President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ignored 15point demands of the ongoing EndBadGovernance Protest, but rather calling on organizers to shelve the action to avoid further destruction of lives and property.
In a National Broadcast on Sunday morning during the Day4 of the hunger protest, Tinubu did not touch on any of the protesters demands rather advised them to embrace dialogue.
The protesters had put forward what they described as a non-negotiable 15-point demand before the government for the protest to be called off.
The 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.
•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.
•Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarise the South-East. All EndSARS and political detainees must also be released and should be compensated.
•Renationalise all public-owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.
•Reinstate a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation and multidimensional poverty.
•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.
•Restructuring of Nigeria to accommodate Nigeria’s diversity, resource control, decentralization and regional development.
•End banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes; Reforms of security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations and duplication of security agencies and enhance the physical security of Nigerian citizens.
•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.
•Diaspora voting.
Non of the above demands are directly addressed in the presidential broadcast.
However in the broadcast, Tinubu said
“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.
“Notably among the protesters were young Nigerians who desired a better and more progressive country where their dreams, hopes, and personal aspirations would be fulfilled.
“I am especially pained by the loss of lives in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna and other states, the destruction of public facilities in some states, and the wanton looting of supermarkets and shops, contrary to the promise of protest organisers that the protest would be peaceful across the country. The destruction of properties sets us back as a nation, as scarce resources will be again used to restore them.
“I commiserate with the families and relations of those who have died in the protests. We must stop further bloodshed, violence and destruction.
“As President of this country, I must ensure public order. In line with my constitutional oath to protect the lives and property of every citizen, our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with a clear political agenda to tear this nation apart.
“Under the circumstances, I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity. Nigeria requires all hands on deck and needs us all – regardless of age, party, tribe, religion or other divides, to work together in reshaping our destiny as a nation.
“To those who have taken undue advantage of this situation to threaten any section of this country, be warned: The law will catch up with you. There is no place for ethnic bigotry or such threats in the Nigeria we seek to build.
“Our democracy progresses when the constitutional rights of every Nigerian are respected and protected. Our law enforcement agencies should continue to ensure the full protection of lives and properties of innocent citizens in a responsible manner.
“My vision for our country is one of a just and prosperous nation where each person may enjoy the peace, freedom, and meaningful livelihood that only democratic good governance can provide – one that is open, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people.
“For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.
“I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress,” he said.
