By Pathfinder Reporter
Monday September 30, 2024
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Omoyele Sowore, one of the organisers of #EndBadGovernance protest, insisted on Monday that the planned October 1 national-wide protest against hardship would hold.
The Federal Government and Nigerian Police Force have warned against the protest, citing concerns about public safety and potential disruptions.
Consequently, the police have deployed personnel to all flash points across the country to prevent destruction of public property and loss of life.
Omoyele Sowore confirmed on his social media platform on Monday that the nationwide protest will hold peacefully across the country, with the main event taking place at Eagles Square Abuja.
He explained that the protests are a response to the widespread devastation, hunger, insecurity, and hardship inflicted on Nigerians by the current government. He cited the recent increase in petrol prices, devaluation of the naira, and rising market prices as justification for the demonstration.
“The protests will hold across all parts of Nigeria because the scale of the devastation, hunger, insecurity, and hardship that this government has unleashed on Nigerians is national,” Sowore stated.
Sowore emphasised that the protests will be peaceful, contrary to government fears.
“We will not be deterred by threats or violence. Our only weapon is truth, and no amount of force will prevent us from speaking truth to power.”
The activist also highlighted the takeover of communities by bandits and devastating floods in cities across Nigeria.
“Under these circumstances, can anyone be surprised that Nigerians want to voice their displeasure with this government’s failure to address the issues affecting them?” he asked.
Sowore assured that thousands will participate in the peaceful protest, stressing that the government cannot silence the voices of the Nigerian people.
Also, the organisers added that the #FearlessOctober1 demonstration is a continuation of the #Endbadgovernance protest, which took place from August 1 to 10.
They added that the latest demonstration was necessitated by the failure of the Federal Government to address their demands, which include hunger in the land, rising cost of hunger, insecurity, government’s wastefulness, electoral reforms, human capital development amongst others.
The group explained that the FCT protest would be held at the Eagle Square, the same venue of the Independence Day parade, while the Lagos protest would take place at the Ikeja Under Bridge.
* Parties clash over planned protest
Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the opposition not to throw the country into anarchy by encouraging Nigerian youths to participate in the planned nationwide protest.
But major opposition parties in the country dissociated themselves, saying the masses who have been on the receiving end of the hardship brought about by President Tinubu’s economic reforms do not need any prompting to hit the street in protest.
In an exclusive with The PUNCH, the National Publicity Director of the APC, Bala Ibrahim, warned against disrupting governance and a breakdown of law and order.
He said, “What happened in the past (protest) has not benefited anybody. The country was shut down literally while people’s property and lives were wasted. The same opposition that encouraged and sponsored them chickened out. They didn’t do anything. Now, if the people are allowed to be deceived by the opposition which are not after the country’s progress but their own interest, they will continue to derail and find themselves in a position they can’t understand.
“So I advise that much as protest is a permitted tool under democracy, abuse of that tool is something that will not be a good seed for the development of any country. My advice is for them to exercise patience and continue to have faith in the President. He has said it times without number that he means well for the country and the youth in particular.
“They shouldn’t allow the opposition that has been rejected by the populace and the poor to continue deceiving them. They have nothing to offer, nothing to offer but this callous deceit and campaign of calumny against a government that is all out to rejig and improve the lives of the citizens.”
The National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Abdullahi Ibrahim, however, disagreed, accusing the APC-led government of embarrassing and torturing the Nigerian mass right from the moment they took over governance.
“This government has been an embarrassment right from the time they took over power in 2023. It’s a government that has not taken the pain of evaluating the implication of its adverse policies, which has left the people in misery and squalor. It is a government that does not accept dissent or criticism. It’s a government that is known for arrogance and high-handedness.
“Everybody has come to accept that their greatest mistake as citizens was to allow these people to come in place as government. You can see how determined the citizenry is. It doesn’t require any opposition to push it into taking a decision. The country is itself protesting against the hard reality that it has found itself. Nobody needs to tell anybody what it is because we go to the same market.
“So the untold reality, the hardship, the monumental frustration in the land is what is prompting this protest; not PDP or any opposition. Everything they have brought in, Nigerians have disagreed with them and they have not changed. The Tinubu’s government has carried on as if they have conquered the people or the nation. No opposition, by the way, is sponsoring this protest.,” he lamented.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, also shared Ibrahim’s sentiment.
He said, “The opposition cannot be held responsible for people protesting in Nigeria. The masses are feeling the pang of hunger and a hungry man they say is an angry one. I would say that the government, through their actions and inaction, are propelling the public to agitate. It’s within the right of the population to agitate.
“If they are buying fuel at N1,300 Naira as against what they were buying as against what they bought before this government took over, paying electricity more than 300 per cent of what they were getting, buying a bag of rice that once sold for N35,000 for N100,000, why blame it on the opposition? The opposition too are hungry, just like the people in government.
“The supporters of this government are also hungry. After all, we don’t have a separate market we buying goods from. I think the only advice we have for them is to do the right thing. They should do better than they are doing now.”
* Lagos restricts protesters
The Lagos State Government has maintained that the court directive restricting protest to two designated venues in Lagos still stands.
The state reiterated this as organisers gear up for the upcoming October 1, 2024 protest in Lagos and other states.
Advising organisers to avoid disrupting social and economic activities in the state, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN) while responding to questions from journalists on Sunday, emphasised that the governor’s instructions to the Commissioner of Police for maintaining public safety remain in effect.
A Lagos High Court ruling currently restricts protests to two designated venues: Freedom Park and Peace Park, located in the Ojota and Ketu areas of the state. The ruling came in August prior to the “EndBadGovernance” protest.
Pedro noted that while Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu does not oppose residents expressing their views through protests, but such expressions must occur within the law.
“We have and shall continue to engage the civil societies and non-governmental organisations in Lagos who are genuinely interested in the development of Lagos State to explain and enlighten them that the Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu is not opposed to any group of residents to express their view about any government by way of public protest as it is their fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Nigeria 1999,” he said.
Pedro clarified, however, that the fundamental rights to freedom of speech, association, and assembly are not absolute.
He said, “By virtue of section 45, section 215 (4) of the Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and section 4 & 10(2) of the Police Act, it is lawful for the Governor of Lagos State or the Attorney General of Lagos on his behalf to give the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State directive for maintenance and securing of public safety and public order that may impact on the exercise of these fundamental rights.”
“In that respect, we advise that the organisers should utilise the designated venues in the state for public protest to wit; Freedom Park and Peace Park for adequate protection and coverage of the protest by members of the press,” he added.
He warned, “It is the same set or group of people that organised the last protest that is planning the October 1 protest, so they should be guided by the interim preservative order of injunction of court restricting public protest in the state to designated venues.”
He also mentioned that a substantial legal action is pending against them, wherein an order of interlocutory and perpetual injunction is being sought to permanently restrict any individual or group wishing to organise public protests in Lagos State to designated venues.
He stated, “It is a settled principle of law that a defendant who is aware of a pending claim or application for an injunction against him in a court of law has an obligation to respect the court process and not engage in the same act sought to be restrained.”
Pedro concluded, “Therefore, whether the interim preservative order is subsisting or not, by the subsisting suit, it will be unlawful for anybody, civil society, or NGO in Lagos to convene any public protest outside the designated venue.”
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