Hardship: Presidency Moves to Disrupt Planned Protest on Independence Day

Nigeria will be celebrating its 64th Independence Day on October 1, 2024.

While the government prepares for the traditional celebrations, certain groups have slated this day to begin sustained protests against the current hardship, which they attribute to ‘bad governance.’ This planned protest, tagged #FearlessInOctober or EndBadGovernanceProtestInNigeria 2.0, follows a similar 10-day protest in August where thousands across various states expressed grievances against government policies.

The August protests focused on reversing government policies, including the removal of subsidy on petrol, floating the naira, and increasing electricity tariffs. Despite passionate pleas and cautions from authorities, protests turned violent, with attacks on persons and infrastructure.

To prevent a repeat of the August violence, the presidency is engaging with protest organizers to reach an understanding before October 1. Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga said that the government supports peaceful protests but is apprehensive about potential riots.

“Government is not against any peaceful protest by Nigerians. After all, it is their fundamental right to stage any protest.

“But government is always apprehensive about such protests degenerating into a riot as we experienced in August or the 2020 EndSARS protest in many parts of the country.

“Security agencies have been discussing with some of the organisers and they are being monitored so that they do not plunge the country into chaos or allow themselves to be used by internal and external forces which want to subvert the country and the 16-month-old administration”, he said.

He highlighted that economic reforms have started yielding dividends, citing indicators from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Since the August protests, the economic situation has worsened. Petrol prices have risen to over N1,000, and the exchange rate exceeds N1,600.