As the #EndBadGovernance protest enters the 6th day, one question begs for an answer.
How can President Tinubu end the ongoing protest?
Many people had suggested that the protest is due to Tinubu’s failure to address Nigerians.
This advise was endorsed by many industry experts and stakeholders.
President Tinubu took this advise into consideration.
If speaking to directly to Nigerians will soften their heart, well, so be it.
A national broadcast was organised and the President gave Nigerians a piece of his mind.
#EndBadGovernance Protest Continues
After a long speech, which highlighted the achievements of his administration, Tinubu begged Nigerians to shelve the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Hours after ending his speech, Nigerians stormed the streets to continue with the protest.
In fact, the protest intensified after the national address.
Since addressing the protesters did not work, many people have now advised President Tinubu to reverse the fuel subsidy removal policy.
As a matter of fact, this is top on the list of demands from the angry protesters to the president.
Many are advising the president to yield to the demand of the people.
However, the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, thinks otherwise.
Fuel Subsidy Will Worsen Poverty
Issa-Onilu emphasised on Wednesday that reinstating the fuel subsidy would exacerbate poverty in Nigeria.
He encouraged citizens to develop strategies to cope with the economic impact of its removal by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Issa-Onilu previously served as a spokesperson for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also Read: #EndBadGovernance: Issues Erupting From Protests In Northern Nigeria
According to him, the demands by #EndBadGovernance protesters for the return of the subsidy are driven by emotion rather than economic rationale.
Issa-Onilu spoke via an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
He argued that reintroducing the subsidy would worsen poverty rather than alleviate it.
Furthermore, he urged Nigerians to focus on how to adapt to the subsidy removal and highlighted government efforts to support survival without it.
Issa-Onilu said: “Anybody who is making a demand that subsidy removal should be brought back is making an emotional demand, not an economic demand because you have to also prove that if it is brought back, it will solve the issue of poverty; it will not, it will aggravate it.
“So, what we should be doing is: How do we survive in spite of the removal?’ We need to promote all the efforts of this government to ensure that we survive without that subsidy.”
Issa-Onilu added: “It is difficult to talk to a people who have for several years been let down.
Nigerians feel let down. The first question they ask you is: ‘Is this another promise that will not be kept?’
So, we must prove to Nigerians that this government is keeping to its promises.”
