Omoyele Sowore, leader of the #RevolutionNow Movement, has called for a complete shutdown of all socio-economic activities in Nigeria amid the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests.
This call to action comes as the protests enter their fifth day on Monday, August 5, 2024.
Speaking on News Central TV’s Morning Show on Sunday, Sowore urged Nigerian workers and transporters to abstain from work and join the protests against the country’s bad governance. He also criticized President Bola Tinubu’s recent address concerning the protests, stating that it failed to meet any of the protesters’ demands and that public demonstrations would continue.
“They [the government] have nothing to offer you,” Sowore said. “We sometimes ask for too much knowing they have little or nothing to give. The President’s speech, which I didn’t bother to listen to, contained nothing of substance. There is no desire to address the issues. We have 15 demands, none of which were addressed. Tinubu’s position is clear: no matter what you do, he won’t act on your concerns.”
Sowore highlighted the harsh socio-economic conditions plaguing Nigerians, pointing out that the President’s speech only mobilized further action. “Today, Nigerians returned to the barricades in Lagos. Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of our #RevolutionNow, and we are mobilizing nationwide for massive action.”
He continued, “We urge everyone to stockpile food and encourage workers and transporters to stay away from their jobs and highways. We want to empty the roads and shut down the system to show that Nigerians, not those in Abuja, own this country.”
Sowore criticized the government’s lack of seriousness, citing the President’s suggestion of a vegetable garden at Aso Rock as a solution to hunger. He had also presented a list of 15 non-negotiable demands compiled from the #EndBadGovernance campaign.
The demands include:
- Scrapping the 1999 Constitution and replacing it with a people-made Constitution through a Sovereign National Conference followed by a National Referendum.
- Abolishing the Senate, keeping the House of Representatives (HOR), and making lawmaking a part-time endeavor.
- Ensuring a minimum wage of at least N250,000 monthly for Nigerian workers.
- Investing heavily in education, providing grants instead of loans to students, and making education free and compulsory for children nationwide.
- Releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally, demilitarizing the South East, and freeing and compensating all #ENDSARS and political detainees.
- Renationalizing publicly owned enterprises sold to government officials and cronies, reinstating a corruption-free subsidy regime to reduce hunger and poverty.
- Investigating past and present leaders who looted the treasury, recovering the funds, and using them to improve education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
- Restructuring Nigeria to reflect its diversity, ensure resource control, decentralize power, and promote regional development.
- Ending banditry, terrorism, and violent crimes, and reforming security agencies to enhance the safety of Nigerian citizens and stop human rights violations.
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