The organizers of the #Endbadgovernance movement announced their plans for a nationwide protest against "anti-poor policies" set to take place on October 1st. The protest aims to address growing public dissatisfaction with President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies, which are blamed for exacerbating hardship across Nigeria.
The key advocacy groups involved in organizing the protest include the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Joint Action Front (JAF), and Pan-African Consciousness Renaissance (PACOR-Nigeria). These groups have formally written to the Nigerian Police, seeking adequate security for the demonstrators.
In a joint statement, Hassan Soweto, the National Coordinator of the ERC, urged Nigerians to participate in peaceful protests against what he described as “anti-poor policies.” The statement emphasized the need for peaceful demonstrations and called on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olanrewaju Ishola, to ensure security for participants as per the Police Establishment Act 2020. “By this announcement, we inform the Commissioner of Police of our planned October action and remind the Police of their obligation under Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 to provide adequate security for citizens participating in public meetings, rallies, and protests,” the statement read.
The protest is scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. under the Ikeja bridge in Lagos, with participants marching through the streets to raise awareness. The organizers warned that this action is “a warning and urgent cry” for the Tinubu administration to address their demands immediately or face further protests.
The grievances outlined by the organizers include unmet demands from their “ten days of rage” protests in August. They criticized President Tinubu for “ignoring the plight of Nigerians while using our national treasury to procure luxury cars, aircraft, and other luxuries for himself and the first family without caring a hoot about the plea of hungry Nigerians.” They also condemned the recent fuel price hike, stating that, “Tinubu has gone ahead to now unleash on the Nigerian another round of hike in fuel price earlier this month. As we speak, the price of fuel hovers between N900 per litre to N1900 per litre depending on which parts of the country you are.”
Describing the impact of these policies, they continued: “Life has become unbearable for many Nigerian people. Many are starving as the increase in fuel price has also impacted food prices. Inflation has rendered the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage irrelevant and incapable of bringing any relief to Nigerian workers.”
The statement also pointed to rising costs that have left traders and shopkeepers struggling to sell goods, while several multinational companies have exited Nigeria due to the difficult economic environment, leading to further job losses.
Declaring October 1st, 2024, a “National Day of Survival,” the organizers called on workers, students, youth, the unemployed, traders, and the poor to protest peacefully against the hardship brought on by “IMF/World Bank-inspired anti-poor capitalist policies” such as fuel price hikes, electricity tariff increases, school fees hikes, and naira devaluation. They also urged Nigerians to demand the release of all #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protesters still in police or prison custody, as well as the release of detained journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and other victims of state repression.
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