EndBadGovernance: Why Protests Must Be Subsumed Within Framework Of The Rule Of Law – Osun Monarch

By Hammed Tajudeen, Osogbo

As Nigerian youth across the country are agitating for #EndBadGovernance , a prominent monarch, Akirè of Ìkirè-Ilé kingdom, Ọba Abdulazeez Olatunbosun Adebamiji, said the ongoing protest should be subsumed within framework of the rule of law.

The traditional ruler in a statement issued on Thursday made available to Blaze Newz, said by implications, there are boundaries and limits in the expression of freedom and liberty of one’s rights.

According to Oba Olatunbosun “It is trite to say: “Your right stops where my right begins.”

Calling on government and the agitators to find a common ground to solve their differences, the monarch said “Peace must not be sacrificed in the expression of grievances and disagreement. Both agitators and government must understand that the roundtable is the best to resolve differences without devolving into violence.”

Oba Olatunbosun statement reads in part “The problems facing Nigeria today had its foundation laid a long time ago, and no government can resolve nor fix them in a jiffy. If everyone is looking for solutions to national malaise, they approach the search for the silver bullet methodically and patiently.

“Anger is not capable of reasoning.So the youths, especially, must exhibit levelheadedness in their demands and expectations.

“To destroy is easy to rebuild is not. One can not stress the next point enough. There is a need to make this point very clear, too. Nigerians did not beg President Tinubu to come and rule them.

“Indeed, he applied for the job. The president, even at a point, cautuoned Nigerians not to pity him. We believe his years of readying himself for the top job have made him cable of delivering on his promises to the people during the campaigns.

“He must, therefore, do the job and be seen to be doing it conscientiously. Governance is all about performance indices, communication, brokering, negotiation, coalescing, and broad inclusiveness.

“For instance, all salaries and allowances of university lecturers and non-lecturers that the FG is owing must be paid up immediately as a way to make people happy.

“This is because when a lecturer gets his hanging salary and allowances – which run into about three million naira for one lecturer to be conservative, his wife, children and friends, the market people and the society at large would benefit directly or indirectly.

“Also, if local refineries must be made to work so as to reduce the cost of bx£ & would definitely bring down the cost of goods, especially food, which are mostly agricultural products.

“In addition, the federal government must remove interest rates attached to the student loan being given to Nigerian students. True Muslim students would not be able to benefit from the student loan as long as the interest rate is attached.

“We all know that interest rate is forbidden for Muslims, and so attaching interest to this loan is like disenfranchising them from this national opportunity.

“There are several millions of true Muslim students in Nigeria, and PBAT must not lose the support and prayers of this group of citizens for his administration. All these and others must be brought to bear to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for governance.

Nigeria is a complex country. The cost of governance is surreal, and corruption is monumental. The President must address these key issues with a view to bringing culprits before the law for appropriate punishment.

“No one should be sacred because others are watching if offenders are punished or not. If corruption is not tackled, it opens the way for another breed of corruption.

“A suite of pro masses economic, financial, and fiscal policies are urgently required to assuage the majority of our people who are languishing in abject poverty. The p must be guided by the pulse and heartbeats of the people and stand on the right side of history.

“We need to introduce some home-grown solutions as total and strict adherence to Keynesian, World Bank, and IMF macro economics may continue to foster a neocolonial rentier state status on us. This will further impoverish the masses and escalate the situation.

Conscious effort must be put in place to bring a large chunk of the populace above the poverty line through government deliberate intervention. If subsidy in one form or the other will help, the government should let it.

The state governments and the third tier of government must play their expected roles for Nigeria to work. Monthly allocations to these tiers of government must be put to judicious use to help people live a meaningful life.

“Projects that have a direct impact on the welfare of the citizens should be embarked upon. Let all hands be on deck to salvage our people.

“Ultimately, there’s nothing inherently wrong with protests. But there’s everything wrong with destructive protests, as it will only exacerbate our problems. Resources available to the government are not limitless.

“Wanton destruction of public property will make the government funnel more funds towards rebuilding the property. Such money would better be used for people’s welfare.