Hunger Protest: CSO Cautions Onanuga Over Inflammatory Remarks

Ahead of the planned August 1, hunger protest by Nigerian youths over the prevailing hardship in the country, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) committed to good governance and responsive leadership, has urged President Bola Tinubu to hearken to the cries of the people by addressing the socio-economic challenges facing the nation.

The executive director of the Centre for Safe Measures, Management and Leadership Development (CESAMLED), Dr Tom FredFish, speaking in an interview in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital yesterday, decried what he described as the politicisation of the prevailing poverty and hunger in the land and called on President Bola Tinubu, to caution some of his cabinet members over unguarded utterances capable of inflaming the already tensed polity.

Accusing the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, of stoking the embers of violence with his incensed remarks which he alleged the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, and his supporters are behind the upcoming hunger protest, FredFish, urged President Tinubu, to relieve him of his duties before he plunges the country into chaos.

“Such reckless statement with the potential of causing anarchy is uncharitable, uncalled for and an embarrassment to President Tinubu, who should denounce the statement and sack Mr. Onanuga before he dishes out another error that is capable of plunging the country on fire,” he noted.

The youth activist who initiated a 100 million suit against the Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in 2017 for tinkering with and hiking the prices of petroleum products in Akwa Ibom State observed that the protests across the country, tagged ‘End bad governance’ by Nigerians, “have no ethnic and political undertone and should not have been blamed on an individual or ethnic group.”

“There is unanimity of agreement by every concerned Nigerian on the economic situation in the country which has left many Nigerians struggling to meet ends. Are the APC expecting Nigerians to keep quiet and languish in penury when the cost of living has skyrocketed with basic commodities such as food, fuel, and electricity increasing daily?” he said.