#EndBadGovernance: Bola Tinubu Spoke To The Wrong Audience By CKN
When the organizers of the #EndBadGovernance Protest made their intentions few weeks ago , it was obvious that President Bola Tinubu underestimated their resolve or was decieved by his aides to ignore the threat
Rather than seeking audience with the ” faceless agitators ” as his aides made him to believe , the President decided to meet the ” leaders of thoughts ” who had no direct bearing with the people
The president met with the Governors , the same people the agitators are protesting against
The Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, Hope Uzodinma at the villa told Journalists he doesn’t know why the agitators want to embark on a protest ( can you beat that )
After that , the President gathered all the first class traditional rulers in the country ( at tax payers expense ) to urge them to dissuade ” their subjects ” from protesting
One of the traditional rulers , His Royal Majesty , the Ooni of Ife was seen after the meeting telling Nigerians to give the government more time , that this is not the time to protest.
President Tinubu’s Security Chiefs did not help matters
The Inspector General of Police , from saying the protest will not hold , shifted his positions several times until the last minute when he held a zoom meeting with some ” leaders ” of the protest
The Defence Ministry through its spokesman warned the protesters to shield their sword , vowing that the military will not stand aloof when ” critical infrastructure ” are being destroyed
They pledged to defend Nigeria’s ” fledging democracy ”
On its the part the Department of State Security told Nigerians that they have identified the key leaders of the protest , they did not name them or made attempts to get them arrested
In all the foregoing , no government agency or the Presidency deemed it fit to invite the so called leaders to a meeting
To make matter worse , instead of assuaging Nigerians , the minders of the President led by one of his Spokesperson Mr Bayo Onanuga was pointing accusing fingers at Mr Peter Obi and some opposition leaders as the henchmen of the protest
The height of the treachery came when the Minister of the FCT Nyesom Wike vowed that ” No Protest ” would take place in Abuja
In order to save its face few hours to the protest , most of the States and FCT ran to the court to obtain injunctions restraining the protesters to designated areas
Despite all the hid and seek , the protest took off in most states on the 1st of August 2024 with the subsequent effects on both humans and properties
On the last count , CKNNews learnt that over 20 lives have been lost across the country including a policeman with properties worth millions of Naira destroyed by looters and undesirable elements
Attempts to stop the protest in most states did not succeed
A big lesson for the Government
All indications showed that the Government especially at the Federal level wasted its time and money talking to the wrong people
Its obvious that the traditional rulers and religious leaders the government were banking upon have no control over the people because most Nigerians see them as part of the problem .
Is it not funny that up till this moment President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not deemed it fit to address Nigerians directly
I hope and believe that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has learnt a lesson or by the outcome of the protest
The President should know that the mandate was given him by Nigerian voters and not to his aides and ministers
He should learn how to address them directly and effectively
While i condemn the wanton destruction of lives and properties by hoodlums , it is not too late for the government to listen to the yearnings of millions of Nigerians who are dying from acute hunger by reversing some of the policies that have impoverished them since he took office on 29th May 2023
The President should cutdown the waste in governance and corruption amongst his aides
He should be sympathetic to the plight of Nigerians who can hardly feed themselves and their families
Members of the National Assembly should also be mindful of the sufferings of Nigerians
They have not shown any empathy by their over bloated budgets and lifestyle
President Tinubu indeed spoke to the wrong audience , the right audience are the generality of suffering Nigerians
NIGERIA IS TOO RICH TO BE POOR
May God Bless Nigeria
Chris Kehinde Nwandu is Journalist, Blogger , Law Graduate and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK
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