Taoreed Abdullahi
SINCE I was born around the mid-80s, this is the first time I have seen people irrespective of status, ethnicity, or tribe complaining of hardship in the land. Nigeria, my country is full of fertile land and is a country of opportunities.
Going by the situation in the market, things are expensive, prices of goods and services are skyrocketing beyond the reach of the masses. The foods for the common man such as yam, beans, garri, cassava flake, and others are now ‘big man’s food’ going by their prices. How did we arrive at this? This is why some Nigerians are calling for a change.
In response to the hardship, some of them have gone to their social media to call for protests as a way of calling the attention of relevant authorities to the situation and finding solutions. Therefore, a lot of information, posters, and hashtags are on social media calling for protests over hardship in the land. A lot of people have been sending warnings that protests should be avoided.
Who is afraid of the protest? Is the government not aware of the situation? I think, instead of calling the kettle black or tagging some Nigerians for backing the proposed protest, government officials should preoccupy themselves with how to solve the problem. Our leaders are doing a lot in solving the matter, but it has not yielded the desired results. Our leaders should be asking themselves the following questions: Why do people want to protest? What can they do to address the grievances, both in the immediate and on the long run? How do they ensure that the protest does not get out of hand?
Finding appropriate answers or proffering solutions to the questions would put an end to the issues at hand. Is protest a crime? No. The 1999 Nigerian constitution, as amended (Section 40) guarantees the right of citizens to peaceful protest. The courts have also affirmed that right. What should preoccupy the minds of our security agents now is how to provide a secure conducive environment for citizens to protest peaceably in line with constitutional provisions and the African Charter on Human Rights.
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