#EndBadGovernance protest tempting but there is need for caution – Femi Onireti
Femi OGUNLANA
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon Olufemi Onireti, has observed that the looming nationwide protest against hardship in the country scheduled to commence August 1 appears justified however saying the prospect is fraught with a lot of bad omens.
Advertisement
The protest being organized by various groups and which aims to press home the need to alleviate the hardship faced by Nigerians occasioned by removal of fuel subsidy and naira floating is feared would be hijacked by hoodlums and miscreants who would turn it violent and bloody.
Opinions vary on the protest with many supporting while others condemn it citing various reasons.
Making his position known Onireti in a press release he personally signed said it is people’s right to protest when they feel uncomfortable or wronged by the situation in their environment however reiterating that the problem is when the the desire is thwarted or refocused.
“It is the inalienable right of the people to vent their feeling on any issue especially those that bother on their welfare. If people are forbidden from protest how will the government feel their pulse? Protest is not bad, it is acceptable anywhere in the world as long as it doesn’t become a motivation for destruction of public properties, disruption of public and social order and orgy of killings.
Advertisement
“The problem however is when characters borne by sinister agenda maneuvered their way to take over the protest and redirect the movement to make it violent and bloody thereby destroying the good intention of the organizers. That is why protests are often filled with dangers and abhorred by a large swathe of people.
The entrepreneur recalled what happened during the EndSARS protest in 2020 lamenting the scale of destruction of properties and innumerable losses of lives recorded at the time.
He said, “With what we witnessed in 2020 during the EndSARS protest, no one will pray for a repeat of such especially one inspired by hunger and anger and more terribly political bad belle. Protest is tempting, it allows people to express their feelings about government’s programmes that have adverse effects on their welfare nonetheless there is danger when it is hijacked and it turns violent and becomes an avenue to break into innocent people’s shops and warehouses to loot. That is the fear.”
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the political gladiator urged the government of President Bola Tinubu to reassess its policies and institute programmes with human faces that would rather bring down prices of goods, noting there is a lot of suffering in the land.
“There is no doubt there is hunger in the land and as they say an hungry man is an angry man. So, I plead with the government to consider the plight of the people, things are truly difficult, there is need to bring relief to the people, beyond transferring fund to people whose identity could not be verified, not doling out bags of rice but introducing programmes and policies that will force down prices and reduce the hyper inflation ravaging the country,” he remarked.
Onireti further advocated government support for productive activities in the country asserting, “The path to redemption in the economic facet is increased production, government needs to stimulate productive activities by providing incentives such as low interest loans, improved infrastructural facilities, address the energy sector and so on. If people do not face high cost of living incentive for protests will be blurred.”
