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.
Onanuga added that the Tinubu administration has always acknowledged the difficulties citizens are facing, adding that hard times are transient as the economic reforms being implemented have started to yield dividends, based on economic indicators published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“The government wishes to assure Nigerians that there is already light at the end of tunnel and seeks the patience and understanding of our compatriots,” he said.
The organisers, however, insist that the protest would hold and that there is no going back.
Political activist, Omoyele Sowore, who has been at the forefront of calls for the planned mass action, said: “I can tell you that there will be protests. I can also confirm to you that I will be out there on the protest lines, joining my voice to that of other Nigerian patriots, to denounce the anti-people policies of this government”, he said.
Another known face behind the planned protest, Deji Adeyanju, said: “If organisers feel the need to implement specific precautions, it suggests that the protest may be orchestrated or sponsored. I cannot support or participate in such events.
“True protests arise organically from the collective grievances of the people, without external manipulation or influence. It’s important for movements to remain authentic and driven by the genuine voices of those affected,” he said.
Our correspondents report that people feel the situation that triggered the August protest has not only remained but also worsened and would be looking forward to the action.
Checks reveal that at the time the 10-day August protest held, the pump price of petrol stood at about N700 per litre in many states while the exchange rate to the dollar stood at slightly above N1500.
Currently, the exchange rate is over N1,600 while the price of petrol has shot up to over N1,000.
Sowore said the last protest was to call the attention of government to the economic pains, insecurity and injustices in the land, but that the situation has not improved since then. “In fact, they have become worse! Inflation has gone up. Insecurity has increased. Our people are drowning in floods because the government failed to secure the dams. Bandits wiped out an entire village just a few weeks ago. Things have gotten worse for the Nigerian people”, he said.
There are some Nigerians who, however, feel that the protest is not necessary.
Professor Kamilu Sani Fagge, a renowned political scientist at the Bayero University Kano, said the planned protest is not necessary since in a democratic setting policies are supposed to be based on the wish and will of the people.
The organisers justified the need for another round of protests as they demand for among other things: the release of all protesters being detained; a living wage for Nigerian workers; reversal of the subsidy removal; decisive action against banditry, terrorism and other security challenges.
On the shape that the proposed protests are likely to take, Sowore said they will occur across all parts of Nigeria and that they will be peaceful.
During the last protest, the security agencies had it tough controlling the protesters. Spokesman of the police, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, told our correspondent that so far, the police are yet to receive any notification on the October 1 planned protest.
“As of now, we don’t have any letter from any quarter to that effect. Nobody has notified the police that they want to carry out any protest. So, we’re not aware of the development,” Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, told this newspaper.