The #EndBadGovernance protesters have converged at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, on Monday, to continue their demonstration despite the nationwide broadcast by President Bola Tinubu.
The organizers, including Hassan Taiwo, Ayoyinka Oni, and Adegboyega Adeniji, from the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria Organising Committee, stated in a Sunday release that President Tinubu’s address did not meet their demands.
They expressed disappointment that it took President Tinubu three days of protest to respond and criticized his broadcast as inadequate.
Tinubu had assured in his Sunday address that his administration was prepared to listen to and address the protesters’ concerns, acknowledging their calls as “loud and clear.”
“I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity,” the president said.
The organisers noted that they consider the decision to address the nation an “important victory for our movement.”
“Without our courage and resolve to dare the odds, even this acknowledgement would not have happened. So far, we have demonstrated that a President is not greater than the rest of the country,” the statement read.
While taking note of Tinubu’s offer of dialogue, they noted that they were concerned that in the same breadth, the President had also ordered that the protest be suspended.
“In our view, the president cannot be approbating and reprobating at the same time. The President cannot offer an olive branch while at the same time holding a dagger to our throat,” the trio said.
The statement condemned the scenario “where thugs attacked protesters who had gathered for Sunday morning worship thereby injuring many.”
It added, “So we therefore call on all Nigerian youth and mass of the people to join us by 7 am at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos tomorrow (Monday) August 5, 2024, which is Day 5 of the protest.”
Although the Lagos protest had been deemed peaceful by the state government, a video captured by Channels TV on Sunday showed protesters being chased by hoodlums at Ojota just hours after the President’s address.