The Nigerian actor Damilare Olaiya has made fun of colleagues who supported President Bola Tinubu’s government.
During the recent #EndBadGovernance protest, Olaiya—who is well-known for his role in the Nigerian anthology television drama series “Super Story” developed by Wale Adenuga—spoke at Gani Fawehinmi Park in Ojota, Lagos.
Olaiya stated in an interview with News Central that he participated in the demonstration to voice his complaints to the federal government about the nation’s bad leadership, corruption, and rising living expenses.
The actor declared that he would “die if need be” to defend his children’s and grandchildren’s rights to a better future.
The actor also tackled his colleagues who support Tinubu’s administration, arguing that they “are now hiding their faces online” to avoid backlash from the public.
“We are saying that bad governance must end. The problems of Nigeria are not intractable. They are human problems and we can solve them if we end bad governance, bad leaders,” he said.
“For my colleagues, a lot of them that have taken the side of government, their comment sections have been put off. I do not want to mention names. Some of our veteran Nollywood actresses who supported this government are hiding their faces today. They cannot get the backlash from Nigerians.
“But I am telling you, for those of us who still believe in this country, for those of us who have continuously fought, from the time I was an undergraduate, to the time before I got married, to the time I got married, to the time I had my children, to the time my children started having their own children. Today I am a grandfather, I am still in this struggle. I am telling you, even if they end our lives bad governance must end. We are prepared to die.
“For the #EndSARS protest, the world knows that it was the government that sponsored thugs, put them in Lagos BRT vehicles to come to attack protesters. You can see now that we are peaceful, singing that bad governance must end.
“If the government wants to tell the soldiers to start shooting us, we will die, but we know that the soldiers too will die one day. The people that send them too will die. This life that I have is for Nigeria, for my children’s children and I am ready to die if need be.”
The #EndBadGovernance protests, which started on August 1, turned violent in some northern states, with security operatives dispersing protesters with tear gas canisters in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Kaduna.
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