By Rev Yakubu Pam,
Former Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission

Nigeria is already at the tipping point as a result of the planned “Hunger Protest” by groups of youth across the country, hashtag “EndBadGovernanceInNigeria,” slated to commence on Thursday, 1st August, 2024. Even though Nigerians have the constitutional right to peaceful gathering and peaceful protest, there are strong indications that such planned protest is an invitation to chaos.

Indeed, Nigerians still have fresh memories of the tale of woes during the infamous 2020 #EndSARS rallies in the major cities in the federation which began peacefully but were later hijacked by unscrupulous elements and hoodlums who wrecked havoc and looted as well as vandalized both public and private property.
Also recall the 1988 fuel hike by the military administration of President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida which ignited protests nation-wide which led to wanton destruction
of lives and property.

There’s no doubt that Nigeria is experiencing its worst cost of living and economic hardships, following the unavoidable and inevitable economic reforms by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The sole aim is to turn around the dwindling economic fortunes of the country before his assumption in office over a year ago. In fact, it was obvious that the nation’s economy was in comatose and needed urgent revival.

Thus, the removal of the fuel subsidy which had hitherto served as the conduit pipe to drain the nation’s resources during the successive administrations by few unpatriotic and unscrupulous Nigerians to the detriment of the wellbeing of the pauperised masses had become imperative.

The action by President Tinubu was apt because economic experts as well as the US-based World Bank and the International Monetary Fund ( IMF), including all the 2023 presidential candidates, had converged on the consensus opinion that removal of the fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria was inevitable, hence retaining it was like postponing the evil days. There could not have been any better demonstration of his good intentions for the country than the timely removal of the fuel subsidy.

Therefore, the organizers of the “Hunger Protest ” should give peace a chance and heed to the clarion calls and pleas by the federal government, religious bodies, clerics, security operatives and well-meaning Nigerians to shelve the protest. They should not allow some of the disgruntled youths and undesirable elements in their midst to be used by the opposition figures and unpatriotic Nigerians as canon fodder to thwart the ongoing economic reforms which are of necessity both now and in the future. Failing to continue the implementation of the economic reforms by the Tinubu administration will spell doom for the country and the economy will remain in deep quagmire.

The President has already put in place the necessary measures to address the myriad problems bedeviling the country’s economy and the grievances of the youths. These include students loan scheme, skills acquisition programmes, signing into of the much agitated new national minimum wage of N70,000.00, housing funds scheme and hosts of other palliative measures to cushion the pangs of economic hardships being experienced by Nigerians. Thus, determined not to bore Nigerians with overflogged fairy stories and blame game about those responsible for the economic hardships, the Tinubu administration has decided to tackle head-on the economic problems by introducing the various reforms. The downturn of the economy has put majority of Nigerians below the poverty line which is a sad irony in the oil rich country.

By and large, the planned “Hunger Protest” across the country is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good. The organizers should rather use the ample opportunity to engage the federal government in meaningful dialogue on the way out of the woods. Since nation building is always work-in-progress. What’s even more, even the developed and advanced countries currently having their fair share of the high cost of living and economic hardships. Hence ours is not an exception.