Scores of angry youths, yesterday, hit the streets of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, in protests, especially to demand urgent action from the President Bola Tinubu’s administration, to cushion the effect of the unbearable living conditions caused by the rising cost of living and food prices, which they describe as a full-blown hunger crisis.
The protest tagged #EndNigeriaHardship caused gridlock in many parts of the metropolis as the protesters moved from one place to the other. Though peaceful, the chant of ‘Ebi n pawa’ (We are hungry) rent the atmosphere of Mokola and other routes that the protesters passed through. The agitated youths kicked off the protest at the popular Mokola Roundabouts amid heavy security presence to forestall breakdown of law and order. They were drawn from different groups including traders, artisans, and student’s unions from various institutions in the state.
For hours, vehicular movements through the roundabouts were halted, which caused traffic logjam at Mokola and its environs, including Adamasingba, Ekotedo, Onireke, Sango, and Bodija. The protesters carry placards with inscriptions bordering on the rising cost of living, escalating prices of food items, hunger in the country, economic hardship and urgent need for the government to take pragmatic steps and make food surplus in the country.
The inscriptions on the placards included: ‘Mr. President, this is not the hope you promised,’ ‘Is this the renewed hope that you promised? ‘Do you want to reduce our population?; ‘End food scarcity’, ‘Open borders and end hardship’, ‘A bag of cement has jumped from N5,300 to a minimum of N11,500’, among others.
The combined security team of the police, Nigerian Army, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as well as Amotekun Corps, were on ground to maintain orderliness.
One of the protesters, Pastor Paul Steve, told journalists: “We are here to express our grievances with the present-day government. When they were to come into power, they made us understand that by the time they would resume power, they were going to make things easy, that they were going to come out with economic policies that would positively impact an average Nigerians.
“Unfortunately, ever since they came into power, it has been hardship galore, through the removal of subsidy on petroleum, and the floating of naira. Things have become so expensive and out of the reach of a common man. An average Nigerian can no longer feed himself, take care of his children, provide accommodation for his family, take care of his aged parents, pay school fees for his children, and so on.
“When you come up with a policy and it is not working, it is the duty of any sane government to suspend that policy. They need to go back to the drawing table, look at the policy, and ask if the result is positive or negative. If the impact is negative, they know what to do.
“The hunger in the land presently must be addressed. You cannot expect 50,000 farmers to feed more than 230 million people. It will not work. With inflation on ground now, the government just has to allow importation of food products to save the situation on ground. If possible a time frame should be set. We don’t need to deceive ourselves, there is a shortage of food in this country. If they can remove hunger from the situation on ground, the hardship will not be as toxic as this.”
Meanwhile, Seyi, son of President Tinubu, has urged Nigerians to endure the economic hardship.
He said that enduring the trying time was necessary for Nigeria to have a better future, saying that the president’s recent tough decisions should have been taken years ago. He stated that although challenges persist, the nation’s outlook is promising.
He said this in a post he shared on his Instagram handle.
Using the hashtag #OurGenerationWillYieldTheFruitsOfThisHardship, Seyi quoted his father, Bola Tinubu, saying, “There is no joy in seeing the people of this nation shoulder burdens that should have been shed years ago. I wish today’s difficulties did not exist. But we must endure if we are to reach the good side of our future.”