“As a Nigerian, I was praying to the Almighty God all through that there should be some kind of intervention that would stop the protest from starting because once it starts it assumes a life of its own…”
The National Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, has described the attack by angry protesters on the properties of politicians in some parts of the country as an “extremely dangerous development” that should be arrested as quickly as possible.
He said if “we endanger these individuals who collectively constitute a class in the society, we do not know where the society is going… But most importantly, it is not even that class that we’re talking about. It is the nature and direction of such trauma that will result in society in the long run.”
Dr Ajuji said that the action can easily spiral out of control, and could result in widespread anarchy.
He revealed that the government’s refusal to heed warning signs triggered the nationwide protests, adding “People have been pushed to the wall. People have been shown that they’ve no option except to protest. And the warning signs have been there for the administration.
“As a Nigerian, I was praying to the Almighty God all through that there should be some kind of intervention that would stop the protest from starting because once it starts it assumes a life of its own. Therefore the best strategy was to nib it in the bud.
But you cannot nib it in the bud with organizers who are not faceless. A lot of these groups are identifiable. Identify them, Sir, down with them, constructively speak to them, and meet some of the meetable demands they were making. That would have averted this thing and mitigated it substantially.”
While criticizing what he described as the federal government’s fire brigade approach, the opposition party’s leader expressed disappointment on President Bola Tinubu’s national broadcast over the crisis.
According to him, the speech triggered further protests in states such as Bauchi, Jigawa, Jos, Kaduna/Zaria, and others.
“There were a lot of expectations on the President’s response which we hoped was going to be constructive, substantive, and whatever he was going to say was going to have substantial results. All three were not there.
The speech left too much to be desired. It is like mocking the people who were protesting in the face, and not mentioning anything to do with reducing the cost of governance, no plans whatsoever to tackle corruption, no reversal of the subsidy removal, and no empathy for the cause and consequences of the protest so far, and therefore people felt that the President was out of touch with their feelings and particularly with the hunger that they are feeling.” he pointed out.
The NNPP Chairman who urged the government to revisit the issue of fuel subsidy which impacts other aspects of the economy, recalled that successive administrations have approached petrol subsidy with caution.
“You removed the subsidy, what did you do with it? We only heard that the income of the federal government has tripled. That so, so billions are now going into the hands of the federal government which they dispense to governors and so on.
“But the common man on the street will not understand that. If you get a multiplication of the resources your state gets which is always in the hands of the ruling elites in your state, it has absolutely nothing to do with you.
“And the sing-song that the administration is making about tripling the resources that came to it, did they ask themselves the value of these resources? What is N1000 going to buy at the time before the removal of the fuel subsidy, versus what N1000 cannot buy now?
“That is the real economy that the government should consider. Most unfortunately the ruling class of this country has taken the common too much for granted. The salary of a Senator or a Reps member is thirty-one million, or thirty-two, or whatever, plus his allowances. And on top of that, they’re buying SUVs, worth millions of naira to each Senator, to each House member.
“The third day they heard that the President is buying a yacht, X billion amount. Another day it is a presidential aircraft that was bought. They begin to ask themselves the question, what type of economic adjustment have you been talking about because it has never translated into any improvement.
“Every day, if they buy bread today at N800, the following day the bread they bought at N800 becomes N1,200. By the time they come back the following day, it becomes N1,500. The third day it was N1,900. A loaf of bread today in the supermarket hovers around N1,900 and N2,000. Loaf that used to cost N500 and N450.
“So, it is this disconnect between the actions and activities of the ruling political class and the ostentatious living standards they adopted for themselves, versus what the common man can see on the ground. That becomes the real issue.
“The gulf is just too wide. When they began to protest the President made a speech that did not appease the situation, not the protesters, and no direct or indirect apologies for some of the activities of overzealous security forces that resulted in the loss of lives.
No mention of any hope for those who have lost their properties, and no single policy change, instead the President’s speech amounted to a one-year anniversary speech of his so-called achievements, the NNPP national chairman stressed.
He attributed the tense situation in the country to the inability of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to meet up with its electoral promises to Nigerians.
He further highlighted the need for “solid strategies” to address the situation, maintaining the country must change its approach to the development of the country.
This story was originally reported here.
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