A small group of #EndBadGovernance protesters have reportedly gathered around the Gani Fawehinmi Park in Lagos, Sunday morning chanting solidarity songs, shortly after President Bola Tinubu’s address to the nation.
According to a report by Channels TV, the protesters said the President has not addressed core issues raised by them despite touching on efforts by his administration.
It also said that Policemen and other security agencies were still on the ground at the park, barring the protesters from holding a procession beyond the designated ground at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota.
The protesters complied without argument and returned to the designated point.
As of the time of filing this report, there are more policemen than protesters in Ojota area of Lagos.
Recall that Tinubu in a broadcast earlier on Sunday, morning urged the protesters to suspend the #EndBadGovernance protests and embrace dialogue.
He assured them that his administration is focused on good governance despite the socio-economic challenges confronting Africa’s most populous nation.
The President noted that the removal of subsidy on petrol was a painful but necessary decision he took for economic reforms, saying that the return of it has been one of the very clear demands of young Nigerians who took to the streets since Thursday to protest the economic woes confronting the country.
The former Governor of Lagos State had announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inaugural speech as President on May 29, 2023. The price per litre of the product jumped from around N184 to over N700 depending on where it is sold in the country.
The government simultaneously unified forex windows, with the value of the naira nosediving terribly from $1/N700 to over $1/1600 at the parallel market. Prices of food and basic commodities immediately climbed through the roof as Nigerians battled attendant inflation.
Some of the protesters’ demands include the restoration of petrol subsidies and the forex regime. They also want the government to address food shortages, unemployment, and the wasteful spending of those in power.
Other demands are, reduction of the President’s cabinet and general cost of governance, immediate reforms of the electoral umpire INEC and anti-graft agency EFCC with renewed vigour in the fight against corrupt politicians.