One Dada Olusegun, the Special Assistant to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, has been criticised over his controversial statement regarding potential protests in the West African country.
Some folks are planning a nationwide protest between August 1 and 15 against the rising cost of living and economic hardship in the country.
Olusegun threatened that the intending protesters would meet the strongest resistance of their lives if they opt to protest against the Nigerian government led by President Bola Tinubu.
In a post via X, the presidential aide warned that those who gave Tinubu the mandate to rule the country would strongly resist the protest. He refused to reveal the method to be used in resisting the potential mass action.
“Those who want to burn the country down under whatever guise will meet the strongest resistance of their lives.
“Not from security agencies, but from the silent majority that gave their mandate to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for four years in the first instance. We are waiting,” he wrote.
After his post went viral, some X users went down memory lane to unearth a post of him calling for protest against former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2011.
“GEJ is a f**l and an idi*t! We will protest yes we will……. Wake up ppl, leggo ppl!,” he had said in the post.
In another old post, Olusegun had alleged that President Tinubu is corrupt and covered with deceit.
In the post, he had also alleged that the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party was a shop set up by Tinubu.
“ACN is a shop set up by Bola Tinubu, he’s a corrupt man, he is just a man covered with deceit, he can’t deceive me tho…….,” the post read.
Similarly, the president’s aide reportedly deleted an old tweet where he called for war over tear gas being used on peaceful protesters.
“When peaceful change is possible, violent change becomes inevitable! We protect peacefully and u throw us teargas, prepare for war!,” he said in the now deleted post.
Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.
The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.
The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by a president elected 14 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.
A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with armed kidnappers when family members are abducted.
But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.
Some folks are planning protests to voice their concerns about the economic situation, including rising inflation and poverty, under President Tinubu’s administration.
The protests are expected to happen in the north and other parts of the country, but residents and leaders of the south-eastern region, inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group – have made it clear that they are not going to be part of the mass action.
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