Shortly after President Bola Tinubu’s address to the nation, on Sunday, a small group of #EndBadGovernance protesters gathered around the Gani Fawehinmi Park, chanting solidarity songs and vowing to continue their action.
They argued that the President had yet to address core issues raised by them, despite touching on efforts by his administration.
As of the time of filing this report, policemen and other security agencies were still on the ground at the park.
However, the police barred the protesters from holding a procession beyond the designated ground at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota.
The protesters simply complied and returned to the designated point.
As of the time of filing this report, policemen had outnumbered the protesters in the Ojota area of Lagos.
Tinubu, in a broadcast earlier on Sunday, urged the youths to suspend the #EndBadGovernance protests and embrace dialogue.
The President assured them that his administration is focused on good governance despite the socio-economic challenges confronting Africa’s most populous nation.
He described the removal of subsidy on petrol as a painful but necessary decision he took for economic reforms.
The return of petrol subsidy has been one of the very clear demands of young Nigerians who took to the streets since Thursday to protest the economic woes confronting the country.
Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inaugural speech as President on May 29, 2023. The price per litre of the product jumped from around N184 to over N700 depending on where it is sold in the country.
Within the same period, the government unified forex windows, with the value of the naira nosediving terribly from $1/N700 to over $1/1600 at the parallel market. Prices of food and basic commodities immediately skyrocketed as Nigerians battled attendant inflation.
Some of the protesters’ demands include the restoration of petrol subsidies and the forex regime. They also want the government to address food shortages, unemployment, and the wasteful spending of those in power.
Other demands are a reduction of the President’s cabinet and general cost of governance, immediate reforms of the electoral umpire INEC and anti-graft agency EFCC with renewed vigour in the fight against corrupt politicians.
