Hunger: Bauchi Group Withdraws From Protest

The Northern Agenda for Good Governance & Allied Groups on Thursday called off the hardship protest in the state, citing greater interest of peace and stability of Bauchi State and Nigeria.

Coordinator of the group, Comrade Hashim Bala Pali at a press conference held at the Bauchi State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ), commended the support of its members and those of other citizens for the initially planned civil protest.

It said, “We decided to call it off in the greater interest of peace and stability of Bauchi State and Nigeria as a whole as we realised that it is better we send the message through the press, than to allow some unknown and perhaps irresponsible elements hijack the whole thing with the good intentions into something we all will not like.

“We are one of the leading civil society organisations that along with other groups of like interest have engaged relevant stakeholders and security agencies towards holding the nationwide peaceful protest over the hard living condition of Nigerians. These protests are scheduled to be held from today 1st August to 10th August 2024”.

Pali explained that his group feels very strongly about oil exploration in the Kolmani area which was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari which President Bola Tinubu graced its occasion present about two years ago.

The group regretted that the exploration site has been abandoned and work had stopped on the very important project of significant socioeconomic and developmental interest to the North-East but the entire country.

“The issue is even more worrisome considering the fact during his campaign visit to the North-East, President Tinubu promised to continue with work in this regard, but that is not happening. As such, we demand explanation for what is happening and resumption of work at the site without further delay,” he said.

The coordinator further said that like most Nigerians, the group observed that the root cause of hunger, starvation and other difficulties faced by the people was associated with the removal of fuel subsidy as announced by the President in his inaugural address.

“Since then, life has become meaningless to the majority of our citizens. Hence we join the popular call by compatriots for return of the subsidy regime with immediate effect. The survival of our people is better than policy cosmetics and window-dressing that is not achieving any result. So let’s go back to subsidy,” Pali demanded.

He further maintained that it was insensitive on the part of the federal government to introduce higher electricity tariffs at a time most Nigerians were struggling to have a meal a day, saying the increment lacked human face and not in the best interest of the country and demanded its reversal.

Pali said other alternatives of providing electricity at affordable prices should equally be explored rather than sheer increase in tariffs.

“It is also our position that the students’ loan fund introduced to cushion the effect of hike in fees paid by students in tertiary institutions of learning across the country will not address the problems of access to quality education to the average Nigerian in both short and the long run,” Pali noted.

Instead, he suggested that economic policies that improve the purchasing capacity of the average citizens and one that will add value to the currency and others alike were preferred to make it possible for most citizens to afford tertiary education without much ado.

The group demanded for the review of Forex and other macro and micro economic policies of the government. “So far, most of the economic policies of the Tinubu administration do not seem to be working as their direct consequence is an increase in the suffering of the citizens. To this end, we demand that rising rate inflation should be checked while our land borders should be reopened.”

Pali further declared that “most of our leaders are taking the people for granted. This is why it is only during national emergencies like this time that some leaders remember to engage citizens on what the government is doing about these problems,” saying, “It shouldn’t be so”.

They cited an example that none of the ministers in Tinubu’s cabinet and other appointees returned home to discuss the issues with the people, “while representatives in the National Assembly only a handful are at their constituencies at this crucial time.”