New Rounds Of Nationwide Protests To Be Announced; #EndBadGovernance Movement
The #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria movement, Lagos State, has described the 10-day protest as the first chapter in a long-drawn struggle to end bad governance in Nigeria and replace it with good governance at all levels.
The group said the protest was “undergoing internal reflection, re-evaluation, re-organisation and rebuilding” in order to come out stronger during the next round of nationwide street protests.
In a statement jointly signed by Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Oloye Adegboyega Adeniji, Adamma Ukpabi, Seyi Akinde and Peluola Adewale, issued on Friday, the movement stated that within a very short period, new rounds of nationwide protests would be announced in order to continue the fight until all demands are met.
The movement urged all progressive, radical and Socialist groups, unions and individuals who played critical roles in the 10 days of protest to remain steadfast despite the climate of fear and repression even as the movement continues to consolidate for the battle that impends.
“In many parts of the country, including the bustling megacity of Lagos state, the first few days of the protest produced a condition of partial strike with schools, government offices, banks, and financial institutions shut down, and vehicular traffic halted.
Additionally, the fact that the protest compelled President Bola Tinubu, who initially considered our agitation unworthy of his attention, to address a national broadcast on Sunday, 4 August 2024, is an indication of the power of the movement.
“However, we note with dismay that this protest has unfolded in an environment of a severely shrunken civic space and outlines of a budding civilian dictatorship. Everything was thrown at us to vilify, demonize and criminalize the right to freedom of assembly.
“In addition to threatening to unleash mayhem on us, including the deployment of the sacred ‘oro’ masquerade, the government in Lagos and a few other States arm-twisted the judiciary to obtain court injunctions restricting the rights to peaceful protests to designated parks and by so doing limiting the ability of hungry and frustrated Nigerians to freely express their displeasure at the state of things.
We are happy to inform members of the public that the movement, together with its team of lawyers, is making legal preparations to challenge these fraudulent, anti-democratic rulings and vacate them.
“Peaceful protesters were calumniated and the right to protest itself criminalized. Security agencies procured false security reports and fake intelligence about so-called foreign sponsorship of the protests, all to equate protest, which is a civic obligation in a democracy, with terrorism.
“In Lagos state, a phantom bomb conveniently placed at Ikeja a few hours before the start of the protest was allegedly defused by the police – all part of a ploy to create panic and force protesters to stay indoors out of fear.
This is alongside other acts of deliberate misinformation and disinformation carried out by the government in direct violation of the Cybercrime Act.
“For instance, letterheads of youth and civil society groups were forged by state and non-state actors to either call off the protest before it started or suspend it while it was on. In Lagos state, for instance, a certain Barrister JP, whom we now know to be a secret agent working for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, pretended to be a protester and went on live Television on Sunday, 4 August 2024, to announce a suspension of the protest.
“Also, State and non-state actors deliberately spread rumors that the organisers of the protest in Lagos had written a letter to the Commissioner of Police informing them that the protest had been suspended. Of course, this is NOT TRUE! Sadly, this is one of the many examples of how low the government and security agencies went in a desperate bid to undermine and sabotage the protests in Lagos State and other parts of the country.
“This is aside billions of naira distributed in almost every street across Lagos state by ruling party faithful and government officials in order to derail the protest.
“It is interesting that nowhere across the country did the police and security agencies make an effort to arrest any of the known and unknown faces who threatened peaceful protesters, including those who tried to sow ethnic division by targeting people of Southeastern extraction. This is in spite of the fact that some of these threats are on record.
“At least, there was a video which circulated on social media showing a band of thugs going round a market in Lagos to warn traders from joining the protest. Neither were any of the state-sponsored thugs and miscreants who followed up on these threats by attacking peaceful protesters during the 10 days of rage ever arrested.
“Yet over 1,135 protesters were arrested, while over 40 were killed nationwide by the police and other security agencies. We hereby demand the immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested, including the National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Comrade Michael Adaramoye Lenin, and Musiu Sodiq.
“We commiserate with the families of those who paid the supreme sacrifice and call for the immediate sack of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, for the use of live rounds by his men, which resulted in mindless killings. We shall continue to hold President Tinubu responsible for the deaths even as we demand adequate compensation for the families of the deceased.
“We note the frantic attempts by the National Security adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to manufacture evidence to support the phantom intelligence that the #EndBadGovernance protest was motivated by foreign entities.
“This effort at cynically utilizing national security to criminalize and demonize protest will only end in disgrace for President Bola Tinubu’s regime. As we have repeatedly made clear, the sponsors of the protest were the state of hunger and hardship in the country. If the government does not want another round of protest, now is the time for it to focus on fixing the problems and meeting demands instead of chasing shadows.
“Despite our best intentions to have a peaceful protest, unfortunately, the protest became violent, with acts of looting and vandalism occurring in several parts of the country. It is important to state very clearly here that the #EndBadGovernance movement abhors violence as a method of struggle. However, before any verdict is passed, it is crucial that a probe is conducted.
“This is crucial considering what we know of security agencies’ penchant for infiltrating protests and planting agent provocateurs to commit acts of violence and vandalism, which they then blame on the protesters. It is to the credit of the movement that these antics were defeated in Lagos State, although not without many peaceful protesters suffering injuries during several acts of unprovoked attacks by state-sponsored thugs and miscreants under the watchful eyes of the police.
“To this extent, we call for the setting up of an open and independent probe panel democratically constituted by elected representatives of progressive and human rights groups, youth organizations, professional bodies, trade unions, faith-based and community associations, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), security agencies and government officials to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the violence with a view to unravel the roles of state and non-state actors.
“Whatever its impact and success, the 10-day protest is just a dress rehearsal, in other words, the first chapter in a long-drawn struggle to end bad governance in Nigeria and replace it with Good Governance at all levels. Therefore, no one should think we are done.
“Within a very short period, new rounds of nationwide protests shall be announced in order to continue the fight until all demands are met. These demands include the reversal of fuel price hike, reversal of electricity tariff hike, action to reduce soaring prices of food and commodities, adequate funding of public education and health, payment of unemployment allowance and creation of decent jobs, payment of a living wage, placement of all political office holders on the national minimum wage, scrapping of security vote, first ladyship office and other unmerited privileges of the corrupt capitalist elite, prosecution of corrupt officials and return of all stolen wealth, reversal of privatization in the power and other sectors, et cetera.
“In the meantime, the #EndBadGovernance movement is undergoing internal reflection, re-evaluation, re-organization and rebuilding in order to come out stronger during the next round of nationwide street protests. We, therefore, urge all progressive, radical and Socialist groups, unions and individuals who played critical roles in the 10 days of protest to remain steadfast despite the climate of fear and repression even as the movement continues to consolidate for the battle that impends.”
