Nigerian youth are planning nationwide protests starting August 1 to demand economic and political reforms, but the government is using all its resources to suppress them.
Young Nigerians have been mobilizing and organizing on social media, with many temporarily adopting the slogan #EndBadGovernance.
However, the government has been using various schemes, including meetings with traditional and religious leaders, as well as threats from security agencies to prevent the protests from happening or to prevent them from turning violent if they continue.
As part of police preparation for the protests, Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun has summoned commanders of mobile police formations across Nigeria for a meeting on Saturday, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
One of the commanders told this newspaper that the only item on the agenda of the Abuja meeting was to prepare for the protests.
Mobile police are often deployed to quell riots, indicating police fear protests could degenerate into violence.
Mr Egbetokun had earlier said that police would protect protesters if they remained peaceful.
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“If the protest is peaceful, you will see us protecting the protesters as long as they remain peaceful,” he said on Tuesday. “But we have a duty to protect lives and property, so we will not sit idly by and watch thugs burn down premises in the name of protest.”
On Friday, Mr Egbetokun said protest organisers should provide state police commissioners with their personal details, protest locations and other information.
The planned involvement of mobile police officers also raises concerns that the government could use force to disperse protesters, as seen during the 2020 #EndSARS protests in which some protesters were attacked and killed, turning the protests violent.
Although the government claims its efforts are aimed at preventing violence, its actions suggest a plan to suppress protest.
#EndBadGovernance protest organizers are demanding decisive action on the ailing economy and other pressing issues.
The organizers, their demands
Different groups are organizing the protests, including the Take It Back Movement, led by former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore.
On Friday, the movement sent a letter to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, seeking permission to use the Eagle Square for the protest.
“I am writing to you as the Director of Mobilisation, Take it Back Movement (TIB) to your office to allow us access to Eagles Square between 1st and 10th August 2024, for our #DaysOfRage protest, #EndBadGovernance,” reads the letter signed by Damilare Adenola.
The Abuja minister had threatened not to allow any protests in the federal capital.
“Don’t follow these armed robbers who say they want to protest,” Wike said of the protesters. “There is nothing like protests. Abuja is not going to participate in them. What you want is good governance and we are ready to give you that.”
In one of the flyers posted on social media, protesters demand an end to anti-people policies, excessive taxes and electoral fraud, which they say have caused widespread suffering and frustration.
Specifically, they are calling for reversing the increase in fuel prices below N300 per litre, restoring affordable electricity tariffs and reducing import duties to their previous rates.
They are also demanding that the increase in higher education fees in many institutions be revoked.
Protesters are also demanding transparency and accountability in governance, including public disclosure and reduction of salaries and benefits for civil servants and an emergency fund to support SMEs.
They are also calling for electoral reforms, including the autonomy of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), the electronic transmission of live election results and the reopening of national borders.
They are also demanding reforms to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a state of emergency in the face of inflation, and reform of the judiciary to ensure swift and fair justice.
Government repression strategies
Some of the strategies the government is adopting to suppress the protest include threats, arrests and detentions.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that major security forces, including the State Security Services (SSS), the Nigerian Army and the police, have issued stern warnings against protests.
Despite government efforts to suppress the protests, organisers are holding firm, backed in particular by Mr Sowore and a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who has announced the lawyers' plan to defend protesters who are arrested or detained illegally.
On Friday, the Take It Back movement warned that its bank account had been frozen “on the instructions of the DSS due to our participation in the upcoming protest.”
However, the group vowed to take legal action against the bank. A few hours later, Mr Effiong, the human rights lawyer, wrote to the bank demanding a detailed explanation within 24 hours as to why the account had been frozen.
Mr Effiong warned that failure to comply with the demand would force the group to take legal action against the bank.
Meanwhile, signs of a crackdown have begun to emerge in places like Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto states, where at least five people have been arrested for promoting the planned protest.
One of them, Junaidu Abdullahi, a TikTok user from Kano, was remanded in custody last Friday. He was released four days ago following the intervention of Sowore and others.
Some northern states (Bauchi, Adamawa and Niger) have also warned against protest and threatened not to tolerate protesters.
As the protest date approaches, tensions are likely to rise and the government's response to the growing demands remains uncertain.
Observers have warned the government to learn from the experience of the nationwide #EndSARS protest and to be cautious about cracking down on protesters.
Alternative strategies
On Thursday, President Tinubu met with Islamic clerics, traditional rulers and governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
All three groups had been trying to appease Nigerians to prevent protests.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, also attended the meeting of the president with the traditional rulers.
“No one will care about the protest,” said one of the traditional rulers who attended the meeting, the Emir of Zazzau Ahmed Bamalli. “…we call on our people to be patient and listen to words of wisdom.
“The main problem in this country, especially in the north, is insecurity,” Bamalli continued. “If the security situation is resolved, people will certainly return to their farms and the problem of hunger will be drastically reduced and will disappear.”