July 15, (THEWILL) – The Executive Director, Citizens for Development and Education (CDE), Amb. Ibrahim Waiya, on Monday, decried the alarming deteriorating economic condition of Nigerians.
Waiya, however, said street protest isn’t the best option to address the situation.
Waiya spoke in Kano against the backdrop of plans by a yet-to-be-identified group to stage a protest over the current economic hardship in the country.
“Cumulatively, the economic challenges in Nigeria are enough to motivate the citizens to take to the streets, to show their anger. However, the low level of our civilization and exposure, as well as the conflicting sentiments around religion and ethnicity may not allow us to have well-coordinated protests which could translate into something positive,” he said.
Speaking further, Amb. Waiya, who doubles as the Chairman, Conference of Northern States Civil Society Networks, said: “We are in support of the peaceful protest to show our anger. We are, however, sceptical about what could be the outcome, as many greedy and selfish politicians may take advantage of our division to hijack the process through the instrumentality of their paid hoodlums to cause chaos.
“Peaceful protests are lawful in Nigeria, however, our fear is that the protest has the potential to stagnate the daily businesses of the poor in the country, and aggravate their sufferings instead of finding succour for them.
“Protests, mostly, if care is not taken, turn into chaos and bloodshed that usually result in the loss of innocent lives.”
He cited the ENDSARS protest as one of the most recent scenarios in Nigeria’s socio-political history, alleging that “many young men and women are still rotting in jails.”
The executive director condemned “the insensitivity of the Federal Government to Realize the pinnacle of the difficulty in the land, with more than 85 per cent of the citizens struggling to feed, while those in Government have not in any way shown empathy to the plights of the suffering citizens.
“In 2022, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics disclosed that about 130 million Nigerian citizens are in multidimensional poverty. Unfortunately, neither Buhari nor Tinubu have practically put in place some workable measures to address the matter as a national crisis,” he said.
Waiya, who stressed the need for the Federal Government to adopt measures to cushion the effects of the economic hardship, said those adopted as post-fuel subsidy removal regime interventions were ineffective, temporary and inadequate.
Abdullahi Yusuf is a seasoned journalist, communicator and was previously the Deputy Editor-In-Chief and Zonal Manager, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Jos, where he retired on December 15, 2021
