Tinubu’s address on Sunday was about the ongoing economic and bad governance protest that, for the last three days, has rocked major suburbs in the country. The president has called on the youth to end the planned 10-day protests due to the rising goon infiltration and the destruction of businesses in the last two days.
“As President of this country, I must ensure public order. In line with my constitutional oath to protect the lives and property of every citizen Our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with clear political agendas to tear this nation apart. I therefore enjoin protesters and organizers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue,” he said.
The president consoled the families who have lost their relatives in the course of the ongoing demonstrations. Approximately thirteen lives have been lost to police use of live rounds and others in the ongoing high cost of living protests.
“I commiserate with the families and relatives of those who have died in the protets. We must stop further bloodshed, violence, and destruction.”
He sent the strongest message of warning to those who hijacked the situation and asserted that the law must catch up with them.
While calling the protesters to call off their course, the president has presented the dialogue as the only way to solve the itching problems that took the youth to the streets.
“Under the circumstances, I hereby enjoin the protesters and the organizers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity,” he added.
However, protesters and organizers claim that the president’s speech did not address the elephant in the room, which is the high cost of living.
Nigerians have been reeling from the skyrocketing cost of basic commodities since Tinubu assumed office. Despite being among the biggest producers of oil on the continent, Nigerians are faced with acute fuel prices.
Protesters have taken their discontent to the streets again since the early morning address by the President. They’ve described the president’s speech as poor—laced with fake promises—after it failed to touch on the important issues.
On his pledge to address the rising unemployment rate, the president stated that his government has secured at least “$620 million under the Digital and Creative Enterprises” program to empower young people through the creation of millions of IT jobs to make them globally competitive.
Among a raft of detailed revelations and promises, protesters have termed them all fake and ploys to cool down the rising anger over bad governance and the biting cost of living.
Nigerians kicked off their mega protest to end bad governance on the first day of this month, which is set to continue in the next ten days.
The protesters have blamed the rising cost of living and rampant corruption on Tinubu’s poor governance and his inability to appropriately address the economic challenges facing many households in the most populous country in the region.
