Protest: Give Tinubu’s govt more time, ex-Oyo Commissioner urges Nigerians

President Bola Tinubu

Federal Character Commissioner from Oyo State, Professor Adeniyi Olowofela, has appealed to Nigerians to give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration more time instead of staging a planned hunger protest on August 1st.

Olowofela, a former chairman of Ido Local Government and Oyo State Commissioner for Education, argued that the majority of Nigerians lack the “moral right” to protest against the new administration, which has only been in power for just over a year of its four-year term.

“President Tinubu has just spent one year few days out of four years given by voters which means he has spent less than 30 percent of his tenure.

“How can you honestly and justifiably assess a government who has not spent 50% of its tenure?” Olowofela wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

The academician pointed to the fiercely contested 2023 presidential election in which Tinubu emerged victorious, as well as the large number of eligible voters who did not register or participate in the process.

Olowofela argued that these individuals “deserved any type of Government, good or bad” since they did not exercise their democratic rights.

Olowofela also stated that the combined vote totals for the PDP, Labour Party, and NNPP candidates – who contested and lost the election – do not give them the “moral right” to protest the current administration. He said they should instead wait until 2027 to re-contest or form a “shadow Government to critic current administration.”

Acknowledging the widespread hunger in the country, Olowofela appealed to Nigerians to see the impending protest as a “clarion call” for the government at all levels to prioritize policies that will alleviate the situation. However, he urged the “generality of Nigerians to give this current administration more time to address the problems in the land.”

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