionable in most circumstances, certainly an abuse in situations of clearly peaceful protest. Hunger marches constitute a universal S.O.S, not peculiar to the Nigerian nation. They belong indeed in a class of their own, never mind the collateral claims emblazoned on posters.
“They serve as summons to governance that a breaking point has been reached and thus, a testing ground for governance awareness of public desperation. The tragic response to the ongoing hunger marches in parts of the nation, and for which notice was served, constitutes a retrogression that takes the nation even further back than the deadly culmination of the watershed EndSARS protests.”
Other reactions
Aside from the Literary giant, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, also criticised the president’s speech citing it as hollow, missing the mark and leaving no hope for the Nigerian families on his reform agenda “if one exists as all”.
Similarly, Femi Falana SAN, had called on the release of all detained protesters as he commented on the speech which he claims does not address the complaints of the protesters.
The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere as well as the Northern Elders forum also commented on the gap which was not addressed in the president’s speech: insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, killing, and hunger. They also complained that blame giving was not the answer to end the protest.
The president in his speech has mentioned that the protest was a political machination of his opponents. He asked the organisers to leave the streets and accept dialogue. Many have concluded that his speech does not address the demands of the protesters.
