#EndBadGovernance Day 5: Protests continue in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna after Tinubu’s broadcast

The #EndBadGovernance protesters have converged at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, on Monday, to continue their demonstration despite the nationwide broadcast by President Bola Tinubu.

The determination to continue the pretest follows a Sunday statement by the organisers signed by Hassan Taiwo, Ayoyinka Oni and Adegboyega Adeniji, on behalf of the #EndBadGovernance Organising Committee, saying the address by President Bola Tinubu had yet to address their demands.

They said they had listened with rapt attention to President Tinubu’s broadcast on Sunday and “consider it rather unfortunate” that it took President Tinubu three days of protest to address the country.

Tinubu had affirmed in the nationwide broadcast on Sunday that his administration was ready to listen to and address the concerns of protesters, affirming that he had heard their calls “loud and clear.”

“I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity,” the president said.

The organisers noted that they consider the decision to address the nation an “important victory for our movement.”

“Without our courage and resolve to dare the odds, even this acknowledgement would not have happened. So far, we have demonstrated that a President is not greater than the rest of the country,” the statement read.

While taking note of Tinubu’s offer of dialogue, they noted that they were concerned that in the same breadth, the President had also ordered that the protest be suspended.

“In our view, the president cannot be approbating and reprobating at the same time. The President cannot offer an olive branch while at the same time holding a dagger to our throat,” the trio said.

The statement condemned the scenario “where thugs attacked protesters who had gathered for Sunday morning worship thereby injuring many.”

It added, “So we therefore call on all Nigerian youth and mass of the people to join us by 7 am at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos tomorrow (Monday) August 5, 2024, which is Day 5 of the protest.”

The Lagos protest had been considered peaceful by the state government, but a video on Sunday captured by Channels TV showed protesters being chased by hoodlums at Ojota a few hours after the President’s address.

Journalists at the scene of the protest said security forces fired teargas at the Moshood Abiola Stadium on Monday morning.

This development comes after President Tinubu in his address on Sunday, urged protesters to discontinue the protests.