Ahead of the proposed mass protest tagged #EndBadGovernance on August 1 by some aggrieved Nigerians, a human rights activist and National Convener of Social Rehabilitation Gruppe (SRG), Dr. Marindoti Oludare, has advised the Federal Government to urgently engage Nigerians in conversation on specific policies it had so far undertaken to revamp the economy.
Oludare, a Nigeria-born United States-based medic, gave the at the weekend while speaking on a Television Continental (TVC) interview programme.
According to him, “This planned protest was always bound to happen. I believe the administration had walked a very long and dreary road to this place by doing two things and it has nothing to do with the removal of fuel subsidy, (which in the real sense has not been removed) and the floating of the exchange rate.
“First thing is they allowed hunger to fester in the land for too long, and secondly, they have not done enough to explain what they are doing to the Nigerian people.”
The activist recalled that he had been persistent in warning the government through the media not to allow the apparent hunger in the country to persist for too long by ending food protectionism in order not to invite unrest that would make mar their tenure.
Oludare added that government’s failure to act in time afforded the opposition an opportunity to exploit the people’s despair as they consistently condemned the Federal Government’s policies.
He, however, commended the Federal Government on its recent approval of duty-free food importation for 150 days to save the situation.
