Four days into the 10-day protest that demonstrators had mapped out to air their voices over the extremely strenuous economic realities most citizens are going through in perpetuity, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has asked those involved to stand down immediately and give room for dialogue in an early morning broadcast today.

Starting August 1, 2024, Nigerian youths of diverse ethnic backgrounds, peculiar social orientations but united by their lack of welfare or limited opportunities, gathered under the banner of ending bad governance and insisted on 10 demands that cut across provision for affordable energy like fuel, electricity and import taxes which affect when goods or foods go up, and they also wanted federal officials to declare a state of emergency on education as well as allocate 20 percent of the national budget to healthcare.

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So far, so good, most of the demands haven’t been met in the people’s eyes yet their President wants them to shelve their demonstrations. As soon as the top hand of the hour struck 07:00 a.m. on Sunday, 4 August, Bola Tinubu got on a live broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to appeal to the protesters.

I commiserate with the families and relations of those who have died in the protests. We must stop further bloodshed, violence and destruction.

As President of this country, I must ensure public order. In line with my constitutional oath to protect the lives and property of every citizen, our government will not stand idly by and allow a few with a clear political agenda to tear this nation apart.

Under the circumstances, I hereby enjoin protesters and the organisers to suspend any further protest and create room for dialogue, which I have always acceded to at the slightest opportunity.

Nigeria requires all hands on deck and needs us all – regardless of age, party, tribe, religion or other divides, to work together in reshaping our destiny as a nation.

To those who have taken undue advantage of this situation to threaten any section of this country, be warned: The law will catch up with you. There is no place for ethnic bigotry or such threats in the Nigeria we seek to build.

The second day of demonstrations saw devastation and deaths in the northern parts of Nigeria particularly. Kano residents breached a Digital Innovation Park and made away with office chairs in addition to computing devices designated for literacy training planned to empower unemployed youths with skills.

Federal officials initially anticipated such destruction and had through President Bola Tinubu led consultations with both traditional and spiritual heads to reach angry residents in their vicinity. That, so far, appears not to have worked based on the spate of violence recorded around the country.

In the southwest, the demonstrations haven’t generated as much heat compared to the northern region. There has been destruction in Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi, FCT Abuja, Niger, Jigawa, says Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun during a nighttime address on Friday. Nonetheless, the violence has gone on hence the broadcast by Nigeria’s president today.

Some thought the tone of Mr Tinubu’s speech was forceful and so they remain resolute on continuing with their demands regardless of what the president has listed as his achievements and his draft of what to expect soon.

An energy fuel like compressed natural gas (CNG) will offer cheaper transportation rates when the initiative has been fully implemented or at least halfway through it, yet the protesters insist on more tangible and less futuristic ideas from their President. But since the price of food remains high because of inflation while politicians look like they are living the best time of their lives, the demonstrations will go on.

In Nigeria’s commercial city Lagos, only two venues have been assigned to accommodate demonstrators and one out of these is the Gani Fawehinmi Park in the Ojota axis. Over there, a caravan of police officers and law enforcement agents position themselves as a formidable shield to prevent the protesters from breaking their ranks in the park’s interior.

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Even after what has felt like a tasteless speech by President Bola Tinubu on Sunday morning, youths in this area on their part have committed to peaceful gatherings that don’t seem to destroy property pending a time when their demands will be met.