Hunger Protest: Why President Tinubu Should Think And Act Fast, by Fatihat Surajo El-Yakub

When rumors of the planned nationwide protest began, many didn’t believe the organizers mean what they were saying. But considering the miserable life Nigerians are going through, some people have no doubt about the possibility of the protest. Nigerians blame President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic policies as the reason behind all the hardship Nigerians are facing today.

President Bola Ahmed shouldn’t fold his hand after listening to misleading information about the protest from his loyalists and think that this is something he should joke with when he definitely knows that Nigerians are seriously angry with what’s happening in the country. Because those close to him might not tell him the exact problem in the sense that he will act fast and do something tangible to quickly address the situation.

The planned protest started 1st August, 2024. Many states of the federation have come in their numbers taking the streets in major towns of the state protesting against hunger and other things that make life boring in the country, calling on the president to act quickly by adjusting his economic policies which they blame is the root of the problem.

Multiple reports revealed that the peaceful protest took different dimensions in some states where police accused the protesters of taking advantage of the protest to launch attacks on government and private properties, a situation that forced states like Kano and Jigawa to impose 24 hours curfew. In Jigawa state, two policemen were reportedly injured.

“All these happened on the first day of the protest, only God knows what will follow If the government fails to intervene and address the situation by employing a lasting solution.”

What happened in the neighboring countries will serve as an example to President Tinubu that he shouldn’t take the protest lightly. Let the government listen and address the demands of the people so long as doing that  will bring a solution to the problem Nigerians are protesting against. Failure to take possible measures may result in something heinous which both the government and public will regret eventually.

Most of the protesters are calling on president Tinubu Tinubu to reverse the fuel subsidy he removed on the first day he took oath to serve the nation. Right from that very day things began to go wrong each and every blessed day. Life is becoming hard for many households, where many find it hard to have two square meals in a day.

Nigerians cried out that fuel touches all angles of life in Nigeria, and any little change in fuel price will have a negative impact on the life of Nigerians as It was now. With this reason I’m calling on President Tinubu to bring back the fuel subsidy in order to ease the situation. If president Tinubu is here to serve the people, then he should do what people want.

Progress is a continuous process, and for a country to reach its target destination, leaders must not make things hard for its citizens.  President Tinubu’s policies to take Nigeria quickly to its target destination is too harsh for a country like Nigeria, where most of the populace are surviving below 1$. Let’s take things easy and follow some process.

Fatihat Surajo El-Yakub
300L student of Mass Communication
elyakubfatihat@gmail.com