COMBO of protest leader Damilare Adenola (left) and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
‘My question to the minister is this: how does the minister expect a greater population of Nigerian youths who are impoverished, who have no jobs to afford to exorbitant he is expecting us to pay?’
By Valentine Amanze
One of the organisers of the 10-day #EndBadGovernance protest against economic hardship slated for August 1, 2024 has assured Nigerians that the agitation would hold in Eagle Square Abuja and other places in Nigeria.
He was responding to the alleged statement by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, that the protest would not hold in the Eagle Square Abuja.
The organizer also reminded Wike that the Eagle Square in Abuja is a public property and therefore he [Wike] has no choice than to allow its usage by “hungry Nigerian youths.”
Damilare Adenola, the Director of Mobilisation of Take It Back Movement, a non-governmental organisation, reassured on the usage of the facility on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
The protest against economic hardship, which is gaining traction on social media, has been scheduled to be held across all states of the federation as well as the FCT in August.
Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last months, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s worst inflation rates and economic crises sparked by the government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.
Also read: Protest: IGP threatens organizers, seeks submission of names, contact details
The youth leader had signed a letter addressed to the minister seeking the use of the facility. The letter was dated July 26, 2024, and was broadcast on social media platforms.
However, the FCT minister said on Saturday that he hadn’t received the letter.
Adenola, on Sunday, blamed the delay in the delivery of the letter on bureaucratic bottlenecks in government but said the minister would get the letter unfailingly on Monday ahead of the demonstration starting Thursday.
The protest mobiliser said, “It is possible that the receipt of the letter is being delayed by most likely bureaucracy in government or the minister is likely being insincere about receiving the letter.
“If he (Wike) insists that he hasn’t received it, the alternative is that he was served by publication because many Nigerian ministries streamline what to receive or not. If he says he didn’t get it physically, then we could as well say that he was served by publication.
“If he says he wants it by Monday, we will serve him.”
“The truth is that the Eagle Square is a public property. When I saw the video of the minister, I was amazed because I saw the minister asking us to pay rent, pay security fees and all that. My question to the minister is this: how does the minister expect a greater population of Nigerian youths who are impoverished, who have no jobs to afford to exorbitant he is expecting us to pay?
“We are going to be at the Eagle Square on August 1st,” he said.
valoa2000@yahoo.com
