The Ogoni Democracy and Development Forum (ODDF) and the African Indigenous Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development (AIFES) have lent their voice to several calls on the Bola Tinubu-led federal government to uphold the rights of the Nigerian masses to embark on their civic responsibility including the right to protest bad governance in the country.
The groups came up with this during a joint press briefing on the eve of the ongoing nationwide protests tagged EndBadGovernmance in Nigeria.
Speaking on behalf of the groups, the Executive Director of AIFES, and former President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Comrade Legborsi Saro-Pyagbara decried the mounting economic hardship in the country which has forced majority of Nigerians to live under inhuman conditions as never before witnessed in the history of Nigeria.
Alarmed by the suffering which has become unsustainable according to Mr. Saro-Pyagbara, hope which is the renewable energy that keeps one to believe in a future that will be bright is completely lost on Nigerians .
“We are about to lose Nigeria if the government does not respond to the yearnings and cries of the masses of our people. All indices of development have collapsed. Hunger is ravaging the land, people are dying because they cannot buy medicines, transportation has skyrocketed, going to school has become difficult and electricity collapse.
“The only way citizens can draw attention to their sufferings is to embark on peaceful protest. Protest is a legitimate right of citizens protected by international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended), among others”, the AIFES Executive Director declared.
He therefore urged the security agencies to allow citizens to publicly voice their concerns, challenge injustices and participate actively in the democratic process which is according to him the cornerstone of democratic governance and a vital tool for holding leaders accountable.
He also called on the protesters to carry out their protests peacefully by conducting themselves responsibly and avoid actions that could incite violence or disrupt public order. As a way out of the politico-economic quagmire, the ODDF and AIFES demand that the government should among others do the following: Work to reduce the cost of foods and end hunger in the land, reduce the price of petroleum products, end the growing insecurity in the country, reduce the cost of governance by reducing the number of political office holders, number of utilities and facilities, embark on electoral reforms, carry out judicial reform because judiciary is no longer the last hope of the common man, complete the East West Road, stop the forceful attempt to return to oil resumption without discussion with the Ogoni people , return Nigeria to regionalism.
