August Protest: Time For Nigerians To Demand Their Stolen Mandate, By Buhari Olanrewaju Ahmed

The hunger in the country is real. In a couple of weeks, oppressed citizens are expected to take to the streets to protest the economic downturn. Meanwhile, security agencies have been issuing threatening statements to instill fear in the minds of the people.

Only inexperienced leaders would consider following the EndSARS route, given how innocent people were killed.

The power of the people’s constituency is greater than that of the office of the president. If a president sees himself as a demigod and acts against the welfare of the oppressed people, they need to point him to the exit door.

It is no understatement that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a heartless and power-drunk leader. Nigerians have experienced unprecedented hardship under his watch, making it one of the most challenging periods in the country’s history.

People have been subjected to begging on the streets because they can’t afford even one meal a day, let alone three, due to the skyrocketing food prices, high inflation, and the devaluation of the Nigerian currency against the dollar.

Unemployment has created a vacuum for insecurity. Millions of children have dropped out of school due to the ongoing menace in the northern part of the country, where terrorists entice young people with small amounts of money as a means to recruit them and launch attacks on innocent people.

Our food security is in jeopardy due to banditry, kidnapping, and attacks by herders. Predominantly farming communities have been devastated, with many farmers killed overnight, others kidnapped, and some forced to flee their ancestral homes out of fear.

The rate of poverty in the country has increased significantly. The country’s security architecture has been compromised for a long time. Nigerian leaders do not value the lives of the people they represent; they are only concerned with their own welfare and the safety of their families.

Nigeria is already sitting on a keg of gunpowder. The outcome—whether it will explode or not—depends on the actions of the security operatives deployed on protest days, who will determine whether to protect or confront the protesters.

Oppressed Nigerians have become deaf to the current situation. What can make them listen is if their demands are agreed upon and implemented immediately, without wasting time on flimsy excuses or old tricks used by politicians to calm people with fake promises that will never be fulfilled.

Right now, young people have become resolute; they don’t fear intimidation or arrest by any security agencies. They are determined to rescue the country from those who pretend to be democrats but are actually criminals. They know that the future of the country rests on their shoulders and are strongly united to end bad governance.

As a country blessed with abundant resources, we cannot continue like this. The present and future of this nation have been hijacked by criminals in power.

In some countries, if citizens are unhappy with certain policies and protest, the leader of that country may choose to resign honorably to preserve their reputation.

However, Nigerian leaders seem unconcerned about preserving their reputations for future generations. Their actions often lead to destruction, leaving their descendants to inherit a legacy of negative history about their predecessors.

I don’t understand why the Nigerian president would order security operatives to arrest and harm peaceful protesters simply because they are demanding good governance. Who is he governing if he orders the killing of his own citizens?

This shows that they do not care about the plight of the people. These power-drunk leaders should know that no office is more powerful than the constituency of the oppressed.

The Kenyan and Bangladesh protests will be a mere iceberg compared to the Nigerian August protest. Security operatives are now searching for the organizers of the planned protest to arrest them and instill fear in the hearts of the people.

The Nigerian government should recognize that such an approach is outdated. No one who is struggling to meet their daily needs will fear arrest when their basic existence is not secure. Such people are more likely to be motivated to contribute to rescuing the country from its challenges rather than letting it sink.

Tinubu has failed to learn from history; a misguided action will not heed the warnings of those trying to prevent it. President Tinubu should advise all security chiefs to instruct their personnel not to arrest or harm any protesters. Their primary obligation is to protect the protesters from any sponsored hoodlums.

The duty of security operatives is to protect the protesters, not to harm them. However, the protesters are also advocating for better minimum wages and allowances for security personnel, who are not allowed to join the protests. Only a deranged officer would shoot civilians who are fighting for their rights.

History will be made in August, and the outcome will determine whether the country remains balanced or not.