A group of youths on Friday staged a peaceful protest in Osun State, decrying the rising cost of living, insecurity in Nigeria, with a call on the government to immediately intervene.
They converged on the Old Garage area of the city, marching through to Freedom Park, Orisunmibare, Ola-Iya, Alekunwodo, and then the Oke-Fia areas of the state capital.
Armed policemen were on the ground to ensure law and order and to prevent the protest from being hijacked by hoodlums to cause violence.
The protesters, who wielded placards with inscriptions such as ‘change the unfavourable policies’, ‘Nigerians are suffering, we can’t cope again’, and ‘We are humans, stop mistreating the citizens’, among others, assembled along MDS Road, Osogbo very early.
Addressing the protesters, the chairman, Osun Civil Societies Coalition, Comrade Waheed Lawal, said the protest would continue until the Federal Government finds solutions to the current economic hardship ravaging the country.
He said, “Government must ameliorate the suffering of the people. They must do whatever they need to do to make sure that the people live in better conditions.
“Nigerians deserve the best. They promised us renewed hope but what they are giving us now is renewed hardship. We reject renewed hardship in our lives, and in our economy because Nigerians deserve the best.
“What Nigerians want is a peaceful atmosphere. We don’t want insecurity in our land again. We can’t travel from Osogbo to Ibadan without panicking. You will be thinking that they will kidnap you.
“The abduction of monarchs is the order of the day in our country now. We urge the government to provide security for the life and property of the citizens. It is their responsibility, it is a constitutional responsibility.
“Every government that fails to provide security for the lives of the citizens is no longer a government. What we are saying is simple, we are ready to face the government in this hardship and we are marathon runners.
“We have started this struggle today and if the government fails to listen to us, we will continue to mobilise our people to protest this hardship because enough is enough.”
Their protest followed similar ones in Minna, Niger State, and Kano, all in the Northern part of the country.
In Niger State, the demonstrators, mostly women and youths, blocked a major road in the state capital Minna to demand help over living costs.
Since coming to office in May, Tinubu has ended a fuel subsidy and currency controls, leading to a tripling of petrol prices and a spike in living costs as the naira slides sharply against the dollar.
Ministers of finance, information, budget and national planning, and agriculture as well as the national security advisor, central bank director and other senior aides took part in the meetings which began on Tuesday.
“By the time these meetings are concluded, we’ll be able to issue a definite statement on what the position of the government is in this regard,” Information Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters.
“All I can say is that discussions are ongoing, and very soon a solution is in sight for Nigerians.”