With protests set to begin today, August 1, 2024, Nigerians, mainly youths, have lamented the hardship in the country since President Bola Tinubu was sworn in on May 20, 2023.
Aggrieved over the hyperinflation, insecurity, and alleged wrong economic policies implemented by the Tinubu administration, youths have vowed to protest nationwide, demanding change.
Despite several quarters urging the youths and intending protesters to shelve their grievances and give the Tinubu-led federal government more time, the youths have remained undaunted in their resolve to protest.
Clamouring with the hashtag #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, the youths are demanding a reversion of the pump price of petrol to N100 per litre.
The argue that with the emergence of Tinubu as president, the pump price of gasoline hit over a thousand naira, which has had a ripple effect in the prices of goods and services in the country.
The protesters are also demanding concerted efforts in fighting insecurity and hunger in the country.
They demand the closure of all IDP camps and the resettling of those who have been displaced from their communities as a result of rampant terrorism in the country.
The aggrieved youths are also demanding a “total electoral reform and an independent probe into the electoral budget of N355 billion.”
They also require the unconditional “release of all #EndSARS protesters still in detention.”
Among other things, they’re demanding “compulsory free education from primary to secondary school” and “education grant at tertiary level.”
Also included in their list of demands is that “children of all public office holders must attend public schools in the country.”
They also require that the “government must patronise made in Nigeria goods,” “transition to a unicameral legislature,” and “judicial and constitutional reforms.”
Below are the comprehensive 15 non-negotiable demands of the protesters to the federal government.
1. Scrap the 1999 Constitution and replace it with a people-minded Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a sovereign national conference immediately followed by a national referendum.
2. Toss the Senate arm of the Nigerian legislative system, keep the House of Representatives (HOR), and make lawmaking a part-time endeavour.
3. Pay Nigerian workers a minimum wage of nothing less than N250,000 monthly.
4. Invest heavily in education and give Nigerian students grants, not loans. Aggressively pursue free and compulsory education for children across Nigeria.
5. Release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally and demilitarise the south-east. All #EndSARS and political detainees must also be released and compensated.
6. Re-nationalize publicly owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies.
7. Reinstate a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger, starvation, and multidimensional poverty.
8. Probe past and present Nigerian leaders who have looted the treasury, recover loot, and deposit it in a special account to fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
9. Restructuring Nigeria to accommodate Nigeria’s diversity, resource control, decentralisation, and regional development.
10. End banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes. Reforms of security agencies to stop continuous human rights violations and duplication of security agencies to enhance the physical security of Nigerian citizens.
11. Establish a special energy fund immediately to drive massive, corruption-free power sector development.
12. Immediate reconstitution of Nigerian electoral body @inecnigeria to remove corrupt individuals and partisan hacks appointed to manipulate elections.
13. Massive investment in public works and industrialization will employ Nigeria’s teeming youths.
14. Massive shake-up in the Nigerian judiciary to remove cabals of corrupt generations of judges and judicial officers that continue denying everyday citizens access to real justice.
15. Diaspora voting.
The federal government has urged the organisers of the demonstrations to resort to dialogue instead of a demonstration that may disrupt the peace and tranquilly in the nation.
