As the economic hardship in Nigeria bites unabated, there are rumours that some youths have planned nationwide protests beginning from August 1-10, 2024
The protest, which is currently gaining traction in the North and other parts of the country, is aimed at drawing the attention of governments at all levels to the plight of Nigerians
Since the current administration came to power in May 2023 when President Bola Tinubu announced the abolition of fuel subsidy, there has been an untoward hardship in the country.
This has led to calls for the reversal of some policies of the government believed to have given rise to the hardship.
Sometime in February this year, angry youths and women took to the streets of Minna, the Niger State capital, and Kano to protest the astronomical rise in prices of food and other essential commodities in the market.
In a similar vein, some civil society groups, including the Take It Back Movement, the Education Rights Campaign, the Coalition for Revolution and the Socialist Workers League on June 12, protested against the surging cost of living, insecurity and other challenges facing the nation.
The protesters, who stormed the streets in some Southwestern states, wielded placards that had inscriptions like: ‘President Tinubu, let the poor breathe’, ‘Payment of living wage to all Nigerian workers now, ‘End Insecurity,’ ‘Nationalise the power sector,’ and ‘Reverse Fee Hikes Now,” among others.
The protest is scheduled to take place in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
While some of the organizers, particularly from the northern region, remain anonymous, the 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore has been campaigning for the August protest via his social media handles.
Sowore, who had led several protests in the country, said revolution would start in August, insisting that “Nothing Can Stop An Idea Whose Time Has Come” #RevolutionNOW.”
Similarly, a flyer making the rounds on social media titled: “End Bad Government in Nigeria 2024” by anonymous groups, ascribed the planned protest to 10 policies of the government, which according to them have imposed unexpected hardship on Nigerians.
Among other demands, the group urged the government to “end subsidy scam and reverse fuel price to below N300 per litter, bring tertiary education fees back to their previous rates, restore electricity tariff to affordable levels for the public, return import duties to their previous rates, publicly disclose and reduce the salaries and allowances of all Senators, House of Representative members, reform EFCC.”
