Amid ongoing nationwide protests against bad governance and economic hardship, demonstrators under the banner of #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria are altering their tactics and planning to occupy Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Monday.
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A few hours after President Bola Tinubu’s plea in a nationwide address on Sunday seeking an end to the ongoing #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest which started on August 1, the protesters have vowed not to heed his call.
Rather than ending the protest, the demonstrators, tweeting on X.com under #OccupyAbuja on Sunday, said they will be shifting focus to the nation’s capital, Abuja.
One tweep, Stephen Osemwegie, tweeting as #PeterObiUSA, tweeted, “What Next? #EndBadGovernancelnNigeria. All roads lead to Abuja. Nigerians, wake up now. Every state, region, religion and people. Stand up for your country now or never.”
Also, a pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 general elections, Omoyele Sowore, in a response to Senator Ireti Kingigbe, wrote, “You have a chance to lead the #EndBadGovernmentInNigeria protest to the Eagle Square tomorrow (Monday). If your current health situation allows you to collect an SUV and all those jumbo allowances at the #NGRSenate, a trip to the protest ground would not kill you, Senator!”
One tweep, Morior Invictus, tweeting as #PeterObIsComing, wrote, “Abuja protesters are doing their best but the number needs to quadruple for Tinubu and Wike to understand how angry Nigerians are. 100,000 people can #OccupyAbuja and shut it down. But many are still scared to join the protest. We must #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.”
One X.com user, Chulo, tweeting as #felixbuezecyrus tweeted, “As protesters from anywhere around the country, it’s important that we all head to Abuja because any protests that didn’t hold strong in the capital city of a country holds no water.”
A user, Unity, tweeting as #Unityforum1, tweeted, “Summary of the president’s speech: I have heard you. I’m busy working. Go back home. Subsidy is forever gone (Forget it). Continue to endure the hardship/hunger. Your protest is politically motivated Thank you for listening. Congratulations, Nigeria #OccupyAbuja.”
Another tweep, Oladeyforyou, with the username #trendwithola, wrote, “Tomorrow is Monday. It is time to #OccupyAbuja if we want to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.”