Victor Ezeja
As Nigerians continue the #EndBadGivernanceInNigeria protest, the United Action Front of Civil Society (UAFCS) has said the only way of resolving the faceoff is for President Bola Tinubu to address the root causes of high cost of things in the country.
The group said the president in his nationwide broadcast on Sunday failed to address core issues in the demands by the protesters.
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In a statement by the group’s head of coordinating secretariat, Wale Okuniyi, it said Tinubu should address issues of high fuel price and electricity tariff.
The organised Civil Society also said the president should cut cost of governance.
It said: “The organised Civil Society following President Bola Tinubu’s Address on the Nationwide Citizens’ Actions, once again, wishes to state that the way forward on resolving the faceoff towards getting protesters out of the streets, in our sincere opinion, is for the President to immediately address issues of the critical demands and yearnings of protesting Nigerians, especially the question of the reduction of fuel price to ₦167 per litre, which was the price of Petrol pre January, 2023 before the inauguration of the Tinubu government.
“Secondly the broadcast refused to resolve the problem of very exorbitant electricity tariffs, which citizens are demanding should be brought to pre December 2022 price to enhance the prosperity of businesses, especially small scale businesses in Nigeria.
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“These two demands, among others, if addressed by the government, are critical to ameliorating the growing hardships and sufferings in the country as they caused the current high cost of living and economic hardships in the first place. And please let it be noted that Citizens are not advocating for the return of the subsidy regime, which is fraudulent and corrupt.”
On the Compresses Natural Gas initiative launched by the presidency last year to explore cheaper alternative of fuel, since the removal of petrol subsidy, the group said it is a good one but the federal government needs to make the process of fossil fuel-powered vehicles conversion to CNG easy and free for it to make meaningful impact on Nigerians.
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It said this can be done by creating conversion centres in the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, where interested vehicle owners can drive in and convert their vehicles free of charge for the period of one year.
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“This way Citizens will see the empathy and sincerity of the Tinubu government,” it emphasised.
“One presidential intervention that can also take protesters out of the streets is if the President immediately initiates a genuine process of constitutional dialogue to renegotiate Nigeria’s governance system and constitutional democracy as this has the potential of solving 90 percent of Nigeria’s political and economic problems.
“If the above steps, coupled with immediate reduction in the cost of governance can be effected by the President, we are very sure the Protesters will be out of the streets immediately. Nevertheless, we commend the President for coming out to acknowledge the dissatisfaction of Nigerians about the sufferings and hardships foisted on Nigerians by his economic policies.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
