The former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lanre Ogundipe, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take a more empathetic approach in handling the planned nationwide protests against hardship and hunger in the country by some Nigerians slated for Thursday, August 1, 2024.
In a press statement personally signed by Ogundipe and dated Tuesday, July 30, 2024, he urged President Tinubu to engage with the citizens and address their concerns rather than resorting to threats and force to stop the protests by political hirelings and security agencies, respectively.
Ogundipe highlighted the public’s growing frustration over the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira, emphasising that the measures have exacerbated the economic hardships faced by many Nigerians. He urged the President to communicate the efforts being made to alleviate the Nigerians’ sufferings, stating, “All you need to do is to engage Nigerians and plead for understanding. Inform them of the efforts you are putting up to ameliorate the hardships they are going through.”
Reflecting on his experience with civil society and labour movement protests, Ogundipe noted that violence is rarely the intent of demonstrators. He argued that the government’s response, often through security agencies, has historically been a catalyst for protests turning violent. “Governments, through the security agencies or other means, are usually culpable for protests turned violent,” he said.
Ogundipe appealed to President Tinubu to adopt a more proactive and understanding stance, showing empathy towards the plight of the citizens. He stressed that most Nigerians, in their right minds, would not intentionally cause disorder or destruction. “It smacks of sheer intolerance to suppress people’s voices,” Ogundipe added, pointing out that such actions are counterproductive.
The former NUJ President, however, commended the federal government’s prompt actions, such as the operationalisation of the Dangote Refinery and the release of discounted rice to the market. He, therefore, warned against the mismanagement of such initiatives by unscrupulous individuals and called for the expansion of the measures to include other essential products to break the profiteering cartels.
Ogundipe emphasised that this was not the time to deploy security forces against peaceful protesters. Instead, he called for a collaborative effort to address the root causes of the public’s grievances. “The leadership must be willing to shoulder most of the sacrifice, while the governed should also admit that not only President Tinubu is guilty of bad governance. State Governors, local government authorities, and the legislature are culpable at various levels.
“We, the followers, too, are complicit. We have in our responsibility as good citizens. We have failed to do what is right or at the right time, at our various duty posts,” he stated, calling for accountability at all levels of government.
Ogundipe urged all Nigerians to work collectively towards bailing the country out of its current challenges. “Let us bail our country out of the current mess through collective efforts and not through security brutality to muzzle dissenting voices,” he stated.
