A former National Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman said the President Bola Tinubu-led government is desperately mobilising opposition to the protest scheduled to take place between August 1 and 10, 2024.
Lukman noted that the president last Thursday, July 25, 2024, met with governors, traditional rulers and religious leaders who in turn called on Nigerians to be patient with the government and appealed against the protest.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, the former APC chieftain said that on the same day, the Department of State Services (DSS) claimed that it uncovered a plan by some criminal elements to hijack the protest while Defence Headquarters also issued warning to protesters against any form of violence.
He maintained that these were old scripts, which have been used in the past to block attempts of Nigerians to legitimately express their dissatisfaction with government policies.
“All those who are in the forefront of the campaign against the protest have never been associated with any popular campaign in the country. Every time, Nigerians try to engage government through protests or other modes of contestations, these same groups are always there with the same messages and warnings against so-called violence.
“They always uncover plots by opposition, criminal elements, etc. to hijack protests and campaigns against governments. If anything, it would have been news if they say anything contrary. The reality is that, often the response of the security agencies through attempts to forcefully disperse protesters is the source of violence.
“In all past experiences, irrespective of these so-called appeals, which threatened organisers of the protests, protests still take place and in varying degrees recorded success. As someone who is privileged to have organised protests in the country, one can say without any fear of contradiction that Nigerians, across every part of the country, have never been pushed to the wall like they are today,” Lukman said.
He stressed that, “If President Asiwaju Tinubu has turned out to be an impatient leader who is in a hurry to implement policies that has impoverish citizens, why should citizens be patient with him?
“Here is a President Asiwaju Tinubu who even before settling down to resume work as President of the Federal Republic, declared an end to petroleum subsidy without any plan. At the same time, he proceeded to float the exchange rate of the Naira against other international currency.
“For an import dependent nation, why should any leaders be in a hurry to implement such policies without having any plan to boost local production? In the case of withdrawal of subsidy, does it require any counselling to time such policy with ensuring capacity for local refining?
“With all the talk of fixing the four refineries in the country and the beginning of production activity by the Dangote refinery, why is President Asiwaju Tinubu in a mad rush and unable to align his policy initiatives with these expectations? Instead, needlessly, Nigerians watch the shameless criminal dispute between NNPC and Dangote Refinery.
“And having push the nation to a hopeless trajectory, which has worsened living conditions of all Nigerians, what plan has President Asiwaju Tinubu put in place to fix the problem? Even in terms of ameliorating the challenge facing Nigerians, the government has demonstrated lack of capacity to manage initiatives resulting in compounding the allegations of embezzlement surrounding initiatives to ameliorate worsening conditions of citizens.
“For more than one year, it’s been one explanation after the other, with hardly any clear blueprint or timeline when the downward slide of the Nigerian economy will end. Every day, the hopelessness of the government gets more exposed.
“For those of us who were associated with President Asiwaju Tinubu and campaigned for him to become President, it is a big disappointment. We did campaigned for him with the conviction that he is a strategic politician who is an excellent talent hunter. The magic of how Lagos State was transformed under his leadership was our reference point.
“Sadly, more than one year at the helm of affairs as the President of Nigeria, it is a different Asiwaju Tinubu we have who is becoming an excellent hunter for political mercenaries.
“He has become more strategic in taking decision without looking at the problem, which could be why he promised Nigerian workers living wage, but his negotiation skills could only retain the old starvation minimum wage,” Lukman said.
