Renowned Professor of History and African Studies, Toyin Falola, says the President Bola Tinubu government has failed to address the major triggers for the #EndBadGovernance protests that reverberated in most states in Nigeria earlier in August.
The septuagenarian professor at the University of Texas was a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.
He said the protesters were charitable to announce their protests weeks ahead, giving the government time to map out strategies to stifle the impact of the rallies.
Falola, however, said the Tinubu administration should fear spontaneous and uncontrollable protests like those being experienced in South Asian country Bangladesh where young demonstrators are against the policies of fleeing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Between August 1 and 10, young demonstrators held rallies in most cities in Nigeria, protesting high cost of living and soaring food prices. The protesters also asked Tinubu to reverse the subsidy on petrol for prices of basic commodities to drop.
On August 4, 2024, Tinubu addressed Nigerians and ruled out the return of petrol subsidies, a major demand of #EndBadGovernance campaigners.
Speaking on the programme, the don faulted the presidential statement on the #EndBadGovernance protests, saying the major issues of hunger, skyrocketing energy costs, high standard of living and insecurity raised by young demonstrators were not addressed by the President.
“When the President issues his own, no issue around fuel subsidy, no issue around infrastructure, no talk about electricity, no talk about security – – all the elements that drove the protests.
“Aṣọ Rock’s fundamental reaction was: ‘we don’t want anyone to destabilise the government’. Nobody wants to destabilise the government.
“Of course, some elements took advantage of protests with the Russian flags, calls for coup, but the protest was not about destabilising the government; the protesters were not calling for a coup. Of course, in Kaduna, they did but that was not the original intention which was to say, ‘we are very hungry’. Are they not hungry? They are.”
He said there is no way Tinubu won’t know about the rising cost of living in Nigeria, fuelled by persistent inflationary pressure in the country.
Falola said, “He (Tinubu) knows, and making excuses is not the way to govern but at the end of the day, we are lucky that there were no damages. People were expecting Igbo-Yoruba warfare in Lagos (but) it didn’t happen.
“The fundamental things that produced the protest are still there. What the government should pay attention to is that undated or unannounced or unplanned protest that is more dangerous. Because you cannot control that one. This one that there was notice and you can put your police or bullies on the streets. But the protest to fear is like that of Bangladesh.”
