DAILY TRUST
Ordinarily, Tuesday, the 1st of October, 2024 will pass on as a day of merriment, in line with tradition, to celebrate Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule in 1960.
But there are signs that aside the expected burst of conviviality, pomp and panoply, this year’s Independence Day, the 64th, may be different.
As the government, on one hand, is trying to mark the day with the usual formalities, though on a low key, certain individuals and groups have slated it as a day to begin a sustained match in protest against the current hardship in the country owing to what they describe as ‘bad governance.’
A similar protest held between August 1 and 10, with thousands of people across several states of the country pouring into the streets to protest, among other things, reversal of government policies, prominent among which is the removal of subsidies on petrol, floating of the naira and increase in electricity tariffs despite passionate pleas, intense lobbies and not so subtle cautions from various authorities on citizens to reconsider the action.
People used the opportunity of the protests to express their grievances with the policies of the current administration and in many instances the protests became violent with attacks on persons and infrastructure and in the extreme, call for a regime change while waving Russian flags. The violence was more pronounced in the northern part of the country.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who addressed the nation then, said though his government was feeling the pain of citizens, the measures his government had taken were necessary to guarantee better living standards for the people.
The organisers, obviously not impressed with the government’s reaction, had since then promised another round of protests.
The October 1 planned mass action tagged #FearlessInOctober, and in some instances EndBadGovernanceProtestInNigeria 2.0, is to be the promised sequel.
The prelude to the Tuesday protest is, however, nowhere near the last one in which several efforts were made to stop the protests, using clerics and other respected personalities.
But the government said it is talking with the organisers of the proposed protest with a view to reaching an understanding with them before October 1.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, while reacting to enquiries from Weekend Trust, said the security agencies are already engaging some of the organisers.
“Government is not against any peaceful protest by Nigerians. After all, it is their fundamental right to stage any protest.
“But government is always apprehensive about such protests degenerating into a riot as we experienced in August or the 2020 EndSARS protest in many parts of the country.
“Security agencies have been discussing with some of the organisers and they are being monitored so that they do not plunge the country into chaos or allow themselves to be used by internal and external forces which want to subvert the country and the 16-month-old administration”, he said.
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