UN chief urges youths to be patient with government
CAPPA asks Tinubu to address citizens
Country President of the United Nations Positive Livelihood Award Centre (UNITED NATIONS-POLAC), Prof. Mercy Olufunmilayo Adesanya-Davies, has called on the organisers of the planned nationwide protests, dubbed ‘#EndBadGovernanceIn Nigeria,’ to be patient and give the government more time to “right the wrongs.”
She said that she had taken note of the demands of the protesters, which included that the government should bring down the price of fuel, give proper wages, offer free education, fix the roads, provide electricity, end insecurity, declare a state of emergency on inflation and disclose lawmakers’ pay, among several demands.
However, she appealed for patience to allow the government to address the challenges since some of them needs time to fix. In a statement on Tuesday, she pleaded with the youths, well-meaning Nigerians and supporters of the protest, to halt the proposed demonstrations scheduled for today, August 1, 2024.
MEANWHILE, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on President Bola Tinubu to address citizens in a state-of-the-nation broadcast to engage the people’s legitimate grievances, calm frayed nerves and break the icy tension that has been formed across the country.
It also called on the President to affirm his administration’s commitment to protecting citizens’ rights by compelling all government machinery and authorities to safeguard the wellbeing of every citizen under their watch.
In statement, yesterday, by the Media and Communication Officer, Robert Egbe, the group specifically urged security agencies to fulfill their obligations as enshrined in the Constitution by ensuring that the right of citizens to peacefully assemble is upheld without interference.
The nationwide protest tagged, #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria filtered into public space and social media about three weeks ago in response to the growing frustration at the soaring cost of living and hardship precipitated by a series of economic reforms carried out by the Federal Government since May 29 last year.
Since then, the country has been agog with claims and counter-claims about the true motives of the protest, with various groups and individuals making inflammatory statements on social and traditional media that have not only heightened tensions but also added a distasteful ethnic colouration to the development.
Yesterday, Lagos State obtained a court order limiting protesters to only two designated centres in the state, Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota and Freedom Park at Ketu.
CAPPA stated: “Such exploitation of the judiciary to obtain draconian rulings aimed at suppressing legitimate dissent and diminishing the rights of citizens to demand accountability from their elected representatives make a mockery of Nigeria’s democracy.
“We would like to point out in particular that Chapter IV, Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution, guarantee citizens the freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association for the protection of their interests.”
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