Re: President Tinubu addresses Nigerians again amid ongoing hunger protests

Mass Action Joint Alliance candidate for the 2019 presidential election, a former female Presidential candidate in 2019 election and a Professor of Applied linguistics, Prof Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies in Port Harcourt has acknowledged once again, “President Bola Tinubu has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with his administration, assuring that the country is about to enter a new dawn.”

It should be taken seriously that, “This marks the second time the President would address Nigerians amid the lingering tension in some parts of the country,” she added.

“President Tinubu made this appeal again on Wednesday, 7th August, 2024 acknowledging the hardship Nigerians are going through as a result of fuel subsidy removal. He also admitted that an avoidable lag between subsidy removal, and his good and helpful plans compounded Nigerians’ pains.

“Fellow Nigerians, this period may be hard on us and there’s no doubt that it is tough on us but I urge you all to look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture. All our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work. Sadly, there was an avoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully online,” he said.

The president assured that the measures his government has taken would get the country out of the lingering economic crisis, urging Nigerians to have faith in his administration.

“I plead with you, please, have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being. We will get out of this turbulence and due to the measures we have taken, Nigeria will be better equipped and able to take advantage of the future that awaits her.

“For example, we shall fulfil our promise to make education more affordable to all and provide loans to higher education students who may need them. No Nigerian students will have to abandon the higher education system because of lack of money.

“Our commitment is to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of our people. On principle, we shall never falter, I assure you, my fellow countrymen and women, that we are exiting the darkness to enter a new and glorious dawn. Now, I must get back to work to make this vision come true,” he added.

Prof. Adesanya-Davies reinstated that, “The protesters had put forward what they described as a non-negotiable fifteen (15-point) demand before the government for the protest to be called off, according to the account of, Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fimpa JP, a Trade unionist and industrial relations practitioner.

These demands include:
“•Scrap the 1999 Constitution and replace it with a people-made constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a Sovereign National Conference.

•Restructuring of Nigeria to accommodate Nigeria’s diversity, resource control, decentralization and regional development.

•Toss the Senate arm of the Nigerian Legislative System, keep the House of Representatives (HoR), and make lawmaking a part-time endeavour.

•Pay Nigerian workers a minimum wage of nothing less than N250,000 monthly.

•Invest heavily in education and give Nigerian students grants, not loans. Aggressively pursue free and compulsory education for children across Nigeria.

•Renationalise all public-owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.

•Reinstate a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation and multidimensional poverty. Face all corruption headlong.

•Probe past and present Nigerian leaders who have looted the treasury, recovered their loot, and deposited it in a special account to fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

•End banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes; the people are tired of being kidnapped and being killed.

•Reforms of security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations and duplication of security agencies and enhance the physical security of Nigerian citizens.

•Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarise the South-East. All EndSARS and political detainees must also be released and should be compensated.

•Establish a Special Energy Fund immediately to drive massive, corruption-free power sector development.

•Immediate reconstitution of the Nigerian Electoral Body @inecnigeria to remove corrupt individuals and partisan-backed appointments to manipulate elections.

•Massive investment in public works and industrialization will help employ Nigeria’s teeming youths.

•Massive shake-up in the Nigerian judiciary to remove cabals of corrupt generations of judges and judicial officers that continue denying everyday citizens across to real justice.

•Initiate diaspora voting: It’s high time Nigerians in diaspora became part and parcel of what is happening at their home.”

In the first broadcast, it is notable that President Tinubu admitted that there is socio and economic crisis in Nigeria when he declared that, “I speak to you today with a heavy heart and a sense of responsibility, aware of the turmoil and violent protests unleashed in some of our states.

However, “As far as Nigerian are concerned, the #EndBadGovernance protest emerged from the suffering and frustration of ordinary Nigerian youth and people.

The protesters are saying that, “The Federal government should know that releasing ₦570bn to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens because of the economic hardship and torture can not solve the problem on ground as well as distribution of rice and any grains for that matter because some state Governors will only patronise their cronies.

Repackage the fuel subsidy removal, bring down the price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) to at least N200 that is the only thing that can have positive multiplier effects on Nigeria livelihood. There is no household that does not make use of PMS for one thing or the other.

Federal government should reactivate all the moribund refineries in Nigeria and give sustainable lifeline of operation to the Dangote refinery in order to eradicate dependence on fuel importation to Nigeria.

Also, Federal Government should reverse increase in electricity tariff increase in order to make life meaningful to millions hapless Nigerians.
Electricity becomes unreliable and expensive to citizens when there is insufficient power. Relying primarily on expensive petroleum products which increases noise pollution caused by generators and machines, and oil mining can cause pollution at sea and in the air. Environmental pollution is equally costly to control.

Federal government should urgently open all land borders to allow free flow of consumables movement possible in accordance with the spirit and letter of ECOWAS.

Federal government should promote public policies that can encourage long-term planning and investment, the only way to build resilience to economic the downturns, is by nvesting in education, infrastructure, research, and development. There is no amount of policy rhetorics that will feed the hungry stomach if no concrete steps are taken to address these multiple tasks of ineptitude in governance.”

In the view of former Managing Director of NDDC Mrs Simi Semenitari, she said point blankly that, “President Bola Tinubu should address food inflation, lamenting that hungry Nigerians can no longer afford garri to drink once a day.
“The first thing therefore is the issue of food security. If people can even eat the anger can wane down.”

Semenitari, a former Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, also said that, “Nigeria needs recalibration,” adding that somebody somewhere should see that things are going out of hands, President Tinubu should do something urgent about hunger and hardship.”

Adesanya-Davies concludes, The government should do anything they intend to do now without further procrastination and, “This is actually the right time to restructure and regionalise Nigeria, by leveraging the transformative potential and power of linguistics as well as language through communication and dialogue among other demands of the protesters.”
(CDA News)