Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, has condemned calls from certain individuals, who it claims are using the recent hunger protests as a cover to advocate for a military takeover of power in the country.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere asserted that the country’s democratic system “should not be truncated for any reason.”
The group noted that the recent protests turned violent in some states, resulting in the destruction and looting of properties, with reports of lives lost in certain areas.
Afenifere expressed concern that some so-called ‘protesters’ had openly displayed flags associated with Russia, while others insisted that the insignia on the flags belonged to the Nigerian Army.
“Whether the flags belonged to Russia or the army, the message is more or less the same – inciting the taking-over of government through an unconstitutional means,” the statement reads.
Afenifere added that since the protest was ostensibly called to push for an end to the hunger and other sundry deprivations in the land, “how come they look in the direction of either the military or a foreign power? It would be a height of self-delusion to assume that the intervention of either the military or a foreign power will put an automatic stop to hunger in the land”.
“This is a far cry from what is obtainable under a military government. So, let us give it a chance,” the group said.
To Afenifere, the states in which the protests took a dimension that ran against the ‘peaceful nature’ that the organisers promised included Edo, Rivers, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, Borno, Kano and Yobe.
It explained further that in some of the northern states, not only were properties looted and destroyed but brazen calls for a coup also rent the air.
Afenifere stated that while democracy might not yet benefit the country, “it is still the best in our current situation because of its inherent characteristics of making the people the custodians of political mandate. Its elasticity nature allows various tendencies to operate as long as they do so within the ambit of the law.”
“Whether the flags belonged to Russia or the army, the message is more or less the same – inciting the taking-over of government through an unconstitutional means,” Ajayi said.
He stated that since the protest was ostensibly to push for an end to the hunger and sundry other deprivations in the land, “how come they look in the direction of either the military or a foreign power? It would be a height of self-delusion to assume that the intervention of either the military or a foreign power will put an automatic stop to the hunger in the land.”