Tinubu”s Speech Did Not Meet Expectation, Wole Soyinka, Atiku And Others Fault Tinubu Speech

Organisers of the nationwide protest against hardship, former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN, have described as the hollow response of President Bola Tinubu to the protest which was on its fourth day yesterday.

Recall that the protesters had asked the President to address the nation and respond to their 15-point demand if they were to call off the protests.

Not satisfied with the President’s response to the protest, organisers of the protest continued with their action at the Gani Fawehinmi Park at Ojota in Lagos, Osun, and Kano, among other states, yesterday, saying the nationwide broadcast did not address their demands.

The police, however, barred the protesters from holding a procession beyond the designated ground at Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota.

One of the main organizers of the nationwide protest, Mr Deji Adeyanju, described the broadcast by President Tinubu as a complete disaster.

Adeyanju said: “President Tinubu failed to address the demands of protesters, not even one, and it is very disappointing and unfortunate because there is no other way to explain it. ‘’Those people at the Villa cannot make the President see or hear what is going on in the country. The President could not order the arrest of people who killed peaceful protesters in the last couple of days and it is really sad.

“The President’s broadcast to the nation was just a complete disaster, a very disappointing broadcast indeed.

“Our expectations from the broadcast were so many, that he has spoken with political leaders at all levels, politicians are now willing to make sacrifices for the country because on day one of his administration he asked Nigerians to make sacrifices they are failing and refusing to make sacrifices.

“The issue of fuel subsidy, electricity tariff was on the front burner, and many other things we were expecting to hear from the President, unfortunately, none of these things were dealt with.’’

Coordinator of the protest in Osun State, Ajala Adetunji, said his group, Coalition of Concerned Nigeria Citizens, would meet to discuss the way forward but was emphatic that the ongoing protest would continued since the President did not address any of their concerns.

“Our protest is not a one-man show, especially as Osun’s case is concerned. Regarding President Bola Tinubu’s address this morning (yesterday), he did not address any of our concerns.

“The president was not specific on what the government will do to address the demands of the youth. The president’s call for dialogue is an open-ended appeal, which does not have a clear indicator of what will be done.

“However, we are still going to meet to deliberate but as it stands, the protest continues in Osun,” he said

Similarly, Mr Emmanuel Olowu, Secretary, Osun Coalition of Civil Societies, which is also part of the protest, said the President’s appeal for an end to the protest and dialogue would be discussed at a meeting of the various groups later in the day.

‘He said: As far as the President’s speech is concerned, he has not addressed our worries, but that not withstanding, we will converge later to discuss way forward on the protest.’’