Ex-Presidential aide, Ude blasts Tinubu over hunger protest broadcast

By Bayo Davids

Former Director of Strategy and Communication to President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Jackson Ude has picked holes in President Bola Tinubu’s Sunday nationwide broadcast to the nation on the ongoing protest over poor governance and increasing hardship.

The protest which commenced on Thursday, August 1st, 2024 has been poorly managed by security agents as close to 24 persons were reportedly shot dead by armed state agents.

Given the widespread condemnation of the military for their role in the crisis, the President issued a statement, urging restraint and pledged to address the nation on Sunday.

The address however came short of the expectation of many Nigerians.

Writing from his base in the United States of America, Mr. Ude described the President’s broadcast as a pointer to a leader out of tune with the pains of his people.

He said: “President Bola Tinubu’s address to the nation shows he is insensitive, out of touch and not connected with the people. His speech lacked empathy and did not address the issues of his over bloated government, corruption, hunger, unemployment and insecurity bedeviling the country.

“His handlers have not done him any good by packaging a speech that appears to be a threat to the people who are genuinely fighting for good governance.”

That said, the Global Peace Ambassador also faulted the Federal Government’s removal of petroleum subsidy, arguing that the palliatives deployed to cushion the effect of that policy has so far, failed to assuage the pains being felt across the country.

The statement further read: “The premature removal of oil subsidies has brought untold hardships to many Nigerians. The government resort to palliatives that are mostly hijacked by politicians and middlemen, have not solved the problems or filled the gaps created by subsidies removal.

“The President was too in a rush during his swearing in when he announced removal of oil subsidies without any plans on how to cushion the effects that would have on Nigerians. The result of that premature announcement, is the hardship on Nigerians that followed.

“This is one of the reasons the protest is staged by Nigerians. And instead of finding a middle ground to addressing the issue or even returning subsidies for at least one year pending when the necessary strategies are put in place, he instead, addressed the country in the middle of the protest, promising nothing.

He also condemned Tinubu’s apparent lack of interest in cutting down the cost of governance, saying, “The President didn’t even bother about the agitation for him to cut down the size of his government. The huge size of his government has taken a chunk of the country’s economy.

“While Nigerians groan in pains of poverty and hunger, the President and his cabinet and aides live large. This is not acceptable.”

Mr. Ude further reminded the President that as good as his achievements are in the past one year, they will only be meaningful if they impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.

His words, “Nigerians appreciate all the President listed as his achievements. But if those so-called achievements have not translated into a better living conditions for Nigerians, then it is safe to say the President has failed or lying about his achievements in the last one year.

“Dishing out palliatives is not good governance. Nigerians are not beggars. What they want are opportunities created by good governance. Nigerians deserve a government that understands how to drive the economy, secure lives and property and guarantee citizens of equality, justice and prosperity.

“This government has in the last one year failed to guarantee that.”

According to him, “Cutting down the size of government, ending corruption, returning fuel subsidies, sacking the cabinet, givibg the people good governance, ending insecurity in the country, and many more are the simple demands, ” of the protesters, “Not that lengthy, boring piece of speech that was threatening the people on one hand and reeling out unverifiable achievements, ” on the other.