Abuja residents count losses as #EndBadGovernance protest enters Day 2

As the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest enters its second day, Abuja business owners and traders are the worst for it, as they continue to count their losses.

This comes as findings have revealed that Nigeria has witnessed no fewer than 15 national protests in 64 years.

The Guardian observed that palpable fear has enveloped the nation’s capital with apprehension of a potential escalation of the demonstration.

Our correspondent observed that most businesses, banks, markets, and government offices remain shut for the second day running.

A shop owner in Lugbe Market Abuja, Nafiu Ibrahim, revealed that sales have dropped by 80 percent due to the action.

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“Sales have dropped drastically. I make sales up to N300,000 daily, but yesterday, I didn’t make up to N40,000. It was a serious loss. The protest made people stay at home. And this didn’t go down well with business owners,” he said.

A commercial motorist, Deji Fadipe, who plies Lugbe to Federal Secretariat, lamented that the riotous protests around Airport Road and Eagles Square took a toll on his daily earnings.

The situation, he said, was further made worse by civil servants, many of whom stayed at home in the first two days of the action.

“As a driver on the Lugbe-Federal Secretariat route, I know how much I used to take home on a normal day. But things have taken a toll for the worse now. I am the breadwinner of my family and rely on daily income to survive,” he said.

A food vendor at Police Sign Post Lugbe who identified herself as Iya Tawakalitu told THE GUARDIAN that the effect of the demonstration was telling on her business as she has recorded low patronage.

According to her, with the absence of customers, she had to reduce the quantity of food being prepared.

She said: “The absence of drivers is really hurting my businesses. As you can see, there was no one in here when you came in. This place is scanty, which is not supposed to be. This place is usually filled with drivers and okada riders who always come to buy food but because of the protest, there is no one here.”

She appealed to the Federal Government to accede to the demands of the protesters, stressing that it does no good for the economy of the country for businesses to shut down.

Also speaking, a software engineer in GSM Village Wuse, Smart Ezeh, disclosed that while activities were at their lowest ebb on Thursday, a few persons came out on Friday.

Meanwhile, checks by The Guardian revealed that between 1960 and today, covering a span of 64 years, Nigeria has witnessed no fewer than 15 major nationwide protests.

They include the Nigerian Students’ Union protest against colonialism (1960); Anti-IMF protests (1971); 1978 Ali Must Go protests as well as 1986 Dele Giwa protests against human rights abuses.

Others are protests against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election; 2003 anti-privatization protests; 2010 Save Nigeria Group protests (against electoral reform); anti-fuel subsidy removal protests (2010); Occupy Nigeria protests against fuel subsidy removal (2012) and 2016 anti-fuel price hike protests.

Other notable nationwide demonstrations are Resume or Resign protests against ex-President Buhari’s absence in 2017; 2020 #EndSARS protests against police brutality; 2020 protests against electricity tariff hikes; 2022 protests against fuel subsidy removal and electricity tariff hikes as well as National Industrial Court of Nigeria protests against judicial reforms.