Thousands of Nigerian citizens have converged in the nation’s economic and political capitals, Lagos and Abuja, respectively, to protest high living and energy costs in Africa’s most populous nation.
This is as the nation celebrates her 64 years of independence.
However, the citizens are of the opinion that it is not a time for celebration, calling on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address the soaring inflation and unprecedented economic hardship in the country.
Recall that the October 1, 2024 protest, tagged “FearlessInOctober”, was propagated on social media, some weeks after the August #EndBadGovernance protests.
In Abuja, the protesters gathered at the Utako area waving the Nigerian Green-White-Green flag and banners with various inscriptions such as “EndBadGovernance”, “DiasporaVoting”, “EndHighLivingCosts”, amongst others.
In Lagos, around the state capital in Ikeja, the situation was the same as youths besieged the popular Ikeja UnderBridge area, with vehicular movement at a standstill on a day already declared a public holiday by the government for the celebration of Nigeria’s independence.
The protesters in Lagos also wielded large-format banners with boldly encrusted statements like, “Reverse Anti-People, Neoliberal Policies Of Privatisation, Deregulation and Devaluation of Naira”, among others.
Both in Lagos and Abuja, scores of security agents were seen on alert at the protest locations where they maintained a respectable distance from the demonstrators.
President Tinubu came under criticism for his twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange rates which many Nigerians believed were responsible for the unimaginable inflation and soaring living and energy costs in the country.
Energy costs have more than tripled since Tinubu took up the reins of government on May 29, 2023.
Petrol prices per litre jumped up from around N200 to over N1,000, while electricity tariff quadrupled, impacting the manufacturing sector and the pocket of Nigerian households.
During his Independence Day Anniversary Broadcast on Tuesday, the President pleaded for more patience and time, saying his administration was retooling its economic policies for the good of common Nigerians.
He sympathised with Nigerians over the economic hardship his reforms might have caused, and assured them that his administration had been busy implementing measures to bring down the skyrocketing cost of living.