The
crowd of protesting Nigerians who turned out to rally against the
government in various states of the federation have table 10 things they
want from the government.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Conveners of the Monday national protest tagged #IStandWithNigeria,
EiE Nigeria, have listed 10 key areas of concern the government must
tackle while making 5 demands.
The protesters want the government to tackle these 10 key areas,
namely: security, education, health, power, unemployment, the high cost
of living, social justice, transparency, the cost of government and
patriotism.
In an open letter addressed to the Acting President, Prof Yemi
Osinbajo, the protesters identified five demands that must be tackled
immediately by the government.
The letter reads in part:
“In the words of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s First Prime
Minister, ‘the future of this vast country must depend, in the main, on
the efforts of ourselves to help ourselves.’
“Since the idea of a protest was muted a few weeks ago and a
call to action was given for Nigerians to share their challenges and
concerns via social media and SMS, we have received hundreds of text
messages, Whatsapp messages; thousands of comments via various social
media platforms and millions of engagements through various hashtags.
“The messages paint a clear picture of hardship across the
country. Nigerians are facing difficult economic challenges and do not
see any end in sight. Our standards of living have worsened and we are
also disappointed in the lack of transparency and an ineffective fight
against corruption in a government that made a fight against corruption a
key pillar of its campaign. In summary, the change that Nigerians were
promised has not been delivered and a road map to the desired
destination is yet to be communicated.
“This is not about ad-hoc programs or sound-bites, but a
sincerity in the government, from the Presidency to its various
ministries and agencies, that this government that means what it says
and says what it means. The various spokespersons for the administration
are dismissive of Nigerians’ concerns, repeating that Nigeria is
working when it is clear, even to the blind, that it is not!
“For example, a lot of work has gone into attempts to scuttle
the peaceful gatherings in Lagos and Abuja, when the citizens right to
free speech is inalienable. Furthermore, the implied attempt by some
elements in security agencies to stifle the inalienable rights of
Nigerians to freedom of speech and assembly cannot be allowed. We are in
a democracy and citizens must be able to express their displeasure with
their elected representatives in a lawful manner. If as much attention
was paid to good governance, our circumstances would be much better.
“We all suffer from the country’s dysfunction and we are saying
– Enough is Enough! Nigeria must come first! Not personal interests,
not sectional interests; not business interests. From the impact of
perennial power shortage to the lack of decent health care facilities
and a good education for our children, we all pay the price, one way or
another, for bad governance.
“The police who are here with us today, the teachers, hawkers
in the street, traders in the market, labourers, all of us suffer when
Nigeria doesn’t work. The hardship we are going through, is why we are
gathered here today. Thousands of jobs have been lost over the last one
year, factories have closed, people are struggling not just to keep
their kids in school but provide the most basic of things – food.We have
watched the price of some of our staple foods double, even triple in
some cases. Yet the response to our decision to protest, a freedom and a
right guaranteed by our constitution, was multiple attempts to
intimidate us and discredit us. May we remind you that repressing angry
and frustrated citizenry never bodes well for those in power?
“We have watched the price of some of our staple foods double,
even triple in some cases. Yet the response to our decision to protest, a
freedom and a right guaranteed by our constitution, was multiple
attempts to intimidate us and discredit us. May we remind you that
repressing angry and frustrated citizenry never bodes well for those in
power?
“Perhaps it isn’t surprising that political office holders have
no idea how bad things have become after all their office, the
political power they wield, their jumbo pay & allowance, means that
their reality is very much removed from that of regular Nigerians, the
people they promised, nay, swore to serve.
Protest 1“Well, most Nigerians are now fed up so we are
gathered today, here and now to tell you that things are bad; really,
really bad. It is also important to state, that while this message is
addressed to you as the President of this great nation, the frustrations
are not only towards the Federal Government.
“We are also speaking to the National Assembly whose job it is
to represent Nigerians at the Federal level and their responsibilities
include law-making; appropriating monies and ensuring they are spent
judiciously. However, they have so far spent the last two years in
office fighting for spoils, buying expensive cars, spending time on
corruption allegations against several members and unanswered questions
around the budgeting process and allegations of budget manipulation.
“At the State level, several states owe salaries and have
refused to be accountable and transparent in the spending of resources,
including the bailout funds they received from the Federal Government.
This is simply unacceptable.
“Our call for this protest had 10 key areas of concern –
security, education, health, power, unemployment, the high cost of
living, social justice, transparency, the cost of government &
patriotism – we are making demands of 5 of these issues as follows:
1. Transparency in all tiers of government
We want to know how much states received as bailout funds and
how the funds were spent, especially as salaries are unpaid and social
services are under-funded and some cases even none existent.
That the Federal Government puts in place a clear mechanism for
making public new hires into government agencies to ensure that these
jobs are filled based on merit, not nepotism. Allegations of illegal
hires into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue
Service (FIRS), Nigerians Prisons are yet to be answered adequately.
Freedom of Information requests to these agencies have met with silence
on the substance of the request.
Allegations of ‘sex for food’ and food stealing in IDP camps
must be investigated those found guilty punished swiftly. The suffering
of Nigerians that are already victims of the Boko Haram onslaught cannot
and should not be compounded by the actions of unscrupulous people.
How much has been recovered from the government’s anti-corruption fight? How much has been spent and what was it spent on?
2. Security
ALL Nigerian lives MUST matter and we need to see government –
at the State & Federal level – act in a way that proves this is
indeed the case.
Insecurity is at an all-time low in Nigeria, from Benue State
to the Niger Delta, from Southern Kaduna to the Northeast, scores are
being killed and it seems the perpetrators are mostly getting away with
it. The Federal Government and States must put proactive peace and
security measures in place to ensure an equitable resolution of these
current crises and this road map must be made public so citizens are
aware that their rights are being protected.
3. Cost of Government
The cost of running our government structure is too high and
needs to be reduced to reflect the reality of our dwindling economic
fortunes.
National Assembly: The size is no longer affordable as it
operates today. The structure that supports 469 individuals cost us
N115bilion a year of which they provide no record of how the money is
spent. There should be a referendum on a unicameral Assembly.
There have been several reports on eliminating duplicate
agencies. They need to be implemented to reduce cost and increase
efficiency.
Our budget process is poor and allows for fraud. We have not
learnt from last year’s debacle. We propose open contracting data
standard so that the budget and procurement data are linked in a way
that allows citizens see clearly what has been funded. We also propose
citizen consultation so that citizens have a direct say in the budget
process.
4. Social Justice & Corruption
At a time of increasing suffering for many Nigerians, the
government should be humane and put a pause on actions to drive
government revenue that increase hardship. The demolitions of living
areas and markets; increase in taxes and the introduction of new taxes.
We can’t have one set of rules for the rich, and another for
the poor. Allegations of corruption by political office holders should
be investigated and innocence has proven beyond reasonable doubt. The
Presidency’s defence of the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation on an offence to which he himself admitted guilt is
unacceptable.
The government needs to follow the rule of law it espouses and
obey court orders. Why has El Zaky not been released as ordered by the
courts? A democratic government that tramples on the constitution is
playing with fire as it undermines the foundation of its legitimacy.
5. Power
The lack of power in Nigeria continues to be a major hindrance
to not just business but to people getting themselves out of poverty as
many studies have shown. We demand that the government rolls out a
6-month emergency power plan that focuses on:
Metering all customers to stop estimated billing.
Appoint a NERC substantive Chairman and enforce the EPSR Act on Customer Complains Resolutions
Amend the ESPR Act to relax regulation to allow small-scale
power generation. We believe this will in a very short time improve our
power situation.
“It is important to reiterate that we are gathered here to
protest because our political leaders have failed, our elected leaders
have failed. They are not keeping their pre-elections promises, they are
not delivering on their manifestos and programs. Worse, their actions
and inactions have combined to create more hardship for millions of
Nigerians.
“We are here to demand proper leadership, for accountability,
for love of nation before self, for selfless service to the country.
“We are here because we are tired of those we have elected to ‘serve’ us taking advantage of us.
“We are here to say Enough is Enough!
“We are giving the government till its 2nd anniversary – May
29, 2017, to show substantive results on the issues we have raised. If
not, the agitations will be louder and more intense.”
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