Hunger protest: No immediate hope of ending suffering in Tinubu's speech

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An Akure-based lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Tope Temokun, on Sunday, expressed disappointment in the address of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the nation, saying the President has failed to address the grievances and concerns that birth the protest.

Temokun, who stated this in a statement, noted that apart from failing to touch on some of the issues which led to the protest, President Tinubu failed to tell Nigerians measures by his government to address the grouses of the masses in the immediate term.

According to him, he said the protest was not politically motivated as insinuated by the President but said the protest became necessary due to hunger, scarcity of essential commodities, and bad policies introduced by President Tinubu’s administration.

Temokun said Tinubu’s address to the nation over the nationwide protests against bad governance and cost of living which began on August 1, gave no hope of ending the hardship of Nigerians and was not specific on what his government will do to address the suffering.

The Human Rights lawyer said: “In the introductory to the August 4 early morning broadcast today, President Tinubu took off by saying he speaks with heavy heart but shortly after that line, the President said that his government would not sit by idly and allow a few with a clear political agenda to tear the nation apart.

“This statement is sad, too sad. It shows the President has not come to term with the fact that his citizens are struggling to survive excruciating hunger under his government. This aspect smacks of malice, insensitivity and sense of no responsibility to the citizens.

“In fact, the broadcast is an indictment on the protesters that the protest wasn’t a genuine response of reasonable youths who are truly hungry but just a handiwork of few with political agenda. The most dangerous liars are those who think they are telling the truth.

“This makes me weep that I belong to a nation in which when people come out in hunger and frustration to cry for solution for survival, their President would merely and briskly tag their cries as just the handiwork of few with political agenda. It shows the President didn’t feel our pain.”

“The President said further that he hereby enjoined the protesters to suspend their strike and create room for dialogue, without speaking directly to our pain and palliate the citizens by telling us as citizens what will be the price of bread from tomorrow, what will the fuel stations sell per litre of fuel tomorrow and whether the price of yam will go down or not in the market going forward.

“All of the economic postulations he piled up in that speech are nothing new, they are the routine government old stories and they are not any assurance to the protesting youths that their pain would be assuaged as soon as possible.

“In all, the speech is a failure. It did not talk to the angry and hungry youths of a nation crying to live,” he lamented.

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