Mohammed Shosanya
Prof. Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr., Convener of CountryFirst Movement,has urged President Bola Tinubu should now allow for peaceful protests against his own administration.
He said the planned August 1 hunger protest is long overdue.
In a statement,Nwaokobia expressed the urgency of the protest, citing the failings of the APC government over the past nine years. “Yes, for 9 years the All Progressive Congress APC has lied to the people, they have blamed everyone but themselves for the failure of State. They met an economy that was working, they destroyed it,” he said.
He punctured the government for worsening insecurity and deepening national divisions. “They met insecurity largely in the North East and scantily in the North West and Abuja, they democratized it, and made it a national malaise. They destroyed the Naira, they returned Nigeria to her fault lines in deeper and more dangerous dimensions,” he added.
Nwaokobia lamented, “Hunger, inflation, price hike, food scarcity and suicidal pain, anger and angst has become the tapestry of a nation endowed by God with amazing resources and riches ineffable.”
He accused the APC government of escalating corruption and criticized the National Assembly for being subservient to the executive.
“Corruption has risen from a high under the PDP to monstrous propensities under the APC. The National Assembly from taking orders from Aso Rock has collapsed completely as Akpabio’s Senate has become Aso Rock’s Rubber Stamp,” he said.
He also condemned the government’s extravagant spending while ordinary Nigerians suffer.
“They spent over 15 Billion on the VP’s Residence, spent over 100 million Dollars on a New Presidential Aircraft. They spend Billions sufficient to pay 10000 workers on only 469 members of the National Assembly,” he stated.
Nwaokobia argued that the right to protest is fundamental and should be respected. “When we thronged Ojota, Lagos in January 2012 against the Jonathan administration for removing fuel subsidy, we were supported materially and morally by Mr President who was one of the leaders of the opposition then,” he said.
He urged the government to implement necessary reforms and to allow the protests to proceed peacefully. “Now that the day and the moment is upon us, I expect Government to quickly proceed with fundamental Reforms and Reset rather than wasting resources on the Cashtivists and pseudo progressives presently cashing out pretending to have solutions to the Looming Protest,” he stated.
Nwaokobia added that by emphasizing the importance of peaceful protests and the role of security agencies in ensuring order.
He said:”Since the military and the Police have admitted that the right to protest for rights is sacrosanct and constitutional, we expect them to deescalate the threats and proceed with plans and programmatic to ensure that the Protests are peaceful and orderly,” he said. “May Nigeria be great.”
