A former President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Prince Lanre Ogundipe has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to allow security agents to threaten or intimidate protesters during the August 1 protest.
Ogundipe made this declaration via a statement made available to Newspot on Tuesday.
Newspot reports that protest against widespread hunger and bad governance has been fixed to commence on August 1 across the country.
Ogundipe in the statement advised Tinubu to stop the ongoing threats emanating from security agencies on the planned protest.
He said that all that the President was expected to do was to engage the citizens and seek for understanding instead of threats from the security agents.
Ogundipe maintained that if complaints of the people had been addressed before now, no one would stage any protest.
He said the citizens have the right to protest, adding that those who have been predicting that the protest could be hijacked should be queried.
He added that the protest will be peaceful.
“Mr. President, l urge you to stop the ongoing threats emanating from security agencies on the proposed protest. All you need to do is to engage Nigerians and plead for understanding.
“You actually need to inform them of the efforts you are putting up to ameliorate the hardships they are going through as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy and floating of the Naira.
“Mr. President, for those of us who had played one role or the other in the recent past in protests organised by Civil Society organisations and organised Labour movement, l believed that protesters hardly nursed any plan to act violently or embark on reckless activities during such protests.
“Rather, what I have observed is that governments, through the security agencies or others….are usually culpable for protests turning violent.
“Therefore, all that the government needs to do – at this critical stage of the anger of the people, who are determined to take to the streets to vent their frustration, is to show understanding and empathy with the people’s plight.
“This is because no citizen in his or her right mind would set out to cause disorderliness and destruction of properties or infrastructures built with taxpayers’ money.
“Flooding the market with rice and other essential products at discounted rates should be done to break the cartel, who are profiteering by inflicting hardships on citizens.
“If all these measures had been taken with the recent salary increase, the hope of the people would have come alive and mellowed down the anger and associated agitation.
“As a matter of fact, this is not actually the period to put out security agencies – suppressing missions. Some of whom have been threatening innocent souls, simply because they are protesting the injustices placed on them.
“Those shouting on top of their voices chanting violence as a result of peaceful protest, should be put under the searchlight and questioned if the protest turns awry.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people. Government agents should not and must not be seen warring with the same people they are employed to protect.
“Nigeria and its citizens will survive this period. For this to happen, the leadership must be willing to shoulder most of the sacrifice, while the governed should also admit the fact that not only President Tinubu is guilty of bad governance. State Governors, local government authorities, and the legislature are culpable at various levels.
“We the followers, too, are complicit. We have failed to do what is right or at the right time, at our various duty posts. Let us bail our country out of the current mess through collective efforts and not through security brutality to muzzle dissenting voices,” he wrote.
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