Nigeria At 64: CSOs Protest, Demand Restoration Of Fuel Subsidy, Others In Edo

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Edo State has demanded the restoration of fuel subsidies, improvement of security, and revert to a single legislature, among others, by the President Bola Tinubu administration.

The CSOs which include African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Talakawa Republic, Take it Back Movement and Faculty of Peace Organization during a rally to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State Council , Benin City said the removal of fuel subsidy, insecurity and floating of the naira have made life very difficult for Nigerians.

Coordinator, Take it Back Movement, Edo State, Dr Lawal Haifz said they are demanding that government should restore fuel subsidy, improve on security so that farmers could go to farm.

Haifz also bemoaned the free fall of the naira and urged government to restore the hope of the common man.

According to him, “We are here to protest the current situation in Nigeria. People are really suffering. We demand the restoration of the fuel subsidy. Insecurity has made it impossible for our people to go to farm and that is why you can no longer buy foodstuffs.

“We don’t need the Senate and House of Representatives at the same time .The money spent on the two Houses can go a long way to take care of Nigeria’s needs. The so called minimum wage cannot even buy a bag of rice. There is extreme hunger,” he said.

Also, speaking, the convener of the Faculty of Peace Organization,Comrade Kelly Osunbor, said the Nigerian political class is just being wicked. He queried where the money distributed to voters during the Edo State governorship election on September 21st came from.

“They tell us that there is no money, where did they get the money shared to voters during the September 21 election? Just calculate the N10,000 to N20,000 distributed to voters ,and they said there is no money. These guys are just being wicked. My father hoped for better Nigeria, he is dead now.

He did not see a better Nigeria. Today we are hoping for a better Nigeria.

“Government does not provide anything. We sink our own borehole and the fuel God has given to us freely is what they are using to punish us. Let me tell you that they are calling for revolution. If a parasite goes into its host, it will never stop eating the host until it finishes it . The Nigerian political class is like a parasite.

“They are calling for revolution,and they must get revolution. We have tried BEVAS, it did not work, we have tried IReV , it did not work. We have tried Athahiru Jega, that one did not work. So,the only thing they will hear is revolution,” he said.

The coalition moved round the King’s Square (Ring Road) to the NUJ Centre in GRA, Benin chanting solidarity songs while bearing placards with different inscriptions like: ‘Restore fuel subsidy’, ‘We are hungry’ ‘End insecurity ‘ among others.