From Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Kehinde Olatunji (Lagos), Rotimi Agboluaje (Ibadan), Ibrahim Obansa (Lokoja), Adamu Abuh (Abuja) and Nnamdi Akpa (Abakaliki)

• Utomi: I’ve nothing against protests; they’re instruments of democracy
• Coalition warns of #EndSARs violence in disguise
• Northern groups rally behind president, as Kogi govt dissociates self

Former Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, yesterday, fought back allegations that he was behind the planned nationwide protests against hardship scheduled to begin on August 1.

On his X handle, Obi said: “To those who have chosen to spread falsehoods and lies about me for their gain or at the bidding of their paymasters…I urge you to channel your energy and resources towards helping everyday Nigerians who are struggling to find their next meal, secure education for their children, gain employment, and access adequate healthcare.”

He said the future of Nigeria depends on addressing these urgent needs, not on “perpetuating deceit and lies.”

Obi explained that his political journey “has never been about desperation or personal gain” but rather “rooted in principles and a genuine care for the people.”

He added: “Rather than fabricating lies, you and your paymasters should listen to the cries of the poor, who cannot afford medicine and who are uncertain about their next meal.

“Pay attention to the voices of reason from individuals and institutions that emphasise the plight of our citizens. Let us unite in building a nation where everyone can thrive.”

Obi’s remarks came on the heels of claims by Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga.

The presidential aide had said: “Obi should be held responsible for anarchy. Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action. As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’état, which is also high treason.”

Also, reacting on X to allegations that he is one of the organisers of the planned protest, political economist, Pat Utomi, said: “Let it be clear that I have nothing against protests. It is a legitimate instrument of democracy for raising the voice of citizens. I have participated in many in my time, from my undergraduate days at UNN to marching with concerned professionals following the June 12 election annulment.”

He said though he did not know the organisers of the #EndSARS protests, “I supported it.”

“So, if I were part of whatever is being planned for August 1, I would wear it as a badge of honour and not wait to be called out by Bayo Onanuga.”

Reacting to Onanuga’s allegations, a statesman and industrialist, Dr Chike Obidigbo, called on President Tinubu to restrain the presidential aide from making utterances that could destroy Nigeria.

Obidigbo said Onanuga had been making inciting remarks and provocative hate speeches that could not only damage Nigeria’s feeble national cohesion but also set the nation on a needless conflagration.

He condemned the recent statement, which claimed that Peter Obi and his supporters (called Obi-dients) should be blamed for the planned national protest against bad governance.

“Many people still remember Onanuga’s role during the military era, when the Nigerian press adopted the guerilla tactics to call attention to the oppressive regimes in the country. But, having witnessed and currently benefitting from the nation’s democracy, this veteran journalist has thrown caution to the wind.

“Onanuga has formed the habit of talking down on Nigerians as if he is at the head of a military junta. When he is not withdrawing ill-conceived communication, he churns out statements dripping with deep-seated bile and hateful innuendos sentences,” he said.

In a statement in Enugu, Obidigbo noted: “Onanuga’s attempt to single out Igbo for hate by his dangerous innuendo is not lost on well-meaning Nigerians. This is not the first time the veteran journalist would descend so low to promote bigotry and ethnic baiting against the Igbo.

“It is high time President Tinubu called him to order unless Igbo bashing is at the core of the presidential communication,” he said.

He noted that during electioneering, Mr Peter was elegant in his public communication and campaign messaging. “He resisted provocations and attempts to be drawn to divisive rhetoric that bedevilled Nigeria partisan politics.”

According to Obidigbo, “In his heart of hearts, Bayo Onanuga knows that Peter Obi has been exemplary in conduct and character and has remained focused on the issues of economic development, especially mitigating mass poverty and giving a helping hand to the poorest of the poor.”

He added: “His latest attempt to link the former Governor of Anambra State with the youth-propelled national protest comes as one of the unthinking statements unbefitting of a presidential aide. Onanuga should be reminded that when the dark clouds he is invoking bring down rain, nobody’s roof will be safe.”

ALSO, an elder statesman and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi, said Nigerians have the right to protest against bad governance and hardship.

Following in the steps of Obidigbo, he also berated the Tinubu-led administration for claiming that Peter Obi was the brain behind the proposed nationwide protest.

In an interview with The Guardian in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Farounbi said the government was merely lionising Obi and making him more important than he is.

He said Nigerians have the right to protest, adding that Tinubu was the father of protests against past governments.

“He participated in many protests against governments in the past. He was part of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Save Nigeria, and Occupy Nigeria. He was part of the protest against Jonathan’s government over the removal of subsidies. If he had been given the freedom of expressing his opposition or disenchantment with a particular government, he cannot be criticising others who want to do similarly.”

He said: “In his June 12 speech, the President quoted Roosevelt as saying that the best form of government is democracy. But he conveniently forgot that Roosevelt also said the four things that democracy must give you are: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. When you have terrorists, bandits and insecurity, you have no freedom from fear.”

He added: ”Government or government functionaries are just making Obi more important than the way he is by claiming that is the sponsor of the proposed protest.

“Those who are ready for the protest are those unhappy with the current situation of the country, including those who voted for Tinubu and his fanatical supporters.

“Hunger has no tribal mark or political inclination. When you begin to say Obi is the one behind the proposed protest, you are lionising him. When you now confer legitimacy on the Obi-dient movement and lionisation of Obi, you make him more important; you are leaving the real issues and chasing shadow. Hunger will persist, and high inflation will continue.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Works, David Umahi, at the weekend said rather than planning a protest to address the economic situation in the country, Nigerians should think of how to improve their productivity.

Umahi, who spoke at his country home in Uburu Ohaozara Local Council, said any Igbo person or Nigerian planning to protest against the current government is mischievous.

According to him, Nigeria would been a failed nation, had Tinubu not taken the reins of governance.

He said: “I am advocating. When we say we are protesting, when we say there is hunger, it is the responsibility of everybody. No matter how much the federal government injects into the system, and palliatives, we must change our working hours. We must change our level of productivity because if we have all the working tools and you do not deploy them, there will be no result.”

He added: “Protest has never favoured an Igbo man. Igbo man needs to be busy 24 hours. You do not get involved in something that you do not know anything about. By the way, what are people protesting about? Without the coming of President Tinubu, we would have had a failed country.”

This was as civil society organisations under the aegis of the 259-member-strong Coalition for Transparency and Economic Reforms (COTER) described the planned protests as another #EndSARs violence in disguise.

At a press conference in Lagos, National Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, warned the organisers to be prepared for confrontation by law-abiding Nigerians under the aegis of the #ProtectNigeriaRally.

“The survival of our dear country, Nigeria is a task that must be paramount in the minds of every patriotic citizen. We must avoid acts that can jeopardise the continued corporate existence of our dear Fatherland,” he said.

The coalition urged security agencies to nip the burgeoning protests in the bud before they become a conflagration and consume innocent citizens and property.

SIMILARLY, a coalition of northern groups threw its weight behind President Tinubu, rejecting plans for a nationwide protest against his administration.

The groups, representing the 19 northern states, announced their decision after an emergency meeting in Abuja to discuss the state of the nation.

In a communiqué signed by the coordinator, Comrade Danladi Usman, the groups described the planned protest as ‘ill-conceived and counterproductive,’ and urged Nigerians to shun them.

The communique reads in part: “We wish to categorically distance ourselves and the entire Northern region from the planned nationwide protest scheduled for August 1.

“We denounce those behind the planned rally, who are bent on causing chaos and destabilising the country. Their actions are unpatriotic and selfish, and we urge them to desist from fanning the embers of division in the country.

“Furthermore, we condemn the orchestrators of the planned protest for their lack of understanding of the global economic situation.

“The federal government, under the leadership of President Tinubu, is taking concrete measures to address the economic challenges facing the country.

“The government has implemented policies aimed at stimulating economic growth, creating jobs, and reducing the cost of living.”

This came as the Government of Kogi State said it was totally in solidarity with efforts at the centre and sub-national levels to put the economy of the nation on the right track.

A statement by Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, noted that Tinubu is working assiduously to get the nation’s economy working again.

It also said the administration of Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo, is committed to ensuring efforts by the centre percolate into the state “as we have begun massive investments in agriculture, education, healthcare and infrastructure. We have also continued to support homes across the state with palliatives to cushion the effects of the economic hardship occasioned by decades of mismanagement that the Tinubu administration is working hard to correct.”

The statement noted that a protest at this point is an attack on the foundation of the country’s rebuilding process and an attempt to throw the nation into the darkness orchestrated during the #EndSARS destruction and carnage.

It added: “It is unacceptable and utterly unpatriotic to stoke violence at this period in the name of protest. The citizens have a right to protest but they do not owe the unpatriotic opposition elements, the window of violence.

“Protests won’t crash the prices of food. Intentional investment in agriculture like we are doing at the moment will.”